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Dear Mr. Barichello,

Thank you for your letter of April 12, 2000 regarding the issue of neonatal circumcision. This is an issue of interest to me, but not one about which I am prepared to offer a formal professional opinion, which you have requested. If you would like to make an appointment to meet with me sometime I would be pleased to discuss this with you informally.

Sincerely yours,
 
[signed]
 
Christine Harrison, PhD
Director, Bioethics
The Hospital for Sick Children
 

Dear Dr. Harrison,

As you are aware from earlier correspondence, I have been trying to obtain information about a medical study that was approved by the hospital's Research Ethics Board. The study, which was published in the July, 2000 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, was entitled "Combined Analgesia and Local Anesthesia to Minimize Pain During Circumcision."

I have looked over a guideline entitled Four Steps Toward Ethical Approval for Research Involving Humans, issued by the Research Ethics Board of the Hospital for Sick Children in May 1997 and revised in March, 1999. According to this guideline, research on children can be ethically justified "only when the potential benefit significantly outweighs the potential for harm."

In your professional opinion, does research on neonatal circumcision meet the above condition, given the current state of medical knowledge?

I would appreciate a response at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
 
[signed]
 
D ennis H arrison
 

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