Sometimes, making a mistake teaches an invaluable lesson.  And so it is with the loophole in Nebraska’s “safe haven” law, a statute that allows parents to drop off children at hospital emergency rooms if they are unable to care for them.  The trouble is, Nebraska lawmakers neglected to define “child.”  So far, 34 children, some of them as old as 17, have been dropped off, including two teenagers just last Thursday. 

A special legislative session is underway in Nebraska to fix the law.  While different bills have been offered, the legislature will probably end up defining a “child” as one year of age or under.

Fixing the safe haven law, however, won’t fix the problem that the mistake in Nebraska has uncovered.  Many parents there—and across the nation—feel utterly unable to parent effectively and are looking for a way out.

It would be easy to demonize parents who bring a 5 or 13 or 17-year-old son or daughter to the hospital and say goodbye, but I don’t presume that all or most of these parents are unfeeling monsters looking to shirk responsibility and lay it at the doorstep of government.  And even for the percentage of parents who are that disordered in their characters, I wouldn’t want their children to remain in their custody, anyhow.

The real problem isn’t the Nebraska loophole, it’s the lack of available guidance and services for parents who are dealing with children and adolescents more prone than ever to use alcohol and illicit drugs, fall victim to psychiatric disorders like Attention Deficit Disorder and Bipolar Disorder and even succumb to joining gangs (which are now invading the suburbs, not just confined to urban centers).   The story of a Florida man driving all the way to Nebraska to drop off his 11-year-old boy is a story of desperation, not depravity.

I’ve always believed that we end up paying exponentially, in the long run, for underestimating how many American families are in crisis, without parents who can properly direct, discipline and nurture their kids.  Now, we have a little window, thanks to Nebraska, on the intensity of the trouble in some families, though still no insight into the real number of such families.

What is called for is a system of graduated aid to families in psychological distress.  This has to begin with case finding—perhaps through the schools—and continue through a spectrum of services, including parenting courses, child counseling and medication clinics, respite services and, yes, beefed up options for good foster care and adoption.

Here’s something to think about:  I recently referred a Massachusetts girl to a local child psychiatrist for help with symptoms that were overwhelming her parents and her school system.  Until she used my name to move up on the waiting list, she was given an appointment four months down the road.  And that’s Massachusetts, comparatively rich in medical resources.  According to Time magazine, Nebraska has a grand total of six child psychiatrists in the entire state.

So many in Congress are all about bailing out the auto industry and the banking industry and the mortgage industry and maybe a few cities along the way, moves that will ultimately weaken the marrow of our economy, upon which rests the hope for renewed ideas and approaches to real economic growth.  Some of their energy would be better spent bailing out emotionally overwhelmed American families, upon whose children’s shoulders rests the future.

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com or e-mail him at info@keithablow.com.

Conventional wisdom has always been that Emergency Rooms are stuffed to overflowing by the uninsured. Without a regular doctor to go to, most health experts say, those without health insurance have little choice but to flock to the ER with the slightest sniffle or fever. An ER visit is quite expensive, but how many of the uninsured end up either receiving or paying these bills?     

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the number of visits to emergency rooms nationally rose 19% from 1995 to 2005, even as the number of hospital ERs fell by 9%, most experts continued to believe that it was the uninsured who were clogging the shrinking ERs. As hospitals relocate to the suburbs, a growing trend, they would likely be dealing with a growing number of insured patients, potentially leaving behind the uninsured blocking their ambulance bays with minor complaints.

Is conventional wisdom correct? Apparently not.

A new study published in JAMA this past week has suddenly called the conventional wisdom into question. The study reviewed 127 articles from 1950 to 2008 and determined that “available data do not support assumptions that uninsured patients are a primary cause of ED overcrowding, present with less acute conditions than insured patients,or seek ED care primarily for convenience.”   

According to this study, uninsured patients are far less likely to visit the ER for non-urgent care than insured patients. 17% of Americans are uninsured, but they account for only 10-15% of ER visits.

What are the likely reasons for this trend?

* Today’s managed care type of health insurance doesn’t give you instant access to your physician for minor problems. There are fewer primary care doctors these days. Unable to get an appointment or timely visit, you may turn to the ER.
* Whereas the uninsured could get hit with a large bill contrary to popular wisdom, on the other hand, an insured patient will only have to deal with the co-pay.
* Uninsured patients may not be in the habit of seeking medical care for minor complaints, whereas health insurance without deductibles may encourage or support hypochondria, or worry that leads to an ER visit.
* Laws keep the ER from turning you away, so if you have insurance, you will be seen and you won’t have to pay for it.

Dr. Marc Siegel is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a FOX News Medical Contributor and writes a health column for LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of “False Alarm: the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear” and “Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic”. Read more at www.doctorsiegel.com

As the Gulf Coast braced itself on Labor Day in preparation for Hurricane Gustav to hit Louisiana, Fox News anchors were filing compelling reports from New Orleans. Trace Gallagher made the point that after what happened with Hurricane Katrina, people were well advised to follow evacuation orders and get in their cars and go.

But as more than 2 million people left New Orleans and vicinity, it was speculation that this new hurricane was going to cause significant damage - before the fact.  It was also not surprising that despite all the buildup, the storm itself was weakening as it reached land. And as I’ve written about in my 2005 book, False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear, excess worry about potential dangers can cause harm even if the disasters never occur.  For one thing, people rushing to safety can get injured on the way. For another, too much attention and concern about worst case scenarios can create a boy-who-cried-wolf mindset that creates a slower response the next time around. (In fact, the inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina was due, at least in part, to previously overhyped hurricane warnings that caused people not to take the Katrina warnings seriously enough).

So how should we prepare for potential disasters if our system of risk assessment and the media reports that inform them are often premature or inaccurate? Though it is often better to overreact rather then underreact, it is at least as important to stay calm, and to have a generic plan for disaster response that is useful for all disasters.

Here are some useful tips:

*       Don’t overreact. If you make calm rational decisions you are far less likely to be hurt and your response is far more likely to be effective.
*       It is always wise to keep a 3-month supply of your medications on hand. The majority of our medications come from other countries and these supplies might be interrupted during a national emergency.
*       Keeping a several weeks-worth emergency supply of food and water is also wise, but it is not necessary to prepare your stash with an exact kind of disaster in mind. An electrical blackout is far more likely than a hurricane or earthquake, but you can prepare similarly for both.
*       Hospitals have limited surge capacities for disasters. Medical care should be planned without assuming quick access to emergency services.
*       Have a personal evacuation and communication plan in place for you and your close relatives. How will you reach people if cell phones aren’t working?  Where will you go if there is an advisory to leave your home?

Dr. Marc Siegel is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a FOX News Medical Contributor and writes a health column for LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of “False Alarm: the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear” and “Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic”. Read more at www.doctorsiegel.com

It was an unhappy Mother’s Day for Arlene Lendor, who spent Sunday afternoon in the hospital with her 7-year-old daughter Hanna.

For more than two years, Hanna has suffered from pain, shortness of breath and headaches.

Despite numerous tests, doctors are unable to determine what the cause of her illness is, much less give it a name, reports The Trinidad & Tobago Express.

A woman who may have spent nearly two years in a bathroom, sitting on the toilet so long that the seat adhered to sores on her body, remains hospitalized and in pain from medical procedures, family members said Wednesday.

Pam Babcock, 35, was found stuck to the toilet in late February after her boyfriend, Kory McFarren, 37, called authorities to say something was wrong with her. Police believe she sat on the toilet for about a month.

“Her wounds are still serious. … She is not out of the woods by any means. She is a very sick girl,” said Babcock’s aunt, Pat Bollinger.