House, M.D.

Cursed - S1-E13

Character mistake: In this episode we learn that Chase is 26 years old. His parents were divorced when he was 15, and this was stated as being 15 years ago, which would make him 30, not 26.

Safe - S2-E16

Character mistake: When discussing plasmapheresis, Foreman incorrectly classifies white cells as the heaviest (most dense). The correct order is red cells white cells, platelets, plasma. (00:25:06)

Carrot or Stick - S7-E10

Character mistake: The girl who admits to changing Chase's profile says that what she is doing is negative reinforcement when it is actually positive punishment. Negative reinforcement involves taking something away (eg a noise) to encourage the behaviour whereas positive punishment involves adding something (the pictures) to discourage future behaviour.

kristenlouise3

Forever - S2-E22

Character mistake: House says to Chase "I've got a dead baby for you to biopsy." A biopsy is a test performed on tissue from a living patient. He should have said 'autopsy' - the procedure performed on a dead person to determine how they died. House, as a doctor, would know this distinction. (00:32:45)

All In - S2-E17

Character mistake: Dates on a former patient's file indicate a birthdate of 04/24/24 and an admission date of 02/04/94 (an attained age of 69 yrs 9 months 11 days); House subsequently refers to that patient as a "73-year-old woman." (00:06:19 - 00:08:37)

Transplant - S8-E2

Character mistake: While talking to a patient awaiting a lung Transplant, Wilson comments that there is no urine in the catheter bag "despite taking in 200 cc of fluids." I suspect that Wilson meant to say 'despite taking in 2000 cc of fluids' as it would take more than 7 fluid ounces of intake (without noticeable output) before a doctor would begin to worry about decreasing kidney function. A minimum urine output of 30cc/hr is expected for a 70 kg human at a maintenance IV rate of 25-30 ml/kg/day (~73-88 cc/hr). (00:16:01)

Epic Fail - S6-E2

Character mistake: When reviewing the results of the mercury testing on a patient, Dr. Taub says "Test results - Surprise, Surprise, Marcus Webly was wrong". The character to which Taub referred was actually Marcus Welby of 1969-1976 TV fame. (00:08:14)

Fools for Love - S3-E5

Character mistake: After the differential, House instructs his team to start the patient on "Fluoroquinolone." A fluoroquinolone is a type of drug, not a drug itself. (00:04:58)

Maternity - S1-E4

Factual error: House's team listed the potential offending organisms of the infection as "MRSA, H. Flu, VRE, and pseudomonas." House then suggests Vancomycin and Aztreonam. Vancomycin only covers gram (+) organisms and Aztreonam only covers gram (-) organisms. VRE is a gram (+) organism, thus it would not be covered by Aztreonam. VRE stands for vancomycin resistant enterococcus, thus it would not be covered by Vancomycin either. House's team therefore failed to cover for an offending organism that could have caused the infection during their initial differential. (00:09:10)

More mistakes in House, M.D.

Dr. Wilson: Is there a light somewhere that goes on when I have food?
House: Green for food, orange for beverages, red for impure thoughts. That bulb burns out every two weeks.

More quotes from House, M.D.

Joy to the World - S5-E11

Trivia: This episode contains another reference to Sherlock Holmes. Wilson tells the (fictional) story of who had sent House a present. Wilson says it was one of House's first patients called Irena Adler. He then explains that House had feelings for the patient, but did not take it any further and therefore regards her as the 'woman who got away'. Irene Adler was an adversary who bettered Sherlock Holmes - the woman who got away. As it happens, the fist patient House treats in the pilot episode is called Rebecca Adler.

Jeff Walker

More trivia for House, M.D.

Whatever It Takes - S4-E6

Question: In this episode, Cuddy gives House crap about lying that he was working for the CIA. Exactly how did a CIA helicopter land on the hospital roof, and the hospital's dean not notice it?

Answer: She would have No Reason to know it belonged to the CIA. If she did know he went off in the helicopter, all she would know is that it wasn't an ambulance helicopter.

Greg Dwyer

More questions & answers from House, M.D.

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.