The de Blasio administration's rationale for the new policy, which its own health department says could put infants at risk, is that this is the only way it can receive cooperation from the community. In the two-plus years since the health department has required consent forms, it has collected only one, an administration official said. “They won't stop practicing no matter what we say,” the de Blasio official said. “If we ban it, it will go underground.”
Capital New York has just posted a more detailed report of the new dangerous deal between haredim and New York City that is guaranteed to put even more haredi babies at risk of maiming and death:
…Dr. Anna Wald, who assisted in drafting guidelines on the management of H.S.V. infection for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention filed an affidavit on behalf of the city's health department, saying the evidence linking direct oral suction with neonatal infection is “strong, consistent, and more than biologically plausible.”
Dr. Jonathan Zenilman, a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and chief of the infectious diseases division at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, also filed an affidavit saying, “it is my professional opinion that suctioning of the fresh circumcision wound puts uninfected infants at risk of acquiring HSV-1 and developing serious illness.”
City health officials linked 17 cases of neonatal herpes to direct oral suction in the last 15 years. Of those, two have died and two more suffered brain damage.
Representatives of the [ultra-]Orthodox communities have said no direct link was ever scientifically proven and without genetic testing, there was no way to know how a baby contracted herpes.
“We've agreed to disagree on that,” said an administration official who provided a background briefing for reporters after the new policy was announced.
In exchange for abandoning the consent forms, which were really never enforceable, the coalition of rabbis negotiating with City Hall agreed that if a baby is diagnosed with H.S.V.-1, the community would identify the mohel who performed the bris, or circumcision, and ask him to undergo testing. If the mohel tests positive for H.S.V.-1, the city's health department will test the D.N.A. of the herpes strain to see if it matches the infant's.
If it does, the mohel will be banned from performing the ritual for life. If it doesn't, the health department will work to find the source of the virus. If that source can't be identified, there are no rules in place to keep that mohel from performing metzitzah b'peh, even though he has tested positive for H.S.V.-1.…
The plan can't implemented, however, without approval from the board of health, a semi-autonomous group led by health commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett. The board must vote to repeal the consent form rule before this deal can be finalized. Their next meeting is in March.
The de Blasio administration's rationale for the new policy, which its own health department says could put infants at risk, is that this is the only way it can receive cooperation from the community. In the two-plus years since the health department has required consent forms, it has collected only one, an administration official said.
“They won't stop practicing no matter what we say,” the de Blasio official said. “If we ban it, it will go underground.”…
Read it all here.
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