Policy Corner: October 8, 2021

Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Domestic Violence

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on “Renewing and Strengthening the Violence Against Women Act” earlier this week. Lisa O. Monaco, Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice (DOJ), was the only person testifying and explained how programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) are carried out by the DOJ. The House of Representatives passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2021, H.R. 1620, March 17, 2021. This month is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and President Biden issued a proclamation September 30 calling attention to the problem and the need for solutions. Many individuals who experience domestic or intimate partner violence also sustain a brain injury as the result. Click here to learn more about the link between brain injury and domestic violence.

BIAA Supports the BRAIN Act to Create a Neuroscience Center at the FDA

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has signed on to the American Brain Coalition (ABC) letter in support of “Bringing Regulatory Advances into Neuroscience Act of 2021” or the “BRAIN Act of 2021,” H.R. 5435, sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.). The legislation would establish a Neuroscience Center of Excellence (NCOE) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and help speed the delivery of safe and effective treatments for brain diseases, disorders, and injuries to individuals who need them. The purpose of the NCOE is to spur innovation and investment in the study, creation, and regulation of brain-focused therapies in order to bring the right treatments and cures to patients. Congressional Brain Injury Task Force Co-chairs, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Don Bacon (R-Nebr.) are co-sponsors of the bill.

Lawmakers Offer Resolutions for Concussion Awareness Day

Although Sept. 17 has come and gone, lawmakers were able to introduce resolutions to commemorate the day as National Concussion Awareness Day. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) introduced S. Res. 369 in the Senate, which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) introduced H. Res. 654, which was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. BIAA joined Brooke Mills, brain injury survivor and founder of National Concussion Awareness Day, to raise awareness of concussion. Between 2010 and 2016, an estimated 2 million children under the age of 18 visited an emergency department because of a TBI sustained during sports – or recreation-related activities. The resolutions commend organizations and individuals that raise awareness.

Sen. Durbin Introduces Bill to Preserve Access to Rehabilitation Innovation Centers

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced the Dr. Joanne Smith Memorial Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2021, S.2834, to preserve access to rehabilitation innovation centers under the Medicare program. A facility is classified as a rehabilitation facility under the Inpatient Rehabilitation Prospective Payment System or holds at least one federal rehabilitation research and training designation for a research project on traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. The legislation instructs the Health and Human Services Secretary to make publicly available on its website a list of all rehabilitation innovation centers and to disseminate research, best practices, and other clinical information identified or developed by such rehabilitation innovation centers to, as appropriate, federal agencies, hospitals, health professional organizations, and national and state accreditation bodies.

BIAA gratefully acknowledges the Centre for Neuro Skills and Avanir Pharmaceuticals for their support for legislative action. Click here to read past issues of Policy Corner.