STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Legislation that would forbid doctors and other hospital workers from wearing neckties in clinical settings, to reduce the transmission of germs, is being pushed by state Sen. Diane Savino and other members of the breakaway Democratic conference. But Staten Island physicians oppose the move, saying there’s no hard evidence to show [...]

It’s common to see someone wearing scrubs outside a hospital, but organizations devoted to stopping the spread of infectious diseases hope to change that. “It’s not what medical professionals bring into the hospitals; it’s what they bring out,” said Dr. Betsy McCaughey, founder of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths in New York City. Nurses’ [...]

American Medical Association Considers Banning Doctors’ White Coats by www.SixWise.com At the American Medical Association’s annual conference, an unusual policy question was placed on the table: Should doctors abandon their white coats? The concern comes from studies showing the potential for the long-sleeved garments to harbor dangerous bacteria like MRSA and C. difficile, and transfer it from [...]

Scrubs belong in the operating room, but what about the subway? (Marko Georgiev for The New York Times) Should hospital scrubs be worn in public places? That’s one of the questions asked by my Well column this week, which looks at the role clothing may play in the spread of germs by health workers. The [...]

By BETSY MCCAUGHEY Wall Street Journal You see them everywhere — nurses, doctors and medical technicians in scrubs or lab coats. They shop in them, take buses and trains in them, go to restaurants in them, and wear them home. What you can’t see on these garments are the bacteria that could kill you. Dirty scrubs [...]

American Medical Association Considers Banning Doctors’ White Coats by www.SixWise.com At the American Medical Association’s annual conference, an unusual policy question was placed on the table: Should doctors abandon their white coats? The concern comes from studies showing the potential for the long-sleeved garments to harbor dangerous bacteria like MRSA and C. difficile, and transfer it from [...]

By THOMAS VINCIGUERRA Published: July 25, 2009 Picture a doctor in your mind’s eye, and what do you see? A stethoscope, maybe. Perhaps a little black bag. And almost certainly a white lab coat. But that last item may be destined for oblivion. The American Medical Association is studying a proposal made at its annual [...]

Every year, more than a million and a half Americans contract an infection in the hospital and sometimes the consequences are deadly. Across Georgia, hospitals are beginning to confront the problem that has dogged them for decades.  Everyone is at risk for infection and the sicker you are, the more at risk you are.  Germs [...]

Microbiological analysis of swabs taken from the cuffs and pocket mouths of physicians’ white coats in an acute care hospital showed that 91.3% of the coats had bacterial contamination. Specifically diphtheroids, Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative bacilli were isolated. In contrast, comparatively lower rates of bacterial contamination were observed on the white coats (1) of visiting [...]