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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Ingle

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/25/08

HB

SHORT TITLE Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Campaign

SB 251

ANALYST Geisler

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$200.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Aging and Long-Term Services Department (ALTSD)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

Developmental Disabilities Planning Council

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 251 appropriates $200.0 from the general fund to the Aging and Long-Term Services

Department for expenditure in fiscal year 2009 to increase public awareness of traumatic brain

injury through a multi-media campaign. The multi-media campaign will target active military

and veteran communities and their families and is designed to identify persons with traumatic

brain injury. The campaign will involve the collaboration of ALTSD with the veteran’s services

department and the New Mexico brain injury advisory council. Any unexpended balance

remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall revert to the General Fund.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The funding proposed by this legislation was not included in the ALTSD FY09 budget request.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DDPC notes that until there are comprehensive pre and post deployment screening for ALL

troops returning from a war zone there will be citizens living in our communities with

Senate Bill 251 – Page

2

undiagnosed brain injuries. An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine

(August 2003) states: “Timing is important. Neurologists now know that the brain possesses a

certain flexibility, and can repair and retrain itself within a certain window of time, usually up to

24 months following the injury." Early detection, diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries will

increase the likelihood of a more positive outcome for the individual. Mild brain injuries from

blasts aren’t easily detected and symptoms can mirror those of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

PTSD is a psychological reaction to trauma and TBI is a physical injury. The symptoms are the

same, but treatment is different. The public needs to be able to identify the symptoms, be given

information on how to seek a diagnosis and where to find appropriate treatment.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is the signature injury of the Iraq war and Afghanistan. Recent data

obtained by ABC News indicates that 10 percent or more of the Marines and soldiers who have

served in Iraq and Afghanistan have sustained a possible brain injury. This could mean more

than 150,000 Americans who have served or are now serving could have a TBI that is

unrecognized by the Department of Defense. (BIA of America)

Blast injuries are injuries that result from the complex pressure wave generated by an explosion.

In a blast, brain injuries can also occur by other means such as impact from blast-energized

debris, the individual being physically thrown, burns and/or inhalation of gases and vapors. The

pressure waves travel hundreds of yards at a rate of 1,600 feet per second (Glasser, 2006) which

can injure those troops not necessarily next to an explosion. A blast injury can result in a closed

head injury that isn’t obvious, no apparent bleeding, no loss of limbs, no visible sign of injury.

59% of those exposed to a blast and seen at Walter Reed Army Medical Center between Jan 03

and Feb 05 sustained a TBI according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

Depending on the extent of the neurological damage, symptoms at the time of impact and later

on can include everything for headaches, nausea and memory difficulties to mood changes,

cognitive problems and loss of consciousness, according to the CDC. Without the visibility of

an injury, many mild and moderate brain injuries go undetected. The individual knows that they

are experiencing symptoms, but many don’t know why and what the cause is.

Increasing public awareness at the community level for those that may have returned with an

undiagnosed brain injury would help the individual and their family and friends identify the

symptoms, and provide resources of where to go for diagnosis and treatment.

GG/mt