Comment by mlindner
2 years ago
> As a precautionary measure, the hospital followed mandatory reporting statutes and my wife and I temporarily lost custody of David.
Are people absolutely nuts? Is this just a thing in France or is this elsewhere in Europe or even the US? You're actively encouraging people to not bring their children to the ER by doing this crazy nonsense.
This is a thing in most Western countries! Especially in the US. It dates back to the 1960s [1].
Most parents don't realize that anytime they interact with a medical doctor (or another professional), they interact with someone who was trained to detect "signs of abuse", which basically can be anything out of the ordinary. They are required by law to report any suspicion of abuse, and they can be prosecuted if they fail to do so. The incentives are pretty clear. Unfortunately, while this obviously protects some children, there are adverse effects such as an enormous waste of human and financial resources to unsubstantiated reports [2].
To quote Wikipedia (this is more generally about hotline calls but this also affects healthcare professionals):
"There are approximately 3.6 million calls each year nationwide (..) affecting on average 1 out of 10 U.S. families with children under the age of 18 each year (there are 32.2 million such families). (...) Of those substantiated, over half are minor situations and many are situations where the worker thinks something may happen in the future.
Each year, approximately 85% of hotline calls either do not warrant investigation or are not substantiated. Approximately 78% of all investigations are unsubstantiated and approximately 22% are substantiated, with around 9% where "alternative responses" are offered in some states, which have a focus on working with the family to address issues rather than confirming maltreatment."
On this topic, I highly recommend "Take Care of Maya" on Netflix.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_reporting_in_the_Uni...
[2] https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/50/1/Articles/50-1_...
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factitious_disorder_imposed_on...
Definitely a UK thing too. If you take your kid to A&E you can guarantee every person who interacts with you is required to be on the lookout for abuse. You get probing questions by the doctors as veiled accusations and you may get protection services knocking on your door the next day.