New York, NY - City Health Commissioner Criticize State Health Commissioner On Deal OF Metzitah B'Peh

New York, NY - A letter sent by the city's Health Commissioner, Thomas Frieden, to his counterpart on the state level, Antonia Novello, criticizing the state's protocol on Metzitah B'Peh, to prevent the transmission of herpes from a mohels to an infants.

Frieden, who has circulated advisories in Yiddish warning of the dangers of the practice, notes in the letter that the state's protocol "does not mention any role for local health officers" and makes clear that his department "does not intend to cede its authority to investigate disease incidence occurring in New York City and to intervene when appropriate."

According to the letter, Frieden isn't backing down and is still on the case. He takes issue with language in the state's protocol that suggests that a community could by justified in not cooperating with an investigation into an alleged transmission of the disease. "There is absolutely no justification for not cooperating in an investigation surrounding a potentially life-threatening illness in an infant."