TV: House

[Cat]

Cure you?!

You’d be dead by the time he figured out your diagnosis!

I work in a hospital lab, and most of us hate this show. It takes House FOREVER to figure out what’s wrong. If only we had that much time in real life.

The few times I’ve watched it, I find myself screaming at the TV set trying to get the guy to figure out what’s wrong! And I’m just a med tech.

On Tuesday of this week, one of our infectious disease docs figured out a deadly diagnosis in less that an hour (with our help!). BUT he also demonstrated compassion. He was down in our lab looking at slides and he told us, “This is the easy part. Now it gets hard because I have to go upstairs and tell the parents why their 18 year-old is dying.”

Heartbreaking. Thankfully, the patient is still alive and hopefully will survive after all.

I absolutely hate this show. It makes hospitals, especially labs, look like they’re full of stupid idiots, and it gives the incorrect impression that a doctor can get away with acting like a you-know-what. NO, he/she can’t!–even in a teaching hospital! In this day and age when hospitals face competition and are shutting down due to failure to make a profit, doctors are expected to act ethical and practice good customer service skills just like all of the rest of us. If they don’t, they’re out. A hospital cannot take the chance on getting sued or losing valuable contracts in order to put up with an egomaniac M.D. Too many people are counting on the jobs provided by a hospital to allow a horse’s patootie doctor to run rampant on his own ego juice.

I wish that one of the television networks would do a show about a REAL infectious disease specialist! These docs receive one of the lowest salaries of any M.D. specialty, yet so much rides on their work. All too often they are called in AFTER another doctor has exhausted all the other recourses. And they have to know everything–all those obscure diseases and bacteria and viruses, and they have to teach–I absolutely idolize the ID specialists in our city. They often amaze me with their knowledge and skill, and with their compassion. Why can’t we see THAT on tv instead of a boy/man who obviously didn’t get spanked as a child?

And I don’t think he’s handsome or cute, either.

 

[Katie1723]

Cure you?!

You’d be dead by the time he figured out your diagnosis!

I work in a hospital lab, and most of us hate this show. It takes House FOREVER to figure out what’s wrong. If only we had that much time in real life.

The few times I’ve watched it, I find myself screaming at the TV set trying to get the guy to figure out what’s wrong! And I’m just a med tech.

On Tuesday of this week, one of our infectious disease docs figured out a deadly diagnosis in less that an hour (with our help!). BUT he also demonstrated compassion. He was down in our lab looking at slides and he told us, “This is the easy part. Now it gets hard because I have to go upstairs and tell the parents why their 18 year-old is dying.”

Heartbreaking. Thankfully, the patient is still alive and hopefully will survive after all.

I absolutely hate this show. It makes hospitals, especially labs, look like they’re full of stupid idiots, and it gives the incorrect impression that a doctor can get away with acting like a you-know-what. NO, he/she can’t!–even in a teaching hospital! In this day and age when hospitals face competition and are shutting down due to failure to make a profit, doctors are expected to act ethical and practice good customer service skills just like all of the rest of us. If they don’t, they’re out. A hospital cannot take the chance on getting sued or losing valuable contracts in order to put up with an egomaniac M.D. Too many people are counting on the jobs provided by a hospital to allow a horse’s patootie doctor to run rampant on his own ego juice.

I wish that one of the television networks would do a show about a REAL infectious disease specialist! These docs receive one of the lowest salaries of any M.D. specialty, yet so much rides on their work. All too often they are called in AFTER another doctor has exhausted all the other recourses. And they have to know everything–all those obscure diseases and bacteria and viruses, and they have to teach–I absolutely idolize the ID specialists in our city. They often amaze me with their knowledge and skill, and with their compassion. Why can’t we see THAT on tv instead of a boy/man who obviously didn’t get spanked as a child?

And I don’t think he’s handsome or cute, either.

Aww… he isn’t THAT bad…goodness…tell us how you really feel.

Kathy

 

[JimG]

Cure you?!

You’d be dead by the time he figured out your diagnosis!

Plus, it seems that House and his entire team go out of their way to try to kill the patient before eventually getting around to curing him.

 

[JimG]

One of the episodes, which I didn’t see, concerned a patient with VHL. My brother told me about it, because my sister in law and neice have VHL. So I looked up the plot summary online.

First, it was like no case of VHL ever recorded, and certainly didn’t follow the symptomology that would be recited in the Merck Manual or other places.

Secondly, who tries to make diagnoses by breaking into patients’ homes?

I’m thinking a good history, some selected MRI’s, and some reference manuals would have resulted in a quicker diagnosis.

 

[Katie1723]

…I’m thinking a good history, some selected MRI’s, and some reference manuals would have resulted in a quicker diagnosis.

Oh for crying out loud! It’s TV. They have to make it last an HOUR. If it took 15 minutes I wouldn’t get to drool over Hugh Laurie for very long.

Kathy

 

[Sam_Maloney]

I enjoy it.

But then, I’m very tired of plaster saints these days, and am more interested seeing flawed, human, characters trying to make things better.

And unlike ER or the Law & Order shows, I rarely feel like the writers of House are lecturing me, or shaking their finger in my face.

 

[Cat]

I enjoy it.

But then, I’m very tired of plaster saints these days, and am more interested seeing flawed, human, characters trying to make things better.

And unlike ER or the Law & Order shows, I rarely feel like the writers of House are lecturing me, or shaking their finger in my face.

But for cryin’ out loud, why set it in a HOSPITAL!!!

We have enough problems earning the confidence of our patients and the community without the “flawed saint” adding to all the misconceptions!

Lawsuits abound. Did you know that 80% of the people in the United States plan to retire with money earned from a medical lawsuit!!! I’m NOT kidding! People come to the hospital looking for us to mess up! They want to get rich off of us. There is an entire department in our hospital with the mission of looking for potential lawsuits and stopping them before they happen. (The “Apology Department”.)

No wonder your health care costs are so high!

HERE, on CAF, there is a very vocal contingency of anti-medical conspiratists who believe that all doctors and medical professionals are out to scam regular folks, especially Catholics, and especially Catholics who breast-feed or deliver vaginally after a C-section. Although many of their testimonies of bad medical occurrences are isolated incidents, these people pass these stories off as common occurrences in hospitals, and urge women to bypass regular doctors and hospitals and seek “alternative” treatments.

For God’s sake, the medical professions are hurting HURTING for new blood!

The nursing shortage is critical–it is very possible that we will see a system in the U.S. like other countries use, where FAMILY members take care of a patient’s “personal needs” as there aren’t enough nurses to do it.

In our lab, over half of us are over 50, and many are over 60. There is a good group of younger people in our lab now, but only because of aggressive recruiting and huge bonuses. The turnover rate among these young people is faster than Michael Phelps.

I’ve heard of hospitals that offer incentives including free MAID SERVICE for new nurses.

And doctors–well, if you walk into our hospital now, you will see very few male American doctors. Many of the doctors are from outside of the U.S. It seems that a lot of kids just aren’t interested in devoting years of their lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars to medical training. I don’t blame them–a few lawsuits can destroy you.

I wish they had set House in an office, and made House into a systems administrator (my husband is an SA). I think that it would be much more accurate, and his temper tantrums, childish displays, and lack of respect for everyone else stupider than him would be more realistic in a business setting.

Or put House in the fashion industry or something a little less vital than a hospital.

He is a disgrace. Like I said, they should do a show about REAL infectious disease specialists, the unknown heroes of the medical world. When YOU get your fever of unknown origin and are lying in the ED comatose, and YOUR family doctor doesn’t have a clue, you will find out that I am right about ID docs–they will save your life. And they WON’T act like a silly sexualized baby doing it.

This is fun. Thank you for allowing me to speak my mind about House. Usually on other forums, I would be banned by now by rapid House fans. Or my PM box would be full of hate mail.

Seriously, I think the show House does great harm in the U.S., and Hugh Laurie doesn’t give a rat’s behind that he is making mockery of truly good doctors. There are many shows that are pretty bad, but they don’t actually affect everyday life. House affects my everyday life at the hospital, as it gives the public the WRONG impression of hospitals and doctors.

If you want to tell me that House is acceptable, then you had BETTER not try to tell me that Family Guy is unacceptable! Both are cartoon, but Family Guy is obvious about it.

 

[child_of_God85]

Wow, I think some people have a hard time separating fiction and reality. House is a FICTIONAL show. Most people with half a brain can tell you that if a doctor really acted like that he would have a million law suits.
Geese, if you don’t like the show thats fine, but why be so mad at something thats fiction?

 

[mom4truth]

Personally, I think House is a great show. I like the character that Hugh Laurie plays: he’s funny, arrogant, a pill-popper, a sexist, and intolerant of stupid people.

It’s just a “show”. Pure fiction. It takes your mind off the daily grind. It’s entertaining. Probably not for everyone, but then everything isn’t for everyone.

 

[Katie1723]

But for cryin’ out loud, why set it in a HOSPITAL!!!

We have enough problems earning the confidence of our patients and the community without the “flawed saint” adding to all the misconceptions!

Lawsuits abound. Did you know that 80% of the people in the United States plan to retire with money earned from a medical lawsuit!!! I’m NOT kidding! People come to the hospital looking for us to mess up! They want to get rich off of us. There is an entire department in our hospital with the mission of looking for potential lawsuits and stopping them before they happen. (The “Apology Department”.)

No wonder your health care costs are so high!

HERE, on CAF, there is a very vocal contingency of anti-medical conspiratists who believe that all doctors and medical professionals are out to scam regular folks, especially Catholics, and especially Catholics who breast-feed or deliver vaginally after a C-section. Although many of their testimonies of bad medical occurrences are isolated incidents, these people pass these stories off as common occurrences in hospitals, and urge women to bypass regular doctors and hospitals and seek “alternative” treatments.

For God’s sake, the medical professions are hurting HURTING for new blood!

The nursing shortage is critical–it is very possible that we will see a system in the U.S. like other countries use, where FAMILY members take care of a patient’s “personal needs” as there aren’t enough nurses to do it.

In our lab, over half of us are over 50, and many are over 60. There is a good group of younger people in our lab now, but only because of aggressive recruiting and huge bonuses. The turnover rate among these young people is faster than Michael Phelps.

I’ve heard of hospitals that offer incentives including free MAID SERVICE for new nurses.

And doctors–well, if you walk into our hospital now, you will see very few male American doctors. Many of the doctors are from outside of the U.S. It seems that a lot of kids just aren’t interested in devoting years of their lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars to medical training. I don’t blame them–a few lawsuits can destroy you.

I wish they had set House in an office, and made House into a systems administrator (my husband is an SA). I think that it would be much more accurate, and his temper tantrums, childish displays, and lack of respect for everyone else stupider than him would be more realistic in a business setting.

Or put House in the fashion industry or something a little less vital than a hospital.

He is a disgrace. Like I said, they should do a show about REAL infectious disease specialists, the unknown heroes of the medical world. When YOU get your fever of unknown origin and are lying in the ED comatose, and YOUR family doctor doesn’t have a clue, you will find out that I am right about ID docs–they will save your life. And they WON’T act like a silly sexualized baby doing it.

This is fun. Thank you for allowing me to speak my mind about House. Usually on other forums, I would be banned by now by rapid House fans. Or my PM box would be full of hate mail.

Seriously, I think the show House does great harm in the U.S., and Hugh Laurie doesn’t give a rat’s behind that he is making mockery of truly good doctors. There are many shows that are pretty bad, but they don’t actually affect everyday life. House affects my everyday life at the hospital, as it gives the public the WRONG impression of hospitals and doctors.

If you want to tell me that House is acceptable, then you had BETTER not try to tell me that Family Guy is unacceptable! Both are cartoon, but Family Guy is obvious about it.

Do you by any chance have blood pressure issues? I am glad you could vent, but are you this passionate about everything?
I LOVE “House” but I am not fanatical about it. And I work as a maternity tech.And no, he probably wouldn’t last too long in my hospital, but as another poster stated, it’s fiction. So relax, we won’t send “House” to take care of you anytime soon.

Kathy

 

[jrabs]

Do you by any chance have blood pressure issues? I am glad you could vent, but are you this passionate about everything?
I LOVE “House” but I am not fanatical about it. And I work as a maternity tech.And no, he probably wouldn’t last too long in my hospital, but as another poster stated, it’s fiction. So relax, we won’t send “House” to take care of you anytime soon.

Kathy

Well said Kathy!

People - this is TV land. CSI and any other show has just as many technical flaws - just ask someone in law enforcement. The writers simply have to get through the show somehow with some fanfare to keep the viewers returning.

So relax. This is fiction.

I love the character - though I do not find House remotely attractive. So you can go ahead and bash the, ahem, “good doctor” all you want. I still like the show. Apparently many people do because it does well in the ratings.

 

[JimG]

Dr. Doug Farrago, the King of Medicine, is no doubt jealous.

 

[Cat]

Do you by any chance have blood pressure issues? I am glad you could vent, but are you this passionate about everything?
I LOVE “House” but I am not fanatical about it. And I work as a maternity tech.And no, he probably wouldn’t last too long in my hospital, but as another poster stated, it’s fiction. So relax, we won’t send “House” to take care of you anytime soon.

Kathy

Hey, I ASKED if it would be OK to post critical comments, and no one said no! So don’t criticize me for being passionate. I have been holding this for many, many online forums and “House” threads. Like I said, usually anyone who DARES to speak against the Beloved is banned.

 

[Cat]

Well said Kathy!

People - this is TV land. CSI and any other show has just as many technical flaws - just ask someone in law enforcement. The writers simply have to get through the show somehow with some fanfare to keep the viewers returning.

So relax. This is fiction.

I love the character - though I do not find House remotely attractive. So you can go ahead and bash the, ahem, “good doctor” all you want. I still like the show. Apparently many people do because it does well in the ratings.

Relax–this is fiction.

So why do we bother to criticize any fiction on TV? If it’s just fiction, we should relax, right? Sex in the City–it’s just FICTION! Family Guy–FICTION, really funny fiction! ANY show, no matter how raunchy or violent the lead character is–it’s just FICTION, so relax! No harm done. Just for fun. It doesn’t matter one bit. Christians shouldn’t get so upset about these things.

You all know that’s ridiculous and illogical. Fiction can be even more harmful to us and our culture than non-fiction.

The character of House is an orifice. Why on earth would anyone have any admiration for a character like this that is contrary to all Christian teaching? I like flawed characters, too (see Col. Tom Ryan on The Unit), but only if they are penitent and trying to improve, or if they are clearly recognized as majorly flawed characters. House blurs the line–he is presented as a misanthropic, addicted, egomaniacl lout, but yet so many people love him.

No wonder our country is so rude and people run through red lights with impunity and call fat women like me insulting names. We are all gaa-gaa over a lout like House. How disgusting.

If I were as “cute” as he is, would I be able to get away with trampling over my fellow human beings and treating them like manure, too?

I prefer my monsters to be MONSTERS, easily recognizable as such, and acceptable to BOO them.

 

[Nordar]

Relax–this is fiction.

So why do we bother to criticize any fiction on TV? If it’s just fiction, we should relax, right? Sex in the City–it’s just FICTION! Family Guy–FICTION, really funny fiction! ANY show, no matter how raunchy or violent the lead character is–it’s just FICTION, so relax! No harm done. Just for fun. It doesn’t matter one bit. Christians shouldn’t get so upset about these things.

You all know that’s ridiculous and illogical. Fiction can be even more harmful to us and our culture than non-fiction.

The character of House is an orifice. Why on earth would anyone have any admiration for a character like this that is contrary to all Christian teaching? I like flawed characters, too (see Col. Tom Ryan on The Unit), but only if they are penitent and trying to improve, or if they are clearly recognized as majorly flawed characters. House blurs the line–he is presented as a misanthropic, addicted, egomaniacl lout, but yet so many people love him.

No wonder our country is so rude and people run through red lights with impunity and call fat women like me insulting names. We are all gaa-gaa over a lout like House. How disgusting.

If I were as “cute” as he is, would I be able to get away with trampling over my fellow human beings and treating them like manure, too?

I prefer my monsters to be MONSTERS, easily recognizable as such, and acceptable to BOO them.

I used to watch House when it first aired, but the last time I watched it was the episode where they were condoning suicide.
Actually a man taking his life because he was dying.
That was it, I don’t need to watch shows that are blatantly opposed to my Catholic beliefs. I don’t care whether it is fiction or not, and Cat you have as much right to share how you feel about this show than anyone else does. Criticizing you because it is “Only Fiction” is uncalled for.

 

[child_of_God85]

Relax–this is fiction.

So why do we bother to criticize any fiction on TV? If it’s just fiction, we should relax, right? Sex in the City–it’s just FICTION! Family Guy–FICTION, really funny fiction! ANY show, no matter how raunchy or violent the lead character is–it’s just FICTION, so relax! No harm done. Just for fun. It doesn’t matter one bit. Christians shouldn’t get so upset about these things.

You all know that’s ridiculous and illogical. Fiction can be even more harmful to us and our culture than non-fiction.

The character of House is an orifice. Why on earth would anyone have any admiration for a character like this that is contrary to all Christian teaching? I like flawed characters, too (see Col. Tom Ryan on The Unit), but only if they are penitent and trying to improve, or if they are clearly recognized as majorly flawed characters. House blurs the line–he is presented as a misanthropic, addicted, egomaniacl lout, but yet so many people love him.

No wonder our country is so rude and people run through red lights with impunity and call fat women like me insulting names. We are all gaa-gaa over a lout like House. How disgusting.

If I were as “cute” as he is, would I be able to get away with trampling over my fellow human beings and treating them like manure, too?

I prefer my monsters to be MONSTERS, easily recognizable as such, and acceptable to BOO them.

I love my catholic faith, I am completely devoted to it, but I could actually admire someone like House. Yes, he’s a jerk, yes his morals are questionable, and I’m pretty sure he is an athiest, but he’s supposed to be a brilliant doctor.
I want to be a doctor, and I was telling my mom yesterday that I would rather work under someone that is a jerk and immoral but a brilliant doctor that I could learn from, than someone who is just as Catholic as me but knows nothing.

 

[Katie1723]

Hey, I ASKED if it would be OK to post critical comments, and no one said no! So don’t criticize me for being passionate. I have been holding this for many, many online forums and “House” threads. Like I said, usually anyone who DARES to speak against the Beloved is banned.

I am not criticizing you. I merely asked if you were this passionate about everything. And don’t look to me to bann you. Actually I got quite a chuckle out of your post if you want to know the truth.
So how about a nice glass of wine and try to relax. It’ll be better for your blood pressure AND it has some nice resveretrol in it too.

Kathy

 

[lydia_coffman]

I love my catholic faith, I am completely devoted to it, but I could actually admire someone like House. Yes, he’s a jerk, yes his morals are questionable, and I’m pretty sure he is an athiest, but he’s supposed to be a brilliant doctor.
I want to be a doctor, and I was telling my mom yesterday that I would rather work under someone that is a jerk and immoral but a brilliant doctor that I could learn from, than someone who is just as Catholic as me but knows nothing.

I think that the point is that being a doctor goes far beyond knowing certain data points and then processing them. Being a good doctor is having a grasp of data, of understanding the mind as well as the body, and of being able to put it all together into a package that makes people both healthier and happier.

To wit: I am a retired orthopedic surgeon. I was never a “star” in my field. I did work with those who were,though. I can tell you for a fact that many patients requested my services after seeing one of the “stars” because the “star” either made them angry, or didn’t listen to them, or similar other complaints. In addition, I can tell you that I have never known a “star” to be so singularly knowledgeable about a topic that only he(she) were able to provide some technical procedure, diagnosis, etc.

Regarding “it’s only fiction” so we should chill. Why do you guys think our society is in the fix it’s in today?

 

[lydia_coffman]

Oh…by the way, there ARE stars who are compassionate, caring, kind, and definitely not jerks! Why not go to them instead of a jerk!

 

[JimG]

Lately I got hooked on watching some episodes of “Medical Mysteries” on the Discovery Channel. Now there are some intriguing diagnostic stories. I quit watching though, on the theory that I would soon begin developing symptoms.