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Abraham L. Wolbarst

530 bytes added, 13:30, 2 April 2020
Add Boczko & Stanley reference.
Wolbarst was directly responsible for its proliferation. All subsequent repetions of this myth are directly traceable to Wolbarst's article, though Wolbarst himself advocated universal neonatal circumcision principally as a preventive for epilepsy, paralysis, and [[masturbation]]. Circumcision advocates such as Wolbarst do not seem to have promoted this myth because they have a genuine interest in reducing penile cancer; they used it instead as a scare tactic in the promotion of neonatal circumcision.<ref name="fleiss1996" />
Boczko & Stanley (1979) collected numerous cases of cancer in circumcised men.<ref name="boczko1979">{{REFjournal |last=Boczko |first=Stanley |author-link= |last2=Freed |first2=Selwyn |author2-link= |etal=no |title= Penile carcinoma in circumcised males |trans-title= |language= |journal=N Y State J Med |location= |date=1979-11 |volume=79 |issue=12 |pages=1903-04 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/boczko/ |archived= |quote= |pubmedID=292845 |pubmedCID= |DOI= |accessdate=2020-04-02}}</ref> Epidemiological studies disproved Wolbarst's myths long ago. In North America the rate of penile cancer has been estimated to be 1 in 100,000<ref>Cutler SJ, Young JL Jr. ''Third national cancer survey: incidence data''. Bethesda, Md. US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, 1975</ref>. Maden ''et al'' (1993) reported penile cancer among a fifth of elderly patients from rural areas who had been circumcised neonatally and had been born at a time when the rate of neonatal circumcision was about 20% in rural populations.<ref>Maden C, Sherman KJ, Beckman AM, Hislop TG, Teh CZ, Ashley RL, ''et al''. History of circumcision, medical conditions, and sexual activity and risk of penile cancer. ''JNCI'' 1993;85:19-24</ref> Their study also shows that the rate of penile cancer among men circumcised neonatally has risen in the United States relative to the rise in the rate of neonatal circumcision.
Although Wolbarst's falsehoods were disproved decades ago, they had entered into the American psyche where they continue to exert influence that they do not deserve.<ref name="hill2000">{{REFjournal
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