Regarding the wire service article “Circumcision clamp still widely used,” which appeared in the Oct. 13 edition of The Bulletin advising parents to be cautious when choosing which clamp to use to crush their son’s foreskin, there is another option: Don’t circumcise.

Most men in the world are not circumcised, have no problems and choose to stay that way. According to the Centers for Disease Control, only 33 percent of newborn boys are circumcised in the U.S. (The CDC reported the U.S. circumcision rate to be 33 percent for 2009 at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna last year. The article’s citation that 56 percent of boys born in the U.S. are circumcised in hospitals is from 2008.) And that rate is dropping as parents learn more about the procedure.

That’s a good thing because complications due to circumcision are under-reported. It’s estimated there are 120-200 deaths per year due to circumcision — more than from SIDS. And there are urology practices that specialize in repairing botched circumcisions. No medical organization in the world recommends circumcision. Just say no.

Steve Crozier

Bend