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Britney leaves hospital with Dr Phil
January 07, 2008
BRITNEY Spears was released from hospital yesterday, a day after the troubled singer was stripped of access to her two children following a late-night medical drama.
Spears, 26, avoided throngs of paparazzi photographers by leaving Cedars Sinai Medical Centre through a tunnel.
The scandal-prone pop star, who left the hospital after doctors decided she was no longer a danger to herself, was accompanied by TV psychologist Dr Phil McGraw.
The talk-show therapist said that after spending an hour with Spears, he was concerned about her mental status and advised her to remain in hospital.
"My meeting with Britney and some family members this morning in her room at Cedars leaves me convinced more than ever that she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention," Dr McGraw said in a statement yesterday.
"She was released moments before my arrival and was packing when I entered the room. We visited for about an hour before I walked with her to her car. I am very concerned for her."
The psychologist is reportedly taping a special about Spears for his program, The Dr Phil Show, on Monday - to air in the US on Wednesday - and wanted the singer to appear on the episode.
Spears was wheeled out of her home and taken to hospital late on Thursday night after refusing to hand over her sons - Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1 - to the bodyguard of her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, as instructed by a court-ordered visitation agreement.
She was detained in hospital on a "5150 hold", which allows Californian medical officials to hold a patient against their will for up to 72 hours.
Under the rule, a hospital can release a patient earlier if they determine they are no longer a danger to themselves or others.
Reports in the US have speculated Spears had been displaying signs of having bipolar disorder.
While Spears was being released from the hospital with her father, Jamie, the singer's mother, Lynne, was on the other side of the US at a cemetery in the family's home town of Kentwood, Louisiana.
She was laying flowers at the grave of her sister, who died last January of breast cancer.
A Cedars-Sinai spokesperson refused to comment on Spears' admission, citing patient confidentiality rules.
On Friday, a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner ordered the children be placed in the sole care of Federline and suspending the pop star's visitation rights until "further order of the court". A hearing, set for January 14, will determine how their bitter custody battle proceeds.
Dr McGraw has a history of supporting the Spears family.
In December, after the announcement that Spears' 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, was pregnant, Dr McGraw publicly supported the family, saying "an asset Britney and Jamie Lynn both have is a great and dedicated mother" - Lynne Spears.
Britney Spears' hospital stay was the latest headline-grabbing incident in the popstar's turbulent life.
One of the biggest pop successes in the 1990s thanks to her squeaky-clean teen image and chart-topping singles, Spears - a former Mickey Mouse Club member - spent much of last year in and out of alcohol and drug rehabilitation and battling legal problems.\
January 07, 2008
BRITNEY Spears was released from hospital yesterday, a day after the troubled singer was stripped of access to her two children following a late-night medical drama.
Spears, 26, avoided throngs of paparazzi photographers by leaving Cedars Sinai Medical Centre through a tunnel.
The scandal-prone pop star, who left the hospital after doctors decided she was no longer a danger to herself, was accompanied by TV psychologist Dr Phil McGraw.
The talk-show therapist said that after spending an hour with Spears, he was concerned about her mental status and advised her to remain in hospital.
"My meeting with Britney and some family members this morning in her room at Cedars leaves me convinced more than ever that she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention," Dr McGraw said in a statement yesterday.
"She was released moments before my arrival and was packing when I entered the room. We visited for about an hour before I walked with her to her car. I am very concerned for her."
The psychologist is reportedly taping a special about Spears for his program, The Dr Phil Show, on Monday - to air in the US on Wednesday - and wanted the singer to appear on the episode.
Spears was wheeled out of her home and taken to hospital late on Thursday night after refusing to hand over her sons - Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1 - to the bodyguard of her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, as instructed by a court-ordered visitation agreement.
She was detained in hospital on a "5150 hold", which allows Californian medical officials to hold a patient against their will for up to 72 hours.
Under the rule, a hospital can release a patient earlier if they determine they are no longer a danger to themselves or others.
Reports in the US have speculated Spears had been displaying signs of having bipolar disorder.
While Spears was being released from the hospital with her father, Jamie, the singer's mother, Lynne, was on the other side of the US at a cemetery in the family's home town of Kentwood, Louisiana.
She was laying flowers at the grave of her sister, who died last January of breast cancer.
A Cedars-Sinai spokesperson refused to comment on Spears' admission, citing patient confidentiality rules.
On Friday, a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner ordered the children be placed in the sole care of Federline and suspending the pop star's visitation rights until "further order of the court". A hearing, set for January 14, will determine how their bitter custody battle proceeds.
Dr McGraw has a history of supporting the Spears family.
In December, after the announcement that Spears' 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, was pregnant, Dr McGraw publicly supported the family, saying "an asset Britney and Jamie Lynn both have is a great and dedicated mother" - Lynne Spears.
Britney Spears' hospital stay was the latest headline-grabbing incident in the popstar's turbulent life.
One of the biggest pop successes in the 1990s thanks to her squeaky-clean teen image and chart-topping singles, Spears - a former Mickey Mouse Club member - spent much of last year in and out of alcohol and drug rehabilitation and battling legal problems.\
He is attaching himself to this sad and terrible situation to gain any type of extra attention he can.
