Doctors Re-examine Circumcision
by Thomas Ritter, M.D. and George Denniston, M.D., University of Washington, December 2004
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Thomas J. Ritter, M.D., has practiced general surgery for over three decades, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Ritter is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery. The father of six children, he lives with his wife in Pennsylvania.
George C. Denniston, M.D., M.P.H., is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health, and is associated with the Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington. He lives with his wife in Seattle.
CONTENTS
- Circumcision Inflicts a Diminished Penis on Your Newborn Baby Boy
- Circumcision Is Really Foreskin Amputation, and Is Abusive
- Circumcision Is Very Painful and Traumatizing--A Terrible Way to Welcome Your Newborn
- Circumcision Produces Psychological and Emotional Pain and Anguish to Sons and Parents
- Circumcision Creates Unnecessary Surgical Risks and Complications
- Cleanliness and Hygienic Reasons Mandate That We Do Not Circumcise
- No Extra Care Is Needed for an Intact Infant or Young Boy
- Your Son Will Learn How Simple It Is to Keep Himself Clean
- The Foreskin Is Normal and Natural
- What Looks "Funny" to Some Is Natural and Normal
- When Unaroused, the Glans of the Penis Is Meant to Be an Internal Organ, Like the Clitoris
- The Foreskin Enhances Sexual Pleasure!
- Circumcision Robs the Male of His Birthright--A Fully Functioning Penis
- It Makes Just As Much Sense to Circumcise Baby Girls
- Circumcision is a Disservice to Both the Male and Female--Especially in Later Life
- Europeans and Asians Do Not Circumcise Their Sons
- The "I'm Circumcised and I'm Fine" Syndrome
- Circumcision Removes a Lot more than a Little Snip of Skin
- Your Son's Penis Does Not Have to Look Like His Father's
- Men Circumcised as Infants Are Even Now Restoring Their Foreskins
- Males with Foreskins Will Have a Lot of Company in the Locker Room
- Males Masturbate Whether They Have Foreskins or Not
- The History of Circumcision is Filled with Hysteria, Bias, Misinformation, etc.
- Christianity Does Not Require or Promote Circumcision
- Some Jewish People Are Even Changing Their Minds on Circumcision
- Don't Be Fooled, Most Books, Including Medical Textbooks, Contain Inaccurate Information
- Don't Accept, at Face Value, What Your Doctor Has to Say About Circumcision
- Most Physicians Are Circumcised Males or Female Doctors Whose Husbands or Sons Are Circumcised
- Make No Mistake, There Is Money in Circumcision
- Circumcision Does Not Prevent Premature Ejaculation
- Penile and Cervical Cancer Are Not Valid Reasons for Infant Circumcision
- The Uncircumcised Penis Is Not Read More ..one to Urinary Tract Infections
- The Uncircumcised Penis is Not more likely to Spread STD's, Including AIDS
- No, He Probably Won't Have to Have It Done Later Anyway
- Intact Men Are more likely to Use a Condom
- Major Medical Associations Say Circumcision Is Unnecessary
- Some Insurance Companies and Programs Are No Longer Paying for Routine Infant Circumcision
- Many Noted Physicians and Others Have Spoken Out Against Circumcision
- If You're Not Sure--Don't Do It!
- Say No to Circumcision!
Glossary
Physician's Guide to the Normal (Intact) Penis
Notes and Selected Medical References
Infant Circumcision Surgery in Photos
Pediatricians turn away from circumcision
The United States is the only country that routinely circumcises baby boys for non-religious reasons
CNN, U.S.A.
March 1, 1999
ATLANTA (CNN) -- American pediatricians are turning away from the practice of routine circumcision, concluding that doctors have no good medical reason to perform the procedure.
The United States is the only country in the world that routinely removes the foreskins of infant boys. Critics of circumcision got additional ammunition Monday from the American Academy of Pediatrics, a leading medical organization.
The academy concluded the benefits "are not compelling enough" for circumcision to be routinely administered.
A newborn winces in pain after a circumcision
Monday's statement, published in the March edition of the journal Pediatrics, was the academy's first in 10 years on the practice. But in recent years, medical societies in Canada, Britain and Australia have come out in opposition to routine circumcision.
Critics have long contended that removing the foreskin from the penis is traumatic, medically unnecessary and may reduce sexual pleasure later in life. As one critic, Dr. George Denniston, put it: "Who are we to question mother nature?"
Canadian researchers, whose study was published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, studied the heart rates and crying patterns of babies during different stages of circumcision.
In fact, in the study they found the babies suffered so much trauma that they stopped the study part way through.
The results were so compelling that they took the unusual step of stopping the study before it was scheduled to end rather than subjecting any Read More ..bies to circumcision.
One baby stopped breathing for 25 seconds from the trauma of having part of his foreskin severed. Read More ..
Baby Dies of Herpes in Ritual Circumcision By Orthodox Jews
ABC News, U.S.A., by Susan Donaldson James, March 12, 2012
New York City is investigating the death last September of a baby who contracted herpes after a "ritual circumcision with oral suction," in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish ceremony known in Hebrew as metzitzah b'peh.
The district attorney's office in Kings County Brooklyn is investigating the death of the 2-week-old baby at Maimonides Hospital, but would not disclose the name of the mohel or whether there would be a prosecution.
The 5,000-year-old religious practice is seen primarily in ultra-Orthodox and some orthodox communities and has caused an alarm among city health officials. In 2003 and 2004, three babies, including a set of twins, were infected with Type 1 herpes; the cases were linked to circumcision, and one boy died.
The mohel who performed the procedures, Yitzchok Fischer, was later banned from doing circumcisions, according to The New York Times. It is not known if he was involved in this recent death.
"It's certainly not something any of us recommend in the modern infection-control era," said Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University.
"This is a ritual of historic Abraham that's come down through the ages, and now it has met modern science," he said. "It was never a good idea, and there is a better way to do this." (The modern Jewish community uses a sterile aspiration device to clean the wound in a circumcision.)
In the 2004 death and the more recent one, a mohel infected the penile wounds with Type 1 herpes I (HSV-1), which affects the mouth and throat. It is different from Type 2 or genital herpes (HSV-2), which is a sexually transmitted disease and can cause deadly infections when a newborn passes through an infected birth canal.
Neonatal herpes is "almost always" a fatal infection, according to Schaffner. "It's a bad virus. [Infants] have no immunity and so it's a very serious illness. Now we have another death -- an unnecessary, incredibly tragic death."
Circumcision Botched by Jewish Father Results in Conviction for Aggravated Assault
The Canadian Press
Dec. 22, 2011
VANCOUVER - A B.C. man who performed a botched circumcision on his four-year-old son on the kitchen floor of his home has lost an appeal of his conviction and been found guilty of a more serious charge.
The B.C. Court of Appeal has stayed the man's conviction for criminal negligence causing bodily harm and convicted him of aggravated assault.
Court heard the boy was born premature at only 2.5 pounds and could not be circumcised at the time, nor did his parents request it.
South Korean Doctors
Male circumcision based on myths and misinformation
Peak age of circumcision of males in Korea is 12 years old!
UTIs are rare
"Of every 1,000 boys who are circumcised 2 will be admitted to hospital for a urinary tract infection (UTI) before they are one year old."
"Of every 1,000 boys who are not circumcised 7 will be admitted to hospital for a UTI before they are one year old. "
Sur 1 000 garçons circoncis 2 seront hospitalisés en raison d'une infection urinaire avant l'âge d'un an.
Sur 1 000 garçons non circoncis 7 seront hospitalisés par suite d'une infection urinaire avant l'âge d'un an.
CanadianCRC editor:
Anyone who states that urinary tract infections are common among newborn baby boys, and therefore
advocates that the genital mutilation of boys ( male circumcision) will stop urinary tract infections, is a liar or misinformed.
Besides, urinary tract infections are entirely treatable.
Men's News Daily Online
Commentary on the David Reimer botched circumcision / gender changed case
When Feminist Dogma Met Dr. Mengele
CanadianCRC editor's Note: Reminder about our policy: Many sides of an issue are expressed in articles on this website. Many articles contain points of view which should be heard but are not the position of the Canadian Children's Rights Council.
"..Circumcision May CAUSE Urinary Tract Infection"
Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are rare, and mainly occur in the first year of life. They are several times Read More .. common in girls than boys (but of course surgery is never considered for girls).
They are painful, and women's experience of them is a powerful inducement to have sons circumcised, if they imagine that this will protect them. In fact, a significant proportion of boys contract UTIs even though they are circumcised. A study in Israel found they mainly occurred in girls at four months, but in boys soon after they were circumcised.... Now an Australian study suggests circumcision may cause urinary problems. Read More ..
2003 British Medical Association Statement Against Circumcision
The BMA does not believe that parental preference alone constitutes sufficient grounds for performing a surgical procedure on a child unable to express his own view. . . . Parental preference must be weighed in terms of the child's interests. . . . The BMA considers that the evidence concerning health benefit from non-therapeutic circumcision is insufficient for this alone to be a justification for doing it. . . . Some doctors may wish to not perform circumcisions for reasons of conscience. Doctors are under no obligation to comply with a request to circumcise a child. Read More ..
Five-week-old infant died after he was circumcised at Penticton hospital
THE PROVINCE
Vancouver, British Columbia
August
29, 2002
The Kamloops coroner is investigating the case of an infant who died last week from complications following his circumcision at Penticton Regional Hospital.
The five-week-old child was released after the procedure last Tuesday morning, but his parents went back to talk to the doctor later that day with concerns about bleeding. They returned home, but the situation worsened overnight, forcing them to rush the child back to hospital early Wednesday.
The infant was flown by air ambulance to Vancouver, where he died last Thursday in B.C. Children's Hospital.
"It certainly seems to be unusual," coroner Ian McKichan said yesterday. "It's definitely something that warrants an investigation, because it's a totally unexpected sort of death."
Deaths following circumcision are almost unheard of, but like any operation, bleeding and infection are the greatest dangers.
The case raises questions about an increasingly rare operation which stirs controversy in some circles.
"The bottom line is that circumcision is becoming a less-common procedure," said Dr. Morris Van Andel, registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. "It's no longer an insured service -- it's considered an option. That makes it all the Read More ..stressing when you hear about something like this."
According to Penticton hospital officials, the operation to remove the foreskin from the child's penis was conducted by a physician with 16 years' practice in British Columbia.