House, M.D.

Son of Coma Guy - S3-E7

Factual error: Given Gabriel has been in a coma for a decade, it is astonishing that once he wakes up he has no trouble speaking, and his muscles haven't atrophied at all— in fact, his muscles are remarkably toned.

swordfish

Son of Coma Guy - S3-E7

Factual error: It is debatable whether Tritter has enough evidence for a court to grant civil forfeiture against House. However, the evidence absolutely wouldn't warrant (even with a sympathetic court) freezing the bank accounts of four other doctors and seizing Wilson's car. Tritter's evidence is that the doctors have prescribed House Vicodin. There's no evidence of a broader conspiracy to traffic. No court would grant this, and any lawyer (including the hospital's own lawyers) could easily challenge it.

swordfish

Son of Coma Guy - S3-E7

Factual error: House makes a person have a seizure by switching the light on and off. This would not cause a person to have seizure as it takes more flickering than that to trigger a seizure in people with photosensitive epilepsy.

Whac-A-Mole - S3-E8

Factual error: The pharmacist refuses to provide Wilson with the medicines he has prescribed to his patients, since Tritter has had Wilson's DEA number/license suspended. However, DEA licenses/numbers are only in relation to controlled substances. Wilson is an oncologist; the chemotherapy medications he would be prescribing aren't controlled substances, and as such, not having a DEA licence wouldn't prevent him from writing scripts for these (although he couldn't prescribe any strong pain meds). (00:10:38)

swordfish

Whac-A-Mole - S3-E8

Factual error: There is no way that Tritter could have Wilson's bank accounts frozen on such shallow evidence. Courts require serious evidence before granting an asset freezing injunction. Given no formal charges have been filed against Wilson, they won't grant an injunction. Asset freezes are to stop someone moving money outside the jurisdiction; there's no suggestion Wilson has been paid by House for the meds or might move money offshore. No court in the US will grant an asset freeze on so little evidence.

swordfish

Merry Little Christmas - S3-E10

Factual error: Wilson rolls House onto his back and leaves him lying on his back. Any doctor (especially one as good as Wilson) would never do that when there is a risk of vomiting (you can see in the background that House has already thrown up). If House were to vomit again while lying comatose on his back, he would risk choking to death on his vomit. (00:41:07)

swordfish

Merry Little Christmas - S3-E10

Factual error: Tritter states he reviewed the pharmacy log and spotted the dead man's meds being collected. Regardless of Tritter's status as a cop, this is a violation of patient-physician confidentiality. No hospital would allow him log access without a court order (which he doesn't have, would take ages to be granted and requires a very high evidential threshold), and even then it is likely this work would be allocated to the DEA rather than local police like Tritter. (00:42:30)

swordfish

Words and Deeds - S3-E11

Factual error: Chase and Foreman suggest the evidence of the pharmacy log is inadmissible at court due to patient-doctor confidentiality, but Cameron states House was neither the patient nor the doctor in question, and so confidentiality does not apply. Cameron's point is irrelevant: since the patient (who has died) and doctor in question (Wilson) did not consent to Tritter's reading the log, confidentiality still applies. As such, Tritter did not validly acquire this evidence, and it is indeed inadmissible. (00:04:18)

swordfish

The Jerk - S3-E23

Factual error: The boy plays a game of chess at a tournament against some other person. The camera only shows a few pictures of the board, however, when the boy says "goodbye" and the game ends, due to an allegedly checkmate, the following is shown: the opponents king is on f7, with his own figures all around but e8 and h7-9 being free. On h5 is the boy's rook which attacks the h7, h8 and h9 fields. Now the boy moves his bishop to h6, thus attacks f7 (where the king is) and e8 (the only free spot but h6-8). Now of course h6, f7 and e8 are not available to the king anymore, but as the bishop blocks the rooks attack on the h-line, the king now has the fields h7 and h8 to go to. Thus it's by no means "checkmate." (00:01:00)

David Zweistein

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)

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Humpty Dumpty - S2-E3

Dr. Foreman: You really want to screw Whitey? Be one of the few black men to live long enough to collect social security. Take the medicine.

More quotes from House, M.D.

Trivia: Hugh Laurie auditioned for the role as Dr. Gregory House in his hotel room bathroom in Namibia. He was rehearsing his role for the film The Flight of the Phoenix and claimed that the bathroom was the only place with enough light. He also apologized for his appearance on tape before the audition as he'd just come back from filming. The fact that House has a somewhat scruffy and unkempt look, particularly his constant five o'clock shadow, has been attributed by creator David Shore to Laurie's appearance in this audition tape.

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.

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