Dr. Philip Lederer harbors warm memories of the day he received his first white coat, in a moving ceremony to mark the start of medical school. A decade later, he has banished the garment and is working to persuade other doctors to hang up theirs, too. The reason? The white jacket, he believes, is a germ magnet, one that can carry deadly infections from one patient to another. The crisp white coat has long been worn to symbolize a profession — and purity. But some studies show the coats are teeming with microbes picked up in patient rooms.
