ND legislature's interim health committee looks to redefine brain injury

The state legislature's interim health committee is looking at a draft bill that would change the definition of a brain injury.

According to state law, damage caused by a stroke or aneurysm is not considered a brain injury, which can limit the medical or financial aid that patients receive.

Changing the language could include such situations.

"Maybe it's minor, maybe it's major, and depending on how that brain injury happened shouldn't matter. You've got a brain injury, you've got a brain injury. If you have a stroke, car accident, sports accident, aneurysm, there's something wrong with your brain and you need assistance putting your life back together," said Shannon Binstock, brain injury survivor.

The Brain Injury Network and the American Heart Association brought the draft bill forward.