House, M.D. s01e08 Episode Script
HOU-108 - Poison
You.
Give me that.
What are you talking about? - Mrs.
Miller? - Shh.
Your phone, young lady.
- I was just switching it to silent in case someone called.
- No, you were cheating.
- Please.
Like I have to cheat-- - Lady? I said wait! Give it here.
Sure.
Love the blouse.
- I-I need to use the bunk room.
- The bathroom? Sure.
- In 19 minutes.
- Can't do it.
You got a friend in the bathroom with the answers? Fine.
I'll get you an escort.
Don't stink up till I kill you.
Don't stand up.
D.
X.
D.
T.
Hey, he's really sick.
- Eyes on your work.
- Are you all right? - What is going on? - Get some help.
The kid was just taking his A.
P.
calculus exam, when all of a sudden he got nauseous and disoriented.
That's the way calculus presents.
Severe bradycardia.
Heart rate's down to 48 and falling fast.
You know the kid? No, he just came in.
Mom real good looking? I didn't notice.
Then it's a mystery.
Not why he's sick, but why you care so much.
Gift shop's open.
Buy him a card.
He's not responding to atropine.
Boys love fart jokes.
Find one with a good fart joke.
He's a teenager.
It's drugs.
Tell those E.
R.
geniuses to give him charcoal and naloxone.
Stop following me.
His tox screen was negative.
He's still whacked out.
You don't care about the kid.
You just find his illness intriguing.
His CAT scan was clean.
There's no sign of infection.
It's not diabetes.
And you don't care about him.
If that's what you wanna hear, not in the slightest.
Me neither.
May as well be objective.
Maybe it's shigellosis.
Wouldn't account for the bradycardia.
Viral myocarditis? Wouldn't account for the whacked out.
- So, what's the differential for a negative tox screen? - He was clean.
- Unless someone screwed up the test.
- That never happens.
Or he O.
D.
'd on something we didn't test for.
1.
4-Butanediol would give you these symptoms.
- That's a new one.
- Copy machine toner.
Same punch as G.
H.
B.
A little pricier.
Way more dangerous.
On the other hand, it is legal.
I want you to go to his house and find his stash.
I'll bet you know all the good hiding spots.
Actually, I never did drugs.
Better go with him.
In case he gets high.
- How much atropine is the kid getting? - One m.
l.
Make it two.
In case he needs his heart later on.
Matt, did you take any drugs this morning? Pencils down.
Can you squeeze my fingers for me? Did anyone give you anything to help with the math test? - Matt? - I told you.
He doesn't take drugs.
Ms.
Davis, all parents think that about their children, and they're usually wrong.
I gave my mum a little trouble when I was his age.
I turned out okay.
Even she thought so.
I know my kid.
The fact that you did drugs doesn't mean he did.
Did he go anywhere last night? No, he was home studying.
- Any friends come over to help him? - And bring him drugs? Is that what your friends did? Ms.
Davis.
Look, I tested him myself.
The home kit.
I took some hair off his brush.
I didn't want him to know about it, because I do trust him.
Then why did you test him? All he did last night was study and argue about his college interviews.
He wants to be himself-- no haircut, ratty old clothes.
That'll go over big.
Then we both gave up and went to bed.
That's it.
Has he ever had any problems like this before? Any family history? No, it's just me and Matt.
Diazepam.
Ten milligrams, stat.
Right.
- What's going on? -Just taking some precautions.
He's seizing.
Help me hold him.
Stay cool, mate.
We'll calm you down.
This room is way too clean for a teenage boy.
- You know why House thinks I'm a druggie? - This is gonna be a racial thing, isn't it? Same reason he thinks this kid overdosed.
When you're a drug addict, you wanna believe everyone else is too.
He's not addicted.
He has to take drugs.
The definition of an addict.
He's in pain.
And addicted to pain killers.
What a coincidence! You really never did any drugs? Now this is gonna be a racial thing.
Deflecting a personal question with a joke.
Gee, who do I know that does that? Yeah, I'm just like him.
Except for the angry, bitter, pompous cripple part.
Maybe we should all pitch in and get you a nice cane.
You already have the matching gym shoes.
Check this out! Mom's not too careful with the homemade tomato sauce.
When the top sticks out like that, it's a sign of bacterial contamination.
This one's open.
I am extremely disappointed in you.
I send you out for exciting new designer drugs, and you come back with tomato sauce.
I bet you paid twice as much.
I got mine online.
Matt decided to make himself a homemade pizza for a bedtime snack.
Source of botulism, as well as a million other toxins that cause gastroenteritis, cardiac symptoms and mental confusion.
I'm not so sure about gastroenteritis.
But mental confusion? Bring it on.
- Don't -- But-- - Mmm.
Delicious.
- Do you have a death wish? - I notice you didn't try to save me.
I figured you were trying to make some kind of subtle point.
I was.
The kid just started seizing.
Not a symptom of food-borne toxins.
Also not a symptom of drug use.
Not two hours after admission.
So what would make him seize, in addition to all these other delightful symptoms? - Pesticide poisoning.
- Carbamates.
Or organophosphates, organochlorines.
- Inhalation or absorption? - Too soon to tell.
We should wash him down.
The poison could still be on his skin.
Already told the nurses.
Nursing supervisor to the instrument room.
- I feel good.
- That's your complaint? Your major symptom.
I told her this was a waste of time.
I notice colors more.
And music! I-- I'm really hearing music.
I'm 82, and I'm supposed to be playing canasta with the other old ladies, but now when I see a guy with a cute butt, I can't stop looking at him.
Or a sexy beard.
And you figure that enjoying cute butts is a sign of disease? It all started a month ago when Mark rented Gone With the Wind for me, but it had the wrong DVD in it.
Oh! Oh, right.
I-I forgot.
This is all my fault.
Ofcourse, he was too busy to bring it back.
Yeah, like I don't have a life.
So I watched it, and it had this actor in it-- this kid called Ashton Kutcher.
Now I think about Ashton all the time.
All the time.
- Ah.
- You remind me of him.
Same bedroom eyes.
People are always mixing us up.
I-I-I suppose you-- you need to check my heart? - No! No, no, that-- that won't be necessary.
- I told you.
But I am going to admit you to the hospital for tests.
What tests? She's just old.
And you're just insufferable.
Your mother has had a sudden personality change.
It should be checked out.
I'll have a nurse come in and admit her.
I'm too handsome to do paperwork.
Anesthesiologist to O.
R.
Room 4.
Anesthesiologist to O.
R.
Room 4.
He's been on this medication for over an hour.
Pralidoxime is very effective.
It just takes a little time for it to kick in.
And maybe you're wrong.
Maybe it's not a pesticide.
The blood work was pretty conclusive.
It's an organophosphate.
Oh, my God.
Move back.
Ms.
Davis, move back, please.
We're at 30.
Bradycarciac arrest.
Get me the pads.
What are you doing? We're gonna beat his heart for him.
Set it at 60.
I can't stand this anymore.
We'll keep him on the pads for another hour.
Then what? Let's see what happens.
Well, that's not my philosophy.
Especially when it comes to my son.
And if something bad might happen, I'd like to know what our options are.
The pralidoxime isn't doing him any good.
We're gonna have to wire his heart.
- Maybe we're wrong about the pesticides.
- I ran his plasma again, twice.
Are there any stronger treatments for the organophosphate poisoning? Oh, damn it! You caught me.
We went with the weak stuff.
I was just trying to save a little money.
Actually, one of my professors at Columbia developed an experimental treatment for the army.
- What's the success rate? - They're targeted.
There's a different hydrolase treatment for each poison.
We'd need to know if Matt got hit with Orthene or malathion-- - What's the success rate? - Excellent, I'm sure.
It's the U.
S.
Army.
"Be all you can be".
Point is, what are the kid's chances without it? Minimal at best.
The poison's broken the blood-brain barrier.
I assume "minimal at best" is your stiff-upper-lip British way of saying "no chance in hell".
- I'm Australian.
- You put the queen on your money.
You're British.
Call your professor.
If we don't know what kind of organophosphate we're targeting, we don't know which hydrolase to ask for.
- There's over 40 organophosphates.
- I'll get all of 'em.
- Get all of 'em.
- Great minds think alike.
- By the time they get here, we're gonna know which one we need.
If we figure out how he got exposed, we'll figure out what he was exposed to.
Well, the mom had homemade tomato sauce.
Call me crazy, but I'm thinking maybe homemade tomatoes? Front yard.
Vegetable garden.
Kid's out there spraying, sees a pretty girl, hormones raging, spray can goes off in his face.
- I'll check into it.
- I'll make the call.
I'll keep the kid alive.
For a while, at least.
I'll have lunch.
Through the superior vena cava into the right atrium through the tricuspid valve and lodging to the wall of the right ventricle.
Can you turn off the pad? - Capturing? - Getting a native heart rate of 36.
No, that won't do.
Let's get him to 50.
"The healer with his magic powers! I could rub his gentle brow for hours.
His manly chest, his stubbled jaw.
Everything about him leaves me raw"-- - Psych ward's upstairs.
- "with joy.
Oh, House, your very name will never leave this girl the same".
It's not bad for an 82-year-old.
She asked me to give that to her true love.
What can I say? Chicks with no teeth turn me on.
That's fairly disgusting.
And that's ageism.
You better watch yourself around this babe.
Here are her test results.
Impressive.
Yeah.
I found the pesticide.
It's disulfoton.
And it's empty.
He used up the whole can.
Okay, I'll get Chase on it.
The poison's called disulfoton.
This should bond with it and neutralize the poison.
Then his nervous system will start sending the correct signals to the rest of his body.
But there was no disul-- well, that stuff in that can.
The label says "disulfoton".
I can show you.
But you didn't test it.
You said Matt sprayed with it this morning before school.
Matt started that garden himself for an environmental science class.
- They weren't allowed to use pesticides.
- Apparently he cheated a little.
It was orange peel oil.
Totally organic.
He dumped that other stuff last winter.
The symptoms fit.
There must have been some left in the can.
If you're wrong, what will this treatment do to him? Well, theoretically, it could increase the toxicity and-- But we're not wrong.
Don't.
We're not wrong.
I can't let you do this.
Get a court order.
Unless you wanna see someone killed by sheer irrationality.
Maternal instinct is always irrational.
Doesn't mean it's wrong.
Actually, that's the definition.
It doesn't make her mentally incompetent.
She's risking her son's life based on a teenager's claim that he washed something.
How mentally incompetent can you get? That's a brilliant legal argument.
Listen, have your Harvard law dog whip up some high-grade legal-sounding psychobabble: "Temporary insanity brought on by acute panic distress syndrome.
" I don't care.
We have to give him the hydrolase.
Her only sign of mental illness is that she disagrees with you.
Some would consider that a sign of sanity.
Not the kid.
Let's ask him.
Oh, no, I forgot.
We can't.
He's dying.
Get the mother to sign off that she's refusing this treatment.
Good-bye.
"I, Margo Davis, have been informed of the risks which may arise from my refusal of advised medical care.
- I hereby release"-- - Who are you? I work for the hospital.
"the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and its employees, agents and otherwise, for any adverse medical conditions resulting from my refusal.
It is not the hospital's fault if my son kicks off".
- Kicks off? - I punched up the language.
Mostly for clarification.
"I understand my doctors consider my decision to be completely idiotic"-- Why are you doing this? - "But I am convinced I know more than they do.
I took a biology course in high school".
I assume that's-- Yeah.
"Besides, I enjoy controlling every single aspect of my son's life, even if it means his death".
Sign here, please.
I brought a pen.
Who are you? I'm the doctor who's trying to save your son.
You're the mom who's letting him die.
Clarification-- It's a beautiful thing.
Dr.
Morell, contact the CAPlab.
Dr.
Morell, contact the CAPlab.
She rethought her position.
Start him on the hydrolase.
No.
We've got a problem.
Three.
One, two, three.
Heart rate's 49.
O2 stat, 84 and falling.
Saline, atropine and diazepam, now.
His name is Chi Ling.
He was admitted 12 minutes ago.
Identical symptoms as Matt.
Chase isn't sure he's gonna make it.
This one.
Bag.
Matt's next-door neighbor, by any chance? They live 10 miles apart.
Apparently, they don't even know each other.
We live in an apartment.
We have two bamboo trees.
No pesticides.
Just dry seaweed for fertilizer.
The second kid's heart is almost as weak as Matt's.
We may need to get it wired up too.
And I don't know how long Matt's brain will hold up.
His heart's not pumping enough oxygen.
How much are you giving him? Make it 90.
We're risking damage to his retina.
What the heck.
Do it anyway.
He's a calculus student.
Probably likes having a brain.
I'll have Foreman take care of it.
- I'm the primary.
- Yeah, but the mom wants to get rid of you.
And you know me.
I'm a people-pleasing kind of guy.
She complained? About me? She went to the principal.
Told Cuddy you took drugs in high school.
This is gonna go on your permanent record.
I was trying to get information.
It was a strategy.
She also used the word "slacker".
You wanna come in? Smoke a little weed? Watch some MTV? High school has no idea what could have happened.
You sure that Chi didn't sneak onto Matt's tomato patch? Maybe they sniffed disulfoton together to get high.
Same school, different grades, different cliques, different everything.
They managed to get poisoned together.
They must have something in common.
Their classes aren't even in the same building.
They don't even eat lunch in the same lunchroom.
How do they get to school? Unless you're with the board, the police or the union, I don't care who you are.
Sir, we need to test the bus for chemical residue.
And I need to pick up the basketball team.
You got a problem with that, call my supervisor.
Two kids were poisoned on your bus this morning.
They're dying.
My God.
The things he said.
Dr.
House wanted your son to get the medicine he needed.
- He was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.
- The wrong kind of medicine.
He didn't know that.
At the time, it was our only choice.
He would have known if he had listened to me.
He listened.
He just assumed you were wrong.
To be honest, that's true of most of our patients.
You're just as pompous and superior as he is! Uh, Matt is back row right.
The Asian kid, uh, first or second row left.
Okay.
Look, I got this rash in kind of my groin region.
It's, um, not a symptom.
Neither is being obnoxious.
Looks like you're in the clear.
- So who poisoned 'em? - We're not sure yet if it was done on purpose.
Oh, yeah? You oughta see these little bastards screaming and punching each other all day long.
Did you happen to notice if anyone was doing any spraying near the bus route? Oh! Yeah, there was this truck down by the pond doing something or other.
It smelled kinda funny too.
- Oh! Dr.
House! - Well, it took you long enough.
We've been waiting here-- Mr.
Adams, would you step outside for a moment? Why? Because you irritate me.
He is my son, Doctor.
He's just a little cranky from not eating.
Fine.
Mrs.
Adams, have you had any recent sexual activity? What? Well, I-- I don't suppose fantasies count.
Oh, my God.
Unfortunately, I've hit kind of a dry spell.
Only for the last-- oh, I don't know-- 15 years.
You see? She's-- She's confused.
My father died eight years ago.
Heart attack.
Not in bed, dear.
Why do you ask? Because you have tested positive for syphilis.
That's impossible! And insulting.
I don't think it's the first time that Mom has heard this diagnosis.
"Cupid's disease".
That's what we used to call it.
When did you get it? Uh, 1939.
Prom night, I think.
He had a Chevrolet.
It was before I met your father.
But you said that-- You said Dad was your first love.
He was.
We're talking about sex.
But I was treated.
Which suppressed it-- in your case, for 60 years.
But now it's back, and the spirochetes that cause syphilis are eating away at your brain cells.
Oh! That's revolting.
It's not as revolting as chlamydia.
That's got seepage.
And it's the 21st century.
We've got flying cars, robot dogs and penicillin.
High-dose regimen for two weeks, you're cured.
- I can't believe this.
- Yeah, well, pinch yourself.
I guess for the next two weeks, I'd better practice safe sex.
You'll be fine.
Just feed that cranky kid.
The county's worried about West Nile, so they sprayed ethyl-parathion right next to the bus route.
Do you have the hydrolase for ethyl-parathion? Yeah.
Only one problem.
Matt's mother faxed his records to the C.
D.
C.
She refuses to let us do anything until she hears back from them.
Well, you're getting good at this Godlike doctor racket.
Why don't you talk her out of this lunacy? She's not really a big fan of mine.
Or mine.
Well, only one man left in the bull pen, and he throws like a girl.
I hate sports metaphors.
Give her the high, hard one.
We really think the hydrolase is the only-- I'm thinking about transferring Matt out of here.
Ms.
Davis, your son is very sick.
He won't survive a transfer.
I'm getting a second opinion from the Center for Disease Control.
Right.
Look, when my grandmother got sick-- What? You're gonna tell me some tough decision you had to make? - I know how hard this is for you.
- Maybe embroider the story a little? Make it fit? I can't imagine being in your position.
Honesty.
A kind of vulnerable honesty.
That's your thing.
And the looks.
- Oh, boy.
- They send a single woman to hustle the single mom.
Actually, they sent a doctor! To tell you that if your son doesn't get this treatment, there's a good chance he'll die.
That's what House said about a treatment that would have killed Matt.
You've gotta do better than that.
No, it's on you.
You need to do better.
Right now.
Yes or no? - I don't know.
- Figure it out.
Wait.
Nurse! - Help! - Okay.
Coming.
- Seizing.
Suction.
- Watch his head.
My son! - Coming.
- Diazepam.
Got it.
- Suction.
- Ten milligrams.
- Right.
- He's not responding.
Another 10 milligrams.
You're killing him! - You're killing him! - Get her out of here.
Get her outta here! Come on, ma'am.
Ma'am? Their hearts are barely pumping.
Their lungs are shot.
Now they're showing liver toxicity.
I guess Matt's mom won't nominate us for any Doctor of the Year awards.
Only explanation is they got poisoned by something besides ethyl-parathion.
Then the hydrolase would release the neurotoxins instead of bonding with them.
The only thing they have in common is the bus.
Except their symptoms.
Given their severity and the fact their cardiac symptoms are getting worse much faster than their other ones, what does that tell us? The poison was probably absorbed through the skin.
They were admitted at 8:45 and 11:00.
When were they poisoned? Absorption through the skin? Anywhere from three to eight hours.
In a case that bad, more like one and a half to four.
So Matt was poisoned before 7:15.
Before he got on the bus.
You're thinking each kid got poisoned in his own house? Two separate exposures? What do teenage boys do in the morning, besides the obvious? Wake up, go to the bathroom, then the obvious, then check their zits in the mirror.
- Do they both use the same acne cream? - Because acne cream contains lanolin, which could have pesticides, and you're thinking they both bought the same product-- - It was contaminated.
Shaving cream.
- Chi doesn't look like he shaves.
But he sweats.
Deodorant could contain lanolin.
Do these people have animals? Chi has a dog.
Matt has a cat.
Fleas.
Flea powder.
Okay.
Go to their houses.
Check for anything that might have touched their skin between the time they got up and the time they went to school.
I'm running low on tomato sauce.
Oh! Dr.
House! Hello.
- I sent you home.
- Well, I came back.
I took a cab, so my son wouldn't try to chaperone us this time.
I'm sorry, but the fact that the sexual pleasure center of your cerebral cortex has been overstimulated by spirochetes is-- It's a poor basis for a relationship.
I learned that one the hard way.
Doctor, um, these feelings that I've been having-- Is it all because of the syphilis? Yes.
Then here's the prescription you gave me.
Well, it's not likely I'm going to infect anyone.
No, but it'll kill you.
Well, gotta go sometime, and I really don't want to play canasta for the rest of my life.
I-- I like feeling sexy again and making a fool out of myself with handsome, young doctors.
Do you think that I would have given you this if it would stop you from flirting with me? Well, but if I'm cured-- Then all the spirochetes will die off.
But the little pieces of your cerebral cortex that have been destroyed won't grow back.
You're brain damaged.
Doomed to feeling good for the rest of your life.
Really? Well, thank you.
Georgia.
Yeah.
When I stop being contagious, I'll come by for a checkup.
Yeah.
- Matt uses Sure.
- Chi uses Old Spice.
- No zit cream.
- Lucky kid.
Floral air freshener.
Doesn't matter.
When was the last time you heard of a teenage boy using air freshener? Pert shampoo.
Um, Johnson's over here.
Matt's mom would make him use air freshener.
There are limits to a mother's power.
Even hers.
Just check.
Negative on the floral.
Matt's A.
L.
T.
's are up to 800.
If they get any higher, we can toss his liver.
- Yeah.
- No matches on flea powder or underarm deodorant.
- Or any other kind of deodorant.
- What about shampoo? No to shampoo, bar soap, dish soap, dish detergent.
How about laundry detergent? Maybe they both washed their clothes this morning.
I'll check.
You know, if we cure Matt, he can use his close brush with death on his college essays.
- Admission guys love that stuff.
- That's how you got in, right? Jailhouse diary? Uh, TKO.
TKO.
Liquid? Liquid, 128 ounces.
- 128.
Yellow jug.
"Special"-- - "Environmentally safe formula".
It's the same.
Bring in the detergent.
So the detergent was contaminated with pesticides? Which soaked into their clothes and got absorbed into their skin.
Hi.
Uh, listen, the clothes your son wore today-- - He washed them this morning, right? - What? Nice, respectful Asian kid does the laundry.
My wife said he didn't.
Well, then I'm betting he washed them last night without you knowing.
He doesn't even know how to turn on the machine.
And those clothes were new.
Nobody washed them.
His clothes are all new? The ones he wore today, yes.
Never washed.
Now what? What about Matt's clothes? Were they new? Uh, they're ratty old jeans, I think.
They've been bagged and taken downstairs.
"Davis".
Yeah, they're Matt's.
And they're old.
And yet the label isn't faded in the slightest.
Fake old.
Hundred dollars for the homeless look.
What? Kids aren't pretentious in England? Chi was wearing a different brand.
How could they both have been contaminated? That is the question for the ages.
Meantime, get these tested.
I never bother to wash new clothes before I wear them.
Right.
Your wife does.
She likes you feeling nice and comfortable.
Hey, I'm a man.
I don't have time for laundry.
I'm saving lives here.
No, she doesn't wash them either.
So your skin absorbs a little dye, the odd chemical here and there.
You know me-- Mr.
Living On The Edge.
Judging by the self-importance of your strut, you have identified the chemical in question.
- Phosdrin.
- Hit 'em with the hydrolase.
- Chi's parents said yes, but-- - Mighty Mom said no.
Well, she's gonna feel like a million bucks when Chi lives and her son dies.
Send Cameron.
She's the only one of you who's managed to talk her into anything.
Not this time.
Matt's mom won't make a move until she gets that opinion from the C.
D.
C.
Godot would be faster.
What is this? Thought I'd hang out.
In case you change your mind.
Then I could give Matt the medicine right away.
Don't worry.
I've got time.
The C.
D.
C.
promised they'd call.
I'm sure they will.
Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe the day after.
It takes time to review faxed records.
Then they'll probably tell you they can't make a decision based on faxed records.
This is Suzie.
She's never gonna marry him.
No money.
What makes you think you're right this time? Same reason as last time.
If you wanna see how the other kid does first, that's okay.
Might help you.
Although there's a real good chance-- - What? Matt might kick off? - That's a little blunt.
I was gonna say "run out of time" or just kind of let my voice trail off.
Hello? Yes, this is Margo Davis.
But you have his records.
I sent them.
Yes, I understand.
They can't help me.
They haven't seen him.
They can't make a decision-- Give it to him.
"The C.
D.
C.
is unable to give an opinion at this time, ma'am.
We're gonna have a doctor in your area next week".
You fooled her with that? House! So I'm gonna be cured? As long as you don't wear any more poison pants.
I'm sorry, Mom.
I knew the pants were stolen.
They were only five bucks.
You're gonna give me hell, aren't you? Oh, honey, I'm just glad you're alive.
Let's get you home so you can rest.
Maybe I am too hard on you.
You don't have to make up that test till next week.
You can stay in bed and work on your applications.
Some guy was selling pants off the back of his truck near the school.
When he wasn't busy as a clothing entrepreneur, he did day labor at a cornfield out on Route 1.
He used the same truck for both jobs.
So he spilled pesticide on the pants and was too lazy to clean up.
Real question is why are you still here? Why aren't you out there making up with the joyful mother? Why would I do that? No reason at all.
If you don't care about her.
Or her son.
Oh, Dr.
House.
The C.
D.
C.
called.
- Again.
- Oops.
- Who are those guys? - Oh, they're the arrogant jerks that saved your life.
Give me that.
What are you talking about? - Mrs.
Miller? - Shh.
Your phone, young lady.
- I was just switching it to silent in case someone called.
- No, you were cheating.
- Please.
Like I have to cheat-- - Lady? I said wait! Give it here.
Sure.
Love the blouse.
- I-I need to use the bunk room.
- The bathroom? Sure.
- In 19 minutes.
- Can't do it.
You got a friend in the bathroom with the answers? Fine.
I'll get you an escort.
Don't stink up till I kill you.
Don't stand up.
D.
X.
D.
T.
Hey, he's really sick.
- Eyes on your work.
- Are you all right? - What is going on? - Get some help.
The kid was just taking his A.
P.
calculus exam, when all of a sudden he got nauseous and disoriented.
That's the way calculus presents.
Severe bradycardia.
Heart rate's down to 48 and falling fast.
You know the kid? No, he just came in.
Mom real good looking? I didn't notice.
Then it's a mystery.
Not why he's sick, but why you care so much.
Gift shop's open.
Buy him a card.
He's not responding to atropine.
Boys love fart jokes.
Find one with a good fart joke.
He's a teenager.
It's drugs.
Tell those E.
R.
geniuses to give him charcoal and naloxone.
Stop following me.
His tox screen was negative.
He's still whacked out.
You don't care about the kid.
You just find his illness intriguing.
His CAT scan was clean.
There's no sign of infection.
It's not diabetes.
And you don't care about him.
If that's what you wanna hear, not in the slightest.
Me neither.
May as well be objective.
Maybe it's shigellosis.
Wouldn't account for the bradycardia.
Viral myocarditis? Wouldn't account for the whacked out.
- So, what's the differential for a negative tox screen? - He was clean.
- Unless someone screwed up the test.
- That never happens.
Or he O.
D.
'd on something we didn't test for.
1.
4-Butanediol would give you these symptoms.
- That's a new one.
- Copy machine toner.
Same punch as G.
H.
B.
A little pricier.
Way more dangerous.
On the other hand, it is legal.
I want you to go to his house and find his stash.
I'll bet you know all the good hiding spots.
Actually, I never did drugs.
Better go with him.
In case he gets high.
- How much atropine is the kid getting? - One m.
l.
Make it two.
In case he needs his heart later on.
Matt, did you take any drugs this morning? Pencils down.
Can you squeeze my fingers for me? Did anyone give you anything to help with the math test? - Matt? - I told you.
He doesn't take drugs.
Ms.
Davis, all parents think that about their children, and they're usually wrong.
I gave my mum a little trouble when I was his age.
I turned out okay.
Even she thought so.
I know my kid.
The fact that you did drugs doesn't mean he did.
Did he go anywhere last night? No, he was home studying.
- Any friends come over to help him? - And bring him drugs? Is that what your friends did? Ms.
Davis.
Look, I tested him myself.
The home kit.
I took some hair off his brush.
I didn't want him to know about it, because I do trust him.
Then why did you test him? All he did last night was study and argue about his college interviews.
He wants to be himself-- no haircut, ratty old clothes.
That'll go over big.
Then we both gave up and went to bed.
That's it.
Has he ever had any problems like this before? Any family history? No, it's just me and Matt.
Diazepam.
Ten milligrams, stat.
Right.
- What's going on? -Just taking some precautions.
He's seizing.
Help me hold him.
Stay cool, mate.
We'll calm you down.
This room is way too clean for a teenage boy.
- You know why House thinks I'm a druggie? - This is gonna be a racial thing, isn't it? Same reason he thinks this kid overdosed.
When you're a drug addict, you wanna believe everyone else is too.
He's not addicted.
He has to take drugs.
The definition of an addict.
He's in pain.
And addicted to pain killers.
What a coincidence! You really never did any drugs? Now this is gonna be a racial thing.
Deflecting a personal question with a joke.
Gee, who do I know that does that? Yeah, I'm just like him.
Except for the angry, bitter, pompous cripple part.
Maybe we should all pitch in and get you a nice cane.
You already have the matching gym shoes.
Check this out! Mom's not too careful with the homemade tomato sauce.
When the top sticks out like that, it's a sign of bacterial contamination.
This one's open.
I am extremely disappointed in you.
I send you out for exciting new designer drugs, and you come back with tomato sauce.
I bet you paid twice as much.
I got mine online.
Matt decided to make himself a homemade pizza for a bedtime snack.
Source of botulism, as well as a million other toxins that cause gastroenteritis, cardiac symptoms and mental confusion.
I'm not so sure about gastroenteritis.
But mental confusion? Bring it on.
- Don't -- But-- - Mmm.
Delicious.
- Do you have a death wish? - I notice you didn't try to save me.
I figured you were trying to make some kind of subtle point.
I was.
The kid just started seizing.
Not a symptom of food-borne toxins.
Also not a symptom of drug use.
Not two hours after admission.
So what would make him seize, in addition to all these other delightful symptoms? - Pesticide poisoning.
- Carbamates.
Or organophosphates, organochlorines.
- Inhalation or absorption? - Too soon to tell.
We should wash him down.
The poison could still be on his skin.
Already told the nurses.
Nursing supervisor to the instrument room.
- I feel good.
- That's your complaint? Your major symptom.
I told her this was a waste of time.
I notice colors more.
And music! I-- I'm really hearing music.
I'm 82, and I'm supposed to be playing canasta with the other old ladies, but now when I see a guy with a cute butt, I can't stop looking at him.
Or a sexy beard.
And you figure that enjoying cute butts is a sign of disease? It all started a month ago when Mark rented Gone With the Wind for me, but it had the wrong DVD in it.
Oh! Oh, right.
I-I forgot.
This is all my fault.
Ofcourse, he was too busy to bring it back.
Yeah, like I don't have a life.
So I watched it, and it had this actor in it-- this kid called Ashton Kutcher.
Now I think about Ashton all the time.
All the time.
- Ah.
- You remind me of him.
Same bedroom eyes.
People are always mixing us up.
I-I-I suppose you-- you need to check my heart? - No! No, no, that-- that won't be necessary.
- I told you.
But I am going to admit you to the hospital for tests.
What tests? She's just old.
And you're just insufferable.
Your mother has had a sudden personality change.
It should be checked out.
I'll have a nurse come in and admit her.
I'm too handsome to do paperwork.
Anesthesiologist to O.
R.
Room 4.
Anesthesiologist to O.
R.
Room 4.
He's been on this medication for over an hour.
Pralidoxime is very effective.
It just takes a little time for it to kick in.
And maybe you're wrong.
Maybe it's not a pesticide.
The blood work was pretty conclusive.
It's an organophosphate.
Oh, my God.
Move back.
Ms.
Davis, move back, please.
We're at 30.
Bradycarciac arrest.
Get me the pads.
What are you doing? We're gonna beat his heart for him.
Set it at 60.
I can't stand this anymore.
We'll keep him on the pads for another hour.
Then what? Let's see what happens.
Well, that's not my philosophy.
Especially when it comes to my son.
And if something bad might happen, I'd like to know what our options are.
The pralidoxime isn't doing him any good.
We're gonna have to wire his heart.
- Maybe we're wrong about the pesticides.
- I ran his plasma again, twice.
Are there any stronger treatments for the organophosphate poisoning? Oh, damn it! You caught me.
We went with the weak stuff.
I was just trying to save a little money.
Actually, one of my professors at Columbia developed an experimental treatment for the army.
- What's the success rate? - They're targeted.
There's a different hydrolase treatment for each poison.
We'd need to know if Matt got hit with Orthene or malathion-- - What's the success rate? - Excellent, I'm sure.
It's the U.
S.
Army.
"Be all you can be".
Point is, what are the kid's chances without it? Minimal at best.
The poison's broken the blood-brain barrier.
I assume "minimal at best" is your stiff-upper-lip British way of saying "no chance in hell".
- I'm Australian.
- You put the queen on your money.
You're British.
Call your professor.
If we don't know what kind of organophosphate we're targeting, we don't know which hydrolase to ask for.
- There's over 40 organophosphates.
- I'll get all of 'em.
- Get all of 'em.
- Great minds think alike.
- By the time they get here, we're gonna know which one we need.
If we figure out how he got exposed, we'll figure out what he was exposed to.
Well, the mom had homemade tomato sauce.
Call me crazy, but I'm thinking maybe homemade tomatoes? Front yard.
Vegetable garden.
Kid's out there spraying, sees a pretty girl, hormones raging, spray can goes off in his face.
- I'll check into it.
- I'll make the call.
I'll keep the kid alive.
For a while, at least.
I'll have lunch.
Through the superior vena cava into the right atrium through the tricuspid valve and lodging to the wall of the right ventricle.
Can you turn off the pad? - Capturing? - Getting a native heart rate of 36.
No, that won't do.
Let's get him to 50.
"The healer with his magic powers! I could rub his gentle brow for hours.
His manly chest, his stubbled jaw.
Everything about him leaves me raw"-- - Psych ward's upstairs.
- "with joy.
Oh, House, your very name will never leave this girl the same".
It's not bad for an 82-year-old.
She asked me to give that to her true love.
What can I say? Chicks with no teeth turn me on.
That's fairly disgusting.
And that's ageism.
You better watch yourself around this babe.
Here are her test results.
Impressive.
Yeah.
I found the pesticide.
It's disulfoton.
And it's empty.
He used up the whole can.
Okay, I'll get Chase on it.
The poison's called disulfoton.
This should bond with it and neutralize the poison.
Then his nervous system will start sending the correct signals to the rest of his body.
But there was no disul-- well, that stuff in that can.
The label says "disulfoton".
I can show you.
But you didn't test it.
You said Matt sprayed with it this morning before school.
Matt started that garden himself for an environmental science class.
- They weren't allowed to use pesticides.
- Apparently he cheated a little.
It was orange peel oil.
Totally organic.
He dumped that other stuff last winter.
The symptoms fit.
There must have been some left in the can.
If you're wrong, what will this treatment do to him? Well, theoretically, it could increase the toxicity and-- But we're not wrong.
Don't.
We're not wrong.
I can't let you do this.
Get a court order.
Unless you wanna see someone killed by sheer irrationality.
Maternal instinct is always irrational.
Doesn't mean it's wrong.
Actually, that's the definition.
It doesn't make her mentally incompetent.
She's risking her son's life based on a teenager's claim that he washed something.
How mentally incompetent can you get? That's a brilliant legal argument.
Listen, have your Harvard law dog whip up some high-grade legal-sounding psychobabble: "Temporary insanity brought on by acute panic distress syndrome.
" I don't care.
We have to give him the hydrolase.
Her only sign of mental illness is that she disagrees with you.
Some would consider that a sign of sanity.
Not the kid.
Let's ask him.
Oh, no, I forgot.
We can't.
He's dying.
Get the mother to sign off that she's refusing this treatment.
Good-bye.
"I, Margo Davis, have been informed of the risks which may arise from my refusal of advised medical care.
- I hereby release"-- - Who are you? I work for the hospital.
"the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and its employees, agents and otherwise, for any adverse medical conditions resulting from my refusal.
It is not the hospital's fault if my son kicks off".
- Kicks off? - I punched up the language.
Mostly for clarification.
"I understand my doctors consider my decision to be completely idiotic"-- Why are you doing this? - "But I am convinced I know more than they do.
I took a biology course in high school".
I assume that's-- Yeah.
"Besides, I enjoy controlling every single aspect of my son's life, even if it means his death".
Sign here, please.
I brought a pen.
Who are you? I'm the doctor who's trying to save your son.
You're the mom who's letting him die.
Clarification-- It's a beautiful thing.
Dr.
Morell, contact the CAPlab.
Dr.
Morell, contact the CAPlab.
She rethought her position.
Start him on the hydrolase.
No.
We've got a problem.
Three.
One, two, three.
Heart rate's 49.
O2 stat, 84 and falling.
Saline, atropine and diazepam, now.
His name is Chi Ling.
He was admitted 12 minutes ago.
Identical symptoms as Matt.
Chase isn't sure he's gonna make it.
This one.
Bag.
Matt's next-door neighbor, by any chance? They live 10 miles apart.
Apparently, they don't even know each other.
We live in an apartment.
We have two bamboo trees.
No pesticides.
Just dry seaweed for fertilizer.
The second kid's heart is almost as weak as Matt's.
We may need to get it wired up too.
And I don't know how long Matt's brain will hold up.
His heart's not pumping enough oxygen.
How much are you giving him? Make it 90.
We're risking damage to his retina.
What the heck.
Do it anyway.
He's a calculus student.
Probably likes having a brain.
I'll have Foreman take care of it.
- I'm the primary.
- Yeah, but the mom wants to get rid of you.
And you know me.
I'm a people-pleasing kind of guy.
She complained? About me? She went to the principal.
Told Cuddy you took drugs in high school.
This is gonna go on your permanent record.
I was trying to get information.
It was a strategy.
She also used the word "slacker".
You wanna come in? Smoke a little weed? Watch some MTV? High school has no idea what could have happened.
You sure that Chi didn't sneak onto Matt's tomato patch? Maybe they sniffed disulfoton together to get high.
Same school, different grades, different cliques, different everything.
They managed to get poisoned together.
They must have something in common.
Their classes aren't even in the same building.
They don't even eat lunch in the same lunchroom.
How do they get to school? Unless you're with the board, the police or the union, I don't care who you are.
Sir, we need to test the bus for chemical residue.
And I need to pick up the basketball team.
You got a problem with that, call my supervisor.
Two kids were poisoned on your bus this morning.
They're dying.
My God.
The things he said.
Dr.
House wanted your son to get the medicine he needed.
- He was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.
- The wrong kind of medicine.
He didn't know that.
At the time, it was our only choice.
He would have known if he had listened to me.
He listened.
He just assumed you were wrong.
To be honest, that's true of most of our patients.
You're just as pompous and superior as he is! Uh, Matt is back row right.
The Asian kid, uh, first or second row left.
Okay.
Look, I got this rash in kind of my groin region.
It's, um, not a symptom.
Neither is being obnoxious.
Looks like you're in the clear.
- So who poisoned 'em? - We're not sure yet if it was done on purpose.
Oh, yeah? You oughta see these little bastards screaming and punching each other all day long.
Did you happen to notice if anyone was doing any spraying near the bus route? Oh! Yeah, there was this truck down by the pond doing something or other.
It smelled kinda funny too.
- Oh! Dr.
House! - Well, it took you long enough.
We've been waiting here-- Mr.
Adams, would you step outside for a moment? Why? Because you irritate me.
He is my son, Doctor.
He's just a little cranky from not eating.
Fine.
Mrs.
Adams, have you had any recent sexual activity? What? Well, I-- I don't suppose fantasies count.
Oh, my God.
Unfortunately, I've hit kind of a dry spell.
Only for the last-- oh, I don't know-- 15 years.
You see? She's-- She's confused.
My father died eight years ago.
Heart attack.
Not in bed, dear.
Why do you ask? Because you have tested positive for syphilis.
That's impossible! And insulting.
I don't think it's the first time that Mom has heard this diagnosis.
"Cupid's disease".
That's what we used to call it.
When did you get it? Uh, 1939.
Prom night, I think.
He had a Chevrolet.
It was before I met your father.
But you said that-- You said Dad was your first love.
He was.
We're talking about sex.
But I was treated.
Which suppressed it-- in your case, for 60 years.
But now it's back, and the spirochetes that cause syphilis are eating away at your brain cells.
Oh! That's revolting.
It's not as revolting as chlamydia.
That's got seepage.
And it's the 21st century.
We've got flying cars, robot dogs and penicillin.
High-dose regimen for two weeks, you're cured.
- I can't believe this.
- Yeah, well, pinch yourself.
I guess for the next two weeks, I'd better practice safe sex.
You'll be fine.
Just feed that cranky kid.
The county's worried about West Nile, so they sprayed ethyl-parathion right next to the bus route.
Do you have the hydrolase for ethyl-parathion? Yeah.
Only one problem.
Matt's mother faxed his records to the C.
D.
C.
She refuses to let us do anything until she hears back from them.
Well, you're getting good at this Godlike doctor racket.
Why don't you talk her out of this lunacy? She's not really a big fan of mine.
Or mine.
Well, only one man left in the bull pen, and he throws like a girl.
I hate sports metaphors.
Give her the high, hard one.
We really think the hydrolase is the only-- I'm thinking about transferring Matt out of here.
Ms.
Davis, your son is very sick.
He won't survive a transfer.
I'm getting a second opinion from the Center for Disease Control.
Right.
Look, when my grandmother got sick-- What? You're gonna tell me some tough decision you had to make? - I know how hard this is for you.
- Maybe embroider the story a little? Make it fit? I can't imagine being in your position.
Honesty.
A kind of vulnerable honesty.
That's your thing.
And the looks.
- Oh, boy.
- They send a single woman to hustle the single mom.
Actually, they sent a doctor! To tell you that if your son doesn't get this treatment, there's a good chance he'll die.
That's what House said about a treatment that would have killed Matt.
You've gotta do better than that.
No, it's on you.
You need to do better.
Right now.
Yes or no? - I don't know.
- Figure it out.
Wait.
Nurse! - Help! - Okay.
Coming.
- Seizing.
Suction.
- Watch his head.
My son! - Coming.
- Diazepam.
Got it.
- Suction.
- Ten milligrams.
- Right.
- He's not responding.
Another 10 milligrams.
You're killing him! - You're killing him! - Get her out of here.
Get her outta here! Come on, ma'am.
Ma'am? Their hearts are barely pumping.
Their lungs are shot.
Now they're showing liver toxicity.
I guess Matt's mom won't nominate us for any Doctor of the Year awards.
Only explanation is they got poisoned by something besides ethyl-parathion.
Then the hydrolase would release the neurotoxins instead of bonding with them.
The only thing they have in common is the bus.
Except their symptoms.
Given their severity and the fact their cardiac symptoms are getting worse much faster than their other ones, what does that tell us? The poison was probably absorbed through the skin.
They were admitted at 8:45 and 11:00.
When were they poisoned? Absorption through the skin? Anywhere from three to eight hours.
In a case that bad, more like one and a half to four.
So Matt was poisoned before 7:15.
Before he got on the bus.
You're thinking each kid got poisoned in his own house? Two separate exposures? What do teenage boys do in the morning, besides the obvious? Wake up, go to the bathroom, then the obvious, then check their zits in the mirror.
- Do they both use the same acne cream? - Because acne cream contains lanolin, which could have pesticides, and you're thinking they both bought the same product-- - It was contaminated.
Shaving cream.
- Chi doesn't look like he shaves.
But he sweats.
Deodorant could contain lanolin.
Do these people have animals? Chi has a dog.
Matt has a cat.
Fleas.
Flea powder.
Okay.
Go to their houses.
Check for anything that might have touched their skin between the time they got up and the time they went to school.
I'm running low on tomato sauce.
Oh! Dr.
House! Hello.
- I sent you home.
- Well, I came back.
I took a cab, so my son wouldn't try to chaperone us this time.
I'm sorry, but the fact that the sexual pleasure center of your cerebral cortex has been overstimulated by spirochetes is-- It's a poor basis for a relationship.
I learned that one the hard way.
Doctor, um, these feelings that I've been having-- Is it all because of the syphilis? Yes.
Then here's the prescription you gave me.
Well, it's not likely I'm going to infect anyone.
No, but it'll kill you.
Well, gotta go sometime, and I really don't want to play canasta for the rest of my life.
I-- I like feeling sexy again and making a fool out of myself with handsome, young doctors.
Do you think that I would have given you this if it would stop you from flirting with me? Well, but if I'm cured-- Then all the spirochetes will die off.
But the little pieces of your cerebral cortex that have been destroyed won't grow back.
You're brain damaged.
Doomed to feeling good for the rest of your life.
Really? Well, thank you.
Georgia.
Yeah.
When I stop being contagious, I'll come by for a checkup.
Yeah.
- Matt uses Sure.
- Chi uses Old Spice.
- No zit cream.
- Lucky kid.
Floral air freshener.
Doesn't matter.
When was the last time you heard of a teenage boy using air freshener? Pert shampoo.
Um, Johnson's over here.
Matt's mom would make him use air freshener.
There are limits to a mother's power.
Even hers.
Just check.
Negative on the floral.
Matt's A.
L.
T.
's are up to 800.
If they get any higher, we can toss his liver.
- Yeah.
- No matches on flea powder or underarm deodorant.
- Or any other kind of deodorant.
- What about shampoo? No to shampoo, bar soap, dish soap, dish detergent.
How about laundry detergent? Maybe they both washed their clothes this morning.
I'll check.
You know, if we cure Matt, he can use his close brush with death on his college essays.
- Admission guys love that stuff.
- That's how you got in, right? Jailhouse diary? Uh, TKO.
TKO.
Liquid? Liquid, 128 ounces.
- 128.
Yellow jug.
"Special"-- - "Environmentally safe formula".
It's the same.
Bring in the detergent.
So the detergent was contaminated with pesticides? Which soaked into their clothes and got absorbed into their skin.
Hi.
Uh, listen, the clothes your son wore today-- - He washed them this morning, right? - What? Nice, respectful Asian kid does the laundry.
My wife said he didn't.
Well, then I'm betting he washed them last night without you knowing.
He doesn't even know how to turn on the machine.
And those clothes were new.
Nobody washed them.
His clothes are all new? The ones he wore today, yes.
Never washed.
Now what? What about Matt's clothes? Were they new? Uh, they're ratty old jeans, I think.
They've been bagged and taken downstairs.
"Davis".
Yeah, they're Matt's.
And they're old.
And yet the label isn't faded in the slightest.
Fake old.
Hundred dollars for the homeless look.
What? Kids aren't pretentious in England? Chi was wearing a different brand.
How could they both have been contaminated? That is the question for the ages.
Meantime, get these tested.
I never bother to wash new clothes before I wear them.
Right.
Your wife does.
She likes you feeling nice and comfortable.
Hey, I'm a man.
I don't have time for laundry.
I'm saving lives here.
No, she doesn't wash them either.
So your skin absorbs a little dye, the odd chemical here and there.
You know me-- Mr.
Living On The Edge.
Judging by the self-importance of your strut, you have identified the chemical in question.
- Phosdrin.
- Hit 'em with the hydrolase.
- Chi's parents said yes, but-- - Mighty Mom said no.
Well, she's gonna feel like a million bucks when Chi lives and her son dies.
Send Cameron.
She's the only one of you who's managed to talk her into anything.
Not this time.
Matt's mom won't make a move until she gets that opinion from the C.
D.
C.
Godot would be faster.
What is this? Thought I'd hang out.
In case you change your mind.
Then I could give Matt the medicine right away.
Don't worry.
I've got time.
The C.
D.
C.
promised they'd call.
I'm sure they will.
Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe the day after.
It takes time to review faxed records.
Then they'll probably tell you they can't make a decision based on faxed records.
This is Suzie.
She's never gonna marry him.
No money.
What makes you think you're right this time? Same reason as last time.
If you wanna see how the other kid does first, that's okay.
Might help you.
Although there's a real good chance-- - What? Matt might kick off? - That's a little blunt.
I was gonna say "run out of time" or just kind of let my voice trail off.
Hello? Yes, this is Margo Davis.
But you have his records.
I sent them.
Yes, I understand.
They can't help me.
They haven't seen him.
They can't make a decision-- Give it to him.
"The C.
D.
C.
is unable to give an opinion at this time, ma'am.
We're gonna have a doctor in your area next week".
You fooled her with that? House! So I'm gonna be cured? As long as you don't wear any more poison pants.
I'm sorry, Mom.
I knew the pants were stolen.
They were only five bucks.
You're gonna give me hell, aren't you? Oh, honey, I'm just glad you're alive.
Let's get you home so you can rest.
Maybe I am too hard on you.
You don't have to make up that test till next week.
You can stay in bed and work on your applications.
Some guy was selling pants off the back of his truck near the school.
When he wasn't busy as a clothing entrepreneur, he did day labor at a cornfield out on Route 1.
He used the same truck for both jobs.
So he spilled pesticide on the pants and was too lazy to clean up.
Real question is why are you still here? Why aren't you out there making up with the joyful mother? Why would I do that? No reason at all.
If you don't care about her.
Or her son.
Oh, Dr.
House.
The C.
D.
C.
called.
- Again.
- Oops.
- Who are those guys? - Oh, they're the arrogant jerks that saved your life.