Big changes in treating wounded troops delayed

A special task force charged by Congress with proposing widespread changes in the way the United States treats its sick and wounded military members on Tuesday delayed discussing the most substantive reforms until next year.

The Recovering Warrior Task Force began voting on 37 findings and recommendations that could impact special treatment wards for military patients, the majority of whom are nearly 10,000 Army soldiers in 38 Warrior Transition Units nationwide and in Europe....

"Part of the problem has been a lack of data. The one thing that is very good about this group is that we want to carefully base our decisions on evidence," Suzanne Crockett-Jones, task force co-chair and the wife of a severely wounded soldier, told the Tribune-Review.

"Sometimes, the data weren't being kept. Other times, they collected the data but the programs were new, and we don't want to recommend changes before we see how the programs will work out. I wish that we could move faster, too, but I want us to do quality work."