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 Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:56 am
Inconsistencies and factual errors are bound to happen in any series; these are just less noticeable to the general audience because of all the medical mumbo jumbo and "secrets."
First off, maybe it's different in American hospitals, or this one because it's a teaching hospital, but doctors almost NEVER hang IV bags. Sure it's good for the plot, but just not how it actually works. These doctors do things that are considered work for nurses; lots of doctors feel irritated or even like they've been brought down a level by doing these things and these are high paid top notch docs here, the best of the best.
For a specific medical inconsistency though, I can't remember the episode number or title, but its season 2. The episode where House is using drugs to induce migraines. The drug he uses (I don't remember what it's called) only induces sever headaches, not actual migraines. That and it leaves your system very quickly, so he shouldn't have needed to go to those lengths to get rid of his headaches. My mom is one of the head pharmacists at the hospital here, she knows these things.
Although, all in all, this is a very well done and properly researched series, as my mother likes to point out. Although... she usually guesses the diseases or the problem before half an episode is over. So either American hospitals are crap or they are diagnosticians for TV and not a real hospital. Or both.
Discuss:
Errors you've noticed in the series; not necessarily medical ones.
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 6:20 pm
House used Nitroclycerin (spelling?) to induce the migranes.
I suppose the reason it takes House's team longer (even though he's supposed to be the best diagnostitian out there) is just stalling for dramatic effect. There've been episodes where I was able to guess what the ailment was before the crew was able to as well.
I figured there'd be factual errors but since I'm not a medical practitioner (and no longer have contact with someone who was studying to be one) I have a bit of trouble pointing them out so it's always interesting to find out what the errors are.
One I've noticed was the first episode of the second season where the guy was in pain during his MRI because of the ink in his tattoos, I know tatoos don't have magnetic reactions to MRI's unless there's an insane amount of iron in the ink. It's plausible for prison tattoos, but unlikely.
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 7:20 pm
I figure the doctors hang the IV because they're the only ones in the room (if you haven't noticed, nurses make a very rare appearance in the hospital rooms of Princeton-Plainsborough Teaching Hospital... must be a union thing) and they don't feel like calling a nurse in to do such a simple task that wouldn't take but two seconds. I honestly doubt a doctor would find himself so 'above' everyone else as to not take the very little energy and time needed to hang a fluid bag on a hook. Even House does it if he's busy talking to the patient or to other doctors in the room - it seems to just be a subconscious sort of thing for them. Any doctor who'd think s/he was too 'good' to hang up a silly IV bag is no doctor I'd ever like to have.
And about the tattoos, they pointed out during the MRI that the tattoos did, in fact, have a lot of iron in them and, really - if something was bored under layers of skin then ripped out, I think it'd be pretty painful, don't you? I mean, it hurts to get the tattoos done, it hurts to get them taken off - shoot, it hurts to get an itsy bitsy splinter in your finger, don't you think it'd hurt quite a bit to have molecules of iron being magnetically ripped from your pores?
As far as errors go, my dad pointed out one or two over the past seasons but, since my family has pretty much no relation to the medical field at all (my dad's just really smart and knows way too much random junk) we haven't caught too many errors. I know for a fact that, by watching the TV Guide 'InFANity' show, that the writers sometimes just make up important-sounding diseases and medications to fill in time and, well, make things sound important. They never really focus on the made-up words for long - just slip them in while House and them do that whole 'blurting out possibilities' thing, then they're never mentioned again.
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Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 7:56 am
Believe me, in reality, nurses do about 95% of the work that the docters on House do. Of course it's completly unrealistic and the cases have holes and sometimes aren't even hard to figure out! whee I just turn my brain off when i watch and turn it back on when House talks so I don't miss any of his witty comments.
You just have to remember House M.D exists to be entertaining, not factual.
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:44 pm
LaBelleIsolde Inconsistencies and factual errors are bound to happen in any series; these are just less noticeable to the general audience because of all the medical mumbo jumbo and "secrets." First off, maybe it's different in American hospitals, or this one because it's a teaching hospital, but doctors almost NEVER hang IV bags. Sure it's good for the plot, but just not how it actually works. These doctors do things that are considered work for nurses; lots of doctors feel irritated or even like they've been brought down a level by doing these things and these are high paid top notch docs here, the best of the best. For a specific medical inconsistency though, I can't remember the episode number or title, but its season 2. The episode where House is using drugs to induce migraines. The drug he uses (I don't remember what it's called) only induces sever headaches, not actual migraines. That and it leaves your system very quickly, so he shouldn't have needed to go to those lengths to get rid of his headaches. My mom is one of the head pharmacists at the hospital here, she knows these things. Although, all in all, this is a very well done and properly researched series, as my mother likes to point out. Although... she usually guesses the diseases or the problem before half an episode is over. So either American hospitals are crap or they are diagnosticians for TV and not a real hospital. Or both. Discuss:
Errors you've noticed in the series; not necessarily medical ones.can the "nurses should do everything" crap. I read an interview with the producer/creator (who is canadian 4laugh ) and he said that a) House doesn't trust anyone, so nurses aren't aloud to do anything to his patients, just House and his team are aloud to test them and take blood and hang stuff, etc. b) House uses the wrong hand for his cane because he doesn't like to be told what to do.
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Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 4:29 pm
Lauranthalis You just have to remember House M.D exists to be entertaining, not factual. most people don't think about all that stuff.
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Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 8:25 pm
Julia Dream I figure the doctors hang the IV because they're the only ones in the room (if you haven't noticed, nurses make a very rare appearance in the hospital rooms of Princeton-Plainsborough Teaching Hospital... must be a union thing) and they don't feel like calling a nurse in to do such a simple task that wouldn't take but two seconds. I honestly doubt a doctor would find himself so 'above' everyone else as to not take the very little energy and time needed to hang a fluid bag on a hook. Even House does it if he's busy talking to the patient or to other doctors in the room - it seems to just be a subconscious sort of thing for them. Any doctor who'd think s/he was too 'good' to hang up a silly IV bag is no doctor I'd ever like to have. In real life the doctors are NOT in the room that often. They're off doing doctory things after they've diagnosed a patient. Nurses follow through with medication orders and general beside manner. Of course for the show there has to be more patient/doctor contact so that we can see more of what's going on. Doctors are not "too good" to do these things if they're around but it's not their job. They generally don't spend forever talking to patients. Like I said, their jobs are to diagnose and prescribe, the nurses generally carry out the treatment (such as administering meds or changing catheters). The doctor's just decide what the nurses should be doing. The only time doctors spend time with patients is really when the nurses are not qualified for treatment or when they need to diagnose the patient. And I still watch House and enjoy it, even if it's not always perfect. I don't watch it for the facts so much as the plot. But these things exist whether or not you care.
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Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 4:31 am
house has actuallly taught me some things about medical stuff
like my friend jamie said that she was sick and i said no ur not cuz on house that girl had that nd she had these weird symtoms that you dont have
i forget exactly what i said but i said something like that
house really is factual and entertainment
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Eloquent Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:32 pm
I have always been firm that House should not be taking Vicodin for his leg, because Vicodin has both codine and acetominiphen in it. That much acetominophen every day would kill his liver. He should be taking something that has Codine in it, but nothing else.
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Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 4:03 pm
Doesn't acetominophen also wreak havoc on your kidneys as well? I thought I heard it did.
And as for factual errors, or just random things, stop saying cruetzfeild-jakob disease. They mentioned it a few times and it was like "um. No." Stupid Chase.
For those who don't know, that's mad cow. And the symptoms were nothing like mad cow.
And many of the times Sarcoidosis and Lupus don't match either. It's just a whole "lets go through the alphabet!" Thing. (Though it does prompt me to look it up and learn about it, so it must not be a bad thing.)
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Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:22 am
About the Sarcoidosis/Lupus angle, it's true that most times the sypmtoms don't match the disease, but... for all it's inaccuracy, some good has come out of it. Lupus awareness was raised a lot thanks to season 2, just as Vasculitis got it's 15 minutes of fame in season 1. Each season has to have a poster-disease.
Anyways, aside from the factual errors, the producers have a hard time keeping a plausible timeline going. Like... in Autopsy when Andi asks Chase to kiss her, he says he's 30. When, before, in the episode when his father shows up in season one, House says quite clearly that he's 26 (which in the time of season 1, Jesse Spencer actually was).
They also make that mistake with House, himself. Season 1, around the time when House's birthday was supposed to be, can't remember the episode for sure, it was sometime in the winter judging by the candycanes and christmas songs abounding. Then, in season 2, in the finale, his bracelet has Hugh Laurie's actual DoB, which is like June 11, I believe. So, it doesn't match up.
But, overall, I still watch the show just because I know that medical shows (or any for that matter) have to sacrifice factuality for drama. It keeps the ratings up, and that's all that matters the the producers. And, you have to give David Shore and his team some credit. At least they try.
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Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:51 pm
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