Japan lifts ban on child organ transplants

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's lower house voted to scrap a ban on child organ donations, paving the way for patients aged under 15 to receive life-saving transplants here for the first time.

Current law bans organ transplants by children, a situation which activists say has claimed thousands of lives and forced many families to send children in need of transplants on costly overseas trips for surgery.

Under Japanese law, transplants have been rare even for adults because tough rules require donors to give prior written consent to having their organs harvested when they are brain dead, while their families must also agree.

The amended bill would scrap the age limit and the need for prior consent, unless the person explicitly opposed having their organs used, but it would still require family members of the children to agree.

The bill was approved by 263 to 167 votes and sent to the opposition controlled upper house. If it is rejected in the upper chamber, a two thirds majority in the lower house could turn it into law anyway.

The major political parties had told their legislators to vote according to their conscience. Only the Japanese Communist Party abstained, claiming that deliberations had not been sufficient.

The bill would also recognise patients who are brain dead as legally dead, long a controversial topic in Japan where many religious groups say a person is only deceased once their heart and lungs have stopped.

Japan adopted an Organ Transplant Law in 1997, but since then only 81 transplants have been carried out, compared to several thousand each year in the United States and several hundred annually in Europe.

The long-debated reform plans were fast-tracked this year after the World Health Organization signalled it would ask signatory nations in early 2010 to limit organ transplants to within their national boundaries.

In the move against so-called transplant tourism, which seeks to limit abuses, Australia, Britain and Germany have already announced they will refuse Japanese patients seeking organ transplants.

Rising cost of child care leads more women to work from home

According to the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), there are more than 96,000 women in the workforce in Arkansas with children under the age of six. This is more than 63% of mothers in the state. The national numbers are even greater, with more than 9,000,000 mothers of small children currently employed outside the home. This translates to a huge amount of money being paid by these families each year for child care costs.


The average yearly child care cost in Arkansas is between $3,900 and $5,500. The national average is even higher with costs soaring to as much as $15,000 per year. However, these costs, or at least a significant portion of them, could be saved if just one parent could work from home or telecommute. Many companies offer telecommuting options and there are a plethora of legitimate work at home jobs out there. Many women have begun taking advantage of these opportunities and saving their families a bundle in the process.

Have You Joined the Work at Home Revolution?

If you’re one of the many women struggling to balance the cost of child care with other living expenses, there is hope. Legitimate work from home can be found with perseverance, and there are many companies that will allow you to telecommute for some or all of your work hours. If you have a job that would allow for home work, create a telecommuting proposal to present to your employer. Many employers are jumping on the telecommuting bandwagon as it cuts down on overhead costs and generally results in happier, more productive employees.

If your employer won’t allow telecommuting and you continue to struggle to pay for child care, it may be time to look elsewhere for employment. There are many different jobs which can be done from home for pay that rivals the state average income. Virtual assistants, freelance writers and graphic designers, editors, programmers, customer service representatives, and tutors are just some of the positions that can be found for the aspiring work at home mom (or dad). Taking a job with slightly lower pay that allows you to work from home could still be beneficial to your family if you consider the money saved on child care costs, gas, clothing, lunches, etc.

Work at Home Moms: The Future of Motherhood

We live in an age where data transfer and the speed of information exchange gives almost anyone the opportunity to stay at home and earn a living. The number of women who choose to work at home and remain the primary caregivers for their children has raised more than 60 percent from 1975 to 1990 according to the government’s last major population survey. These women do not pay for child care costs and are still able to contribute to, or in some cases provide all of, the family income.

The modern woman seems to want more out of her life and career than corporate jobs can provide. Professional freedoms, flexibility, and fulfillment are what many working mothers are seeking, and as such, they turn to telecommuting or work from home positions in large numbers. Not only does this choice negate the excessive costs of childcare, it also provides a way for her to be available to her family while still earning a salary.

Making it Work for You

Although not all jobs will lend themselves well to staying at home with children, some are extremely flexible. Customer service jobs often require blocks of quiet time in which to work on the phone. Mothers of young children may find this impossible. Women with little experience or technical skills may also feel that they could never work at home, but this just isn’t the case any longer.

Freelance writing from home requires no experience to get started, as well as more entrepreneurial undertakings such as becoming a content publisher or affiliate marketer. More experienced workers can also find suitable jobs which allow them to stay at home with their children, such as becoming a virtual assistant or freelance graphic designer. No matter who you are or what your background may be, in today’s world becoming a stay at home mom is no longer just a dream – it’s a reality, and child care costs may well become a thing of the past.

K-ID-napped

Identity theft is on the increase, according to the Federal Trade Commission, and ever-enterprising identity thieves are spreading their range, finding new fields to sow and new victims to reap. Some of those victims are very new: infants and children. "It's one of the ID theft areas that's growing," says Lyn Chitow-Oakes, chief marketing officer for Trusted ID (www.trustedid.com), based in Redwood City, Calif., south of San Francisco, which offers ID protection services. Chitow-Oakes says the main reason for the increase "is that people are not thinking about it. And there are lots of ways of getting access to children's information. They're easy prey." Children are also easier to prey on because most now get a Social Security number at birth. Experts say you should guard that number as closely as you would protect your own. The Social Security Administration (www.ssa.gov/pubs/10023.html) says getting a Social Security number for a newborn is voluntary, "but it is a good idea." "If your child is born in the United States or is a U.S. citizen born abroad, you need a Social Security number to claim your child as a dependent on your income tax return," the agency Web site explains. "Your child may also need a number if you plan to open a bank account for the child, buy savings bonds for the child, obtain medical coverage for the child or apply for government services for the child."

To ease the process, parents can apply for a Social Security number for their baby when they apply for a birth certificate. "The state agency that issues birth certificates will share your child's information with us and we will mail the Social Security card to you," the Social Security Administration's Web site says.

The agency does recognize the potential for abuse.

"To verify a birth certificate, Social Security will contact the office that issued it. We do this verification to prevent people from using fraudulent birth records to obtain Social Security numbers to establish false identities."

However, the agency can't protect those numbers from people hovering over the cradles, figuratively speaking, waiting to steal them, Chitow-Oakes says.

Thieves use children's Social Security numbers the same way they do those of adults and even the recently deceased - primarily to open lines of credit or for employment fraud.

Chitow-Oakes says some thieves have even used the information in doctors' offices to acquire medical benefits under a false name. That's particularly dangerous where insurance companies place a cap on the dollar amount of benefits, she says. Imagine that the child needs expensive surgery and the parents discover that somebody has been exploiting the account. In many cases, medical records become commingled and trying to separate them becomes a nightmare, she adds.

UNDISCOVERED CRIME

What makes ID theft of children all the more insidious, she says, is that it can take years to uncover.

"If your child's identity is stolen, you may not find out for many years, maybe not until the child is 18 years old and looking to buy his first car or trying to take out a student loan," opening a bank account or applying for a first credit card.

Suddenly it turns up that somebody has rung up thousands of dollars of debt in the victim's name. And straightening out the record can take years.

The Associated Press recently reported that the San Diegobased Identity Theft Resource Center (www.idtheftcenter. org) is trying to help a 3-yearold whose Social Security number is being used by someone for employment purposes and "a 5-year-old whose identity is linked to driver's licenses, arrest warrants for drunken driving and a warrant for unpaid child support."

More than 34,000 reports of identity theft that came in to the Federal Trade Commission from 2005 to 2007 concerned children under age 18, the AP reports, noting that frequently, the thief is a parent or other relative.

That was the case for Randy Waldron Jr. of Revere, Mass., now 27, the AP reports.

Waldron's father allegedly began using his Social Security number in 1982. He didn't find out until 16 years later, when he was applying for college, that his father had run up a total of $22.5 million in debt in his son's name, including myriad accounts from unpaid utility bills to defaulted credit cards and back taxes. There was even an unpaid storage facility rental that had ballooned to a $10,000 debt.

Waldron says it has taken a decade and $30,000 in legal fees to clear his name, and "I am still hounded by credit card companies [and] collection agencies."

Gabe Holmstrom, a spokesman for Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, says the attorney general's Consumer Protection Division has received "a couple [of] incidences" of identity theft of children, mostly the work of estranged parents. He said the office gets very few claims involving false credit histories established by outsiders or involving employment fraud.

The office's Web site, www. arkansasag.gov/identity_ theft_more_info.html, offers tips for protection against and how to report identity theft and links to other government agencies' identity theft sites.

UNGUARDED INFORMATION

Chitow-Oakes says ID thieves can also obtain data through school or community sports programs that ask parents for children's Social Security numbers and other identifying information.

Thieves also prey on older children online, as more and more children, teens and college-age adults frequent social networking sites or reveal identifying details in instant messages.

"They pose as people with like interests," she explains. "Maybe they claim to have a pet in common." It only takes a few seemingly innocent questions to obtain "all an identity thief needs."

To defend against online ID predators, she suggests making sure your profile is more private than public; don't share personal information; and, similarly to avoiding predators in the "real" world, don't talk to strangers.

At home, parents should make sure that children's personal information is stored safely, away from the possible prying eyes of caretakers or workers. Only share information that's absolutely necessary.

"The only real need for a Social Security number is to apply for a passport, for taxes or employment," she adds. "Your child normally isn't part of those activities."

For an added layer of protection, ask the three credit reporting agencies - Equifax, (888) 766-0008; Experian, (888) 397-3742; and TransUnion, (800) 680-7289 - for a copy of your child's credit report.

"If the child has a credit report, the child should not have a credit report," she says, because minors are unable to enter into contracts. It's pretty much proof-positive that somebody has stolen your child's identity.

Here are some other tips to protect your child's identity:

Shred all papers that contain account numbers or Social Security numbers before throwing them away.

Store your child's Social Security card in a safe place at home or in a safe-deposit box. Neither you nor your child should carry the card in a wallet.

If you receive a pre-approved credit application or similarly unusual offer in the mail in your child's name, investigate. Some banks may add a child's name to a mailing list if an account has been opened in his name; it could be a red flag that your child's identity has been compromised.

If you do discover a credit report in your child's name, ask to have all accounts, applications and collection notices removed and have a security freeze put on the file. It's free and it will remain on the file until you request it be removed or temporarily lifted.

Ask if adults who work with your child who might have access to sensitive information - such as coaches, scout leaders or other activity leaders - have had a background check. Also be careful when providing documents like birth certificates to activity leaders and ask to be notified if they will be shown to other people.