Distractions (House)
Encyclopedia
"Distractions" is the twelfth episode of the second season of House
, which premiered on the Fox
network on February 14, 2006.
with his son Adam on the back. They pull to a stop and the son convinces him to switch places. While driving, the boy spasms and tightens his hand on the throttle, and they go running wild. The father is thrown clear, but Adam crashes into some pipes and the ATV bursts into flames. The boy is airlifted to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital with burns over 40% of his body and taken immediately to the E.R. Foreman interrupts House to do a differential due to low potassium and House agrees – his diagnosis for Adam isn't hopeful, even ignoring the massive burns.
Meanwhile, Nurse Brenda approaches Dr. Cuddy and requests equipment for a lecture that a Dr. Weber is giving – Cuddy determines that House has invited him. She confronts House, who is working on a coma patient who has a migraine – he gave the patient a migraine to test some new medication.
The staff uses a galvanometer
to check Adam's heart, since he doesn't have enough skin to do an EKG. The parents report he used marijuana, but isn't on any other drugs that they know of. Adam goes into convulsions, leading House to suspect MS
, but they're unable to give him the standard lumbar puncture or radiation tests of his brain. At House's suggestion, they perform a transcranial Doppler sonography
.
In the lecture hall, Cuddy introduces Dr. Philip Weber, who studies headaches. House is lurking in the audience and Wilson confronts him, learning that Weber and House both went to Johns Hopkins and studied under the same teachers. It turns out House was supposed to get an internship until Weber accused him of cheating. House plans to prove he's a bad scientist. The staff uses images to check Adam's eye-response patterns, which will show up on the Doppler scan. They find signs of a bleed, and Foreman breaks in on House, interrupting the lecture. House speaks in Hindi to Weber, saying 'shukriya' meaning 'thank you' and 'teri ma ki', which is a swear word in Hindi. Foreman and Chase try to locate the bleed while House confronts Weber on his supposed breakthrough in India
and Weber finally figures out who is confronting him. House disputes Weber's study, claiming that if Weber had made a genuine breakthrough, he would not have published it in an obscure Indian journal. House determines that Weber's reasoning is that few people in the US would be able to read the Indian study and thus would not question its findings. House tells Weber the result of his experiment on the coma patient, but Weber asserts that House needs a live, conscious person to test. Supposedly using intravenous injectable nitroglycerin, House induces a migraine in himself to test Weber's medicine, which doesn't work. Foreman administers some medicine to help with House's migraine but clearly he's not operating at capacity.
Meanwhile, the unconscious Adam has an orgasm
in the hyperbaric chamber. The team concludes that something has crossed his pain and pleasure receptors, which may indicate infection. Cameron suggests they wait, but House proposes they use maggots
to eat the dead flesh from the burns. However, the insect larvae used on set are not maggots, but rather the larvae of the Greater Wax Moth Galleria mellonella
. Also, a medical error is made by Dr. Cameron. Maggots do eat dead flesh, but they also eat living flesh and must be removed from the patient once the necrotic tissue has been removed, otherwise it will cause extreme pain. Wilson confronts House on how he inflicted the pain on himself to make up for pushing Stacy away. The staff report the maggots are working on the burns but the brain irregularities are still present. House orders a risky lumbar puncture
and Foreman reluctantly advises the parents to approve the test. Foreman successfully performs the lumbar puncture, but the test is negative. They have no other way to test for the telltale lesions so House goes into Adam's room and has the anesthesiologist wake him up. Adam is in incredible pain but House needs to know if he felt tingling while on the ATV – Adam says he urinated and then blacked out, after which House knocks him back out.
Later, House attempts to treat his migraine by taking a shower and using psychoactive drugs (heavily implied to be LSD
). He is discovered by Cameron after he has begun to hallucinate. House meets with the staff, fully recovered but a bit vague on what he took. House concludes that Adam was taking anti-depressants which accounts for the seizure, and the excess serotonin is the result of the medicine. Serotonin syndrome
is lethal, but treatable. House wants to speak to Adam again, but the parents stop him. House confronts the parents to determine if Adam was suffering from depression. The parents are sure he's told them everything, and House has no choice but to go back to differential diagnosis. He still can't explain the orgasm and goes into Adam's chamber against the parents' wishes. The parents get Foreman, who intervenes, but House notices a mark on Adam's wrist – a perfectly circular burn, separated from the burns covering Adam's chest and back. House confronts the parents with the fact Adam has a cigarette burn and nicotine stains. He determines that Adam was trying to break his habit and using cheap anti-smoking aids that contained antidepressants.
Later, Cuddy confronts House and wants to know if he took LSD. House admits he did so to cure the migraine, combining the LSD with antidepressants to control the hallucinations. Weber barges in and complains that House told Weber's corporate sponsors that his drug doesn't work. House tells Weber they're "even." The father wonders if Adam will blame him for the accident. Later, House is sitting at home. A prostitute knocks on his door and he lets her in, telling her he is "looking for a distraction."
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, which premiered on the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
network on February 14, 2006.
Plot
A father is in the woods driving an ATVAll-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...
with his son Adam on the back. They pull to a stop and the son convinces him to switch places. While driving, the boy spasms and tightens his hand on the throttle, and they go running wild. The father is thrown clear, but Adam crashes into some pipes and the ATV bursts into flames. The boy is airlifted to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital with burns over 40% of his body and taken immediately to the E.R. Foreman interrupts House to do a differential due to low potassium and House agrees – his diagnosis for Adam isn't hopeful, even ignoring the massive burns.
Meanwhile, Nurse Brenda approaches Dr. Cuddy and requests equipment for a lecture that a Dr. Weber is giving – Cuddy determines that House has invited him. She confronts House, who is working on a coma patient who has a migraine – he gave the patient a migraine to test some new medication.
The staff uses a galvanometer
Galvanometer
A galvanometer is a type of ammeter: an instrument for detecting and measuring electric current. It is an analog electromechanical transducer that produces a rotary deflection of some type of pointer in response to electric current flowing through its coil in a magnetic field. .Galvanometers were...
to check Adam's heart, since he doesn't have enough skin to do an EKG. The parents report he used marijuana, but isn't on any other drugs that they know of. Adam goes into convulsions, leading House to suspect MS
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, but they're unable to give him the standard lumbar puncture or radiation tests of his brain. At House's suggestion, they perform a transcranial Doppler sonography
Medical ultrasonography
Diagnostic sonography is an ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging technique used for visualizing subcutaneous body structures including tendons, muscles, joints, vessels and internal organs for possible pathology or lesions...
.
In the lecture hall, Cuddy introduces Dr. Philip Weber, who studies headaches. House is lurking in the audience and Wilson confronts him, learning that Weber and House both went to Johns Hopkins and studied under the same teachers. It turns out House was supposed to get an internship until Weber accused him of cheating. House plans to prove he's a bad scientist. The staff uses images to check Adam's eye-response patterns, which will show up on the Doppler scan. They find signs of a bleed, and Foreman breaks in on House, interrupting the lecture. House speaks in Hindi to Weber, saying 'shukriya' meaning 'thank you' and 'teri ma ki', which is a swear word in Hindi. Foreman and Chase try to locate the bleed while House confronts Weber on his supposed breakthrough in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Weber finally figures out who is confronting him. House disputes Weber's study, claiming that if Weber had made a genuine breakthrough, he would not have published it in an obscure Indian journal. House determines that Weber's reasoning is that few people in the US would be able to read the Indian study and thus would not question its findings. House tells Weber the result of his experiment on the coma patient, but Weber asserts that House needs a live, conscious person to test. Supposedly using intravenous injectable nitroglycerin, House induces a migraine in himself to test Weber's medicine, which doesn't work. Foreman administers some medicine to help with House's migraine but clearly he's not operating at capacity.
Meanwhile, the unconscious Adam has an orgasm
Orgasm
Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...
in the hyperbaric chamber. The team concludes that something has crossed his pain and pleasure receptors, which may indicate infection. Cameron suggests they wait, but House proposes they use maggots
Maggot therapy
Maggot therapy is a type of biotherapy involving the intentional introduction of live, disinfected maggots into the non-healing skin and soft tissue wound of a human or animal for the purpose of cleaning out the...
to eat the dead flesh from the burns. However, the insect larvae used on set are not maggots, but rather the larvae of the Greater Wax Moth Galleria mellonella
Galleria mellonella
The Greater Wax Moth or Honeycomb Moth is a moth of the family Pyralidae. It is the only member of the genus Galleria. It is found in most of the world, including Europe and adjacent Eurasia , and as an introduced species e.g...
. Also, a medical error is made by Dr. Cameron. Maggots do eat dead flesh, but they also eat living flesh and must be removed from the patient once the necrotic tissue has been removed, otherwise it will cause extreme pain. Wilson confronts House on how he inflicted the pain on himself to make up for pushing Stacy away. The staff report the maggots are working on the burns but the brain irregularities are still present. House orders a risky lumbar puncture
Lumbar puncture
A lumbar puncture is a diagnostic and at times therapeutic procedure that is performed in order to collect a sample of cerebrospinal fluid for biochemical, microbiological, and cytological analysis, or very rarely as a treatment to relieve increased intracranial pressure.-Indications:The...
and Foreman reluctantly advises the parents to approve the test. Foreman successfully performs the lumbar puncture, but the test is negative. They have no other way to test for the telltale lesions so House goes into Adam's room and has the anesthesiologist wake him up. Adam is in incredible pain but House needs to know if he felt tingling while on the ATV – Adam says he urinated and then blacked out, after which House knocks him back out.
Later, House attempts to treat his migraine by taking a shower and using psychoactive drugs (heavily implied to be LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
). He is discovered by Cameron after he has begun to hallucinate. House meets with the staff, fully recovered but a bit vague on what he took. House concludes that Adam was taking anti-depressants which accounts for the seizure, and the excess serotonin is the result of the medicine. Serotonin syndrome
Serotonin syndrome
Serotonin syndrome is a potentially life-threatening adverse drug reaction that may occur following therapeutic drug use, inadvertent interactions between drugs, overdose of particular drugs, or the recreational use of certain drugs...
is lethal, but treatable. House wants to speak to Adam again, but the parents stop him. House confronts the parents to determine if Adam was suffering from depression. The parents are sure he's told them everything, and House has no choice but to go back to differential diagnosis. He still can't explain the orgasm and goes into Adam's chamber against the parents' wishes. The parents get Foreman, who intervenes, but House notices a mark on Adam's wrist – a perfectly circular burn, separated from the burns covering Adam's chest and back. House confronts the parents with the fact Adam has a cigarette burn and nicotine stains. He determines that Adam was trying to break his habit and using cheap anti-smoking aids that contained antidepressants.
Later, Cuddy confronts House and wants to know if he took LSD. House admits he did so to cure the migraine, combining the LSD with antidepressants to control the hallucinations. Weber barges in and complains that House told Weber's corporate sponsors that his drug doesn't work. House tells Weber they're "even." The father wonders if Adam will blame him for the accident. Later, House is sitting at home. A prostitute knocks on his door and he lets her in, telling her he is "looking for a distraction."
External links
- "Distractions" at Fox.com