Yeah, they had that whole “freak” thing in common.
I didn’t gather he’d been sick that long – sounded like they thought the problem started when he was hunched over in the back of the car with the GF. And one character said something like:
. . . the holes won’t be a problem because they were so small (or something)
. . . so I agree with Loach that they treated the infection after they’d fixed the problem.
I guess they didn’t need the little boy with the not-sore throat, but he was comic relief.
I don’t know much about the Romani. Do they really try to doctor themselves as much as possible and avoid romantic interludes with non-Romani?
If the Romani don’t like Dr. House so much, why don’t they just curse him with a soul? 
Obviously it depends on the person. Romani are individuals like everybody else, and Romani have assimilated to various degrees from place to place. But traditionally, Romani aren’t supposed to date or marry people outside their tribe.
I’m not sure how similar the two cultures are, but if I remember correctly, the Irish “travellers” behaved like that too. To say they were insular would be a huge understatement. The movie was based on an original screenplay by Jim McGlynn, but I have no idea if it’s accurate or not.
Didn’t we used to have someone here on the boards that had first had knowledge of this kind of thing? If so, I felt that their contributions on the subject were fascinating.
Kal was very informative about the Romani and educated me on how derogatory many folks think the word gypsy is.
One thing that kinda bothered me about the episode… how’d the hospital get paid? I doubt the kid had insurance, and I can’t imagine his family wanting to pay an outsider for the medical services the begrudgingly allowed.
Hospitals are required by law to provide emergency medical care regardless of ability to pay. If there was no insurance and the family didn’t have the resources to pay the hospital would write off as a loss.
House, M.D., Season 4, Episode 1, The Collection Agency
Lest anyone think there is magic money somehow involved, the hospital must recover whatever losses it may write off. Therefore, insured patients pay for the treatment of the uninsured and indigent.
I meant to mention that bit, but was more looking at the legal requirement than the actual practice of what transpires and it slipped my mind. Thanks for covering me there Lib. 
So who was the actress who played the naked woman in bed with her lover? She was quite attractive.