U.S. Congressman John Boozman 3rd District of Arkansas

Congressman Boozman and AOA members and Doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Picture courtesy of AOA

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Washington, May 19, 2008 -

U.S. Representative John Boozman (R-AR) today toured Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. to see the care and treatments wounded soldiers facing combat-related eye trauma and vision damage associated with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) undergo.

Incoming American Optometric Association (AOA) President Peter H. Kehoe, O.D. and other optometry doctors met with officials from the Department of Defense and soldiers hospitalized with TBI related injuries.

“More soldiers are returning home with Traumatic Brain Injuries in part because of the advancements in protective gear they wear in the field. Now we need to take steps to ensure those soldiers are getting the best care possible,” Boozman said.

Boozman, an optometrist co-founded Boozman-Hof Regional Eye Clinic in Rogers in 1977. As a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee he’s been a champion for eye care for U.S. soldiers. In 2007 he authored the Military Eye Trauma Treatment Act which creates a Center of Excellence within the Department of Defense specifically devoted to the prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, treatment and rehabilitation of military eye injuries.

By some estimates, more than half of all service personnel wounded as a result of blast exposure in Iraq have sustained a TBI. Walter Reed staff has adapted its care to help soldiers who come to the hospital with TBI with new tests, treatments and rehabilitation programs.

“We need to do whatever it takes to care for our brave men and women who are injured while serving our country,” Boozman said. “Providing more resources for effective treatment for TBI including eye trauma is critical to the continuing care and overall recovery of our soldiers.”