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Series: House (2004)
Episode: “Humpty Dumpty” (Season 2, Episode 3)
Original Air Date: September 27, 2006
Date Watched: Sometime in 2007-2008

Let's Roll...

Alfredo, a long-time handyman for Dr. Lisa Cuddy’s (the boss of House), complains that his asthma is acting up and has asked for a leave. Cuddy may have then felt that Alfredo’s complaints were not that serious and requests him to finish a the work he was doing on the roof of her home. Not long after, Alfredo feels faint—loses consciousness—and falls off the roof onto the ground below.

Following the basic tenets of the show—a systematic process of elimination is done on the patient (in this case, Alfredo) based on the presenting symptoms until a viable course of action is found that would eventually lead to recover.

However, mitigating circumstances are not properly addressed (likely due to Cuddy’s working relationship with Alfredo—wherein she couldn’t look at her patient objectively) and the end result led to further degradation of Alfredo’s condition wherein several of his fingers on his left hand were amputated after severe discoloration was found. Alfredo’s troubles didn’t end there as not long after, he was sent into neurosurgery as a result of a misdiagnosis. Other symptoms arose (e.g., lung problems, possible kidney failure, absence of urination, etc.) and the staff had little choice but to amputate the entire hand as leaving the rotting limb may affect his other organs.

Sounds depressing right?

It didn’t stop there. Eventually, Alfredo showed similar symptoms on his right hand.

House takes a risk and prescribes medication for psittacosis (if House is wrong, Alfredo will lose his remaining limbs as well) after a confrontation with Alfredo’s mother regarding the whereabouts of her son when he is not working for Dr. Cuddy. This eventually leads to House deducing that Alfredo is involved in cockfighting—the birds likely bringing about Alfredo’s psittacosis.

After Cuddy’s ocular of the cockfighting in the warehouse district, she returns to give Alfredo the diagnosis. “It is then implied that he and his family are suing the hospital for the loss of his hand.”

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Series: House (2004)
Episode: “Clueless” (Season 2, Episode 15)
Original Air Date: March 28, 2006
Date Watched: April 23, 2008

House believes that no one is happy in a marriage. In this particular episode...he was right.

A couple’s physical role-play is prematurely halted following the husband difficulty in breathing—to the point that he turned blue as his wife called 911.

House evaluates the presenting symptoms and comes to the conclusion that the husband is suffering from heavy metal poisoning. However, as none of the tests taken by the husband could support House’s theory, his underlings move for lupus diagnosis and its subsequent treatments—which didn’t improve the husband’s condition.

House observes the husband is getting progressively worse and less stable despite being treated in the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. The husband then suffers multiple respiratory attacks and failure.

House looks elsewhere and searches for other anomalies—the wife!

House confronts the wife but his search comes up empty until an unrelated case made him consider gold sodium thiomalate poisoning.

The show ends with the wife being led away by police officers while other male members of the team are working towards giving the husband the “bad news.”

House believed that no one is happy in a marriage.

In this case, he was right…

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House self-medicates. Just in case you didn't know.

Debuting over the FOX network almost five years ago (11-16-04), House is an investigative medical drama that revolves around several physicians who were inspired by Sir Blah Blah creation—Sherlock Homes.

Wikipedia.org wrote:

House is in many respects a medical Sherlock Holmes. This resemblance is evident in various elements of the series’ plot, such as House’s reliance on psychology to solve a case, his reluctance to accept cases he does not find interesting, his drug addiction, home address (apartment 221B), playing of an instrument, relationship with Dr. James Wilson (a reference to Dr. John Watson), and his encounter with a crazed gunman credited as “Moriarty”, which is the same name as Holmes’ nemesis. Also, series creator David Shore has said that Dr. House’s name is meant as a “subtle homage” to Sherlock Holmes (i.e., “homes”).

The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning show was created by David Shore and executive produced by Shore and Director Bryan Singer (who is known for his work on X-Men, X-Men: United, and Superman Returns).

Dr. Gregory House and the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital

English actor Hugh Laurie plays Dr. Gregory House, an intelligent, deductive, and at times somewhat arrogant diagnostician at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. House heads a team of young diagnosticians (e.g., allergists, etc.) in handling patients whose presenting concerns fancy his interest (in most cases) and were misdiagnosed at other medical institutions.

Wikipedia.org describes the cases featured in House to be “exceptionally complex and subtle” and “rare,” yet “realistic.” The author of The Medical Science of House, M.D.—Andrew Holtz—added that the presenting concerns that come through the doors of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital can be further described as “a conglomeration of all the worst things that can happen to people from all over the world, crammed into one little community.”

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