ICYMI: Rep. Scott Perry is a relentless fighter for our veterans
Republican Rep. Scott Perry has always been a relentless fighter for veterans across our country.
In a recent op-ed, he highlights the importance of his bipartisan bill – the Treatment and Relief through Emerging and Accessible Therapy (TREAT) PTSD Act – which saves veterans’ lives by expanding access to the lifesaving Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) therapy.
This treatment helps veterans struggling with PTSD, and Rep. Perry shares that he witnessed a young veteran receive it after attempting suicide, and he “described it, through tears, ‘…like the curtains opened, and I’m seeing the color of trees and hearing birds chirp for the first time in years.'”
Read the full op-ed here or excerpts below:
A veteran is depending on your help, please respond | Opinion
Rep. Scott Perry
PennLive
June 18, 2025
June is National PTSD Awareness Month, which sadly brings to light that, each day, nearly two dozen veterans take their own lives. America will lose 600 of her finest this month alone. This is unacceptable – and preventable.
One such preventative is a very successful and time-tested PTSD treatment that’s still too unknown, underutilized, un-recommended, and under-prescribed. As such, I’m once again reintroducing my bill to expand access to it.
My “Treatment and Relief through Emerging and Accessible Therapy (TREAT) PTSD Act,” is a bipartisan-supported bill aimed at expanding access to Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) therapy, which can – and does – save lives.
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While the VA endorses SGB as “safe and ethical,” only 11 out of 170 VA facilities use it. But even in those, a veteran must fail traditional treatments before being considered for SGB. That’s a luxury of time that veterans suffering with PTSD simply don’t have, and the most critical period to prevent them from choosing the path ending in suicide.
SGB has an efficacy rate of 85%, and is a fraction of the cost of other treatments far less effective. Many veterans undergoing SGB therapy report near-immediate improvements after only one or two treatments. I personally watched one young combat infantryman receive it, after recently trying to kill himself.
Immediately after the procedure, he described it, through tears, “…like the curtains opened, and I’m seeing the color of trees and hearing birds chirp for the first time in years.”
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PTSD isn’t a one-size-fits-all condition, and our policies shouldn’t reflect such. If something can bring real relief – and studies prove that SGB can – there’s no excuse for withholding it, and certainly no excuse for not recommending it at the outset.
As a combat veteran, I’ve known far too many friends and fellow troops who’ve come home only to find that the war came home with them. Our nation has an obligation to care for our veterans and service members – those who risk(ed) everything to protect our freedoms and American way of life.
This June, as we remember those battling PTSD, let’s match our gratitude with action. We owe our Veterans the dignity of real options, timely care, and every possible chance to recover.
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