ARC Letter to New York Times Responding to Article About Testing Medical Practices

Comment on H. Gilbert Welch, "Testing What We Think We Know", Op-Ed
Monday, August 20, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/opinion/testing-standard-medical-pract...

It certainly makes sense as Professor Welch recommends (Op-Ed August 20) to learn which medical practices improve our health and which do not.  An obvious candidate is one of the most common but unnecessary surgeries in American hospitals, non-therapeutic male circumcision.

Let's find out, how often does it cause serious injury and death? Does it cause brain damage to infants and PTSD?  Does it impair men's sex lives and their partners'?  What percent of males benefit from it at all, and can the benefits be achieved without it?  The research would prove that circumcision damages health and wastes scarce medical resources.

Peter W. Adler, Esquire
Legal Advisor
Attorneys For the Rights of the Child