Dr. Michel Tétreault
President and CEO
St. Boniface General Hospital

Dear Dr. Tétreault:

Re: Circumcision mix-up

I would like to comment on the case of the male infant circumcised by mistake recently at St. Boniface Hospital. I have been studying the issue of circumcision for several years. My letters on the subject have been published in a number of academic journals, including the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine.

You were quoted in the Winnipeg Sun as saying that it was inappropriate to do the circumcision, since the consent form had not been signed. But even with parental consent, the appropriateness of neonatal circumcision is open to doubt. For instance, the lawfulness of non-therapeutic infant male circumcision has been publicly questioned by Dr. Margaret Somerville, one of Canada’s top medical ethicists and the Director of McGill University’s Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law in Montreal.

I enclose the following background information:

• An article entitled “Caution Regarding Routine Circumcision of Newborn Male Infants,” published in the December, 2002 issue of the monthly bulletin of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Manitoba.
• A 1997 front-page article from the Ottawa Citizen describing Dr. Margaret Somerville’s views on circumcision.
• An ethical analysis of circumcision by writer and social commentator Nicolas Langelier which appeared last year in La Presse.
• An article about a circumcision accident that occurred at St. Boniface Hospital in 1966, also from La Presse.

In light of the lack of medical need for neonatal circumcision, the potentially serious complications that could result, the ethical and legal problems, and the caution issued by the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Manitoba, I hope that St. Boniface General Hospital will consider halting the performance of this procedure until such time as there is a consensus that it is ethical and legal.

Dear Mr. H arrison:

This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated November 21, 2005 on the issue of circumcision. Thank you for your comments and information.

Please be advised that the hospital is reviewing the matter and that a committee has been established to determine the best course of action. Any decisions surrounding the performance of circumcisions at St. Boniface General Hospital will be made in concert with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Manitoba Health.

Please be assured that St. Boniface General Hospital carefully considers the needs of patients and the community in making decisions about programs and services.

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