Medical Investigation (2004) s01e10 Episode Script

Pham, Pham! Where's Lisa? She's in a trailer.
Somebody says she's not feeling good.
Why is the director always the last to know? Lisa, it's time to do it.
I can't go out there.
We'll rehearse the lines if that's what you want.
We're going into overtime.
It's not about the scene, Trevor.
I just, I don't feel good, for real.
What's real are jitters.
Meryl Streep still gets some.
It's not jitters.
I just, I have a headache and I feel like I'm getting a fever or something.
Are you serious? I'm sorry.
Hey, if you're sick, you're sick.
- Thank you for understanding.
- I'll, uh, just shut it down, send everybody home and no one gets paid.
You know, you can be a real bastard sometimes.
It's my gift.
Give me a sec.
- You only get one take, okay? - No problem.
Yes.
Stop.
Wait.
Stop! Is that in the script? No.
I don't think she's acting.
Oh, my god.
Call 911 now! You make your own hot sauce? I'm from New Orleans.
It's part of the DMV test.
What's it like, tabasco? Tabasco? I put tabasco in my coffee.
Hey, do you mind? Knock yourself out.
Has anybody seen Connor? He's on his way.
Was he in a good mood or a bad mood? He's in a Connor mood.
Kind of weak.
What is wrong with you people? Eat up.
We leave for Los Angeles in one hour.
L.
A.
? / I just got a request for our help from the Los Angeles county health department.
L.
A.
County? They never ask for our help.
- What's the case? - They're stumped.
It's a cluster of three victims.
Two of them have died in the last four days from what they believe to be an aggressive viral infection.
- Is it communicable? - It appears so.
Our latest victim, Lisa Van Adams, she collapsed yesterday.
She was originally treated at a free clinic in Van Nuys and then transferred to a hospital in Encino where she slipped into a coma last night.
How did the patients present? All the patients suffered from the same flu-like symptoms.
Fever, headaches, limb weakness and productive cough with blood.
Any commonalties beyond that? Yeah.
They're all actresses in adult films.
Everyone's at risk in the adult entertainment world.
Exposure to disease is part of the job.
You have an expertise in this area? For the past 15 years, I've specialized in treating these performers.
And I've seen every kind of communicable disease, but nothing like this.
When did you realize the extent of the problem? When the third actress came in with similar symptoms I knew it couldn't be a coincidence.
The third actress, Lisa Van Adams, has she responded to any of the treatments? - Not so far.
- Her fever's still high? As is her white blood cell count.
And there's inflammation of the brain.
She's trying to fight this off, but she's losing the battle.
Any other symptoms? The makeup lady, who's also Lisa's friend, said she recently complained of discomfort during urination.
Apparently, the two deceased victims may have as well.
These could all be symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases.
Yeah, but which STD? What's wrong? She's so young.
Yeah.
In my experience, they all start out that way.
I'll get blood samples, DC cultures, full-blown work-ups for HIV and STDs.
We ran HIV antibody tests on all three.
None came out positive.
Well, that test can give false negatives.
We need to know conclusively.
Especially if Lisa and the other two women were immunosuppressed.
Having their tissues will give me a better chance of isolating the causative agent.
Great.
Eva, find out where the first two victims are buried.
We may need to exhume for autopsy.
/ Sure.
Miles, monitor Lisa.
I want to know the second that her condition changes.
/ Will do.
Mind if I ask you a favor? Sure.
Can we please keep the county out of this? They were the ones who asked us to come here.
Yes, but I would just hate to see this get blown out of proportion before we know what we're dealing with.
We won't sound any alarms until it's absolutely necessary.
I appreciate that.
All right, Frank, start by checking out all three victims' homes.
Aren't we assuming this thing is sexually transmitted? Yeah, but it's possible this thing was initially misdiagnosed as something else.
All right, then I'll start looking for commonalties in their medicine cabinets - and move out from there.
- Great.
And by the way, we're assuming this thing is limited to the porn industry, - but until we know for sure - I got you.
I want somebody to tell me what's wrong with my daughter.
- Sir, hold on.
- Let me talk to a doctor.
- Let me help you.
- No, no, no.
- Sir, hold on.
- No, I won't.
Sir! / Sir, is there a problem? Are you a doctor? / I'm Dr.
Stephen Connor with the NIH.
How can I help you? I want to see Lisa.
I just want to see my daughter.
Follow me.
I got this phone call saying Lisa is in the hospital.
Flew in and got here as fast as I could.
How did this happen? Your daughter's illness may be related to her occupation.
Don't soft serve it up to me, doctor.
They told me what she's been doing with her life and I got to tell you, it took me more than a while to get my head around that one.
How your daughter earned a living is of no concern to us.
It's what I deserve, I guess.
I haven't always been the world's greatest father to Lisa.
Look, Mr.
Graybridge, you don't have to explain.
Look, a year ago, depending on who you had asked, she either ran away from home or I kicked her out.
I've been looking for her, but we haven't talked since then.
She gonna die? Your daughter has an aggressive infection.
The source of which we don't understand yet.
But, trust me, Lisa's in good hands.
Dr.
Mccabe, this is Ben Graybridge, Lisa's father.
Whatever you need, Dr.
Mccabe will help you out.
Anything you need.
You know, in my day, the whole porn business was underground.
Now, they got conventions celebrating it in Las Vegas.
I mean, the girls came back bragging about it.
You mean Lisa Van Adams and the other two actresses who got sick? No, I'd never seen those other two till you showed me the pictures.
I'm talking about Lisa's roommate.
Lisa had a roommate? Yeah.
That's her right there.
Brianna Hobart.
So Lisa's roommate was also in the business.
Brianna retired from the business.
What happened? I don't know all the details.
I'd overhear them talking sometimes and Brianna just had enough.
So she packed up and moved home.
When? Two days ago.
Strange, too, because she was complaining about not feeling well.
She say what was wrong? Oh, some kind of bad flu.
Fever, aches and pains.
She left here feeling like that? Yeah, Lisa told her not to drive feeling that way but brianna just wanted to go home.
Did you ever overhear where home was? Some place in the midwest, I think.
I don't know for sure.
I mean, I just mind my own business.
/ Yeah.
Thank you.
All right, let's start with what we know.
Eva? I just got confirmation that the two deceased acesses were cremated.
Along with the evidence of what killed them.
Nat? Nothing on Lisa's blood cultures yet.
But without being able to autopsy the first two victims, finding what we're up against just became a lot more difficult.
First two victims' places were clean, but they may not be the only other victims.
Brianna Hobart, Lisa's roommate, was also in the business.
She may have presented before Lisa.
Where is she? Moved back home.
No one seems to know where.
Eva, contact the producers of these movies.
Find out where this girl is from and where's she's headed.
- Yeah.
- Miles, how's Lisa? Her condition's worsened in the last six hours, rapidly.
And there's been a left shift in her white blood cell count.
Her body's going after it with everything it has.
Sure is, but may only be a matter of time till she runs out of gas.
How much longer does she have? It's hard to tell.
At this moment, all we can do is hope that she keeps on fighting.
We can rule out HIV, she is negative.
It could be a form of disseminated gonorrhea.
That could cause septic shock.
I saw my fair share of coeds with it during my residency.
College students are a walking petri dish for the stuff.
What regiment did you put these coeds on? Cipro and ceftriaxone.
All right, try it again.
See if it helps.
Will do.
Frank, let's you and I take a drive.
Where are we going? Find out how they make movies.
At least the health department had the foresight to secure the set.
Let's hope we can find whatever they couldn't.
$9 billion a year.
Movies, DVDs, internet.
You'd think it'd be a little more glamorous.
You know, I read in an article that said most women in this business were from dysfunctional families and looking for love and adoration.
Our job is to stop diseases, not judge those who have them.
Look, I'm not judging anyone here, but you have to admit, with all the diseases out there it's a hell of a way to earn a buck.
Hey, check this out.
Looks like our sick actress was taking more than aspirin for her headaches.
Oxycontin.
We both know oxycontin is a pain killer that's as abused as hell.
It's also been known to depress the respiratory system.
Well, maybe we're looking for adult stars with addictions.
Which would definitely complicate things.
Complications are something that we don't have time for right now.
SHERMAN OAKS, CA Come on, boys.
Come eat.
Hey, kids, come have some cupcakes.
It's cup Mommy? Mommy? What's wrong? Mommy? Mommy? The housewife was suffering from the same symptoms? Exact.
Mrs.
Jenna Kirkland, 37-year-old mother of three.
When did she present? She collapsed about four hours ago.
The emergency room doctor read Eva's notice and contacted us as soon as Mrs.
Kirkland was admitted.
A housewife from the valley and porn stars from the hollywood hills.
I wonder where their lives intersect.
I guess we'll be finding out soon.
I don't suppose Mrs.
Kirkland's an adult film star.
So she's definitely an outlier from the initial cluster.
When you get back, check Mrs.
Kirkland and Lisa for traces of oxycontin.
Frank and I found some in Lisa's dressing room.
May be something, may be nothing.
But however it's connected, this thing is spreading.
We have to figure out how.
/ Okay.
Nothing infectious or toxic, but I found more weight loss supplements, diet pills and exercise gimmicks than you'd see in your average night of infomercials.
And Mrs.
Kirkland seemed to have just bought a new wardrobe, several sizes smaller.
Double-check the other victims' homes.
See if any of them were using diet supplements.
You think this stuff could be the source of the infection? Well, Lisa Van Adams and the other actresses' lives are worlds apart from Jenna Kirkland's, but this might be the link.
All right.
Excuse me.
Are you the man taking care of my wife? I'm Dr.
Stephen Connor, with the NIH.
Is there a problem? Andrew Kirkland.
My wife suddenly gets sick.
She's transferred from one hospital to another.
Now the NIH is involved? Mr.
Kirkland, your wife is very sick.
I know that.
Why are you people here from Washington? Her symptoms are identical to some of the other patients' we've been treating.
So, Jenna is connected to these other patients? Well, that's why we moved her here.
That's what we're trying to find out.
My boys are freaking out over what happened to their mom.
What do I tell them? Tell them that we're doing everything we can to find out what's wrong with her.
Look, you have a minute? Can we step outside? Sure.
Come on.
I can see this has been very difficult for you and your family, but I need to ask you some direct questions.
I need you to tell me the truth.
Whatever you want.
I saw that your wife is taking a variety of herbal weight loss supplements.
We, we both have actually.
Yeah, she's been fighting that extra 30 she's been carrying around since she had the boys.
She's looking good again.
This stuff seems to work.
Was the weight loss your idea? Partially.
I encouraged it, but she wanted to look good, too, for herself.
Is she sick because she lost weight? We just have to check for everything.
That's why I need to ask you to go through a series of blood tests.
So, you think I got her sick? Like I said, we have to look everywhere.
I'm gonna have to ask you a very difficult question.
I need to know if you've been with other partners besides your wife.
What the hell does that have to do with anything? The only other women who've exhibited your wife's symptoms are members of the adult entertainment industry.
- You think my wife is one of them? - I'm not saying that.
But these performers, they moonlight as strippers and prostitutes.
If you've had any contact, you may have been exposed.
I'll tell you right now, doctor, you can take as much of my blood and run as many tests as you like, as rare as it may be in this town, I don't cheat on my wife.
Any reason to believe that she may have been unfaithful to you? None at all.
Excuse, Dr.
Connor.
/ What? I need you.
Excuse me.
Lisa's not responding to the cipro and ceftriaxone.
Probably rules out disseminated gonorrhea.
Her vitals are in steady decline, BP's plummeting.
Give her more I.
V.
fluids.
If that doesn't work, give her dopamine.
Should I try a broader spectrum antibiotic on her? Go with ampicillin and gentamicin for now.
It may buy us some time to figure out a more definitive course of action.
Okay.
Unlike Lisa, there were no traces of oxycontin in Mrs.
Kirkland.
The weight loss supplements were just herbal laxatives, not a factor in their illnesses.
- You talk to her husband? - Yeah.
And I want you to fully test him for STDs.
You think he may have passed this on to her? That's possible, but unlikely.
I think he's telling the truth about them being a faithful couple, which moves our search outside the STD box.
I'm thinking bacteria.
Well, nothing on the movie sets or in their homes indicated bacterium.
Well, they may all have been exposed elsewhere.
Hold antibiotics and reculture.
I've already started.
Tell me you found Lisa's roommate.
Not her, but where she was headed.
I talked to her moving company.
They shipped her stuff to an address in Chicago, and I tracked down a phone number from that.
And? / Her mother and father said she hasn't arrived yet.
And they've left a lot of messages on her cell phone, none of which she's returned.
Wait a minute.
She left her apartment three days ago.
Unless she made an unlikely side trip, she should be in Chicago by now.
I know.
And her folks sounded worried, too.
Call all the hospitals, all the local and state police departments.
Call anything between here and Chicago.
We have to find her.
/ Yep.
Miles how's Mr.
Graybridge? Hard to say.
The nurses say he hasn't left her side in hours.
Well, keep an eye on him.
I can't imagine what's going through his head right now.
Yeah.
Sir, how you doing? Well, I've done better.
Yeah, I understand.
Well, you do, do you? Excuse me? How you people do it, huh? Do what? Pretending that you care about someone like me and my daughter.
Who says I'm pretending? I know what you're thinking.
How could I let Lisa get so out of control end up like this? How could I let her do what she does? I'm sorry if you've got that impression.
Mr.
Graybridge, I'm a doctor.
I'm here to help.
Can you make my daughter better, huh? We're doing everything we can.
These things She's dying.
There's nothing you can do about it.
I may have found something.
I finally got some growth on the blood cultures.
- Can you id the pathogen? - Not fully, but I can tell you it's an aerobic gram negative rod-shaped bacteria.
- Which means it could be - brucellosis, legionnaires I mean, it could be anything.
We need to id this infection so we can administer the best antibiotic therapy.
I can't be sure until I run more specific cultures, susceptibility tests, PCRs We don't have time for all that now, do we? No.
Nevada highway patrol found Brianna Hobart.
It's not good.
She was dead in a motel room.
How long? Their rough guess is a day or so.
All right, get Brianna's body airlifted here as soon as possible.
Already on it.
At least her body will give us a better chance to determine what pathogen we're up against.
All right, what is it? I'm not positive what kind, but it's definitely pseudomonas-like.
Pseudomonas? It's a species of bacteria that produce lethal toxins.
- How do we treat it? - I don't know.
It's not responding to anything I've thrown at it yet.
All right, while you narrow down the exact strain, get the CDC and our labs to send you all the experimental antibiotics that they have.
That is, of course, while you find out exactly what this thing is and how to kill it.
Frank, you and I have to go figure out where this thing is coming from.
Is pseudomonas sexually transmitted? Not as far as we know.
If not sexually, then how's it getting into the women's bodies? We don't know yet.
I think I may.
You found a commonality? All three women have breast implants.
Wait a minute.
They all have the same plastic surgery? Based on the virtually identical suturing of the incisions, I think it's more than that.
I think they may have the same plastic surgeon.
BENDER PLASTIC SURGERY Never let them tell you the blues are sad.
It's contemplative.
Also happens to be the best music to suture by.
And that does it.
She's gonna be a new woman.
Hey! Five women with the same rare bacterial infection.
Three have already died and two are very sick.
And they all share one thing in common.
You.
/ Me? They're all your patients.
Four adult film actresses and one housewife from the valley.
A Jenna Kirkland.
Yeah, I remember the Kirkland woman, but this has just got to be some kind of bizarre coincidence.
It's never a coincidence, doctor.
But we'll just keep the bizarre part.
Look, I have a varied clientele.
People come to me because I have a reputation for doing good work.
Very good work.
I take pride in it.
/ No one's here to accuse you of anything.
We're not trying to string you up.
No? It sounds like you want to shut me down.
What we're trying to do is save some lives, all of whom walked through your door.
To do that, we need to interrupt your work for one day.
This could be a malpractice nightmare.
Look, this isn't about you.
Oh, cool.
I know.
I know.
But something tells me I should still consult with my attorney.
We don't have time for lawyers.
And it may have nothing to do with your procedures.
This could be your staff, it could be your equipment, it could be the implants and how they were manufactured.
We don't know.
We're trying to find out.
Do you know what having the NIH in my building will do to my business? It can't be worse than having a string of dead patients.
Especially if they find out you were uncooperative with the investigation.
Okay, okay, so what do we do? Start by giving Ms.
Rossi the name of your implant manufacturer.
Then we're gonna need you to get us permission to call the patients you've worked on in the last six months.
You're gonna call them all? Every one, to find out if they have symptoms.
Meanwhile, Mr.
Powell is gonna go over this place with a fine-toothed comb.
If you guys find anything, I don't care how small it is, I want to know.
I'll be with the patients.
Hi, this is Eva Rossi with the national institutes of health.
I'm calling about the surgery you had in Dr.
John Bender's office.
We need to know if you've suffered any flu-like symptoms since the surgery.
No, we're not saying that Dr.
Bender has done anything wrong.
Damn.
Guess collagen fattens wallets like it does lips and cheeks.
Any change? I'm afraid not.
She's hosting a play-date for my son, next second this.
You never know what's gonna happen in life.
Must be hard doing what you do.
Fighting monsters you can't see.
A lot of people benefit when we do our jobs right.
I remember when Jenna asked me about doing some cosmetic work, I encouraged it.
Looking back, probably too eagerly.
Truth is, deep down I was hoped a new Jenna might help me be new again, too.
Look, Andrew your wife getting sick isn't your fault.
I feel like I practically forced those implants on her.
Do you ever think that maybe she wanted the implants herself? She wanted them because I stopped looking at her the way I used to.
Stopped making plans just for us.
Well, then, you're one of the lucky ones.
You might have a second chance to make up to her.
Stephen.
Excuse me.
I found something else, micro-abscesses.
The infection got into Brianna's lungs, spleen, kidneys and liver.
Might as well have been in her brain.
It is.
That certainly explains the inflammation.
All the women had implant surgery six months ago.
The pseudomonas has been growing in their tissues the whole time, slowly poising them from the inside out.
But I have good news.
With these micro-abscesses on Brianna's body, I should have a better chance of finding an antibiotic that will kill the pseudomonas cultures.
We certainly have an abundance here.
Nice work.
Do it.
I think I just woke up half of L.
A.
's newest D cups.
Are any of those women showing symptoms? No.
And I spoke with the implant manufacturer and the FDA and none of them have any complaints about unusual infections from their product.
It's a dead end.
There are no dead ends.
We have to keep searching.
Dr.
Mccabe.
Mr.
Graybridge.
Just call me Ben.
About the way I talked to you before I'm sorry.
All of this has just brought up a lot of old memories.
Memories? My wife, Lisa's mother.
She passed away when Lisa was just a little girl, when she was just 12 years old.
I'm sorry to hear that.
We sat vigil beside her bed for two weeks.
Feel so helpless watching somebody you love die.
Lisa and her mother were close.
Losing her, as tough as it was on me, it was tougher on Lisa.
And suddenly, there I was, I had a teenage girl on my hands.
Quite honestly, I didn't know what the hell to do.
Trying to keep her close, I just pushed her away.
If it means anything, I think all parents and children go through rough spots in their lives together.
Yeah, but without her mother, I was lost.
Lisa started changing, she started becoming a woman and I overreacted.
I was so strict with her.
Too strict.
Don't be too hard on yourself.
If I could just take back some of those things I said, those fighting, hurtful things.
Maybe you can.
No.
Even if she recovers, she wouldn't want me around.
And I don't blame her.
Ben if that were true, why did she put your name on her emergency contact form? What's going on? - What's going on? - Miles, what do we got? She's coding.
Epinephrine and bicarb.
- Got it.
- Let's go, let's go, let's go.
Come on.
Give it to me.
We're losing her.
Come on.
- Miles, stay here.
- Okay, it's on its way.
Come on.
Come on, Lisa, hang on, hang on.
Stay with us, stay with us.
That-a-girl.
- That-a-girl.
- Come on, Lisa.
We've got a rhythm, but she's still bradycardic.
Atropine, now.
Here.
/ Thank you.
- Here we go.
- Atropine's going in.
Come on, Miles.
Jam.
/ Excellent.
Rhythm is normal.
Pulse is a little weak.
All right, let's start a dopamine drip.
Let's also get the blood gasses and an EKG.
Stay with her.
She's gonna be touch and go for a while.
I'm on it.
Hey.
What do you got? Another patient with similar symptoms just checked into the hospital.
- Does she have a name? - It's not a she.
His name is David Thorn.
This outbreak may have nothing to do with breast implants at all.
How long have you competed as a bodybuilder, Mr.
Thorn? Two years now, Um.
.
but nothing as freaky as what happened last night ever happened to me.
When you fainted, right? Collapsed.
Okay.
Let's see here.
You have a fever.
Yeah.
Had one for a few days now.
I feel horrible, doc.
What is this I have anyway? Most likely a bacterial infection.
We're working on it.
Look I need to know about your bodybuilding regimen.
What you really want to know about is steroids, isn't it, doc? What I want to know is the truth.
The truth is, I don't load, doc.
I never have, I never will.
I compete in the all-natural division.
Period.
I assume the all-natural division excludes any surgical augmentation.
"All-natural" is "all-natural.
" Now, why don't you just give me a prescription and let me whoa.
Oh, hey.
Sit back.
This thing's a little more complicated than you think.
People are dying from the bacteria that I told you about.
So I'm not interested in getting you in trouble with the bodybuilding federation, but if I'm gonna help you and the other patients that have the same symptoms, I need to know the truth.
Fine.
My legs, doc.
My legs have always been my weak spot with the judges, You see, I, I, I had some leg implantations done.
But dude did some nice work on my calves.
You can't even see the incision scars.
I'm fine.
Dude being Dr.
John Bender? Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, how'd you know that? You want the good news or bad? Make me smile.
I've tested everything I swabbed from Bender's facility, the office, the surgical room, the equipment, then retested it all again.
And? The place is as clean as it's supposed to be.
Apparently not clean enough.
I finally got a culture from Brianna's body that could clearly identify the strain that we are up against.
/ Ooh.
It's burkholderia pseudomallei.
Wait, wait, wait a second.
That's a vicious bacteria native to South American waters.
And it's an aberrational strain that is more resistant to treatment than I have ever seen.
Murphy's law, but at least now we know what we're up against.
Any luck with your experimental antibiotics? Knowing the strain and stopping it are two different challenges.
Nat, we're running out of time.
You can say that again.
I just spoke with seven more of Dr.
Bender's plastic-surgery patients.
They're all showing early-stage symptoms.
They're checking into hospitals from Burbank to Thousand oaks.
The list is growing.
And something else.
It's probably standard, but they all had cortisone shots after their surgery.
To prevent scarring.
That matches my findings in both Lisa and Jenna as well.
That matter? It could.
Cortisone suppresses the immune system.
And I've looked into all their surgeries.
The only commonality is Bender.
He had a different nurse each time, different surgical attendants each time.
This bacteria isn't in his office, surgical room or equipment.
Then it has to be on or in Dr.
Bender.
I thought you guys were done.
We thought so, too, until we figured out the bacteria that we're dealing with is coming off of you.
Oh, you're kidding me, right? I wish I were.
So I need you to walk us through your routine.
Talk to me about the spa tub.
It struck me as an odd item to be in a doctor's office.
I use it every morning.
It's for my back.
If I don't, I can barely lean over the surgery table.
Do you shower after every soak? Sometimes.
Not always.
Keep in mind, man, none of my swipes came back positive for the spa tub.
In this case maybe a swab wasn't enough.
What are you guys doing? Looking for answers.
Tweezers.
I'm guessing that's not native to Van Nuys.
Algae in the filter pipe.
Perfect breeding ground for burkhoderia pseudomallei.
Still doesn't explain how the algae got there in the first place.
Dr.
Bender.
/ Yeah.
How often do you clean this fish tank? Uh, it's a service.
They do it every week.
Any idea what they do with the old water when they change it out? No.
The service pumps the old, unsterilized fish-tank water into the spa tub where it splashes into the filter trap.
While the tub itself may get washed, the filter doesn't.
It also never completely dries out, allowing the algae to flourish there.
If the bacteria thrives in the piping, and travels with the water into the spa tub, and onto Bender, then how did it get into Bender's patients? It starts on Dr.
Bender.
Every morning before his surgeries.
He says he doesn't always shower after his soak in the spa tub.
Which explains why not all of his patients got sick.
He would have scrubbed his arms and his hands, but the bacteria probably would have survived in his hair, his eyebrows.
But it still doesn't explain why the implants aren't infected.
A plastic surgeon sutures over the fascia muscle layers first.
And then comes the detail work.
Plastic sutures and they have to be just right to prevent scarring.
He puts on the magnifying glasses.
The glasses going on disturbs the eyebrows, releasing the bacteria.
And it floats into the wound.
What kind of fish are these? Lasiancistrus and atabapo.
Had them imported.
From South America? / Yeah.
I think I found it.
- What's the suggested course? - That's what's tricky.
The only thing that kills this strain is an experimental CHPC.
CHPC? It's one of the strongest antibiotics, usually used as a last resort.
Why last resort? CHPC can have major toxic side effects, lethal ones.
What should we do? Tell the families we're gonna give it to them.
Last resort.
That's where we are.
Dad? I briefed Bender and passed on treatment instructions to all of his patients.
So why didn't Bender ever get sick? Luck.
He must not have had open cuts or sores.
Simple as that.