Representatives from the New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and representatives of ultra-Orthodox Jews are meeting this week to try to resolve a controversy over an ancient circumcision practice called metzitzah b'peh (“suction by mouth”).

The health department says the practice led to the death of one newborn boy from herpes simplex type 1 and caused brain damage in another. Seven cases of herpes have been linked to the practice since 1998. Three of the five recent cases were traced to one practitioner (called a mohel).

In metzitzah b'peh, the practitioner removes the baby's foreskin and then sucks blood from the wound to clean it. The practice is used only by a …