Family Practice (House)
Encyclopedia
"Family Practice" is the eleventh episode of the seventh season
of the American medical drama House
. It first aired on February 7, 2011.
) is brought to the ER and is placed under House's care, but he thinks she is imagining most of her symptoms. She refuses treatment from House after he demonstrates that giving her placebos, made to look like a drug which has certain side effects, makes her develop some of those side effects, thus proving that at least part of her problem is hypochondria
.
The case is transferred to Dr. Kaufmann, but Cuddy has House stay on the case, unbeknownst to the mother. Meanwhile, since Masters thinks that treating a patient who expressly refused to be treated by a certain doctor is unethical, House has her run inconsequential treatment on trivial cases.
House and his team deduce that Arlene has endocarditis
, while Dr. Kaufmann had her started on prednisone, which would make endocarditis worse. House tries to make his team switch Arlene's IV to give her antibiotics instead of prednisone, and after Chase, Foreman, and Taub are unable to do it because of various interferences, he has Cuddy switch the meds. This only leads to Arlene developing an allergy, so she is taken off the antibiotics.
Masters wants to disclose the situation to Arlene, but House tells her he will have her thrown out of med school—and he has the means to do it, because he has set her up with the trivial cases he had been busying her with. One of those patients had prohibited treatment without express consent of relatives, House hid this form from Masters, and she drew blood from him, which, according to House, would constitute a criminal assault.
House, his team, and Cuddy talk about the dangers of slipping the patient drugs without the knowledge of the attending physician, now that they have moved on to a diagnosis of fungal endocarditis which requires giving her a dangerous antibiotic. Before the situation is resolved, Masters tells Kaufmann and Arlene what House has been doing.
Arlene asks to be transferred to Princeton General. Cuddy caves in and orders an ambulance to get her to the other hospital. Before Arlene can leave, however, House makes Cuddy realize she's been unable to confront her mother, which can now cost her the life of her mother, but sooner or later she would blame this death on House. Cuddy gathers her courage and talks to Arlene, making her stay in Princeton Plainsboro.
While House and Cuddy prep her mother for treatment from fungal endocarditis, their small talk reveals that as far as two days ago, Arlene was unable to detect House's sarcasm in a conversation with him. House determines this to be caused by a deficit in the right parahippocampal gyrus
.
Immediately after that, Arlene faints, with her heart rate skyrocketing. House diagnoses heavy metal poisoning. Arlene had already been treated shortly for possible lead poisoning, got better, but then got worse again, so House concludes she continues to be poisoned—by her artificial hip. After an operation and chelation for cobalt poisoning, Arlene recovers.
House once again "unfires" Masters, because he feels that, now that Cuddy is his girlfriend, she's becoming too soft on him, and he needs someone to stand up to him to keep him from doing something unethical in extreme cases. Earlier, this had always been Cuddy's role as his boss; now that she's his girlfriend, he thinks Masters could fulfill this role.
The only other storyline in the episode deals with Taub, who's pressed for money now that he had to move out and live in a hotel. He gets a referral by his ex-wife to her brother, a torts lawyer who needs a medical expert. A side glance at a brain image he finds in the brother's office makes Taub think a boy who was run over by a pizza delivery truck and is getting a settlement for legs trauma, also has a minor bleed in his brain.
Taub informs the boy's mother, she calls off her assent to a settlement and reports the lawyer to the bar for trying to hide additional damage. An angiogram shows it was nothing, and the lawyer arrives at the hospital to beat Taub up—like he did five years ago when it was revealed that Taub was cheating on his wife, the lawyer's sister. Thus the lawyer's five years of therapy—presumably for rage fits—turn out to be for nothing. Taub's wife comes to him to tell he's a good person and console him for his broken nose and the blown chance of finding additional income.
House (season 7)
House entered a seventh season on September 20, 2010. House and Cuddy attempt to make a real relationship work and face the question as to whether their new relationship will affect their ability to diagnose patients. The new season features a new opening title sequence...
of the American medical drama House
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...
. It first aired on February 7, 2011.
Plot
Cuddy's mother Arlene (Candice BergenCandice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
) is brought to the ER and is placed under House's care, but he thinks she is imagining most of her symptoms. She refuses treatment from House after he demonstrates that giving her placebos, made to look like a drug which has certain side effects, makes her develop some of those side effects, thus proving that at least part of her problem is hypochondria
Hypochondria
Hypochondriasis or hypochondria refers to excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness. This debilitating condition is the result of an inaccurate perception of the body’s condition despite the absence of an actual medication condition...
.
The case is transferred to Dr. Kaufmann, but Cuddy has House stay on the case, unbeknownst to the mother. Meanwhile, since Masters thinks that treating a patient who expressly refused to be treated by a certain doctor is unethical, House has her run inconsequential treatment on trivial cases.
House and his team deduce that Arlene has endocarditis
Endocarditis
Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves . Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or even on intracardiac devices...
, while Dr. Kaufmann had her started on prednisone, which would make endocarditis worse. House tries to make his team switch Arlene's IV to give her antibiotics instead of prednisone, and after Chase, Foreman, and Taub are unable to do it because of various interferences, he has Cuddy switch the meds. This only leads to Arlene developing an allergy, so she is taken off the antibiotics.
Masters wants to disclose the situation to Arlene, but House tells her he will have her thrown out of med school—and he has the means to do it, because he has set her up with the trivial cases he had been busying her with. One of those patients had prohibited treatment without express consent of relatives, House hid this form from Masters, and she drew blood from him, which, according to House, would constitute a criminal assault.
House, his team, and Cuddy talk about the dangers of slipping the patient drugs without the knowledge of the attending physician, now that they have moved on to a diagnosis of fungal endocarditis which requires giving her a dangerous antibiotic. Before the situation is resolved, Masters tells Kaufmann and Arlene what House has been doing.
Arlene asks to be transferred to Princeton General. Cuddy caves in and orders an ambulance to get her to the other hospital. Before Arlene can leave, however, House makes Cuddy realize she's been unable to confront her mother, which can now cost her the life of her mother, but sooner or later she would blame this death on House. Cuddy gathers her courage and talks to Arlene, making her stay in Princeton Plainsboro.
While House and Cuddy prep her mother for treatment from fungal endocarditis, their small talk reveals that as far as two days ago, Arlene was unable to detect House's sarcasm in a conversation with him. House determines this to be caused by a deficit in the right parahippocampal gyrus
Parahippocampal gyrus
The parahippocampal gyrus is a grey matter cortical region of the brain that surrounds the hippocampus. This region plays an important role in memory encoding and retrieval....
.
Immediately after that, Arlene faints, with her heart rate skyrocketing. House diagnoses heavy metal poisoning. Arlene had already been treated shortly for possible lead poisoning, got better, but then got worse again, so House concludes she continues to be poisoned—by her artificial hip. After an operation and chelation for cobalt poisoning, Arlene recovers.
House once again "unfires" Masters, because he feels that, now that Cuddy is his girlfriend, she's becoming too soft on him, and he needs someone to stand up to him to keep him from doing something unethical in extreme cases. Earlier, this had always been Cuddy's role as his boss; now that she's his girlfriend, he thinks Masters could fulfill this role.
The only other storyline in the episode deals with Taub, who's pressed for money now that he had to move out and live in a hotel. He gets a referral by his ex-wife to her brother, a torts lawyer who needs a medical expert. A side glance at a brain image he finds in the brother's office makes Taub think a boy who was run over by a pizza delivery truck and is getting a settlement for legs trauma, also has a minor bleed in his brain.
Taub informs the boy's mother, she calls off her assent to a settlement and reports the lawyer to the bar for trying to hide additional damage. An angiogram shows it was nothing, and the lawyer arrives at the hospital to beat Taub up—like he did five years ago when it was revealed that Taub was cheating on his wife, the lawyer's sister. Thus the lawyer's five years of therapy—presumably for rage fits—turn out to be for nothing. Taub's wife comes to him to tell he's a good person and console him for his broken nose and the blown chance of finding additional income.
External links
- "Family Practice" at Fox.com