House Q&A

House MD Cast Photo Hugh Laurie Megan McArdle asks, “So how come, like, every single patient on House goes into liver failure?”

Reader Steve responds, “Taking a rather jaundiced view of the show, aren’t we?”

Heh.

Gone Hollywood

FILED UNDER: Humor, Popular Culture, ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Barry says:

    Probably for the same reason that people dying from gunshot wounds/massive crushing trauma/septic shock, etc. are always conscious and able to say their good-byes coherently and (frequently) serenely

  2. Bad mushrooms in the hospital cafeteria.

  3. Stay away from the brown gravy.

  4. Dave Schuler says:

    Actually I think it’s a realistic assessment of the consequences of over-medication. That’s really what House is about, isn’t it? Excessive medical treatment.

  5. James Joyner says:

    That’s really what House is about, isn’t it? Excessive medical treatment.

    I think it’s mostly about the title character with medicine being a vehicle for showcasing his foibles and brilliance.

    But, yes, a lot of the liver failures and other problems his patients has are caused by his experimentation to figure out what’s wrong with them.

  6. Hal says:

    My lord. The liver is pretty much THE place in the bod where metabolic functions occur. If it’s going to be metabolized, it’s almost always in the liver. It’s the focal point of a sh*tload of things.

    It isn’t surprising at all that a lot of things end with liver failure in house.

    Megan should strive to remember her basic biochemistry course where she probably spent most of that class studying metabolic pathways of the liver.