In the opening session of the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) Annual Meeting, former  Congressman Patrick Kennedy and General Peter Chiarelli U.S. Army (Ret.) called for equal treatment of conditions impacting the brain, including post-traumatic  stress disorders, autism and addictions. As the author of the Mental Health Parity Act, Kennedy stated that there continues to be a stigma regarding the treatment of “brain based” illnesses and called for all patients to receive “check ups from the neck up” when they receive check ups from their physicians.  Chiarelli echoed those comments stating that the brain is the last frontier and that the U.S. health care system needs to find a way to work together to find answers on issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder that impacts both military and civilians in the U.S.   Both men called on the lawyers in the AHLA to assist with this process.