Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Brooklyn DA Investigating Circumcision-Related Infant Death
By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 6, 2012
Modified Mar 6, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 6, 2012
Modified Mar 6, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The Brooklyn DA is now "looking into the circumstances surrounding the death" of a two-week old infant who died last fall in Brooklyn after he contracted herpes from a religious circumcision at Maimonides Medical Center. When the boy died in September his cause of death was listed as "disseminated herpes simplex virus Type 1, complicating ritual circumcision with oral suction."
Despite concerns this is the government singling out a religious ceremony in the death certificate, the Bloomberg administration is defending the doctors and the DA for taking a look at the case. As Mayor Bloomberg put it at an unrelated event today:
The doctors who found this are objective and independent scientists who don’t answer to anyone, including whoever is Mayor...There’s probably nobody in public life who fights harder for the separation of church and state than me. But religious liberty simply does not extend to injuring others or putting children at risk. So we’ll continue working with the community and others to prevent more baby boys from suffering these tragic fates.
Over the years there have been quite a few tragedies connected to the foreskin-snipping ritual—and not just related to herpes-infected mohels. Last year, a Queens toddler who went into Beth Israel Hospital for a routine circumcision died after he was given a general anesthetic instead of a local one.
Tagged
brooklyn
circumcision
intactivists
mohel
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Early Addition: There's finally stuff inside the Times Square tower where the ball drops
Because it used to sit vacant for most of the year, here are your early links: Rangers goalie scored, "It's a Wonderful Life" coming to Broadway, there's dignity in scaffolding and more.
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 2, 2026 at 9:20 a.m. ET
NYC subway dragging death highlights an old school MTA failsafe
The man dragged to death by a subway train in Brooklyn earlier this week put riders across the city on edge.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
News
NYC subway dragging death highlights an old school MTA failsafe
The man dragged to death by a subway train in Brooklyn earlier this week put riders across the city on edge.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
We were the victim': Brooklyn shelter's new CEO speaks after corruption scandal
By
Ryan Kost
Badly burned body found in a trashed and abandoned Jamaica Queens lot, NYPD says
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Brooklyn DA brings back warrant-clearing event as quality-of-life tickets surge
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .