NOHARMM to AAP: 1 Feb 1998

Date: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 18:23:57 -0800
From: Tim Hammond
Subject: Letter to AAP

Below is a letter I sent to each member of the AAP Task Force.  With the
letter, I included the "Estimated Incidence" table that I created in
1994.  This table, BTW, will be available on the new NOHARMM website.
FYI, I created another table for the site, of the estimated incidence of
*worldwide* male circ. complications (between 5 million and 63 million).

Tim
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Dear Dr. Lannon,

 In the process of converting NOHARMM's published informational
materials to HTML for our new Web site, I came across the enclosed table
that I had created in 1994, *Estimated Incidence of Neonatal
Circumcision Complications Affecting Males Born in the U.S. between 1940
and 1990*.  I thought this item might be of particular interest to
physicians on the Task Force.

 Since, by the 1989 Task Force's own admission, "The exact incidence of
postoperative complications is unknown," I felt it imperative that an
estimate of these complications be made. That 1989 Task Force's "0.2%"
estimated complication rate was rejected by Williams and Kapila, in
favor of a more realistic figure of between "2%-10%," depending on
diagnostic criteria. To be even more conservative, I included in the
table a 1% estimated complication rate.

 As you can see from the 1% rate, there is a minimum of well over
one-half million American males now living with circumcision
complications of unknown severity. Under Williams' and Kapila's
estimate, there are between 1.3 and 6.5 million such males.

 Dr. Schoen's colleague, the late Dr. Aaron Fink, wrote a book titled
"Circumcision: A Parent's Decision for Life." It would appear from even
these most conservative estimates, that for the men so affected, this
prophylactic surgery done without the patient's consent in one of the
world's most medically advanced nations, is nevertheless "A man's burden
for life."

 I urge you to consider this information carefully in your exploration
of this issue.

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