By Bob Brewin
The United States must prepare to provide lifetime care for troops severely wounded in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Navy's top doctor warned this week. And an independent study released on Thursday concluded that the country also faces a steep mental health care bill for dealing with combat stress.
In the study, the RAND Corp. estimated the costs of dealing with stress issues and psychological illnesses of combat troops at $6.2 billon for just the first two years after those troops return home. That includes direct medical care costs, the price of lost productivity and suicides. The study is the first nongovernmental assessment of the psychological needs of veterans who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army's surgeon general, told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday that treatment of troops with amputations or severe burns could dramatically improve during the next few years through research efforts led by the new Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine. The institute, backed by more than $250 million in funding, will grow new cells from a wounded individual to repair burned flesh or replace digits lost in combat, akin to "a salamander growing a new tail," Schoomaker said.
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