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Military not following 'brain test' order
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- The Pentagon isn't following a congressional directive to test U.S. troops before and after combat service to uncover possible brain injuries, records show.
Military records indicate more than 500,000 troops tested before their deployment have not had the tests readministered on return, USA Today reported Monday.
One congressman who helped write the 2008 order mandating the tests says the military could be missing thousands of cases of brain injury.
"This is a total failure," said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Brain Injury Task Force. "We're failing to find TBI (traumatic brain injury) and post-traumatic stress disorder in an era when the military is trying to find and assist folks who need it."
Army officials disagree, calling the test flawed.
The Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics generates too many false positive results, Lt. Col. Michael Russell, head of the Army's testing program, said.
The test "was promised ... as a sort of 'pregnancy test' for (mild) TBI," Russell said. "It has failed to deliver."
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- The Pentagon isn't following a congressional directive to test U.S. troops before and after combat service to uncover possible brain injuries, records show.
Military records indicate more than 500,000 troops tested before their deployment have not had the tests readministered on return, USA Today reported Monday.
One congressman who helped write the 2008 order mandating the tests says the military could be missing thousands of cases of brain injury.
"This is a total failure," said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Brain Injury Task Force. "We're failing to find TBI (traumatic brain injury) and post-traumatic stress disorder in an era when the military is trying to find and assist folks who need it."
Army officials disagree, calling the test flawed.
The Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics generates too many false positive results, Lt. Col. Michael Russell, head of the Army's testing program, said.
The test "was promised ... as a sort of 'pregnancy test' for (mild) TBI," Russell said. "It has failed to deliver."