42.

Hospitals Can Make You Sick

About 100,000 people die each year in
US hospitals from infections that they get
while they are in the hospital. Less than
half that many die on US highways. The
hospital deaths are due to poor
housekeeping and poor hygiene. Floors,
walls, and doors are not cleaned
regularly or thoroughly. Room dividers
are almost never cleaned. The carts that
carry food trays, and the trays
themselves, are usually contaminated
from handling and coughing. Cooks and
other food handlers can easily infect the
food by not washing properly after using
the bathroom.
Doctors and nurses are just as guilty
as other staff. Doctors rarely clean their
stethoscopes after each patient. Nurses
apply blood pressure cuffs to patient after
patient without cleaning the cuffs.
Doctors often put on gloves without
washing their hands first. As a result, the
germs on their hands are transferred to
the outside of the gloves.
Consumer groups warn patients that
they must demand cleanliness. If they
see or suspect unsanitary conditions,
they must tell someone immediately. It
could be a matter of life or death. But, as
one patient said, "No way! You don't tell
your boss that he has bad breath, and
you don't tell your doctor that he needs to
wash his hands."