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Malpractice?

Herbie's picture

My problem with the "House's Brain/Wilson's Heart" 2-part episode is thus: not a single one of those doctors recused him or herself from that case.  In the real world, I'm pretty sure that's called "malpractice."  I know that Amber was unconscious, and I'm sure she trusted all of them implicitly.  However, there's a saying in law that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.  In medicine, where it is often much more emotional, it is absolutely unexcuseable that none of those doctors took themselves off the case, especially as each of them at one point or another realized they shouldn't be working on it.

I think it is also telling that decisions Wilson would recommend to any other patient caused him to lose it at the thought of Amber being subjected to the same treatment.  He knows he's not being rational.  House knows Wilson isn't being rational.  Every other doctor on that show knows Wilson isn't being rational, and yet, they nonetheless bow to his decisions.  Of course they should because he's "family" in this instance, but their actions are still inexcusable.  There is a reason the American Medical Assocation cautions so strongly for a doctor not to practice medicine on his or her own family except under extreme conditions.

Comments

aseidman's picture

You are, of course,

You are, of course, absolutely right.

That's where the fantasy element comes in. We'd hardly be interested in watching a bunch of doctors that we don't know, or who aren't series regulars, work on the case. For the sake of the series, what we're interested in is more important than the ethics.

This is one of the many reasons that my father won't watch House.

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