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INFORMATION REGARDING THE LEGISLATION DIRECTING THE STUDY
S.3023 VETERANS’ BENEFITS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008
Section 804. National Academies study on risk of developing multiple sclerosis as a result of certain service in the Persian Gulf War and Post 9/11 Global Operations
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall enter into a contract with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies to conduct a comprehensive epidemiological study for purposes of identifying any increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis as a result of service in the Armed Forces during the Persian Gulf War in the Southwest Asia theater of operations or in the Post 9/11 Global Operations theaters.
(b) ELEMENTS.—In conducting the study required under subsection (a), the Institute of Medicine shall do the following:
(1) Determine whether service in the Armed Forces during the Persian Gulf War in the Southwest Asia theater of operations, or in the Post 9/11 Global Operations theaters, increased the risk of developing multiple sclerosis.
(2) Identify the incidence and prevalence of diagnosed neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and brain cancers, as well as central nervous system abnormalities that are difficult to precisely diagnose, in each group as follows:
(A) Members of the Armed Forces who served during the Persian Gulf War in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.
(B) Members of the Armed Forces who served in the Post 9/11 Global Operations theaters.
(C) A non-deployed comparison group for those who served in the Persian Gulf War in the Southwest Asia theater of operations and the Post 9/11 Global Operations theaters.
(3) Compare the incidence and prevalence of the named diagnosed neurological diseases and undiagnosed central nervous system abnormalities among veterans who served during the Persian Gulf War in the Southwest Asia theater of operations, or in the Post 9/11 Global Operations theaters, in various locations during such periods, as determined by the Institute of Medicine.
(4) Collect information on risk factors, such as pesticide and other toxic exposures, to which veterans were exposed while serving during the Persian Gulf War in the Southwest Asia theater of operations or the Post 9/11 Global Operations theaters, or thereafter.
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