'''Edgar J. Schoen''' (Brooklyn, NY, August 10, 1925 – August 23, 2016)<ref>{{cite web|title=Edgar J. Schoen - Obituary|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=181188231|website=Legacy.com|accessdate=29 August 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829234720/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?n=edgar-j-schoen&pid=181188231|archivedate=29 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> was an American physician who worked as a pediatric endocrinologist at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, California until 2003, and Clinical Professor in Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco until 2004. He held the position of Chair of the 1988 American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Circumcision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61692/both-sides-of-the-debate-two-jewish-doctors-offer-opinions-on-circumcision/|title=Both sides of the debate: Two Jewish doctors offer opinions on circumcision|first=Dan|last=Pine|date=6 May 2011 |publisher=Jewish news weekly of Northern California}}</ref>
== Career == Schoen held positions at Children's Hospital of the East Bay in Oakland, CA, and the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, CA and was Board-certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology. He practiced Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology in Oakland, CA for 46 years. Schoen was Chief of Pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland for 24 years.{{cn|date=July 2016}}
==Circumcision== Schoen maintained Medicirc.org, an online resource in which he discussed what he perceived as the benefits of circumcision. It went offline at the end of 2012. Interviewed in the ''Eastbay Express'' (2000), he stated, "Circumcision is one of the best health insurance policies you can give a son. A circumcised boy has a lifetime advantage over an uncircumcised one."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.circumcisioninfo.com/slack_eastbayexpr.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2005-06-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050801082107/http://www.circumcisioninfo.com/slack_eastbayexpr.htm |archivedate=2005-08-01 }}</ref>
Schoen has written about circumcision in the books ''Ed Schoen, MD on Circumcision'' ({{ISBN|1571431233}}) and ''Circumcision, Sex, God, and Science: Modern Health Benefits of an Ancient Ritual'' ({{ISBN|978-1-4392-1910-2}}) as well as poetry on the topic in the ''American Journal of Diseases in Children''.<ref>''American Journal of Diseases in Children'', Vol 141: 128. February 1987</ref>
In a ''Boston Globe'' article, Schoen said, concerning the AAP's decision to not advocate circumcision, "It's highly biased". The 1989 report he oversaw stated that circumcision reduced the risks of urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8555643.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911174738/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8555643.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 September 2016|title=Controversy over circumcision heightened in US after report|date=25 July 1999|publisher=Boston Globe}}</ref> In 2017, Schoen appeared posthumously in the documentary film ''American Circumcision'', in which he stated neonatal circumcision had worthwhile benefits and advocated for anesthesia during the surgical procedure.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}
== References ==
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==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050622023223/http://www.medicirc.org/ Archive of Medicirc.org]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoen, Edgar}} Category:1925 births Category:2016 deaths Category:American pediatric endocrinologists Category:Circumcision debate