I didn’t Google it, but I believe Broken Heart Syndrome has to do with the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, that shoot into the heart after one has had a shock, an accident, grief, a break-up, sudden job loss, etc.
I think you hit the nail on the head. This episode overall was pretty good but the medical aspects of it really made me want to throw my “NO WAY!” brick at the t.v.
I would hope in a real life incident of “Broken Heart Syndrome” that they would procure a psychiatrist to have a chat with the patient. Maybe try some anti-depressants? I’m sure there’s got to be some drug of all the drugs out there that could counter the realease of the stress hormones. I mean, come on! :rolleyes:
If that happened to me, I’d be dialing one of them thar lawyers I seen advertising on my picture box.
They did mention specifically in the episode why anti-depressants wouldn’t work in this case.
(not that it was correct, but it was ‘covered’)
Foreman is a Neurologist.
Chase is an “intensivist.” Meaning he specializes in intensive care.
Cameron is an immunologist.
And 3/4 of the show is a malpractice lawsuit.
– IG
Ooooh good point. Though I don’t think it is the third year. They say they average a patient a week, assuming (incorrectly) that we were to see every patient - then we’re only a year and a half into the show.
I know it is an incorrect assumption because when they did the episode where House lectures the students, he shares stories of patients which we did not see, so then there are obviously cases we are not privy too. As well as the gaps of time, such as the season breaks and such, where they do usually represent time passing.
We’ll see what they do, I think that House may toy with them and see who dances - we’ll just have to wait and see. Or maybe it’s time for a new dynamic and they’ll add a new lackey?
– IG
Nobody has thrown this out there, but I don’t think the “fake rehab” arc is quite over… Here’s why I think this…
At the end of the episode, he asks Wilson where the drugs came from, “Are these from the pharmacy, or from {rehab guy’s name}.”
When Wilson replies “{rehab guy},” House smiles, and takes the drugs. I think they are the legit rehab drugs, rather than vicodin. Otherwise, why would he have asked the question? Would the consumption of the drugs have been different? I think it’s House’s standard “Be a Pain in the ASS” SOP… keep his friend/boss/colleagues guessing as to what’s really going on in his messed up life.
I think House likes folks to think he’s just a messed up guy, but secretly is happy he’s working through his rehab in a positive manner.
I just wanted to expand on this for a moment since no one else has. Everyone seems to be assuming that House bribed the guy, but as ZipperJJ pointed out, House is more deceptive and cunning than that.
House has been dealing with the idea that he may have to go to rehab for a long, long time, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to learn that he managed to get dirt on Voldemort some time ago in the event he found himself in this situation. House reads people VERY well, and it’s very easy to imagine that he is well aware of Rehab Guy’s weaknesses, possibly confirmed by chatting with coworkers.
Wait, so what is he using him for, if he’s not bribing him for Vicodin?
I agree. It didn’t ring true to me that House had been getting Vicodin all along. I think that he was giving rehab a chance, but in order to save face (or stay one step ahead of the others), had to pretend he was the addicted jerk they all assumed he was. I don’t know which motivates him more: protecting his vulnerability, or outsmarting people, but either would serve.
It’s also rather hard to fake vomitting when someone is standing over you, like they were doing in one scene. :eek:
I’m not convinced he wasn’t getting smuggled Vicodin, but realistically he shouldn’t have needed to ask the question. Someone as familiar as he with Vicodin pills should’ve easily been able to identify them by sight. (For one thing, I’m pretty sure buprenorphine pills are quite tiny compared to Vicodin.)
But then, his question was more of a device to let Wilson (or us) know he’d been on the Vicodin all along. Whether it was subterfuge, or simply the way they decided to reveal this “secret,” is ambiguous at this point.
The show does require a healthy suspension of disbelief much of the time. (As I think has already been mentioned, it’s unlikely that a chronic pain patient requiring his dosage level would be using Vicodin as the drug of choice in the first place, but I assume the producers selected it for its name recognition.)