Troops who suffer severe losses to their genitourinary organs (genitals) are now eligible for Servicemembers Group Life Insurance Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI) payments of $50,000, according to an announcement today by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and reported by The Marine Corps Times.
The prevalence of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Afghanistan War has lead to a dramatic rise in genitourinary organ injuries. As the Washington Post reported back in August:
From 2009 to 2010, the proportion of injured troops suffering wounds to their genital areas rose from 4.8 to 9.1 percent — a 90 percent increase — according to a report by a group of surgeons who studied casualties at the main U.S. military medical facility in Germany, where virtually every evacuated soldier stops en route to the United States.
Of the 142 soldiers with “genitourinary wounds” who arrived at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in 2010, 40 percent suffered an injury to the testicles.
For women..
[P]ayment is provided for the anatomical loss of the vulva, the uterus or vaginal canal, or an ovary. Payment also is available for the permanent loss of use of the vulva or vaginal canal or the permanent loss of use of both ovaries.
