TreatNow

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REMEMBERING THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICES: U.S. Service Members, 1776-2025

TOTAL BATTLE DEATHS....................................................................... 1,308,468+

TOTAL WOUNDED.................................................................................. 1,452,040+

MISSING.................................................................................................. 40,000+

TOTAL SUICIDES, 2000-2025................................................................. 163,000+

UNTREATED BRAIN WOUNDED VETERANS, 2000-2025.................... 877,450+

TOTAL SACRIFICES................................................................................ 3,840,958+

American History has been described as constant war, punctuated by periods of peace. Depending on your count, America has been involved in 85 "wars" since 1776. Practically every year in our 250 year history had American service members in harm's way, frequently in multiple areas of the world. Whether fighting Indians or Iranians; whether alone or in alliances; whether defending direct American interests, or the sovereignty of the oppressed, American service members have bled and died, doing their duty.

And throughout those 250 years, Americans have believed that we citizens owed them an obligation to care for them to the best of our national ability.

God knows how much money we have expended fighting those wars. And only God and perhaps A.I can calculate how much we have spent trying to alleviate the suffering of the wounded and families of the fallen.

Memorial Day. We remember. An historical event, a looking back, a time of reverie and commitment to do better.

We can do better.

Wars kill and maim and leave lasting damage. Some we can see. Less visible, but no less damaging, are Blast and combat injuries and the lasting effects on loved ones, and families, and society at large caused by brain wounding.

Keep in mind as you reflect on the dead and the wounded, and our obligation to them:

- DoD and the VA declare that Suicide Prevention is their #1 clinical priority. - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy nearly eliminates suicidal ideation, a result of pain and depression resulting often from undiagnosed and untreated brain wounds. - Combat, BLAST, and one-time and/or constant banging of the head can lead to brain wounds. - Painful and debilitating symptoms accompany brain wounds and have been observed in patients later found to suffer neurological disorders that lead to Alzheimer's, Parkinsons and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. - The VA and DoD have a suicide epidemic that is increasingly tied to actions taken -- and not taken -- by their own medical personnel. - Scientific, peer-reviewed research connects BLAST damage to brain wounds, TBI, PTSD, and CTE. - Institutional medicine is slow to adopt science demonstrating that Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy helps heal brain wounds, diminishes suicidal ideation, and improves Quality of Life in service members and other victims of brain wounding from Concussion/TBI/PTSD/BLAST. - No military or institutional medical organization uses HBOT for brain wounds, and even goes to lengths to denigrate the science and warn against the risk of HBOT, despite scientific, clinical, anecdotal, and evidence-based practice to the contrary. - HBOT is available today. 14 states have legislated its use. TreatNOW has effected over 33,000 successes, including 12,500 successes and restored Quality of Life to Veterans suffering brain wounds in over 180 clinics nationwide. - Institutional infrastructure exists today to treat over 10,000 Veterans daily. A concentrated effort to build additional capability could save tens of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. - TreatNOW estimates that all 877,450 brain-wounded Veterans could be treated with HBOT for less than one-half of one percent of the $4.7 Trillion cost to NOT treat. - And every investment in a Veteran redounds to the benefits of millions of Americans similarly brain-wounded and untreated. HBOT can help heal all wounds, whether from sports, accidents, assaults, falls, stroke, surgery, diabetes, gas poisoning, Covid, or many other diseases.

If only we remember to do the right thing: TreatNOW

Our knowledge of brain wounds and how to heal them has “exploded” in the last decade. The medical universe is mired in old notions about the brain and how to heal brain wounds. We can help in their education by allowing and funding State hospitals and clinics to use HBOT to heal TBI/PTSD while Congress and the VA and DoD catch up.

HBOT Heals Brains, Stops Suicides, Restores Lives. TreatNOW

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

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NCAA, Concussions, CTE and Brain Wounds: RELEVANCE FOR VETERANS

THE BIG PICTURE: In less than a year, two separate juries — one in South Carolina, one in Texas — have now handed the NCAA massive CTE verdicts totaling $158 million combined. With the NCAA calling CTE "hypothetical" even as juries deliver nine-figure verdicts, the floodgates for similar lawsuits appear to be opening wide.

Veterans and their families with undiagnosed or misdiagnosed Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) are in a similar boat as NCAA athletes suffering debilitating concussion symptoms. Two recent legal cases involving former college football players diagnosed with dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) display close parallels.

The first case, Geathers v. NCAA, involved Robert Geathers, a defensive end for the South Carolina State Bulldogs from 1977 to 1980. In 2017, almost forty years after his college athletic career, Geathers was diagnosed with dementia, while also presenting signs consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a debilitating brain condition linked to repeated head injury. Physicians who testified at the trial said Geathers displays symptoms of CTE, which currently can only be diagnosed posthumously.

In April 2019, Geathers and his wife Debra filed a negligence and fraud action against the NCAA. The central argument alleged that the NCAA had been aware of the potential dangers of concussions and CTE since as early as the 1930s, pointing to a 1933 NCAA medical handbook which included references to "concussion management plans." Their attorney, prominent civil rights lawyer Bakari Sellers, told jurors: "All of the information they knew, they withheld. Their job was to keep the boys safe." He also argued the NCAA particularly failed to warn coaches and players at HBCUs like South Carolina State.

A South Carolina jury found the NCAA negligent for failing to warn Geathers about the long-term risks of concussions. The jury awarded $10 million to Robert Geathers and $8 million to his wife, Debra, for loss of consortium — a total of $18 million — following the civil trial in Orangeburg County. The jury believed the NCAA had actionable knowledge of concussion risks but failed to act.

The jury specifically determined that the NCAA:

- Unreasonably increased the risk of harm of head impacts to Robert Geathers beyond the risks inherent to playing football - Voluntarily assumed duties to protect his health and safety, and negligently breached those duties

NCAA spokesperson Greg Johnson said the organization disagreed with the verdict and was "prepared to pursue our rights on post-trial motions and on appeal, if necessary." Johnson pointed out that "the NCAA has prevailed in every other jury trial around the country on these issues."

The NCAA's trial attorney argued that Robert Geathers has several other health conditions that could explain his dementia-like symptoms, and that the NCAA's football rules committee is composed of representatives of member schools who could propose rule changes. "There's going to be head-hits. That's inherent to the game. You can't take head-hits out of football," he said in closing arguments.

The second case was brought in Dallas, Texas by the family of 1950s SMU football player J.T. Davis. In the case of Davis v. NCAA, Cause No. CC-20-01121-D, a jury last month returned a verdict of $30 million dollars compensatory damages, and $110 million punitive damages. The jury agreed with the plaintiff's family that NCAA leadership was aware of the long-term consequences of repetitive head trauma in football, including CTE, and did not warn players such as Mr. Davis. Plaintiffs further alleged that the NCAA did not follow a provision of its own constitution requiring it to study sports. Trial exhibits introduced by plaintiffs included internal NCAA documents which, plaintiffs argued, indicated that NCAA medical experts had information dating back to the 1930s regarding progressive neurodegenerative disease in college football players.

At trial, the NCAA argued that there is a lack of evidence that CTE is caused by repeated head hits and disputed that CTE causes symptoms. The NCAA stated that CTE is a "hypothetical" disease, despite incriminating internal communications that addressed CTE-related clinical symptoms and the risk profile of college football players.

Net net, for the first and second times, juries no longer bought the NCAA' decades long assertions that they didn't know, there was no evidence, and it wasn't their fault that players were being negatively impacted from their football years. Important to note that their position has been eroding over the years as Dr. Ann McKee's science on CTE in Boston shows the results of examining the brains of 202 former American football players: 99% of NFL players examined had CTE, 91% of college players, and 21% of high school players.

Legal quibbling is the last redoubt of institutions and corporations about to smell the roses and acknowledge what the common man and science have already proved.

The VA and DoD have similar dilemmas. They have sponsored research, developed elaborate data bases and longitudinal studies, invested heavily in facilities, staffing, firing and hiring, and continuing research into BLAST and effects of firing personal weapons. Unfortunately, nowhere in any of the studies about treatment do the VA or DoD consult their own textbook of "old" Common Practice Guidelines. The figure below tells them a way forward in their continuing search for better and more effective treatments to help heal brain wounds.

What the "Algorithm for the evaluation of neurological abnormalities in a blast casualty" spells out clearly as the "Definitive Therapy" for BLAST injury is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Now one could argue that this chart is outdated, or that BLAST injury is not the same as a concussion, or that we now know what they didn't at the time. That is demonstrably true. But what we have learned in the last decades is that BLAST is so much worse than what we knew at the time, and that it strikes service members in a vast array of ways relative to particular lines of work. Artillery, mortars, EOD, jet pilots, heavy weapons, SOF, breechers, shoot room instructors. The list continues to grow.

Thus, the negligence in NOT using HBOT, a known and effective intervention for BLAST injury, is causing more and more victims to go without known treatments, thus prolonging brain and personal deterioration.

Given all that, let's connect some dots:

- BLAST and one-time and/or constant banging of the head can lead to brain wounds. - Brain-wounding has been shown to lead, in some cases, to CTE. - Painful and debilitating symptoms accompany brain wounds and have been observed in patients later found to have CTE. - Not all brain wounds lead to CTE, but some significant percentage of those studied do have CTE. - The NCAA and the NFL and many other leagues worldwide continue to contest the connection of brain wounds to CTE and other neurological and behavioral and psychological deterioration in players. - The VA and DoD have a suicide epidemic that is increasingly tied to actions taken -- and not taken -- by their own medical personnel. - Scientific, peer-reviewed research connects BLAST damage to brain wounds, TBI, PTSD, and CTE. - Institutional medicine denies "proof" that Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy helps heal brain wounds, diminishes suicidal ideation, and improves Quality of Life in service members and other victims of brain wounding from Concussion/TBI/PTSD/BLAST. - Decades-old published medical advice to the NCAA and from Army Medicine argue for enhanced care for concussed patients, and in the case of Army Medicine, declare the definitive treatment for BLAST injury is HBOT. - No military or institutional medical organization uses HBOT for brain wounds, and even goes to lengths to denigrate the science and warn against the risk of HBOT, despite scientific, clinical, anecdotal and evidence-based practice to the contrary. - The NCAA, DoD, and the NFL have teamed up to study all of this, and we can count on published research that will advance what we know about damage, and causes, and symptom reduction. But we can predict that the path they are on will do little to advance brain wound healing. - The research into psychedelics and other alternative therapies should continue in the hope that they will prove effective at brain wound healing but that future is in the future following great cost, multiple setbacks, and controversy about the drugging of America. - HBOT is available today. 14 states have legislated its use. 12,500 successes and restored Quality of Life with Veterans suffering brain wounds in over 180 clinics nationwide.

Message to the NCAA, the NFL, all professional sports teams and moms and dads. Start using and studying the effects of HBOT on brain wounds. Enough research exists already that proves HBOT is safe and effective. Notice the sequence: TreatNOW while everything else continues.

NOTE for those concerned with TOXIC EXPOSURE:

Linda Hersey of Stars and Stripes brings mixed news for Veterans suffering from toxic exposures. The bad news is that, finally, the VA recognizes that toxic exposures lead to increased suicide risk, posttraumatic stress disorder , depression, and alcohol use disorder.

The study, “Deployment-related toxic exposures, mental health problems, and suicide outcomes among Gulf War era U.S. veterans,” looked at the long-term mental health of veterans who reported exposures in the following categories: chemical/biological weapons, anthrax vaccine, Agent Orange (herbicides), solvents/fuels, petroleum combustion products, lead, other metals, pesticides and open-air burn pits.

The VA could help itself by starting to use Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy as part of their protocol for all of the above, as the TreatNOW Coalition has been doing successfully for over 15 years.

Also, recall it took the VA nearly 30 years to formally recognize that Gulf War Illness was real, so we can be thankful that they’ve moved so quickly; only 26 years to pin down links between toxic inhalation and a plethora of mental and physical health diseases.

Our knowledge of brain wounds and how to heal them has “exploded” in the last decade. The medical universe is mired in old notions about the brain and how to heal brain wounds. We can help in their education by allowing and funding State hospitals and clinics to use HBOT to heal TBI/PTSD while Congress and the VA and DoD catch up.

HBOT Heals Brains, Stops Suicides, Restores Lives. TreatNOW

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

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Testing the Science behind the VA's TBI/PTSD Treatments

Back when Trent Lott was the senior Senator from Mississippi, he said during Congressional hearings on treating veteran brain wounds that "It's funny in a sad way that I can get HBOT for my race horses but not for Veterans."

SEN Lott retired in 2007 and twenty years later his sentiment is still true, but with a twist. Not only are horses still getting healed with HBOT, but Veterans are probably going to get access under VA coverage to powerful psychedelics and dissociative hallucinogens while Congress continues to punt on using a safe, effective, scientifically validated, and widely available and inexpensive treatment.

But we expect "more research" from a VA that claims on its web page: "We are the world's leading research and educational center of excellence on PTSD and traumatic stress." Notice they don't say "We excel in clinical care" or "We cure what ails them and give them their lives back." No, their measure of excellence is research and education. Perhaps in terms of amount of money spent, but in no way sufficient for the needs of the Veteran.

A note on VA "success" with suicide prevention: More than 161,000 Veterans have died by suicide since 2001, and veteran suicide remains the second-leading cause of death among Veterans aged 45 and under. There have been 22+ consecutive years of a minimum of 6,000 annual suicides. The trend continues upward.

Here's a critical and often underreported finding: Roughly 39% of Veterans succumbing to suicide were in VA care — or ~2,500 of the 6,398 who died in 2023 had recent VHA contact. On average, 7 suicides per day were among Veterans who had received VHA care in 2021 or 2022.

Spending figures are as alarming as the suicide epidemic. The VA's mental health budget (which houses suicide prevention spending) grew from roughly $2.4B in FY2000 to $16.6B in FY2024 — a nearly 7x increase. The most reliable confirmed figures are: $15.0B for mental health including suicide prevention in FY2023, rising to $16.6B in FY2024, with $559M specifically for suicide prevention outreach programs and an estimated $2.5B in suicide-specific medical treatment.

The DoD's equivalent if the NICoE, the National Intrepid Center of Excellence. The NICoE, located in Bethesda, Maryland, is the headquarters of the Defense Intrepid Network for TBI and Brain Health (Defense Intrepid Network). The Intrepid Network is based on the holistic, patient-centered interdisciplinary model of care. In addition to the NICoE, the Intrepid Network includes 10 Intrepid Spirit Centers: Fort Belvoir, VA; Camp Lejeune, NC; Fort Campbell, KY; Fort Bragg, NC; Fort Hood, TX; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA; Camp Pendleton, CA; Eglin Air Force Base, FL; Fort Carson, CO; and Fort Bliss, TX.

A Short Tutorial

The VA has formally designated roughly 15–20 therapies as "evidence-based psychotherapies." To date, 15 of these have been disseminated through the VA's national initiative, and more than 8,000 staff have been trained in one or more of these therapies. However, the strength of the RCT evidence behind them varies considerably, and a significant number of therapies used in VA clinical settings have little or no RCT support in veteran populations specifically. Their top tier interventions are primarily pharmaceutical and psychological: Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) for couples.

The Therapies With the Strongest RCT Evidence

The VA/DoD 2023 Clinical Practice Guideline recommends three specific trauma-focused psychotherapies — Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) — as the most effective treatments for PTSD, supported by the strongest clinical trial evidence. Beyond those three, the VA's top interventions with meaningful RCT backing include:

- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression (CBT-D) — extensive RCT support - Behavioral Activation Therapy (BAT) — RCT-supported for depression - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) — strong RCT support - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) — growing RCT base - Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) — RCT-supported, primarily for depression - Motivational Interviewing (MI) — RCT-supported for substance use - CBT for Substance Use Disorder (CBT-SUD) — RCT-supported - Contingency Management (CM) — RCT-supported for stimulant/cannabis use - Written Exposure Therapy (WET) — some RCT support, but newer and more limited - Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) — RCT support primarily from non-veteran populations The Critical Caveat: "Evidence-Based" Doesn't Always Mean RCT-Proven in Veterans

This is the key tension. A 2012 systematic review found only 29 RCTs of psychosocial interventions for veterans, with evidence for trauma-focused therapies for PTSD and "some evidence" for psychological interventions for borderline personality disorder, depression, insomnia, and panic — but the methodological quality of many studies was less than optimal.

The Institute of Medicine concluded that the evidence is still "inadequate to address the specific interventions, settings, and lengths of treatment that are applicable in the veteran population." Most RCTs establishing the evidence base for therapies like CBT and IPT were conducted on civilian populations — the VA then adopted them based on that general evidence.

The Uncomfortable Reality About Even the "Proven" Therapies

A review published in JAMA found that the VA/DoD's front-line PTSD treatments — CPT and PE — don't work for up to two-thirds of patients, despite being recommended as preferred treatments in clinical practice guidelines. And real-world effectiveness data from the VA itself is sobering: among 265,566 veterans initiating mental healthcare, PTSD symptom improvement was "similar and modest" for both CPT and PE in practice, with researchers concluding that "research to further improve PTSD care is critical."

Therapies Widely Used With Weak or No Veteran-Specific RCT Evidence

The VA also covers and widely uses:

- Complementary and integrative health approaches — VA covers eleven complementary therapies including acupuncture, Battlefield Acupuncture, biofeedback, clinical hypnosis, guided imagery, massage therapy, meditation, Tai Chi/Qigong, and yoga — most of which have very limited RCT evidence in veterans specifically, though use increased 70% over three years. - Group therapy — widely used but knowledge of group approaches has lagged behind individual treatment approaches, and knowledge about group treatment for PTSD is limited due to the complexity of conducting RCTs in the group treatment context - Many supportive counseling and present-centered therapy models used in practice - And, of course, Psychopharmacology, aka drugs. There are only two drugs approved for use with PTSD, and none for use with TBI. Known risks associated with black-box labeled drugs prescribed in the VA include documented cases of an estimated 109,000 Veteran opioid overuse deaths. VA stridency about "HBOT is too risky" ignores both their record of treating Veterans like guniea pigs where drugs are concerned, and the fact that Veterans treated with HBOT report extinction of suicidal ideation. Also, only one fully HBOT-treated Veteran in over 12,500 cases has succumbed to suicide. Bottom Line

As long as the VA and DoD persist in treating TBI and PTSD like Mental Health problems -- psychological issues rather than physiological damage -- the trends won't improve. Of the 15+ formally designated VA evidence-based psychotherapies, roughly 3–5 (PE, CPT, EMDR, CBT-D, CBT-I) have some RCT evidence specifically in or including veteran populations. The rest lean on civilian-population RCTs or have more limited trial evidence. And even the best-studied treatments fail a substantial proportion of veterans, which is a recognized crisis driving ongoing VA research into new approaches.

END NOTE: The states are voting to do the job the VA and DoD continue to ignore:

Green States -14 enacted Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) state bills, 7 funded over $33 million

Yellow States -10 draft HBOT legislation states, five (OR, IA, MI, NY, NJ) with bills drafted into State Legislative Committee

Note: Twenty-four (24) total HBOT legislative effort states represent an estimated 195 million Americans, 58% of the US population, 10.8 million Veterans, 65% of the total US Veteran population. Over half of all Americans and nearly two-thirds of US Veterans now live in HBOT active (enacted and drafting) states.

Our knowledge of brain wounds and how to heal them has “exploded” in the last decade. The medical universe is mired in old notions about the brain and how to heal brain wounds. We can help in their education by allowing and funding State hospitals and clinics to use HBOT to heal TBI/PTSD while Congress and the VA and DoD catch up.

HBOT Heals Brains, Stops Suicides, Restores Lives. TreatNOW

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

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Psychedelic Treatments for Suicide, Addiction, Depression

IMPORTANT NOTE TO THE WHITE HOUSE: TreatNOW, Grunt Style, America's Mighty Warriors, Project 22, HBOT 4 Heroes, the HOW Foundation, KOTERRA, the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine, IHMF, IHA, hundreds of other Foundations, and thousands of Veterans, researchers, physicians, and relatives of brain wounded TBI/PTSD/BLAST victims applaud any advance that will provide relief and healing to Invisibly Wounded service members and citizens.

We draw your attention to the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), in use worldwide for 14 FDA-approved Indications, and already approved for wound healing. Over 12,500 Veterans have already seen their lives dramatically improved through brain wound healing using HBOT. Over 180 TreatNOW Coalition clinics have been healing Veterans for two decades using protocols demonstrated to be safe and effective in 28 peer-reviewed clinical studies. The entire country of Israel, starting with the IDF over a decade ago, have been using HBOT safely and effectively to heal TBI/PTSD/Blast injuries.

The Important message: HBOT is ready, today. It is in use, safe, effective, proven, and hugely economical over the current standards of care. Over 161,000 Veteran suicides continue the upward trend in relying on "more research" while DoD and the VA spend over $357 Billion over ten years on Suicide Prevention, the "#1 Clinical Priority."

HBOT is available today, with essentially zero risk, lacking only an Executive Order, similar to today's Order, demanding expanded use of funds to treat TBI/PTSD while continuing with all other research and treatments. HBOT is already on-label for wound healing and awaits FDA and CMS recognition of the validity of the research and evidence. An explanation of the delay in science and policy is found at The Obvious Question.]

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President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an Executive Order aimed at encouraging expanded research into psychedelic drugs, part of a broader push to explore emerging mental health treatments.

A Fact Sheet accompanying the signing, "Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness," enumerates several issues:

- accelerate access to treatments for patients with serious mental illness, reaffirming his commitment to advancing solutions that provide hope to Americans with devastating, complex, and treatment-resistant conditions. - directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner to provide Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers to appropriate psychedelic drugs that have received Breakthrough Therapy designations for treating serious mental illnesses, and that meet the criteria of the National Priority Voucher Program. - The Order further directs the FDA and the Drug Enforcement Agency to establish a pathway for eligible patients to access investigational psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine compounds, that are under FDA review and that have met basic safety requirements under President Trump’s landmark Right to Try Act. - The Order requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allocate $50 million through the Advanced Research Projects for Health (ARPA-H) program to match investments made by state governments to advance research into psychedelic programs for populations with serious mental illness. - The Order requires HHS and the FDA to collaborate with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the private sector to increase clinical trial participation and evidence generation surrounding experimental psychedelic therapies. - The Order directs the Attorney General to initiate reviews of relevant products upon successful completion of their Phase 3 clinical trials so that they can be rescheduled as soon as possible upon FDA approval, where appropriate.

President Trump is working to bring about new options for patients whose conditions have not responded to existing treatments.

- Today, over 14 million American adults have a serious mental illness— a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that substantially interferes with a person’s life and ability to function. 8 million of these are on prescription medication for their conditions. - America’s brave veterans often suffer in greater measure from the tragedy of suicide. For over 20 years, there have been more than 6,000 veteran suicides per year. The suicide rate among veterans is more than twice as high as that of the non-veteran adult population. - The FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to some psychedelic drugs that have shown preliminary clinical evidence of substantial improvement over other current therapies.

DELIVERING RESULTS FOR PATIENTS: President Trump has long been committed to accelerating medical treatment development and to ensure Americans and our veterans struggling with complex, hard to treat, and even incurable diseases and mental illnesses are able to access the care they need.

- In President Trump’s first term, he worked to pass and sign into law the landmark Right to Try Act, giving terminally ill patients a pathway to access potentially lifesaving treatments under FDA review. - Also during his first term, President Trump signed an Executive Order to ensure all veterans have seamless access to high-quality mental healthcare and suicide prevention resources as they transition from uniformed service to civilian life, especially during the critical first year in which the suicide rates are known to be higher.

In this second term he can cut the Gordian knot of bureaucratic, cultural, and self-serving politics that prevent use of a proven treatment. Approve HBOT for immediate use, Mr. President. No Veteran has ever died using HBOT. It is safe, effective, and ready for immediate use. Additionally, Return on Investment has already been shown to cuts costs of NOT treating brain wounds by over 90%. Better, Veterans, their families, the services, and society's Quality of Life are vastly improved. TreatNOW.

HBOT Heals Brains, Stops Suicides, Restores Lives.

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The TreatNOW pro bono Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from Operator Syndrome, AHI, and Burn Pits. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed or hurt while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

Nebraska Resolution Supports Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE ONE HUNDRED NINTH LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA, SECOND SESSION: That the Legislature strongly urges members of the United States Congress to swiftly enact legislation to provide for veterans' access to treatments for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder that include hyperbaric oxygen therapy . . . .

PRESS RELEASE 9 April 2026, Arlington, VA

The office of Senator Kathleen Kauth in the Nebraska Legislature announced that LR293 received a vote of 43-0. The Resolution, on its way to the Governor for a signature, calls on the US Congress to "swiftly enact legislation to provide veterans' access to treatments for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder that include hyperbaric oxygen therapy." Nebraska becomes the 14th state to weigh in on the need for VA action to address the suicide crisis among Veterans .

Nebraska has about 115,000 Veterans. That number equates to over 20,000 Veterans suffering from undiagnosed or untreated brain wounds, with a multi million dollar per year financial burden on Nebraska citizens for untreated TBI/PTSD.

The Resolution recognizes that alternative therapies must be brought forward to do the job that the VA relegates to mental health, where drugs and talk therapy have proven inadequate to stem the suicide epidemic. Both the VA and the DoD call Suicide Prevention their #1 clinical priority and spend hundreds of millions of dollars in a losing effort to treat and heal TBI/PTSD. Veteran suicides since 9/11 now exceed 161,000.

The TreatNOW Coalition is helping in Nebraska and around the country to end suicides. We have learned that Hyperbaric Oxygen is uniquely capable of ending suicidal ideation. It helps end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds. It heals the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from Operator Syndrome, AHI, and Burn Pits. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed or hurt while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

TreatNOW provided support to the Nebraska legislature in understanding the magnitude of the challenge, and the safe and effective intervention available today. Facts matter:

- ~7,085+ U.S. service members killed in combat since 9/11 — ~53,000 wounded in action - 17.6 Veteran suicides per day - 61,000+ veterans have died by suicide since 9/11 — nearly 23 times the combat death toll - 109,000+ veterans have died from drug overdose — prescribed and otherwise — since 9/11 - 270,000+ total veteran deaths from suicide and overdose combined — nearly 38 times the combat death toll - 17.6 veterans die by suicide every single day — the VA’s own number — and the trend is UPWARD year over year - The veteran population has DECREASED by 10% over the same decade — making the rising suicide rate even more catastrophic in real terms - $5.375 billion spent by the U.S. Government on Suicide Prevention over the last ten years — with little improvement in outcomes - 877,000+ Veterans carry untreated brain wounds right now - 33,000+ brain-wounded veterans, athletes, first responders, and civilians have experienced enhanced quality of life through Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) — many returning to work, school, and active duty, reclaiming a future with freedom to choose, which the current, failed standard of care denied them - Fourteen states have passed legislation or Resolutions calling for the use of HBOT for veterans with TBI/PTSD; seven have allocated over $32M to get started. Five more states are moving in the legislative direction to do what the VA will not.  - 12,500+ Veterans have benefited from HBOT treatment for their TBI/PTSD - 180+ Coalition clinics delivering treatment across the country, many pro bono - 28 peer-reviewed studies confirming HBOT safety and efficacy for brain wounds - 85% recovery rate for mild-to-moderate TBI - 10 Secretaries of the Veterans Administration over 25 years have been informed about the science, safety, and efficacy of HBOT and still the institution refuses to offer it or even inform Veterans about its availability - Hundreds of drugs, devices, processes, computer programs and other interventions by DOD/VA/medicine DO NOT TREAT THE WOUND TO THE BRAIN, and ALL are used off label since none have been approved by the FDA for TBI, PTSD, Concussion, BLAST, or post concussive syndrome or polytrauma. None of the hundreds of drugs prescribed by the VA/DOD are approved by the FDA for brain wounds, and over a dozen warn of suicidal ideation. - Less than ½ of 1% — The ROI for the cost of HBOT treatment for 877,450 Veterans over a lifetime vs. the lifetime cost of no treatment. Projected untreated costs exceed $4.7 Trillion -  And unlike psychedelic and hallucinogenic and plant-based medicines like psilocybin and ayahuasca and ibogaine and MDMA and marijuana, HBOT is backed by decades of research, 28 clinical studies and proven safety and efficacy to treat and heal brain wounds, today. HBOT Heals Brains, Stops Suicides, Restores Lives. TreatNOW.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

The VA's Pinocchio Problem

A major newspaper coined a new category for repetitive falsehoods, the "Bottomless Pinocchio." These are falsehoods repeated at least twenty times (so often "that there can be no question the politician is aware his or her facts are wrong").

We are adding to the brain-wounded totals. We can only hope that we stay in the hundreds, not the tens and hundreds of thousands over the last twenty years. But in what is surely a first, DOD reported in less than two weeks that of at least 140 of the 290 U.S. troops reported wounded last month, 140 have been officially classified as TBI-related. The rapid reporting is due at least in part to the lessons of Iraq/Afghanistan where DoD begrudgingly moved from "only PTSD" diagnoses, to now 500,000+ brain wounds.

Underreporting is only part of the VA's Pinocchio Problem. For over ten years, loyalists and bureaucrats in the VA have been peddling a common theme: HBOT does not work, it is too risky, too expensive, experimental, lacking in science, and should not be used. Consider the words of Dr Clancy in 2015:

"Clinical support for using HBo2 for neurological conditions is primarily based on anecdotal case data. There is currently no objective empirical evidence indicating that HBo2 is effective or of benefit to Veterans with TBI or PTS. . . . Given the current lack of medical evidence, HBo2 is considered a treatment where the risks of the procedure outweigh possible benefits, and cannot be endorsed by VHA for Veterans at this time." Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, Interim Under Secretary for Health Department of Veteran Affairs, Aug 2015

A decade later, another apologist from the VA testified to the House Veterans Affairs Committee with virtually the same words: "VA, DoD, and others have conducted extensive research on the efficacy of HBOT on TBI, and the research has found no support for this as an effective treatment (particularly for mild TBI). . . . we are concerned that this bill could result in adverse health outcomes for participating Veterans....Given the evidence of harm in the literature and FDA’s findings, the CPGs conclude that HBOT is not currently identified as a safe or effective treatment after mild TBI."  AJIT PAI, M.D. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, REHABILITATION AND PROSTHETIC SERVICES VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (VHA) DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA), March 2024

Ten years, and unflinching fealty to the same party line. And this from doctors of medicine who know their own record on dispensing drugs and treatments that put Veterans at "risk": 161,000 Veteran suicides since 9/11, and over 109,000 Veteran drug overdoses leading to death

TREATNOW MASTER EVIDENCE BLOCK

•   ~7,085+ U.S. service members killed in combat since 9/11 — ~53,000 wounded in action

•   17.6 Veteran suicides per day

• 161,000+ veterans have died by suicide since 9/11 — nearly 23 times the combat death toll

•    109,000+ veterans have died from drug overdose — prescribed and otherwise — since 9/11

•    270,000+ total veteran deaths from suicide and overdose combined — nearly 38 times the combat death toll

•    17.6 veterans die by suicide every single day — the VA’s own number — and the trend is UPWARD year over year

•    The veteran population has DECREASED by 10% over the same decade — making the rising suicide rate even more catastrophic in real terms

•     $5.375 billion spent by the U.S. Government on Suicide Prevention over the last ten years — with little improvement in outcomes

•     877,000+ Veterans carry untreated brain wounds right now

•     33,000+ brain-wounded veterans, athletes, first responders, and civilians have experienced enhanced quality of life through HBOT — many returning to work, school, and active duty, reclaiming a future with freedom to choose, which the current, failed standard of care denied them

•     12,500+ Veterans have benefited from HBOT treatment for their TBI/PTSD

•     180+ Coalition clinics delivering treatment across the country, many pro bono

•     28 peer-reviewed studies confirming HBOT safety and efficacy for brain wounds

•     85% recovery rate for mild-to-moderate TBI

•     10 Secretaries of the Veterans Administration over 25 years have been informed about the science, safety, and efficacy of HBOT and still the institution refuses to offer it or even inform Veterans about its availability

•     Hundreds of drugs, devices, processes, computer programs and other interventions by DOD/VA/medicine DO NOT TREAT THE WOUND TO THE BRAIN, and ALL are used off label since none have been approved by the FDA for TBI, PTSD, Concussion, BLAST, or post concussive syndrome or polytrauma. None of the hundreds of drugs prescribed by the VA/DOD are approved by the FDA for brain wounds, and over a dozen warn of suicidal ideation.

•     Less than ½ of 1% — The ROI for the cost of HBOT treatment for 877,450 Veterans over a lifetime vs. the lifetime cost of no treatment. Projected untreated costs exceed $4.7 Trillion

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Given all these facts, science, evidence, testimonials, hundreds of thousands of clinical successes, and the continuing deaths and misery caused by NOT treating brain wounds, Congress and the Executive Branch must hold the VA and DoD to higher standards. Further, Veterans are owed knowledge about, and access to, HBOT and alternative treatments proven to help heal brain wounds. Ask the Israelis. Read all the science. Stop dissembling with disinformation. Take a risk for the Veterans. TreatNOW.

HBOT Heals Brains, Stops Suicides, Restores Lives. TreatNOW.

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from Operator Syndrome, AHI, and Burn Pits. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed or hurt while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

Military Encounters lead to TBI

Three and a half weeks into the Iran Encounter, ABC reported over 200 US casualties. 140 were reported to be suffering from what used to be called "the invisible wounds of war," TBI and PTSD. An updated report says that 290 US troops have been wounded in the fighting.

A quick summary of dead and wounded is illustrative of the mounting brain wounding crisis, and points to an on-going incapacity of the U.S. military to deal adequately with brain wounded casualties. Recall the 125+ rocket attacks in Syria in 2023 and 2024 where at least 49 TBIs to service members went unreported until wiser heads prevailed. As always in dealing with uncomfortable numbers in the military, the number of actual brain wounds is thought to be much higher. Congress in 2020 asked that the DOD measure blast pressure troops were exposed to and track blast exposure history routinely, but that still hadn't been done almost four years later.

Since October 7, 2023, in all sectors of conflict, among all populations, there have been an estimated 193,674 KIA and over 245,768 wounded. Of those, the Iran Encounter has resulted in 6,889 KIA and 23,551 wounded. Important to note, only Israeli armed forces and civilians have access to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for healing.

An average of 38 percent of Americans approve of the job President Trump is doing right now, according to a new Washington Post average of polls in the second half of March. Unsurprisingly, nearly 100% of Congress and citizens agree that we need to take better care of Veterans. Given the increase in wounded amidst the suicide epidemic (over 161,000 suicides since 9/11, with a daily rate of 17.6), it would make sense politically, militarily, medically, financially and morally for the Administration to immediately expand the care for the newly wounded and the 877,450 previously brain wounded.

Authorizing HBOT puts the US on an equal footing with Israel. It would start an immediate cost savings, rebuild force resilience, improve quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Veterans and their families, and is in keeping with the basic precepts of MAHA and their New Vision of Transformative Medical Care.

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On March 25, Senator Angus King and other Senators and House members introduced bicameral, bipartisan legislation to support mental health services for incarcerated veterans. The Get Justice-Involved Veterans Behavioral Assistance and Care for Key Health Outcomes to Maintain Empowerment (BACK HOME) Bill would catch up with the 49 states which have already instituted Veterans Courts, and the thirteen states that have passed legislation calling for the use of HBOT for TBI/PTSD. The nation's first treatment court specifically developed for veterans was started on January 4, 2008, in Buffalo, New York, by Judge Robert Russell. 

As of December 2024, VA Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) Specialists report serving in 731 Veterans Treatment Courts and other veteran-focused court programs across the U.S. Sadly, the efforts are mostly home-grown, with no national coordination or funding.

Veterans courts rest on a single core idea: a veteran's crimes are often symptoms, not character flaws. The underlying logic is that military service — particularly combat — can fundamentally alter a person through PTSD, traumatic brain injury, moral injury, and substance abuse that develops as self-medication for those wounds. When those veterans end up in the criminal justice system, the conventional court's response of punishment doesn't address what actually drove the behavior.

So the Veterans courts flip the question. Instead of asking "what punishment fits this crime?" they ask "what treatment does this person need?" Unfortunately, the treatments rarely include healing underlying brain wounds. Courts, acceding with VA "standards of care", allow Veterans to seek help, but judges are limited in their knowledge of what actually works long term to heal the wounds from polytrauma acquired in combat.

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In other news, New York State, home to nearly 560,000 Veterans, reports that, despite ongoing efforts, suicide remains a persistent and devastating public health crisis among veterans there. Recently released data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs show that suicide rates among New York’s veterans have reached their highest rate in over 20 years. In 2023, New York veterans died by suicide at more than twice the rate of the general population. Veteran suicide rate rose sharply to 24.9 per 100,000 —a 25.8% increase. The general population’s suicide rate declined slightly to 10.7 per 100,000 —a 1.8% decrease from 2022.

Addressing the suicide crisis for NY Health Foundation, former VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin and David Sandman, PhD, continue the ineffective hand-wringing about data collection, palliatives, the lack of psychedelic assistance, and the need for rapid reporting systems. Lost on them is that 161,000 suicides among service members is an epidemic that is NOT going to be stopped by data collection or A.I. Even if EVERY potential suicide could be predicted and stopped, there are STILL over 877,450 Veterans -- the numbers are growing again -- with TBI/PTSD who require brain wound healing.

A simple solution for the Executives. Take the multiple wins, Mr. President, Secretaries Kennedy and Collins. Issue an Executive Order to make HBOT available to active duty and Veterans and use appropriated "suicide prevention" billions to fund all the brain-wounded.

HBOT Heals Brains, Stops Suicides, Restores Lives. TreatNOW.

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from Operator Syndrome, AHI, and Burn Pits. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed or hurt while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

Spine, Not Spin, Mr. Secretary

March is TBI Awareness Month, as the White House has reminded us. The Sea of Troubles at the VA and DoD is the suicide epidemic, their continuing #1 medical priority. It is also Academy Awards month. Up for Best Picture is HAMNET, named for William Shakespeare's son, and the background to his revenge tragedy, Hamlet.

Hamlet's reflections on Yorick's skull is focused on death and revenge. The "Sea of Troubles" for Hamlet was bringing justice to his father's murderer. For us and the families of the 159,000+ suicides, justice demands accountability for the Suicide Epidemic, and the memories of service members who died before their time. The links between suicidal ideation and untreated brain wounds is well-established. Less known are the links between Departmental indolence and negligence at the top. Some call it criminal negligence that so much money keeps getting thrown to failed policies, people, and programs as the suicide trends continue upward.

Congressman and physician Greg Murphy excoriated VA doctors sent to answer questions about the VA's failed record on TBI. TreatNOW has spent nealry two decades listening to the now-repetitious testimony of VA representatives sent to the Hill who mouth out-of-date statistics and "facts" about brain wounds and how to treat them. Worse, those same doctors tout programs that have failed tens of thousands of Veterans with undiagnosed and untreated brain wounds. $5.375 BILLION spent on "prevention" while suicides overwhelm Veterans. Fifteen months in, where's the accountability?

This week, one victim of those failures, a combat Veteran and Agency career ex-employee, called in tears, suicidal, nearly catatonic after viewing CBS 60 Minutes' most recent reporting on Havana Syndrome. Ten years of suffering, of being separated from their career, of being forced to pay for their own treatments, of disrespect, accusations of "malingering," inability to work, focus, remember, love, a victim of drugs-and-talk-therapy, and repeating the cycle all over again with each new flareup. For them, and thousands like them, expecting help from the VA or the USG is hopeless.

Investigative reporter Katherine Herridge has zeroed in on Directed Energy Weapons and the impacts on USG Intelligence Community employees and their families. Even she does not go far enough, failing to go beyond cataloging the destruction. She still fails to talk about how some lucky few have found relief and healing using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Dr James Giordano, Director, Center for Disruptive Technology and Future Warfare, Institute for National Security Studies, and Dr. David Relman, MD of Stanford University, both talk about the real consequences of the damage caused by DEWs: loss of consciousness, seizures, mental lapses, inability to concentrate, headaches, intense pressure, pain, disorientation, and difficulty with balance. Intel Agencies and the LEAs have strained to substitute "causes" for a decades-long list of reported symptoms: atmospherics; the environment; a virus; crickets; preexisting conditions; and even mass hysteria.

Such shuck-and-jive is not new . The tactic is classic, mimicing the bafflegab in the past from Big Tobacco; the opioid crisis; the Pentagon Papers; and current spinning like the NFL on CTE; Veterans being denied proper diagnoses and disability for brain wounds; and the continuing charade that the VA is the Center of Excellence for TBI. There was a time, ten or 15 years ago when we didn't have a decade of science and evidence-based medicine, and clinical successes worldwide to demonstrate how to help treat and heal brain wounds caused by TBI, PTSD, Concussion, Havana Syndrome, and a myriad of other neurological and physical insults to the brain. And if the VA is the COE, why are Intrepid Spirit Center doctors sending brain wounded patients for HBOT with the comment: "Nothing we're doing for them is working"?

We know better. The science is sound. The results are demonstrable. It is no longer sufficient for doctors and legislators and military medicine to feign ignorance about the benefits of HBOT. At a minimum, HBOT should have an equal seat at the "alternative therapy" table. The Secretary talks about issuing vouchers to help Veterans get psychedlic help outside the VA. Congressman and retired USMC LTG Jack Bergmann thinks the Government needs to grow spines to overcome the do-nothing attitudes preventing getting help to Veterans. One wonders why the VA needs over a dozen studies on psychedelics? There's no ignoring a seeming crack in the wall-of-silence about the ineffectiveness of too many VA programs.

And remember: nothing the VA or DoD uses or does to control symptoms is on-label for TBI. We could learn from the Israelis who use HBOT for PTSD and TBI across the country and especially over the last decade for their brain wounded Veterans and active duty.

The VA needs to reread its own counsel, issued by their premier researchers over a decade ago. There is no appreciable evidence that anything has changed. Drs. Hoge and Jonas wrote: "It is clear that is a healing environment. . . . These findings reinforce the argument that effective interventions do not yet exist within the present structure of care or that routine postconcussion interventions within the Department of Defense or Veterans Health Administration may even have iatrogenic effects that contribute to symptom persistence . . . .” Iatrogenic: harm, illness, or adverse effects unintentionally caused by a physician, medical treatment, diagnostic procedure, or other medical activity.

They're losing. We're winning, just not fast enough. We need to work together. Veterans and active duty need help, and it's available. HBOT Heals Brains, Stops Suicides, Restores Lives. TreatNOW.

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from Operator Syndrome, AHI, and Burn Pits. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed or hurt while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

Opening Possibilities to Brain-Wounded Veterans

Our son got married earlier this month outside Queenstown, New Zealand. Three helicopters flew our party into the mountains for a spectacular venue. He is a USAFR C-5 pilot, as well as a 777 first officer for United. She is a hands-on, skilled Nurse Practitioner. The sky is the limit for them. Unfortunately, not so much for Veterans worldwide suffering from brain wounds.

The double-destination wedding allowed 28 hours of reflection on the going-and-coming flights. The down-under wide-open spaces and brilliance of the weather, people, vistas, flora and fauna in NZ stood in contrast to the crises afflicting brain-wounded Veterans. Our VA threatens their benefits, dispenses suicidal drugs, denies them proper diagnoses and treatments, scales back job opportunities, and wrings their bureaucratic hands over the suicide epidemic . New Zealand itself is not immune to their own Veteran and professional sports suicides.

Brain wounds affect the lives of an average 110 people each day in Aotearoa (the Māori name for New Zealand). Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is much more common down under than any of us would like it to be. Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), often referred to as a concussion, affects over 220,000 people in Australia and Aotearoa (ANZ) annually, with 25–30% of people experiencing persisting symptoms for months or longer. ANZ have a combined population of 33 million. There are a reported 220,000 incidents of (m)TBI every year in ANZ or 1.5% of the population. Their numbers of undiagnosed and untreated living perhaps a lifetime with brain wounds is not tracked, but probabilities put the numbers in the tens of thousands.

For comparison, there are 334 million people in US. Every year in the U.S., approximately 1.7 million to 3.8 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from all causes (falls, combat, accidents, sports, etc.). 70 %–90 % of those TBIs fall into the mild category. 19 %–29 % of U.S. adults report a lifetime history of concussion or TBI. Another analysis found an overall TBI prevalence of about 18.2 % in U.S. adults when defined by lifetime history with loss of consciousness. One survey showed up to ~39% of adults reported symptoms consistent with TBI at some point. So a rough shared figure often used in public health — around 20% of Americans may have experienced at least one mild TBI or concussion in their lifetime, based on surveys and studies. 

During our trip, ANZ released their Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Clinical Practice Guideline for the assessment and management of mild traumatic brain injury/concussion and persisting post-concussion symptoms in adults and children. Sadly and unsurprisingly, their Guidelines are similar to those published by other major Sports Unions, colleges and high schools worldwide. They go to great lengths to keep managing the symptoms but are silent on treating and healing the underlying brain wound. Their passive advice:

- Recognise and assess - Initial management - Return to activity - Assessment and Management of Specific Symptoms - Assessment and Management of Persisting Symptoms - Repeated Concussions and Long Term Effects

In one of those ironic and funny moments, we were hiking and I was digesting the "new" Concussion protocol I had just read. We spent some trail time with a group of doctors from Perth, Australia. I commented that what little I knew about Perth amounted to knowing about their excellent beaches, their isolation , how rich they were due to mining, and that Perth natives and Nobel prize winners Drs. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren were awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

They laughed because they all knew the story (but not so much about HBOT-for-TBI). Marshall's and Warren's groundbreaking 1982 discovery, which challenged the medical consensus that ulcers were caused by stress/diet, led to effective antibiotic treatments. The pair demonstrated that H. pylori is responsible for the vast majority of gastric and duodenal ulcers. This shifted treatment from long-term, expensive, and often ineffective management (antacids, surgery) to a simple, short-course regimen of antibiotics. The 2005 Nobel Committee awarded them the prize for overturning the existing understanding of ulcers, saving millions from chronic suffering and potential gastric cancer.

The "existing understanding" equaled a ferocious, decade-long fight. Arrayed against the science behind the h Pylori discovery were the medical and scientific establishments which "knew" their settled but flawed science. Senior gastroenterologists and microbiologists were deeply resistant to their rice bowls being shattered. Peer reviewers repeatedly rejected their papers, and their work was dismissed at conferences. The pharmaceutical industry had enormous financial stakes in the status quo. Acid-suppressing drugs like cimetidine (Tagamet) and later omeprazole were among the best-selling drugs in the world. A bacterial cause meant ulcers could be cured with a cheap course of antibiotics, which was a direct threat to billions of dollars in ongoing drug sales. Industry influence on medical opinion, and publishing was a real force working against rapid acceptance.

Medical journals were slow and reluctant to publish their findings. Their landmark paper was initially rejected, and when it was eventually published in 1984 in The Lancet, it was met with widespread skepticism rather than excitement.

Gastroenterologists as a specialty had built careers, practices, and reputations around managing ulcer disease as a chronic condition. A cure was professionally and financially disruptive to that model. The culture of medicine itself played a role too: remember past "truths": germs? bacteria? washing your hands before performing surgery? What could go wrong with holding on to old notions of "science" and playing politics with patients who could be saved at dramatically lower costs?

It took roughly a decade from their initial discovery before the medical mainstream fully accepted their work, which by any measure cost many thousands of patients unnecessary suffering and death from a curable disease.

Out in the forests above Queenstown, I came face to face again with a central truth about medicine: when doctors aren't taught about a disease, they give in to tradition and the tyranny of the masses. Long-suffering, intractable patients and new ideas are the enemy of "we've always done it this way." The walls of ignorance are slow to crumble.

So too with brain wounds. Concussions, TBI, PTSD, CTE, persisting post-concussion symptoms. Just wait awhile. The "tincture of time" and the amazing neuroplastic brain will make things right. A few hundred thousand ruined lives, rising suicide numbers, billions of dollars in avoidable costs, untold human suffering -- those are acceptable losses while we keep investigating new drugs to deal with the symptoms, and new technologies to do quicker diagnoses of how badly damaged your brain might be. Not that they can or will treat it as a wound; better to call it a mental health crisis and turn the wounded over to that culture of drugs and talk therapy. Sadly, the revolving-door mental health system in the US, like "brain injury Centers of Excellence," is largely structured around crisis stabilization and discharge rather than genuine recovery. 

It's hard not to be cynical in the face of a medical culture that is slowly changing over time. That's inevitable as more worldwide science shows how effective Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is in reversing suicidal ideation and in helping heal those brain wounds which keep announcing their presence with months and years of symptoms that degrade lives and families.

Helping in that eventuality are such groups as the Heritage Foundation and their growing interest in alternative, innovative technologies like Hyperbaric medicine and photobiomodulation. Equally interesting are Olympic athletes like Mikaela Shiffrin and Michael Phelps and hundreds of professional athletes and teams using Hyperbaric therapy for healing, recuperation, peak performance, and concussion recovery.

We're winning, just not fast enough. Veterans and active duty need help, and it's available. Heal Brains, Stop Suicides, Restore Lives. TreatNOW.

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from AHI, Burn Pits, and COVID. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

American College of Hyperbaric Medicine: Safety Accreditation Program Launch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: American College of Hyperbaric Medicine Website: ACHM.org

American College of Hyperbaric Medicine Launches Groundbreaking Safety CAQ Accreditation Program

*New Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) in Safety Sets Industry Standard for Hyperbaric Facility Excellence*

The American College of Hyperbaric Medicine (ACHM) is proud to announce the official launch of the ACHM Safety Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) Program, a comprehensive accreditation initiative designed to establish the highest standards for operational safety in clinical hyperbaric oxygen therapy facilities across the nation and globally. The ACHM in collaboration with the American Professional Wound Care Association recommend that all wound care centers offering hyperbaric oxygen therapy demonstrate that they are in compliance with the highest industry safety standards, and distinguish themselves with ACHM Safety CAQ accreditation.

The Safety CAQ Program represents a landmark achievement in hyperbaric medicine, providing facilities with a rigorous framework to demonstrate their commitment to patient safety, staff protection, and operational excellence. Developed by the ACHM Safety CAQ Committee, this program is built upon the foundation of the newly released ACHM Safety Consensus Document for Safe Operations in Clinical Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

This program offers facilities a program that ensures that hyperbaric facilities are delivering therapy at the highest level of operational safety — "I strongly endorse the ACHM Safety CAQ" said Tom Fox, CHT, Chairman of the ACHM Safety CAQ Committee.

Program Benefits for Facilities

The ACHM Safety CAQ Program provides participating facilities with comprehensive guidelines and standards that address every aspect of hyperbaric operations, including staffing requirements, equipment standards, therapeutic gas supply quality, risk management protocols, and emergency procedures. Facilities achieving Safety CAQ accreditation demonstrate their commitment to:

- Safeguarding patients, practitioners, and staff through adherence to established medical standards and regulatory requirements - Implementing robust organizational structures with clearly defined roles and responsibilities - maintaining comprehensive staff education and training programs establishing well-defined emergency procedures vital for mitigating risks inherent to hyperbaric environments - fostering a culture of safety that promotes accountability and continuous improvement.

The ACHM has always advocated for excellence in hyperbaric medicine. Safety is critical to achieving optimal outcomes. "I invite all hyperbaric facilities to attain ACHM Safety CAQ accreditation" stated Tyler Sexton, MD, President of the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine.

Applications Now Being Accepted

The ACHM is now accepting applications for the Safety CAQ Program. The first two facilities have already scheduled their site visits: Summit Hyperbaric in Boise, Idaho and Brevard Regional Hyperbaric Center in Melbourne, Florida. These pioneering facilities will be among the first to demonstrate their commitment to the highest safety standards in hyperbaric medicine.

About the Safety Consensus Document

The ACHM Safety Consensus Document for Safe Operations in Clinical Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy serves as a crucial framework aimed at safeguarding patients and practitioners engaged in hyperbaric treatments worldwide. The document establishes consensus standards and practices essential for ensuring safety in clinical hyperbaric oxygen therapy, unifying diverse practices into a coherent structure that outlines recommended procedures, operational protocols, and safety measures.

The document addresses critical areas including hyperbaric staffing roles and responsibilities, education and training requirements, equipment standards, therapeutic gas supply quality, comprehensive risk management, and detailed policies and procedures for both standard and emergency operations.

Eligibility

The Safety CAQ Program is available to hyperbaric facilities utilizing monoplace or multiplace chambers meeting ASME PVHO-1 and NFPA 99 standards, capable of delivering up to 3 ATA with near-100% oxygen. Hospital-based, office-based, and free-standing hyperbaric facilities are eligible to apply.

About the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine

The American College of Hyperbaric Medicine is dedicated to advancing the practice of hyperbaric medicine through education, research, and advocacy. The ACHM promotes excellence in patient care and safety while working to expand access to hyperbaric oxygen therapy for patients who can benefit from this vital medical intervention.

For more information about the ACHM Safety CAQ Program, visit ACHM.org

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from AHI, Burn Pits, and COVID. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

Concussions, NFL Playoffs, Veterans, and Science

Washington, DC 16 January 2026

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: The NFL, DoD and the VA should immediately treat brain-wounded Service Members and concussed athletes with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). We can return players to action and stop the suicide and opioid overdose epidemics and bolster readiness imperiled by untreated brain wounds. The evidence of safety and efficacy is backed by over 28 clinical trials. Oversight of Veteran suicides seems to be left to family members, friends, some not-for-profits, and the media since Congress, the VA and DoD allow the carnage to continue.

Let the record of suicides above, and this chart serve as a down payment on a conversation about how to treat and help heal brain wounds/concussions/TBI and to end the suicide epidemic. The chart is also a springboard to understand why Concussions and TBI/PTSD are still viewed as untreatable.

We're in playoffs for the Super Bowl, At last count, seven players on the eight finalists are in the Concussion Protocol. And what is that? We'll save you the time. We've looked at virtually every main line Concussion Protocol in the world.

The major concussion protocols are largely based on the consensus guidelines developed by the Concussion in Sport Group (CISG), which advocate for immediate removal from play, a brief period of relative rest, and a gradual, staged return to activity. These guidelines have been adopted and adapted by major sports organizations (NFL, FIFA, World Rugby) and national health bodies (CDC, UK, Australia, New Zealand). 

The core tenets of these protocols are centered around the "11 Rs" of concussion management: Recognize, Reduce, Remove, Refer, Re-evaluate, Rest, Rehabilitate, Recover, Return-to-learn/Return-to-sport, Reconsider, and Residual Effects.

Notice the word "management." Not heal, or treat. Manage symptoms. Manage expectations and administrative vulnerability. Keep both the athlete and the league safe. Wait a while and hope the athlete gets better. But nothing about healing the wound to the brain.

Understand that the last decade has seen stunning advances in how we can "see" the wound and explain how the brain is damaged and functions deteriorate. It's too expensive to image every Concussion, but we're pretty good at knowing when someone's bell is rung. Consider some of the evidence. Christian Gonzalez (CB, New England Patriots); Nico Collins (WR, Houston Texans); Justin Watson (WR, Houston Texans); Terrell Jennings (RB, New England Patriots); and Chicago Bears Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, and Defensive Lineman Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. It's painful to watch their pain. The blue tent can't hide it all.

Now consider "Invisible Wounds" of war. It's hard to ignore what Veterans know. 159,000 service member suicides since 9/11 "probably" have some connection to brain wounds. Correlation is not causation, but combat Veterans know what BLAST and IEDs and breeching and danger-close and friendly fire can do to physical and mental and moral health. How the accumulation of head-hits lead to the well known symptoms: fatigue, memory, headaches, sleeplessness, anger, pain, depression, and the myriad other felt effects of Operator Syndrome and polytrauma.

TreatNOW estimates 877,000+ brain wounds since 9/11 across all services. Those lucky enough to heal on their own know the toll it takes and how they wish they'd known about other ways to speed that healing up. And we all know some who couldn't take it any longer. And how many of us continue, either inside or outside the VA care, to wish for a cure, at least some way to get back to a more normal routine.

There is a way. Let's listen to some who have found that way back. Their stories and many more from EOD, SWCC, Marauders, Delta, National Guard can be found here.

SMMC Simon LeMay: "I came back broken. I went through suicidal times. We had tried everything : inpatient, drugs. I didn't realize how for so many years what I was doing to my family. I'd like to say that I made a complete change in the direction of my life toward the good."

SEAL Norman Moser: "I trained a guy. He won two best in Navy awards. Came back, stacked a bunch of books in his basement about brain injury and killed himself. He's just like so many hundreds of thousands out there who aren't getting diagnosed or treated properly. ... i went fruitbat crazy, woke up wanting to kill myself one night. I went to NICoE. There was no treatment. I fought suicidality. After HBOT at AVIV, I'm tremendously powerful again, better than I've been in 35 years."

Ranger Scotty Roessler: "Listen to a guy who has played Army since as far back as I can remember. 38 good friends of mine are dead....some are suicide. I wish those guys were still here. They'd go through this therapy and they'd still be alive for their families.

MOH Sammy "Forrest Gump" Davis: "It's amazing that it's repaired my mind, my body, by just lying in a chamber. At the very least I would like to have every Veteran able to do this." His wife, Dixie: "They called mild dementia, and they said there was no treatment. His kidneys and liver improved. They could save so much money putting the injured through HBOT."

Joe Namath: "I had a minimum of five concussions. A teammate of mine was so scared of what he was going through. His mind, he was losing it. I decided to see for myself. My SPECT scan showed that the whole side of my brain was not getting blood. I took 120 dives, and my brain is healthy. The dark spots are gone. Don't ell me it doesn't work."

SFC Wren Murray: "After the combat, I was a shell of who I wanted to be. After HBOT, I was feeling guilty. I knew there were other people like me hurting. Got a plan together, we're stepping in where others have failed.

BG Patt Maney: "I spent almost 20 months at Walter Reed. I was broken. My life was over. After about 20 dives, people started telling me about the major differences. I couldn't read, concentrate, sleep. HBOT made my wife's life better." offers a one-of-a-kind Program for SOF suffering polytrauma: TBI+PTSD+Depression. Aurelius integrates Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and Physical Training and life-style modalities in a daily protocol that is unique in the United States. Data are being collected with scientific rigor for publication. The treatments for qualifying SOF Veterans are 100% free including free lodging over the course of treatment. Full details at: https://myaurelius.org/contact-us/

Funded Programs in Kentucky and North Carolina 

Eric Koleda, HBOT4KYVETS:  https://hbot4kyvets.com/

HBOT for Heroes, EXTIVITA, Durham, NC:  https://hbot4heroes.org/

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from AHI, Burn Pits, and COVID. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

TreatNOW End-of-2025 Update

Failing to treat brain wounds can lead to degraded lives, escalating healthcare costs, depression, and suicide. Images of successes and the history of service member suicides and effects of negligence can be found here.

Press Release: Washington, DC  7 January 2026

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: DoD and the VA should immediately treat brain-wounded Service Members with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and other proven alternative therapies to stop the suicide and opioid overdose epidemics and bolster readiness imperiled by untreated brain wounds. The evidence of safety and efficacy is backed by over 28 clinical trials. Oversight of Veteran suicides seems to be left to family members, friends, some not-for-profits, and the media since Congress, the VA and DoD allow the carnage to continue.

1. TreatNOW has escalated Congressional legislative progress in 2025. Senate members have joined House members on pushing for the use of Hyperbaric Oxygenation to treat and heal brain injuries. Active Bills being considered are:

*H. R. 1336. Veterans National Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act. Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) (for himself, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Wittman, Ms. Malliotakis, Ms. Ross, Mr. Van Orden, and Mr. Biggs of Arizona) introduced February 13, 2025. It was voted out of the full Veterans Affairs Committee and sent to the floor for a House vote. It directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot program to furnish hyperbaric oxygen therapy to a veteran who has a traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.

*S.2737 - Veterans National Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act. Senator Tuberville (R-AL) Introduced in Senate (09/09/2025)  It would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to implement a pilot program to furnish hyperbaric oxygen therapy to certain veterans through community care providers, and for other purposes.

*S.862 - HBOT Access Act of 2025. Senator Tuberville (R-AL) Introduced in Senate (09/09/2025) It would amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish hyperbaric oxygen therapy to certain veterans with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.

*S.3130 - Veterans TBI Adaptive Care Opportunities Nationwide Act of 2025. Senators McCormick (R-PA) and Rosen (D-NV) introduced on November 6, 2025 a Bill instructing that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a grant program (to be known as the “TBI Innovation Grant Program”) to award grants to eligible entities for the development, implementation, and evaluation of approaches and methodologies for prospective randomized control trials for neurorehabilitation treatments for the treatment of chronic mild TBI (in this section referred to “mTBI”) in veterans. The emphasis shall be on designing and testing novel or integrative treatments for mTBI that prioritize patient-centered care, including non-pharmacological therapies.

*H. R. 72. TBI and PTSD Treatment Act. Mr. Biggs of Arizona (for himself, Mr. Crane, and Mr. Gosar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. The Bill would amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish hyperbaric oxygen therapy to veterans with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.

TreatNOW is calling for the following revisions and additions in all Bills that would call for revision of safety provisions and establish immediate funding of treatments of eligible Veterans while conducting research.

- Incorporation of the recommendations in CBO Cost Estimate Report, June 11, 2025. CBO estimates that roughly 6,000 veterans would participate in the program at an average cost of $27,000 for a course of 40 treatments. The bill would establish a fund to accept donations for the program; however, CBO anticipates that contributions would be minimal and would not significantly offset the costs of the program. In total, CBO estimates that the temporary program would cost $158 million over the three-year period. - Validation of “pay-fors” that would use already appropriated funds from Suicide Prevention set-asides and the use of MIPRs to move money into Community Care providers to pay for HBOT Invoices from hyperbaric treatment facilities treating service members. - We are in general support of these amendments proposed relative to safety: - Strengthen Regulatory Enforcement: Halt imports of unapproved pressure vessels and oxygen concentrators and investigate foreign distributors evading FDA oversight.  - Support compliance with ASME, NFPA, and FDA standards for all hyperbaric equipment. - Support Ethical and independent Research: Ensure studies are IRB-approved, transparent, and designed to produce publishable, peer-reviewed data. - Educate Stakeholders: Collaborate with manufacturers, HBOT associations, facilities, the ACHM, IHMF, AHI, IBUM and other foundations to educate veterans, providers, and the public about safe HBOT practices.  - NOTE: cf. American College of Hyperbaric Medicine (ACHM) Safety CAQ for definitive standards for Safety and Operations of HBOT facilities. - Ensure the VA informs Veterans about the availability of HBOT for TBI/PTSD as one of the treatments available to them. Lack of informed consent prevents Veterans from knowing about HBOT as a safe and effective treatment. This is equally true for Diabetic Foot Ulcers, an approved and insured Indication.

2.    For the last decade, TEN states have passed legislation calling for HBOT for TBI and/or PTSD: OK, TX, IN, AZ, KY, FL, NC, WY, MD, and VA. In 2025, THREE more states passed similar legislation: North Dakota (HCR 3011), Tennessee (HJR 0001), and Missouri (HB 262 spear headed by USAF Veteran Dale Lutzen)

3.    We have been helping craft legislation in TWELVE (12) additional states with anticipated action in 2026: Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan, Indiana (funding), New Jersey, Ohio, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma (funding), and Texas (funding) are active with HBOT legislation anticipated in 2026.

4.    SAFETY has been a major focus in 2025 due to the two deaths attributed to negligence leading to fires in Michigan and Arizona. In both cases, the accidents were preventable if proper safety procedures had been followed. Though no official reports have been published, Team member Tom Fox has issued an in-depth analysis based on his on-the-ground reporting sponsored by Shannon Kenitz of AHI and others.

5.    The American College of Hyperbaric Medicine has prepared a set of up-to-date Safety Documents that incorporate an independent, objective, scientific compendium of the best safety procedures followed worldwide. The ACHM has already begun initial accreditation and certification procedures for its members and is available for any clinic seeking the imprimatur of the ACHM.

6.    Once again, Veterans Service Organizations like the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Air Force Sergeants Association, Green Beret Foundation, and others have used language to Congress calling for the use of HBOT to help stop the service member suicide epidemic.

7.    We continued working relationships with the Wounded Warrior BATTALION/EAST at Camp Lejeune to treat brain wounded Marines before they are medically retired from service. To date, over two dozen Marines have participated and have shown significant medical success. We have been as successful with dozens of Special Operations Warriors on active duty: SEALs, Force Recon, EOD, Special Forces, Air Force FACs, and Rangers. Most have been able to stay on active duty, saving millions of dollars for each successful treatment. Importantly, SpecOps Warriors report the end of suicidal ideation, though many report suicidal ideation when they come to us. And we can’t forget the organizations that are donating to those treatments: Marines Helping Heroes Foundation and the Anne Arundel County Detachment of the MARINE CORPS LEAGUE; America’s Mighty Warriors; Grunt Style; the HOW Foundation; the 22Project; Stand for the Troops; the HUGS Project; KOTERRA; the Martin R. Hoffmann Fund; and the many Foundations affiliated with the 170+ TreatNOW Coalition clinics across the U.S.

8.    The University of South Florida in Tampa, led by HBOT expert and TreatNOW Team member Dr. Joseph diTuri, kicked off an RCT using HBOT for Veterans with TBI/PTSD. Using $28 Million provided by the Florida legislature, the goal of this blinded, adaptive, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial is to investigate the use of hyperbaric oxygen as a therapy to treat mild to moderate traumatic brain injury/concussion in Veterans and active-duty service military. For more information about this clinical trial, you can contact USF via email at: [email protected] or call at [phone].

9.    TreatNOW published 30 BLOGs in 2025 on topics as diverse as Suicide Prevention to a Letter to SEC VA Doug Collins with suggestions on how to immediately reverse the Suicide Epidemic.

10. TreatNOW Coalition HBOT clinics now total over 172. Since 2010, the Coalition has helped heal over 33,000 patients, among them over 12,500 Veterans, including over 750 Special Operators.

11. We have been tracking servicemember suicide numbers for over a decade. Since 9/11 we have lost an estimated 159,000 service members to suicide . Over the last decade, suicide prevention programs have cost taxpayers billions of dollars. And the suicide rate is increasing while the standard of care is piecemeal and episodic. We developed this chart to make the numbers come to life.

12.          Kentucky (5th state to legislate) expanded its statewide network of treatment hospital Wound Care Centers to five with four additional planned in 2026 with support of the $1.5 million in state treatment funds. Hospitals under contract to use their HBOT facilities to treat TBI is a first, thanks to the efforts of TreatNOW’s State Legislative director, Eric Koleda.

13.         A neuroscience team at the University of Pittsburgh, led by Drs. Pravat Mandal, PhD and neurosurgeon Joseph Maroon, MD, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, have demonstrated and published a deficiency of glutathione (GSH), the main antioxidant in the brain, in patients with Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson’s (PD). This supports oxidative stress as the progenitor in AD, PD and also, they believe, in traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES) from repetitive hits to the head. Supported by a grant from the Chuck Noll Foundation, they are enrolling former NFL players, Navy SEALs, Army Rangers and SWCC operators in an IRB approved study to scan non-invasively for glutathione deficiency and also assesses memory, neurocognition and the microbiome. If deficient in GSH as anticipated, participants will receive for the first time an oral over the counter supplement, gamma glutamyl cysteine (glyteine) for one year and then be re-evaluated with MRS and cognitive studies for improvement. This is a first in kind study.

14.         In 2025, Aviv Clinics in central Florida expanded its partnership with KOTERRA, a nonprofit dedicated to healing Veterans with brain injuries and related conditions. Through this collaboration, we were able to provide our three-month medical program at no charge to two Veterans in need, with the shared goal of serving many more in the future. Our commitment is to serving complex neurological conditions. AVIV is an independent clinic that primarily treats off-label conditions like TBI, PTSD, stroke, and long COVID.

15.         As part of building momentum, TreatNOW is encouraging all clinics to become Preferred Providers to their local VA so that they can be eligible for repayments on both on-label use of HBOT, and for hoped-for VA payment of Invoices for TBI/PTSD.

NEWS and MEDIA - Boy 5 dies in HBOT chamber fire at Michigan medical facility. And an HBOT clinic owner died in a chamber fire in Lake Havasu City, AZ. Both fires were due to negligence and safety violations. HBOT is one of the safest devices approved by the FDA for Indications like wound healing, burns, and diabetic foot ulcers. - Owing to legislation passed in Kentucky, hospital-based HBOT is now available for Veterans. the Jennie Stuart Medical Center is offering HBOT for TBI Veterans around Ft Campbell, Kentucky. For more information, call the JSH Wound Healing Center at 270- 886-6412 or HBOT4KYVETS at 502-938-1300. - Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a law establishing funding support to study and potentially expand HBOT access for veterans with PTSD and brain injuries, reflecting growing state interest in alternative veteran therapies. - In August 2025 the FDA issued a letter to health care providers urging safe use of HBOT devices and adherence to manufacturer instructions following reports of serious injuries and deaths tied to HBOT chamber fire. - September 30, 2025 The Philadelphia Flyers and NexGen Hyperbaric (“NexGen”), a leader in hyperbaric oxygen therapy (“HBOT”), today announced a partnership extension for the 2025–26 season. - CBS Sunday Morning aired a program on HBOT: Over 300 victims with at least PTSD from the October 7th Israeli attack are being treated with HBOT.

16.         Nov 7, 2025 Dr Paul Harch and John Salcedo Documentary, Undeniable Evidence: Clean Medicine, Dirty Politics: The Hyperbaric Institute released an award-winning documentary which asserts that the VA’s lack of coverage for HBOT contributes to veteran suicide rates — and calls for congressional review and legislative action.

[treatnow]

Dear VA Secretary Collins

"Are we going to just accept these conditions? Or are we going to do something about it?" Barbara Rose Johns

19 December 2025.

Dear Secretary Collins. You probably recognize the statues above: George Washington, an early Freedom Fighter; and Barbara Rose Johns, the recent addition to statuary hall. She stood up as a teenager and said "No" to segregation, and helped usher in another advance in an American culture born of freedom from "the way things are done." She refused to let the culture of segregation prevent her from equality spelled out by the actions of our first President. And she won. Cultures can shift.

We are appealing to you to change the culture at the VA from one of "brain wounds are a mental health issue" to one of: "brain wounds like TBI/PTSD/PCS/BLAST/Concussion must be treated like a wound and healed using modern, proven, scientifically validated alternative therapies."

Sir, you were sworn in as the 12th Secretary of Veterans Affairs on Feb. 5, 2025. On March 31st, you sat for an interview with Shawn Ryan. Seven minutes in, you said this: " So, here's my thought to everybody. We're not going to be your whipping post anymore. I'm going to tell you the truth and I'm going to give you the answers that we need to do and I'm going to take care of our veteran number one." While you didn't mention it then, you preside over the largest health care system in America -- nearly 480,000 employees -- whose #1 clinical priority is Suicide Prevention.

And yet, as you realize, with your budget of over $440 Billion and twenty years of experience, you cannot reverse the upward trend on Veteran Suicides, now close to your own estimates of 159,000 souls.

Former SEAL Ryan replied to you after your long discourse on the need to change the culture in the VA : "I got 100% . Yeah. I haven't stepped into a VA in almost 10 years because my experience has been just atrocious. It was "here's these pills. We can't see you." I mean . . . .I'm having doctors come to me. They don't even know what a Navy SEAL is. . . . They don't understand what combat is. My doctor shows up in a sweatsuit, barely even speaks any English. . . . my show, it started with all special ops combat veterans. And everybody has the same complaints and the same issues . . . .I am friends with the top war fighters on the planet. None of them have a good experience at the VA. None of them have anything positive to say about the VA. None of them trust the VA. And that's why I quit going. I mean, I have more friends that have died of suicide and drug addiction and depression and PTS and everybody's struggling with especially the special operations guys with the traumatic brain injuries and we just aren't getting any answers at all from the VA. . . . it's just created this distrust. . . . I get treated like when I go there. It's like I'm faking an injury or something. And so I just got to the point where I just threw my hands up and I was like, man, this. I'm not doing it. I will personally pay for my own health care on the civilian side which is much much better than anything I've ever had in the VA."

Daily news reveals your proposed plan for reorganizing the VA. Controversial? Sure. Necessary? Undoubtedly. Designed to actually get better care for brain wounds to Veterans? Silence. But your interviews and editorials keep coming back to all the progress being made and all the money you're redirecting to Veteran care. You told Shawn: "We spent $588 million on preventive supposed suicide. We spend $2.3 billion in what we'll call treatment of either the mental aspect, health aspect . . . . so $3 billion total roughly in suicide and our numbers are not changing."

At the risk of stating the obvious, stop throwing good money after bad. Redirect dollars to treatments. You can hire all the psychiatrists you can find and STILL not make a dent in the suicide numbers so long as you continue on the path you've been on for decades. Brain wounds are not primarily mental health problems. Brain wounds -- TBI/PTSD/PCS/BLAST/Concussion -- are wounds. They can be treated. The world outside the VA is treating them with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), doing the job your VA cannot and will not do.

We have offered to help the VA become heroes to Shawn Ryan and the SpecOps community, as well as DoD, Veterans, and citizens more broadly. We have helped heal brain wounds in over 12,500 Veterans, over 33,000 citizens. We have active programs with the Wounded Warrior Battalion/East at Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg, and in 13 states with legislation to use HBOT for TBI/PTSD. And we're doing it with donations and our pro bono efforts.

There is a culture in the VA -- particularly among discredited researchers and psychiatrists -- that HBOT does not work, is too expensive, risky, unproven, a distraction. Your website continues to advertise the top interventions that allegedly meet the test of "evidence-based medicine": Psychopharmacology; Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT); Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR); Prolonged Exposure/Trauma-Focused Psychotherapy. Mr. Secretary, none of these interventions is on-label. They all lack scientific validation as being safe and effective for treating and healing brain wounds. HBOT has more scientific validation proving safety and efficacy than all the interventions used in the VA.

We can help immediately. We already are, living up to the challenge you set in your confirmation and continuing media appearances: the Veteran must come first. We offer you the information and infrastructure you need to shift course; not to abandon all the rice bowls and equities that resist change. Keep hiring more mental health professionals. Continue to dispense billions of dollars on drugs. Let the failed policies continue until they die of their own accord. But with the hundreds of millions of dollars you've already identified as available through reprogramming, make an investment in healing Veterans, not just palliating them. I'm sure you understand why Shawn let you know why he's not going back to the VA. He and his battle buddies can get brain wound healing only outside the VA.

Mr Secretary, you know about "pay fors" and budget-neutral legislation. Bills in Congress now calling for using HBOT for TBI/PTSD all lack funding. The CBO Report on HR 1336 points to $158 Million available to treat 1000 Veterans. We applaud the Report but can treat nearly double that number and in far less than three years using the 170+ TreatNOW Coalition clinics available. Pressing DoD chambers into service can accelerate the healing. The cost to treat is not cheap, but compare it to the current path your Department is on. As we spell out in our book, Brain Drain, we can treat the 877,450 estimated brain-wounded Veterans for less than one-half of one percent of the costs to NOT treat those same suffering Veterans.

You wrote in the Washington Post that "VA’s EHR modernization effort is well on its way to improving the lives of millions of veterans across the country." An Electronic Health Record is designed to save time and money and to ease the burden on staff and patients. The VA's current iteration may save time, but it can't substitute good medicine for failed institutions that simply misconstrue the new science about brain wounds.

The GAO Report on December 12, 2025 summarized: "After three unsuccessful attempts over two decades, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) undertook a fourth effort in 2017—the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program—to modernize its legacy health information system. GAO has previously reported on the challenges VA has experienced with this effort. In these reports, GAO made 18 recommendations to improve cost estimating, schedule, program management, user adoption and satisfaction, and operational testing. GAO deemed 12 of these as priority recommendations because of their criticality to successful future deployments. VA has not yet fully implemented 16 of the 18 recommendations."

Originally estimated to cost ~$10Billion and be operational within 10 years (2028), the upgrade is now estimated to cost some where between $49.8 billion total lifecycle cost including long-term sustainment — far above the original ~$16 billion estimate. Delivery is expected by 2031. And, as I'm not sure you're aware, the terrific reliability scores you report -- "As of September, our EHR had a 96.68 percent incident-free rate over the prior 18 months" -- are due to the oversight, accountability, and enforcement during that 2-year hiatus.

We applaud your vow to not accept failed policies and structures and performance. We are 100% behind focus on healing Veterans and making their lives not just better, but improving their Quality of Life and that of their families. We can do that together through adding brain wound healing to the dialogue and standard of care the VA can provide with help from the Community. And we don't have to wait. We have already begun. Join us.

"Are we going to just accept these conditions? Or are we going to do something about it?"

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from AHI, Burn Pits, and COVID. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

Thank You for Your Sacrifice

What do the pictures have in common? The faces of brain injured Warriors and athletes who sacrificed, not just served. And too many dead with undiagnosed brain wounds.

We're twenty-four years out since 9/11. On the order of fifteen thousand Americans — roughly seven thousand U.S. service members and about eight thousand U.S. military contractors — have been killed in the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and related theaters, according to the best available research. Ten times that number are dead from suicide over the same period, and 877,000+ Veterans and millions of citizens suffer with untreated brain wounds.

A third of NFL players surveyed think they have CTE. While the total number of NFL players with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) isn't known, a landmark Boston University study found CTE in 91.7% (345 out of 376) of the brains from former NFL players studied, highlighting the disease's prevalence linked to repeated head impacts in football. With over 25,000 Veterans of the NFL, we're looking at many thousands of potentially undiagnosed CTE sufferers.

Not just football. Soccer, lacrosse, hockey, rugby, MMA, Volleyball, cheerleading, skiing. Any sport or activity where head injuries occur is a Petrie dish for concussion and potential progressive brain disease.

The Suicide Epidemic among service members and Veterans continues. Over 158,000 Veteran suicides since 9/11. Billions of dollars spent on Suicide Prevention programs, call centers, polls, data centers, conferences, research studies, White Papers, reorganizations, hotlines, cross-sector coordination and collaboration, "means restrictions" , outside consultants, videos, public service announcements, mental health support, "post-attempt care" and followup, more funding, and appeals for more "responsible reporting."

Five Bills in the Congress are awaiting votes in the House and Senate to get help to Veterans suffering brain wounds from TBI/PTSD. Over 66,000 organizations claim to be helping Veterans lead better lives offering hundreds of millions of pills, and billions of dollars on unproven, off-label interventions and drugs. Not even half of Veterans are enrolled in the VA. and long-term neurodegeneration → symptoms of and eventual discovery of CTE.

A line from Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is apropos: "You don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows."

We already know that wounding the brain causes damage that can lead to premature suffering and death. Twenty years of research into CTE and TBI and PTSD and BLAST injuries concur that banging your head hard enough to cause damage is tantamount to inflicting brain wounds. Nevertheless, current standards of care for these injuries does not include brain wound healing. But you can find billions of dollars for programs that don't work and research that focuses on amost anything except actually using proven means to heal those brain wounds and end the symptoms and continuing brain deterioration.

The five Bills in Congress mentioned above aim to upgrade and modernize how the DoD and VA conceive of and treat TBI/PTSD. All are directly or indirectly tied to the use of alternative therapies, especially Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT):

S.3130 - Veterans TBI Adaptive Care Opportunities Nationwide Act of 2025. S.2737 - Veterans National Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act. S.862 - HBOT Access Act of 2025. H. R. 1336 - Veterans National Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act. H. R. 72 - TBI and PTSD Treatment Act.

Congressional members are frustrated with a VA and DoD which continue to spend hundreds of millions on Suicide Prevention without bringing the suicide rate down. Further, they recognize the results of thirteen states that have already enacted and funded HBOT state legislation totaling more than $33 million: IN, KY, AZ, FL, NC, MD, VA, OK, TX, WY, TN, ND, and MO, with seven more states drafting Bills for the same purposes.

Those states recognize that:

- Veteran suicides increased from 2000-2024 (now over 157,000) and that they can interrupt that cycle. Annual reports on their programs prove the worth of treatment. - Veterans have been misdiagnosed or had their brain wounds ignored, and that Veterans and athletes with TBI are twice as likely to commit suicide. - Inadequate VA and the medical community standards of care palliate mental health symptoms with off-label non-FDA approved drugs and or counseling, with little to no appreciable effect on brain wound healing. - TBI is a physical brain wound, resulting in debilitating mental, physical, behavioral, moral, and psychological health symptoms. - Current VA treatment protocols to palliate TBI symptoms cost the US Government $118.1 billion annually, $4.7T over 40-year life span. Treatment with HBOT can be done for less than ½ of 1% of lifetime cost , while restoring a Quality of Life denied to Veterans on disability, drugs, and diminished ability to function without help. - 28 clinical trials and studies encapsulating 900+ Veterans demonstrating safety and efficacy since 2007. - Israeli Defense Forces and Ukraine, along with thousands of athletes worldwide use HBOT for TBI/PTSD, to retain military force levels, heal wounds of all kinds, and to ensure peak performance and resilience. - DoD could help meet requirements, military operational needs, and force readiness through immediate intervention with HBOT. They recognize that the 1990 Textbook of Military Medicine has approved HBOT for Blast Wave TBIs for 35-years. Over 12,500+ Veterans have been successfully treated, along with over 750 Special Operators. Successes are found in 100+ TBI Veteran video testimonials: lives restored and suicidal ideation eliminated. Heal Brains. Stop Suicides. Restore Lives. TreatNOW with HBOT

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from AHI, Burn Pits, and COVID. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

Koterra win a Thanksgiving gift to us all.

Reposted from Linkedin post from Patti B. of Koterra

Honored. Grateful. Humbled.

This weekend at the 1st Annual Koterra Golf Classic, I had the incredible

honor of receiving the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs Commander’s Award, presented by General James S. Hartsell, Executive Director of the FDVA.

This recognition is not about me — it is about the work, the mission, and the Veterans we are fighting for every single day at Koterra.

Our mission is simple: Heal the invisible wounds of TBI, PTS, and suicidal ideation through innovative, science-backed care — because our Veterans deserve nothing less.

To have General Hartsell stand with us, acknowledge our impact, and affirm publicly that “HBOT heals ” was a moment of validation for every family, every volunteer, every donor, and every Veteran who has walked through our doors searching for hope.

This award belongs to: Our Veterans, who show extraordinary courage in seeking healing Our Koterra team, whose heart and grit drive our mission forward Our volunteers, who give their time with love Our sponsors and partners, who make it possible to say “yes” to more Veterans And everyone who joined us at the golf classic to support this lifesaving work

This is just the beginning. We will keep pushing. We will keep healing. And we will not stop until every Veteran who needs help receives it.

[treatnow]

Veterans Brain Wound Awakening: Part 2

Veterans Day, 2025.

24 years since 9/11. Over 158,000 Veteran suicides since then, over twenty times the number of US service members killed in combat during that time. Billions spent on Suicide Prevention programs and still the numbers of Veterans dying by suicide climb upward.

Over 66,000 Veteran Service Organizations have sprung up since 9/11. No one can doubt the overwhelming resilience of most Veterans and the goodwill shown by foundations and volunteers, and billions of dollars of donated monies spent to restore normalcy to Veterans injured in war. No doubt the intentions of investigators on the DOD Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee meant well with their Report that encouraged "caring contacts" but said not a word about healing brain wounds. The entire tenor of the Report ignores any discussion about the physiological underpinnings of suicidal ideation. Suicide continues to be viewed as a problem fixable by more human contact, mental health programs, and psychiatric and drug interventions, not as a physiological condition brought about in any way by an untreated brain wound.

And, as one member of the Review Committee put it: "If there are 66,000 VSOs doing all this work, where is the VA in all this?" And what are any of them doing to get at healing brain wounds?

Part 1 contained a request to the Veterans Administration and DOD to restart a dialogue with the medical community about recent science and advances in brain wound diagnoses and healing. On this Veterans Day as the government reopens, it seems particularly appropriate that a collaborative effort by interested parties could lead to progress for Veterans suffering and dying from untreated brain wounds, TBI, PTSD, Blast, and Concussion.

It could also serve as the springboard to passing legislation that would fund treatments for TBI/PTSD.

The concept of "Brain Wounds" goes back centuries. Hippocrates and the Treatise On Wounds in the Head represents the first written work in medical history dealing exclusively with cranial trauma. Another history, the ancient Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus, (c. 17th century BCE), contains descriptions of head trauma and cranial injuries. Surely in over 3,725 years we know more than the ancients?

Suicide Prevention remains the VA's and DoD's #1 clinical priority. Despite a rise in the suicide rate, and absolute numbers, both the VA and DOD continue to resist facing and solving a central fact in the suicide epidemic: TBI/PTSD/Concussion/Blast/polytrauma are markers for suicide ideation and can, particularly in the case of combat veterans, be strongly correlated with brain wounding. And trying to "solve" the suicide epidemic with new video efforts on top of the failed standards of care is a fool's errand.

Consider: both the VA and DOD are hard over on lethal means safety (especially firearms), data-driven prevention, and community/peer outreach. The VA initiated PSAs, some created by Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow. They created the REACH program and annually sponsor and fund Suicide Prevention strategy sessions. No one wants to argue with proven therapies or organizational solutions, but Veterans are not seeing progress. More and more avoid the VA except for services and benefits demanded by law and proven by recorded success. But what we find are not successes but increased deaths by suicide and continued VA repetition of outdated claims and hiding behind disproved "science."

Strong emphasis is being put on Community/Peer Outreach. Recall in Part 1 of Brain Wound Awakening, we talked about formulas for dealing with seemingly intractable conflict. Effective negotiators unite empathy and principle. They expand the conversation and the possibilities. To create peace and make progress, it is imperative to uncover deeper human needs and uphold shared values. Shared Values lead to shared ideas about reality, and how to change it.

Veterans of combat, active and retired, share common traits and needs with respect to brain wounds. Active duty tend to ignore and hide debilitating injuries like "invisible wounds." Thus, their medical records show no injuries. As recent reporting shows, disability claims are rising. Lost in the paperwork are combat veterans who hid their injuries until after retirement. Lacking documentation in their medical records, they can game the system on the margins when treatment is refused. But in our experience, the vast majority of brain wounded Veterans don't cheat, but they are treated as "mental health" patients and their protocols are palliative. That is, they never are properly diagnosed, and they cannot receive a proven treatment for their brain wounds. Frustration exacerbates their symptoms. Neglect means they never hear about the help available outside the VA.

What a growing number of "alternative therapy" researchers and practitioners are seeking is a level playing field, an opportunity to have an honest conversation with DOD and the VA about proven science. Also, trained and medically certified experts in Integrated and Functional Medicine practitioners, in concert with the growing field of alternative medicine, are intent on an open discussion about the slow-rolling going on with respect to current standards of care that ignore science and worldwide proofs about the use of hyperbaric medicine and other therapies to virtually eliminate suicide ideation while healing the wound to the brain.

Congress is going to come back into session, and we need to be ready with positive and negotiated answers to questions that will reduce suicides and transform medical practice regarding brain wound healing. Secretary Collins can turn his Department into heroes for the 870,000 pus Veterans suffering from brain wounds, as well as the millions of other Americans afflicted with brain wounds from falls, sports accidents, assaults, car accidents, stroke, and neurological disorders. Thirteen states have already registered their intent to do the job that the VA is chartered but unwilling to do: heal the wounds of war. One would think that the new Department of War would take a lesson from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians about their responsibility toward casualties of war.

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Administration officials have an opportunity on Tuesday, November 18th at the National Press Club in Washington to view a compelling award-winning film and engage in dialogue with experts on the science and practice of healing brain wounds.

Award-Winning Documentary Calls for Policy Change – "It's deadlier for a soldier to come home from war than it is to go to combat."

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hyperbaric Institute announces an award-winning documentary screening at the National Press Club in Washington, DC next week. Using evidence-based storytelling, the film exposes a preventable crisis: why hyperbaric oxygen therapy—despite showing promising results in published research—remains unavailable to veterans through VA coverage.

Undeniable Evidence: Clean Medicine. Dirty Politics won Best Documentary at the Syracuse International Film Festival and is nominated for Best Documentary at the MV Shorts LA Film Festival. The film documents the gap between clinical research and Department of Defense policy on HBOT for the conditions underlying the veteran suicide epidemic.

EVENT DETAILS:

National Press Club 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20045

November 18, 2025 | Doors open 6:00 PM | Screening 7:00 PM

RSVP: [email protected]

Contact: The Hyperbaric Institute | John Salcedo | [email protected]

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from AHI, Burn Pits, and COVID. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD. For a video Summary, see: https://www.youtube.com/@treatnowdotorg/videos  

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.

[treatnow]

Weaponization of Science: Winning the War for Truth

REPRINT of a Substack Posting by Dr Xavier Figueroa, a Treat NOW Team Fellow

Science, Engineering and Medicine journals need to figure out if they are in the business of publishing about reality or publishing what is acceptable to funders, members and industry agendas.

Xavier Figueroa (POST 62) Oct 27, 2025

Dr. James Lyons-Weiler was recently interviewed on Steve Bannon’s War Room. See: https://rumble.com/embed/v6yfb90/?pub=foqnp

The interview looked at the epidemic of fraud and bias that is built into the American system of public health, publicly funded research and what is allowed to be disseminated in academic/industry journals.

The discussion was broad and targeting the massive fraud that is embedded into all aspects of research in academia, industry and government.

Fortunately, the HHS Secretary is a new force within the Trump administration, demanding that a level and non-biased playing field be applied.

During the interview, Dr. James Lyons-Weiler pointed out to Bannon that there was a list of 28 journals that were identified for investigation by the DOJ. During the last 5 years, many peer-reviewed and accepted publications were retracted by the editors or the journals, against COPE standards of scientific publishing. There was nothing incorrect or fraudulent in the publications…someone didn’t want that information out there.

These retractions occurred over subject matters reported in articles and manuscripts that ran counter to CDC and federal policies on COVID and public health programs. The COPE standards are guidelines that journals agree to abide by, in order to adhere to publication standards to avoid bias, conflict of interest and censorship. In the 28 identified instances, there is evidence that the decisions to retract the papers ran counter to COPE standards. Seemingly arbitrary and opaque reasons were given (or not) for removing the articles. This is censorship and fraud by journals that rely on NIH and NSF funding (you, the taxpayer) for publication fees.

I’m ready to add another journal to the mix that is acting in the same manner as the other 28 journals.

The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS)

The UHMS is a medical society that grants accreditation to a few facilities and is one of many organizations that regulate the training of physicians in the application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Currently, the UHMS has 15 approved indications. The majority of these indications are for relatively rare conditions that have few, if any, clinical trials to support efficacy effects for their coverage. Yet, due to UHMS recommendations, the FDA and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) support and reimburse only these small number of conditions.

As many of my readers know from past posts, HBOT has a well-established record for improving symptoms and neurocognitive deficits from mild traumatic brain injuries, including cerebral palsy. Yet, UHMS has resisted and actively interfered with researchers and clinicians from expanding indications into areas with larger populations of affected individuals, namely veterans with mTBI and PTSD. The resistance stems from conflicts of interest and a history of arbitrary control over hyperbaric medicine. In 2023, the organization redefined HBOT as requiring treatment at ≥2.0 ATA with >99% oxygen—a convenience that excludes and muddies the water on nearly all positive mTBI/PPCS and CP studies, which typically use lower pressures or oxygen levels.

A hyperbaric treatment, which is defined by UHMS (which has changed repeatedly since 1986) is arbitrarily defined and contradicts FDA guidance, which recognizes HBOT as a dual-component therapy of pressure and oxygen. Research shows biological and neurological effects beginning at pressures as low as 1.1 ATA, well below the UHMS threshold for what it recognizes as a therapeutic threshold (again, the UHMS asserts a number with no empirical or theoretical evidence - it is merely their opinion, which flies in the face of the laws of biology and physics).

The resistance by the UHMS has kept millions of Americans in a state of chronic illness with mTBI/PPCS, contributing to a mounting suicide rate in our nation’s veteran population. HBOT (as defined by biology and physics, not UHMS) has demonstrated the ability to reduce PTSD symptoms, reduce/eliminate the need for anti-depressants/drugs, and restore functionality to affected persons. Yet, as the budget for ineffective and expensive interventions and programs grows (see chart below), results only grow worse.

The actual Veteran suicide totals are reflected in this chart, derived from data provided by the VA to Cong. Greg Murph, MD (R-NC) under FOIA.

The number of suicides now exceed 153,000 since 9/11, over 17 Veteran suicides every day for 24 years. Chart from TreatNow.org

How does this relate to the weaponization of scientific publishing?

Well, as I posted earlier with Dr. Skidmore, Dr. Lyons-Weiler, Dr. Thomas, Dr. Rose and Dr. McCullough, publishers are making unilateral decisions to retract papers. The publishers are not acting in good-faith and in a transparent and fair fashion to the researchers that have done the yeoman’s work to inform the public. There is certain information that is viewed as too outside the Overton Window, to be allowed out in the open.

Too bad this is science and not politics - with politics you would expect this level of underhanded, power-seeking behavior. With science, this is never acceptable.

In the case of Dr. Daphne Denham’s work, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical journal appears to have violated both COPE and their own standards of editorial review - and the lack of publicly available documentation of the process is worrying.

The pattern of behavior that I’ve experienced and recorded in the hyperbaric medical and research community is perplexing. The DoW (formerly the DoD) has repeatedly worked with Institute of Medicine (IoM) to play down the ability of HBOT to effectively reverse and repair neurological tissue damage. All the animal models and clinical trials demonstrate definitive proof of effectiveness and improvement.

The repeated attempts to shut down HBOT use in active service members and veterans with mTBI/PPCS (with or without PTSD) is well-documented (see Post 37 I and Post 37 II). The UHMS’s lack of support to push for an indication that will have TREMENDOUS health benefits, reduce health care costs and bring more business to hyperbaric facilities and practitioners, is worrying. They wander further and further from their avowed Mission to support science.

The fact that Dr. Denham’s paper demonstrates that HBOT can be used to cut short recovery time and protect brain injured children and young adults, should be shouted from the rooftops. The fact that a medical society that specializes in HBOT is trying to silence a dues paying member and keep critical data suppressed (remember, the threat of retraction was initially coupled to keeping the copyright and stopping any future attempts of publishing the data) is worthy of a much deeper and prolonged investigation in this matter.

At some point, trying to keep this information suppressed enters into the realm of malpractice, potentially RICO and a national security breach due to sabotage of the health care system. If I were the UHM journal, I would be convening an internal committee to review policies and practices in publication and policy training manuals for the editors. The DOJ doesn’t generally look the other way on potential RICO issues…unless there is involvement of intelligence assets.

I hope that Jack has added another journal for investigation.

On A Lighter and More Hopeful Note

In an earlier post, I wrote about a documentary on HBOT and Veterans.

That documentary recently won an award in Syracuse, NY. It will be coming to DC for a free viewing on Veterans Day.

Dr. Harch had a brief message and request for Secretary Kennedy: View it here:

UNDENIABLE EVIDENCE: "Clean Medicine, Dirty Politics"

https://youtu.be/I78A6mGDKV0?si=bmhY9ll5XvTDfA8W

Stay Frosty. Tell A Friend. Fight, fight, fight, fight. Pray, pray, pray, pray.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made