Neurology Reviews - April 2014

WASHINGTON, DC—The Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy (AHDA) is talking to legislators to stress the need for more research that ultimately could benefit patients. Members of the organization are following up with 132 lawmakers whom they visited on Capitol Hill on February 11, 2014. Approximately 85 people, including neurologists and advocates for patients with cluster headache and migraine, took part in this annual event known as Headache on the Hill.

The AHDA went to Washington this year with three
goals. The first was to ensure that the NIH includes at
least three members with expertise in headache on a per-
manent peer review study section panel that reviews grant
proposals for headache research. The second goal was to
persuade the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
to reimburse patients who receive oxygen as a treatment
for cluster headache. The AHDA’s final goal was for the
Senate to make research on chronic migraine and post-
concussive headache eligible for federal funding from the
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.
Previous visits to Capitol Hill have resulted in several
accomplishments, said William Young, MD, Professor
of Neurology at Thomas Jefferson University in Phila-
delphia and a member of the AHDA’s executive com-
mittee. At the group’s urging, NIH began tracking its
funding of migraine and headache research, Dr. Young
told Neurology Reviews. On five occasions, the AHDA
persuaded Congress to include report language in the
congressional record that supported increasing NIH
funding for research on headache disorders.
Members of the AHDA include professional organiza-
tions such as the American Academy of Neurology, the