Veteran Eric Koleda with the TreatNOW Coalition has updated and (re)released, The Veteran Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) Epidemic: A U.S. Department of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Services Review.
His analysis of recent data acquired from a Congressional office provided by the Deputy Under Secretary of Health for the VHA, Dr. Steven Lieberman, indicates 796,340 Veterans have died from Lower Limb Amputations (LLA) resulting from Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU) in the past 22-years. This is more than all the Veterans Killed in Action in all the U.S. Wars (623,982) since the start of World War I. The current VHA DFU Lower Limb Amputations (LLA) Veteran mortality rate is 64-71 percent within 3-years post-LLA surgery.
Glenn Butler, Founder and CEO of Life Support Technologies Group in New York, who operates a network of twelve New York Tri-State Hospital-based Wound Care and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Services participating in the VA Community Care Provider Network.
Glenn shared, “We have been available to accept referrals for HBOT from the New York Manhattan, Bronx and Northport VA Medical Centers for many years and have only seen a few family or self-referred Diabetic Veteran’s requesting advanced care in one of our hospital-based Diabetic Limb Salvage Programs. These services provide aggressive evaluation, vascular surgical intervention, wound care and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy per CMS Medicare, FDA, Tricare, and VA guidelines.” READ MORE...