Bulletin Board v178

7-year-old loses genitals after circumcision, fighting for life — A seven-year-old boy is battling for life after a circumcision surgery went horribly wrong at a private hospital in Alwar on Thursday. The boy’s genitals had to be cut off in an attempt to save his life, said sources. An FIR has been lodged against the hospital authorities after the relatives of the boy created a ruckus. The boy, Imran, was admitted to Sania hospital in Alwar town on November 10 for circumcision.

An altar boy’s tale of ‘fear, shame and guilt’ — A FORMER victim has applauded the Government’s announcement of a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, saying tens of thousands can now tell their story “without fear, shame and guilt”. Pete Dillon was an eight-year-old altar boy when he was “forced and coerced” into performing sexual acts by a Catholic priest in regional Victoria. He was warned he couldn’t tell anyone about the abuse, which went on for a couple of years, and he didn’t. He kept the truth hidden for 22 years.

Boy Scouts, Mormon church settle sex abuse lawsuit — The Boys Scouts of America and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a Portland man who said they didn’t do enough to stop a Scout troop leader from sexually abusing children. The Idaho Statesman reports (http://bit.ly/TksT4N) that a document filed Nov. 15 in U.S. District Court in Boise said both sides agreed to an undisclosed monetary settlement. Oregon attorney Gilion Dumas represents the Portland man and said the settlement will be final once a judge approves a request from both sides to dismiss the suit.

Cyril Smith DID abuse boys, police confirm — The Crown Prosecution Service also said he should have been charged with the crimes more than 40 years ago. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the boys “were victims of physical and sexual abuse” by the late Rochdale MP. Despite not being charged, after inquiries in 1970 and the 1990s, the CPS said procedural changes meant a prosecution would have been pursued today. In a statement, Sir Cyril’s family said they were “deeply saddened and concerned” by the allegations “made so long after Sir Cyril’s death and at a time when he is no longer able to defend himself”.

A Dose of Stupid v.67

It happens every day. In fact, it is pretty hard to avoid it. There are some things that can only be understood with a slap on the forehead. Things so mind-boggling that one wonders how humans managed to evolve thumbs while being this mentally inept. Case in point:

Let’s circumcise boys to prevent teen pregnancy

In Colorado, a proposed bill to reinstate Medicaid funding for circumcision failed to pass. It managed to get through one hearing, but died in the next. According to an article about the proposal:

Opponents, who included health professionals, budget hawks and anti-circumcision activists told health committee members on Thursday that circumcision is cosmetic and potentially harmful, and taxpayers should not fund it.

Proponents for the bill argued that funding for circumcision for babies on Medicaid is a social justice issue. In general, insurance companies pay for the procedure for insured Colorado babies even though the American Academy of Pediatrics does not deem circumcisions to be “medically necessary.” Meanwhile, low-income parents who want their babies circumcised are being put on waiting lists for the procedure until parents can prove they’ve paid in advance.

It is worth noting that only one doctor testified in favor of circumcision.

But that is not the stupid part.

“How the circumcision solution in Africa will increase HIV infections”

Originally posted on January 14. 2012

For several years, many organizations have argued that the best way to reduce HIV infections in Africa is to circumcise men and boys. These groups cite three randomized clinical trials (RCTs) as conclusive proof that circumcision prevents HIV. Since then, several governments have pushed for male circumcision. However, a recent paper challenges that effort.

Robert S. Van Howe and Michelle R. Storms dissected the results of the RCTs. They argue that the trials all shared the same “expectation bias (both researcher and participant), selection bias, lead-time bias, attrition bias, duration bias, and early termination that favored the treatment effect the investigators were hoping for.” These biases resulted in the assumption that all HIV infections come from heterosexual sex, and so none of the researchers bothered to actually check where the infections came from. The researchers may have potentially overstated the number of HIV infections from heterosexual sex:

In the South African trial, men who reported at least one episode of unprotected sex accounted for 2498 person-years and 46 HIV infections during the trial. Among the remaining men, who accounted for 2076 person-years, 23 become infected although they either had no sexual contact or always used a condom. These men, who had infection rate of 1.11/100 person-years (95%CI=0.74-1.67), presumably became infected through non-sexual means. The men at sexual risk of infection had an infection rate of 1.84/100 person-years (95%CI=1.38-2.46). It would be expected that all men in the trial shared the same baseline risk of non-sexual transmission and any additional risk could be attributed to sexual transmission. The infections attributed to sexual contact would be the difference between the total rate and the non-sexually transmitted rate (0.73/100 person-years). Consequently, only 18 (0.0073 infections per person-year * 2498 person-years) of the 69 infections in the South African trial can be attributed to sexual transmission.