New Circumcision Policy "Warmed-Over Myths" - Doctors Opposing Circumcision

SEATTLE, WA, August 26, 2012 (Press-News.org) The AAP policy, revealed on Monday, claims "...the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks, and the procedure's benefits justify access to this procedure for families who choose it."

The AAP cited urinary tract infections, penile cancer, and the prevalence of HIV as major reasons.

Says Dr. George Denniston, President of the international group, Doctors Opposing Circumcision, based in Seattle, Washington, "This is yet another blatant attempt at 'medical marketing and upcoding. The AAP is the same organization that tried to introduce genital cutting for Muslim girls in both 1996 and 2010, and was shouted down both times. Those were also lucrative business opportunities."

"Doctors are finding their livelihoods squeezed by HMO's and Medicaid restrictions, and are trying to find new sources of income and maintain old ones -- this time by scaring young parents --again."

Says Denniston, "A urinary tract infection bothers only one in 100 infant boys and is easily cured with antibiotics. Even if circumcision helped, statistically it would require 111 circumcisions to prevent one easily treated UTI. Some of those 111 boys would suffer circumcision complications much more serious than a simple UTI."

Denniston adds, "Penile cancer is the rarest of all male cancers, affecting only one in 100,000 very old men, and circumcision does not fully prevent it. Circumcision of 100,000 males to prevent -- maybe -- a single case of penile cancer would cost $75-100 million. This is money better spent treating the cancer victim himself. Among the 100,000 circumcisions would be thousands of unavoidable complications further draining medical resources."

"The only new reason for circumcision the AAP offers is HIV. The seriously flawed HIV 'studies' they cite are of adult men in areas of high HIV prevalence in Africa. No one can legitimately claim that circumcision has a protective effect with respect to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, in the developed world," says Denniston.

Concludes Denniston, "European medical associations avoid genital tampering and over-treatment, and provide full access to actual medical care for their healthy, natural infants. They would not dare issue a word of this latest AAP policy, which is driven by American physicians' monetary insecurities, a sense of compulsion, and is only supported by old myths."

For attribution:

John V. Geisheker, J.D., LL.M.
Executive Director, General Counsel,
Doctors Opposing Circumcision
DoctorsOpposingCircumcision.org
2040 Westlake Ave. N., Suite #420
Seattle, WA 98109
tel +1. 206. 465. 6636

Dr. George C Denniston, M.D, M.P.H.
(Telephone # on request to John V. Geisheker, above)

Doctors Opposing Circumcision is a physician sponsored non-profit educational organization.

Website: http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org