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Troubled Kids Wait a Half-Day — Or More — In ER To Get Mental Health Care

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Troubled children and teenagers are languishing hours in chaotic hospital emergency rooms, waiting for a psychiatric bed to open, a new study says. About 1 in 3 kids who go to an emergency room (ER) amid a mental health crisis wait at least 12 hours to be transferred to psychiatric care, researchers report in the August 2025 issue of the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open. Further, more than 1 in 8 wait more than 24 hours before they are sent on to treatment, researchers found. “Our study underscores significant issues with access to mental health care for children and adolescents, who often face prolonged ED [emergency department] stays because a psychiatric bed is not available,” lead researcher Dr. Jennifer Hoffmann, behavioral health medical director for emergency medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, said in a news release. “As the youth mental health crisis continues, we have been seeing more severe psychiatric conditions in the ED,” she said. “Most of these kids seek emergency care at adult hospitals, which often have more limited pediatric resources compared to children’s hospitals and might not be prepared to provide the necessary supports.” For the new study, researchers analyzed records representing more than 5.9 million mental health ER visits for kids aged 5 to 17, using federal survey data collected between…  read on >  read on >

Troubled Kids Wait a Half-Day — Or More — In ER To Get Mental Health Care

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Troubled children and teenagers are languishing hours in chaotic hospital emergency rooms, waiting for a psychiatric bed to open, a new study says. About 1 in 3 kids who go to an emergency room (ER) amid a mental health crisis wait at least 12 hours to be transferred to psychiatric care, researchers report in the August 2025 issue of the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open. Further, more than 1 in 8 wait more than 24 hours before they are sent on to treatment, researchers found. “Our study underscores significant issues with access to mental health care for children and adolescents, who often face prolonged ED [emergency department] stays because a psychiatric bed is not available,” lead researcher Dr. Jennifer Hoffmann, behavioral health medical director for emergency medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, said in a news release. “As the youth mental health crisis continues, we have been seeing more severe psychiatric conditions in the ED,” she said. “Most of these kids seek emergency care at adult hospitals, which often have more limited pediatric resources compared to children’s hospitals and might not be prepared to provide the necessary supports.” For the new study, researchers analyzed records representing more than 5.9 million mental health ER visits for kids aged 5 to 17, using federal survey data collected between…  read on >  read on >

Study Finds Powerful Sweetener in Vapes Marketed to Teens

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A new study has found a super-sweet chemical in illegal flavored e-cigarettes that may make them more appealing to kids and teens. The sweetener, called neotame, is up to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar and is usually used in products like ice cream or lip gloss, STAT News reported.  But now, researchers say it’s showing up in popular disposable vapes. The study, published June 2 in JAMA, tested 11 brands of flavored vapes sold in the U.S. — including Elf Bar, Breeze and Mr. Fog — and found neotame in all of them, even in products labeled as “zero nicotine.” These products are illegal, but they’re still sold in gas stations, stores and online. Researchers did not find neotame in the four e-cigarettes authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), nor in Juul, which awaits FDA approval, STAT News said in a report. Experts say neotame could be a big reason why teens are drawn to these flavored vapes. “We think that the presence of neotame is really a determining factor in the attractiveness and preference for these products,” said study author Sven Jordt, a professor at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. That’s especially true for children and teens, who crave sweet tastes much more than adults, Jordt added. The Truth Initiative, an anti-tobacco nonprofit, says flavored vapes now make up…  read on >  read on >

Study Finds Powerful Sweetener in Vapes Marketed to Teens

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A new study has found a super-sweet chemical in illegal flavored e-cigarettes that may make them more appealing to kids and teens. The sweetener, called neotame, is up to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar and is usually used in products like ice cream or lip gloss, STAT News reported.  But now, researchers say it’s showing up in popular disposable vapes. The study, published June 2 in JAMA, tested 11 brands of flavored vapes sold in the U.S. — including Elf Bar, Breeze and Mr. Fog — and found neotame in all of them, even in products labeled as “zero nicotine.” These products are illegal, but they’re still sold in gas stations, stores and online. Researchers did not find neotame in the four e-cigarettes authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), nor in Juul, which awaits FDA approval, STAT News said in a report. Experts say neotame could be a big reason why teens are drawn to these flavored vapes. “We think that the presence of neotame is really a determining factor in the attractiveness and preference for these products,” said study author Sven Jordt, a professor at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. That’s especially true for children and teens, who crave sweet tastes much more than adults, Jordt added. The Truth Initiative, an anti-tobacco nonprofit, says flavored vapes now make up…  read on >  read on >

Tiny Baby’s Life-Threatening Wound Healed With Fish Skin

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When Eliana DeVos plays with her Ariel doll, her mom can’t help but get emotional. “I call her my little mermaid,” Krystal DeVos, who lives in Corpus Christi, Texas, told CNN. What makes that nickname extra special is the surprising way Eliana’s life was saved — through the use of fish skin. Eliana was born extremely premature, at just 23 weeks and weighing just one pound. She spent 131 days in neonatal intensive care, where she developed a severe, fast-spreading infection on her neck that doctors say nearly took her life. “It was almost like a flesh-eating disease,” her mom said. “Her body was attacking something in her neck.” The infection led to sepsis, a dangerous condition that can shut down the organs. As her condition worsened, her family and doctors looked for anything that might help. That’s when doctors at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, offered a new option: using fish skin to help her wound heal. Dr. Vanessa Dimas, a pediatric plastic surgeon at Driscoll, said Eliana was too fragile for surgery or a human skin graft. “She was a premature baby. The wound was very extensive. And she was pretty sick,” Dimas said. Instead, she and wound care nurse practitioner Roxana Reyna used a medical honey solution to clean the wound. Then they added fish skin, a medical product made…  read on >  read on >

Tiny Baby’s Life-Threatening Wound Healed With Fish Skin

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When Eliana DeVos plays with her Ariel doll, her mom can’t help but get emotional. “I call her my little mermaid,” Krystal DeVos, who lives in Corpus Christi, Texas, told CNN. What makes that nickname extra special is the surprising way Eliana’s life was saved — through the use of fish skin. Eliana was born extremely premature, at just 23 weeks and weighing just one pound.  She spent 131 days in neonatal intensive care, where she developed a severe, fast-spreading infection on her neck that doctors say nearly took her life. “It was almost like a flesh-eating disease,” her mom said. “Her body was attacking something in her neck.” The infection led to sepsis, a dangerous condition that can shut down the organs. As her condition worsened, her family and doctors looked for anything that might help. That’s when doctors at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, offered a new option: using fish skin to help her wound heal. Dr. Vanessa Dimas, a pediatric plastic surgeon at Driscoll, said Eliana was too fragile for surgery or a human skin graft. “She was a premature baby. The wound was very extensive. And she was pretty sick,” Dimas said. Instead, she and wound care nurse practitioner Roxana Reyna used a medical honey solution to clean the wound. Then they added fish skin, a medical product made…  read on >  read on >

Self-Employment Is Good For Heart Health, Especially For Women

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Being your own boss might seem potentially stressful, but self-employed women appear to have better heart health than those toiling for a company, a new study says. Women working for themselves had lower rates of obesity, physical inactivity, poor diet and sleeplessness, researchers reported recently in the journal BMC Public Health. These results indicate that the work environment could play a role in the risk factors that can increase risk of heart attack and stroke, researchers said. “There is a relationship between self-employment and heart disease risk factors and this relationship seems to be stronger in women relative to men,” said lead researcher Dr. Kimberly Narain, an assistant professor-in-residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “It is imperative to increase our understanding of how the work environment gets under our skin so we can come up with ways to ensure that everyone has access to a healthy work environment,” Narain added in a news release. Prior studies have shown links between a person’s type of employment and their heart disease risk, researchers said in background notes. For example, executives tend to be healthier than clerks or administrative workers, researchers said, and high-stress jobs with less autonomy have been linked to high blood pressure and heart disease. For this study, researchers analyzed data from 19,400 working adults who participated in the National Health…  read on >  read on >

Self-Employment Is Good For Heart Health, Especially For Women

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Being your own boss might seem potentially stressful, but self-employed women appear to have better heart health than those toiling for a company, a new study says. Women working for themselves had lower rates of obesity, physical inactivity, poor diet and sleeplessness, researchers reported recently in the journal BMC Public Health. These results indicate that the work environment could play a role in the risk factors that can increase risk of heart attack and stroke, researchers said. “There is a relationship between self-employment and heart disease risk factors and this relationship seems to be stronger in women relative to men,” said lead researcher Dr. Kimberly Narain, an assistant professor-in-residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “It is imperative to increase our understanding of how the work environment gets under our skin so we can come up with ways to ensure that everyone has access to a healthy work environment,” Narain added in a news release. Prior studies have shown links between a person’s type of employment and their heart disease risk, researchers said in background notes. For example, executives tend to be healthier than clerks or administrative workers, researchers said, and high-stress jobs with less autonomy have been linked to high blood pressure and heart disease. For this study, researchers analyzed data from 19,400 working adults who participated in the National Health…  read on >  read on >