[ 04/27/2007 ]

Following in the footsteps of a Norwegian facility, a Swedish hospital may ban the popular Crocs clogs because of concern that the plastic shoes generate static electricity that interferes with medical equipment. Officials at Blekinge Hospital suspect that the slip-on shoes, which are known as Foppatoffels in Sweden, may have been responsible for at least three device malfunctions this year, including one instance in which respiratory equipment shut “off and on for no apparent reason.” Hospital officials believe that Crocs’ plastic material acts as an insulator for static electricity, resulting in the shoes’ becoming charged with as much as 25,000 volts. While the incidents have not resulted in any adverse events, hospital officials say that the shoes’ static cling likely has been “a problem for many years.” Crocs officials have not commented on the hospitals’ decision (Nordstrom, AP/Newark Star-Ledger, 4/20; The Local, 4/18).