As you may know, “House” is a drama that deals with the medical practice of the highly anti-social Dr. Gregory House. Though this show remains highly popular, weekly it plays upon racism, ableism, heterosexism, class privilege and white privilege to drive home its neurotic message of the nothingness of being. Most relationships between the characters are dysfunctional and focus around whatever obsession “House” manifests on a particular week.
Ableism is a major feature in this medical drama. The main character himself is a differently abled person and this seems to function as justification for the writers to take creative license with the experiences of others. Each week Dr. House is presented with a medical mystery that he has to solve. The patient is minimized and the issue becomes the disease. Though this models much of what the medical establishment advises in an effort to reduce undue attachment, not all patients are as submissive and/or docile in their medical care as presented on House.
Each week a myriad of illnesses are manifested by different patients and yet ultimately the diagnosis usually comes down to two diseases; sarcoidosis or lupus. Using these two diseases as the “catch all” can be emotionally triggering and serves to reduce the difficult lives that those suffering with them must endure.
Illness does not end as projected on “House” after the disease is diagnosed; in fact, it is but the beginning of a very difficult journey, which can include intense pain and restructuring of one’s life. In the end, “House” will often prescribe prednisone as though he is offering a patient a glass of water. No discussion takes place on how harmful this drug is or the possible side effects that it can cause. Yet anyone who has been on prednisone for any length of time will usually attest to the fact that it is not a pleasant drug to take.
It seems that because lupus and sarcoidosis are diseases that mimic many others and do not immediately lead to death, the writers of “House” have determined that they can routinely rely upon them as solutions or possible solutions to each week’s medical mystery. Sarcoidosis in particular is not a disease that is well known outside of those inflicted with it. Many were not even aware that the disease existed until it was revealed last year that Bernie Mac died of complications because of it.
The general ignorance about the symptoms of sarcoidosis allows the writers to invoke creative licence, forgetting that some of their viewers are currently suffering from the disease. A point that is well worth noting is that both sarcoidosis and lupus are diseases that primarily attack African Americans, and yet week after week the patients that are diagnosed or hypothesized to have the diseases to have them are white.
We draw very few limits to what we term entertainment and, much like in the days of decadence of the Roman Empire, what we have chosen to view for the purposes of amusement often appeals to the baser instincts of humanity. Week after week, we tune in to “House” because we have determined that illness, suffering and disease qualify as a distraction from the monotony of our over scheduled lives.
The blood that is spilled is false and solutions are found within sixty minutes. Somewhere in the back of our minds we know that the images of suffering that we are viewing are real for someone. Though we watch with rapt attention, in the end, we are not infused with a greater sense of knowledge or even sympathy for those we know to be chronically ill. The purpose of “House” and shows of its ilk is not to challenge our views about disability or illness; it is simply to entertain. Those who it marginalizes or creates as invisible in the process are merely fodder that are easily forgotten in a world that seeks amusement in the pain and suffering of others.
Each time the able bodied person calls upon the differently abled to play “super crip” and rise above, we need not look father than shows like “House” to understand how it is that they have come to frame their understanding of chronic illness. If week after week we are presented with images of people suffering mysterious and exotic diseases who are miraculously cured, clearly those that are suffering daily are either not working hard enough to find a cure or they have given up. We have become accustomed to easy solutions and when we come across a problem that cannot be solved instantly, we blame rather than contemplate alternate solutions. “House” may be just a single show on a network, but it is the perfect example of the ways in which we “other” those with chronic illnesses.
There is no magic cure for either lupus or sarcoidosis. No brilliant doctor is suddenly going to alleviate the suffering of so many. Therefore if we feel compelled to recreate the circumstances of another’s life, we owe it to those that are afflicted with these diseases to make it as real as possible.
Thank you, this is such a good answer, or really set of answers, to those who say, “Oh come on, it’s just a TV show!”
Which is an odd thing for many of those who watch this particular show to say, since in addition to being entertained by it, they’re also patting themselves on the back for being smart enough to follow the medical-talk, and for “learning” from it. Sheesh.
While I think you’re right that House fails a lot, I don’t know that its ultimate message is “nothingness of being.” Gregory House is not a straightforward hero within the terms of the show (none of the cast is – they all act as foils for each other). On the contrary, his methods are often presented as unethical, and the precedence of “solving the mystery” is explicitly presented as unethical, as is the way House is constantly trying to get around informed consent and other patient rights (because he is most concerned, paradoxically, with the sanctity of life). I can think of many examples from the show where hospital facilities & doctors’ brains are presented as inadequate for patients (like the episode about the non-diabetic man of size), and docs’ “annoyed” responses to strong-opinioned patients are presented as wrong (this happens throughout many episodes – the doc’s assumptions that patients don’t know what’s good for them is more often than not wrong).
Also, lupus and sarcoidosis, while they’re often suggested, are rarely the ultimate diagnoses, and actually function, in the show, as the “easy, but wrong” diagnosis that doesn’t account for all the symptoms.
Also, there’s differences between shows starring the “first cast” and shows starring the “second cast.”
I would love to see a more in-depth discussion of the issues you raise, in particular episodes, since the show’s not perfect, and it’s important to point out when the show is wrong or irresponsible. But my problems aren’t with the show’s premise. For me, I was excited to see a differently abled character on tv (though I wish he were played by a differently abled actor, as much as I love Hugh Laurie), and I liked that there was a medical show that didn’t present the medical establishment, and the doctors in it as unequivocal heroes, that works at questioning moralistic attitudes about addiction, and that presents medical practice as an ethical minefield instead of as an uncomplicated way to “help people.”
Interesting article.
Bearing in mind I’ve not seen the show, nor do I really intend to, I’m curious about this: “The main character himself is a differently abled person and this seems to function as justification for the writers to take creative license with the experiences of others.” What disability does Dr. House have?
What disability does Dr. House have?
He had an infarction in his thigh muscle, leading to them having to do surgery to remove part of that muscle. (It’s actually more complicated than that, but that’s the basic story.) So he needs to use a cane to walk, and the surgery left him with a lot of exposed nerve endings, leaving him in a lot of pain, so he’s also addicted to Vicodin.
(They’ve actually been really inconsistent about how damaged the muscle actually is — there have been a few times when, through various drug treatments, he was totally or almost-totally pain-free, and one of those times, he was running several miles, making it look like the limp was totally the result of him guarding the muscle from pain, but the other time, he was still limping some, as if the muscle were weakened, but he was able to put more weight on the leg without pain.)
Part of House’s personality is that he isn’t Politically Correct- meaning, he’s going to be a racist, sexist, byist ass. It isn’t because of his leg- it’s been inferred in the show that he was like that before.
My mom, a nurse, watches this show with me, and she just laughs at some of the diagnoses they make. In reality, one hopes people don’t rely on a fictitious television show to give them medical answers. Ask a real doctor.
If people are that stupid, maybe they don’t deserve to be cured.
I’m just sayin’.
First, there are plenty of white people (including me) who get sarcoidosis, although there may be a higher prevalence among “blacks”.
Second – at least if he mentions sarcoidosis and puts people on prednisone every episode, more people will hear about the disease.
What annoys me is the way they act as if the person doesn’t go on prednisone “stat” they will die within 24 hours, but hey, that’s television.
I used to love the show but it is very repetitive.
“not all patients are as submissive and or docile in their medical care as presented on House.”
Umm. I don’t know how many episodes you have watches, but the Dr House’s own current condition stems partly from rejecting an operation simply because he did not want to be submissive or docile.
Furthermore,
Looking at the list of episodes at Wikipedia, Lupus and Sarcoidosis diagnosis are listed only one for each.
Illness does not end as projected on “House” after the disease is diagnosed; in fact, it is but the beginning of a very difficult journey, which can include intense pain and restructuring of one’s life. … Therefore if we feel compelled to recreate the circumstances of another’s life, we owe it to those that are afflicted with these diseases to make it as real as possible.
But, the reality’s often *awful.* Like, I understand that minimizing disease and illness can be very damaging but I can’t imagine trying to watch a show that was a perfectly accurate recounting of someone being miserable and incurable. I certainly wouldn’t like a show that was all like “oh I’m so depressed and crazy! What’s that, you have a pill for me? Better now!” but I would never watch a show that was just a series of failed attempts at treatment and a documentary of the patient’s slowly decreasing will to live either (I get plenty of *that* reality from some of my friends…)
It’s pure fantasy that there is a way to fix everything, but even if that fantasy isn’t for everyone it doesn’t mean it’s a useless one to have. I like my nihilistic reality mixed in with some (false) hope, yanno?
My favorite part of House is how no one has any long-term effects of seizures, anaphalactic shock, medication reactions, or surgery.
I was recently diagnosed with Lupus, and I sent out a text to all of my friends explaining to situation. I immediately got about 20 texts messages back with smiley faces and, “IT’S NEVER LUPUS! HOUSE SAYS SO!”
They didn’t realize I was serious. It took quite a few phone calls to convince them this was not a prank.
“and yet week after week the patients that are diagnosed or hypothesized to have the diseases to have them are white.”
It is usually just a disease they test for, and the lack of African-Americans is probably due to the low number within the area of Princeton itself.
I do think it’s quite humorous that the doctors on house constantly jump right to sarcoidosis as a hypothesis. But, as stated above, it is never actually a diagnosis. It is a mere tool to extend the time frame in which plot can unfold. And, yes, the disease that does, in the end, become the diagnosis is usually cured in a nonchalant manner, but I never really understand the disease nor the treatment anyhow.
But this show is not about the disease. Or the treatment. Or the patients who so carelessly get constantly misrepresented. In fact, all of this plays a secondary role to the main idea behind this whole convoluted drama.
Dr. House is anything but life-affirming. The complete opposite of what one might consider humane. In fact, he disregards and ridicules any aspect of humanity. He isn’t in medicine to save the lives of his patients, just as the show isn’t set out to publicize the diseases that affect them. He is obsessed with solving a puzzle. His utter and almost depraved control over every situation is imperative to his eventual diagnosis.
And, yet, what is it that eventually always leads to the diagnosis? Why is House so obsessed this sense of control anyway? And, what is the one thing above all else that Dr. House holds as true? There is no God.
In each epsiode, Dr. House is led the the diagnosis through a phenomenon. An utter coincidence that leads to an epiphany. Even though House makes such enormous efforts to control every aspect of the lives and situations that surround him, it is through luck, chance, destiny that he is able to find each solution. The emphasis is never on the solution (the treatment) or the problem (the disease). It is on the manner in which the solution is reached. House is obsessed with control because he is defying a grander controller. Underneath the gruesome images of human suffering and glossed-over methods of treatment, there is a recurring theme. And although the show does touch on complex issues of our culture in a crast manner–pain, sex, predjudice etc–it is merely to contrast the plights of humanity to the silent omniscient benevolence of the most important member of the cast.
The show is about religion, people.
I would not consider myself a religious person, nor would I a strong television critic, but I can spot a reoccurring themed-subplot when I see one. Especially when the main premise of the plot is so transparent. Honestly, it’s not even worth mentioning that sarciodosis is overly-hypothesized, or that the struggle for the victim of pain is not over when the show ends. It’s like you’re saying Baywatch isn’t a accurate depiction of lifeguards and minimizes the issue of drowning. Baywatch isn’t about lifegaurds! Or drowning! It’s about breasts. And rushing out to save lives from murky waters simply allows them to reveal their grand and impressive power. Even if Pamela Anderson never quite does the Heimlich quite right…
And to clarify, “differently abled people” is not “PC”, no matter how much you might think it rightiously clarifies between that and “normally abled persons.” People first language is always preferred in describing any population, whether it be people with dogs to people with disabilities. And yes disabilities is okay to say. A disability can be described as a condition that makes it more difficult to engage in the activities of daily life. No need to sugarcoat it. And to be honest, that category of people may be wider than you may think. The term I’ve just given isn’t too narrow is it? But differently abled implies that there is a standard level of ability, which is untrue. The range of disabilities is limitless. In fact, one might consider the human condition one big disability, especially when compared to its counterpart.
i do watch house from time to time and have noticed that they often mention lupus or sarcoidosis and i have sarcoidosis myself and you are right it is not a something that is well know and is very much a problem in the afracian=american population ,but not exclusively a black or a women issue. in global sense it has effected more whites than blacks, in the usa,blacks have a higher incedence of dieabetes,and high blood pressure too the question is why, i think you might want to thank the producers of house for making sarcoidosis a more known problem and not be such a rascist ,it doses effect whites too.
This is quite obviously the most biased and ill-informed article written about House in recent memory. Your assertions about the show’s message, the supposed simplicity of the presented diagnosis and quite foolish belief that any more than maybe one in five patients at a Princeton hospital would be black is are all idiotic. Your method of marginalizing all “categories” of people using silly words like “differently-abled” is in itself an insidious means of making people “other” and lesser.
Every paragraph of this article got consistently worse than the one before it. It’s almost as if, shock of shocks, you banged out a terrible piece of writing for a paycheck (or supposing you don’t get paid for this, attention) on short notice.
“There is no magic cure for either lupus or sarcoidosis. No brilliant doctor is suddenly going to alleviate the suffering of so many. Therefore if we feel compelled to recreate the circumstances of another’s life, we owe it to those that are afflicted with these diseases to make it as real as possible.”
I have to say , you only serve to further the “general ignorance about sarcoidosis”.
As with many others, I knew nothing about sarcoid until I was diagnosed with it myself.
The fact is, there is a cure for sarcoidosis, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, Crohn’s, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases. Many people have been cured already.
The prescription of steroids like prednisone only serves to alleviate symptoms for a short period (while the steroid is weaned off and the patient suffers withdrawals), allowing the real problem to get worse as the immune system is compromised.
If you or anyone you know has been diagnosed with sarcoidosis, please get them to look up the Marshall Protocol.
I have been on this treatment for 2 months and feel definite changes already – so much so that I feel extra good in comparison to my previous state.
I like watching House. It’s a formulaic show, just like so many others, but the main character is very amusing. I won’t bother to comment otherwise, as it’s just a TV show.
Read more, think more, write less.
You’re totally wrong. I’ve watched over a dozen episodes and Sarcoidosis (or lupus for that matter) has never come up as a diagnosis or even a possibility. So it’s not “usually” the diagnosis as you suggest. Specify the episode numbers if you’re going to make such ignorant claims.
‘House’ is about the character and his obsession with puzzles. It’s not about ‘the nothingness of being.’ In fact, the show is a modern take on Sherlock Holmes (note the Watson character embodied by Wilson, the obsessed, anti-social addict of Holmes embodied by House — House’s own apartment in earlier seasons is number 221B)
His solutions don’t always work, and are not, as you put it “easy” solutions that put ill audience members into a mindset that they haven’t worked hard enough to stave off whatever ails them. You’re searching for a deeper meaning to justify your own hypothesis, but the fact is that this show isn’t that deep — it’s melodrama disguised by humor and procedural mystery.
House is house. Let him be. The whole point of the program is for entertainment as well as getting the point across that there are numerous rare or unexplained or even just uncommon diseases out there. Its not for people to say they understand everything all of a sudden and that they deserve a medical license now because they watch the show or others like it. Also for those who have watched extra features in the dvds they should have come across the statement made it is designed for doctors and nurses to believe in the procedures that happen on the show. I believe that this is true. It is also designed for it not to be too realistic to mistake it as truth.
I know that the character House is rude, racist, sexist etc, and is very hard on diseases in general, but how many people do you think are glad that their disease has had a mention on the show so that more people will wonder what it was and look it up? Its a show that connects people. Its a show that makes people more understanding. That is why it has lasted so long. Despite its crassness and sometimes downright appalling comments, it makes people think about other people, about other places and look to where we live and when we live and be thankful.
I don’t like House and do not watch it but I will say I am white and do have Sarcoidosis and have had it for over 30 years
“sympathy”?
empathy maybe but don’t you think seriously ill people get tired of people feeling sorry for them?
show some sensitivity yourself, anyone can read this and if they took the wrong message from it they’d end up depressing people
also yeah House is crap, if it weren’t for Hugh Laurie’s acting people’d rank it way down there with CSI and every other exploitative badly written US show
It’s just a T.V. show! Get over yourselves!
I am not a foreigner to major medical problems,I have been quite a challenge to many doctors over the years. I have taken prednisone on several occasions, once for 9 months straight. I know the havoc of health problems, I have never been offended by the use of various diagnosis in this program. What is disturbing to me though, is that your article had to bring it all back to race.
“A point that is well worth noting is that both sarcoidosis and lupus are diseases that primarily attack African Americans, and yet week after week the patients that are diagnosed or hypothesized to have the diseases to have them are white.”
The episodes have people of all different races. House is supposed to take place in Mercer County New Jersey. If they were being real, then only 20% of patients would be black, since that is the population, of that particular county. Whites Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics all get sick too…should ever show make sure that all races are equally represented? That is ridiculous!
That is not reality!
Besides that, it IS, JUST A SHOW!
For me personally I’m glad to hear sarcoidosis in the media. There are too many people who are never properly diagnosed and suffer for years on their own.
It was sad to see Bernie Mac’s demise with this terrible disease yet it was a saving grace for many who suffer from this horrible disease who are not validated.
I have been on a research treatment for sarc (which after being dx’d finally in 2006, realized I have had for many years, possibly since my teens). There are many, many caucasians on this treatment even though it is primarily believed to be higher in African Americans. In fact in my treatmet group caucasians far outweigh numbers. Fortunately this treatment has saved my life, for as you say steroids were killing me!
I’m grateful once again to hear the word sarcoidosis or see it in print. It has bee long overdue!
I am white and was diagnosed with sarcoidosis of the brain/central nervous system 8 years ago. I have an incredibly rare form of the disease (aka neurosarcoidosis) and I am of Scandinavian decent (another high-risk group like African-Americans) and I feel the show should be commended with regard to bringing sarcoidosis to a wide audience. Here is why: I had severe headaches for two years straight and was diagnosed by several neurologists with migraines, given migraine meds, massive quantities of Vicodin, patted on the head and told to go home. When the headaches persisted, I was told by the same,and a few other neurologists and GPs, that I needed a psychiatrist to straighten me out. I was mad because I knew my pain was real and they were blowing me off as if I didn’t matter. I even had two lumbar punctures (spinal taps)?and they still didn’t find anything wrong. It wasn’t until I started to lose my eyesight intermittently, and then my hearing, and then both on the same day, and when my husband and son came to get me from work, I lost all feeling in my legs and collapsed in their arms on the way to the car. after going straight to the hospital, IT TOOK ALL THE DOCTORS AT THE HOSPITAL THREE WEEKS TO FINALLY DIAGNOSE ME WITH NEUROSARCOIDOSIS–I was days away from a massive brain seizure according to one of the neurologists who originally told me to see a psychiatrist for my troubles. If the disease had been better known in 2003, I may have been able to save a few more brain cells that were ultimately destroyed at the hands of the disease that swelled my brain, mimiciking meningitis. I also had to endure 3 weeks of guessing by the doctors, including being told I had MS (which my aunt died of in her 30s), having various forms of cancer, etc. I only wish House had once called the most nefarious forms of sarcoid by their proper names, to identify them better – neurosarcoidosis and heart-related sarcoidosis — an even rarer and more fatal form of the disease. Thank you very much to the writers of House for what you did to bring attention to the disease. Hopefully, you will help people like me be diagnosed a lot quicker and not have to go through the nightmare I did at the beginning.
This video has a funny inside joke about how sarcoidosis is always a candidate but never really is on HOUSE:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7p744hur2ZU
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=7p744hur2ZU&feature=youtu.be
If you’re going to attack a show for being racist, attack family guy, not House. I think many viewers, including me, find the medical mystery only half of House. The medical mystery is “cool” and that’s how I see it: “cool.” I don’t overanalyze the realism of the 5-6 syllable words/prescriptions, and i certainly do not see hints of racism because the prevalence of sarcoidosis is higher in African Americans. I watch House for the sarcastic remarks, for the “coolness” of the show, and if you haven’t realized it yet, for the drama. It isn’t a reality show you know.
What? House is a brilliantly written, witty and clever entertainment show. Not everything has to be sombre and deadly serious. Don’t be so boring.
I’m not sure about lupus, but I know that sarcoidosis has never once been the ultimate diagnosis on House. Somebody always suggests it, and sometimes they even treat for it early in the episode. But they’re always wrong, and sarcoidosis never the real problem. The phrase “it’s NOT sarcoidosis” has even become something of a meme for people who watch the show. As for House prescribing prednisone, I can’t think of an episode where he’s ever written a prescription for anything. I’m not sure the author of this article has ever seen House.
This thread is interesting. Sarcoidosis and other quotes in the show lead the general viewer a consistency of language. The show is or was entertainment that adapted Sherlock Holmes to a medical drama. The point is not about religion or such profound themes. It is entertaining and those themes capture audiences. Controversy gets viewership, his personality is a fantasy most wish they could get away with. Also interesting is that Hugh Laurie is English and started in comedy.
Take the show for what it is, a show and you might just enjoy it.
Just wanted to point out, almost every episode of House points out that the illness may be Lupus/Sarcoidosis, but it almost never is. This article seems to base some arguments on the assumption that these are common illnesses in the show, and could not be more wrong. A small amount of research would have shown that a Lupus diagnosis on House is now considered a joke on the internet, and a full list of the illness in each episode.
House’s character is based on Sherlock Holmes. The obsessive search for truth, the opiate addiction, the grim outlook on life. I dont understand what “nothingness of being” means but I dont get that message from this show. It seems like this article is trying to blame the show for many of the worlds problems. Thats an easy answer to a complex problem.
Next issue I have with this article is that its NEVER lupus or sarcoidosis… It was ONCE for each of them. Both diseases are multi-symptom, are very difficult to diagnose and are commonly mistaken for other diseases. This is the reason they bring it up a lot, not because it is common. In fact most of the disorders they deal with on the show are not common. It seems like whoever wrote this article didnt really pay much attention to the show. I wont be coming back to this site…. It seems like they will let just any idiot publish on the page.
Wrong Wrong Wrong Though lupus and sarcoidosis are often, perhaps most often, suggested, they are almost never, if ever, the ultimate diagnosis. If fact, the diagnosis is almost always something curable, for a very simple reason, no one, including the terminally or chronically ill, would long want to view an entertainment with an always hopeless conclusion. People like House because as dysfunctional as most of the doctors are on the show, you always know there’s hope.
The show’s attention is focused on the power/influence games between the main character and his disarmed worshipers. For enduring being a part his gravitational sphere of influence, disciples are rewarded with a medical carnival ride; imagine a pack of competitive beagles trying to find the buried truffle for treats from a smug alpha asshole. The “filler” is the drama of how he has to negotiate treating his human relationships the same way (he carefully calculates the jerk volume setting when dealing with the wifelike Wilson, his sex provider Cuddy, archie-bunker-fan-boy Foreman, harem secretary Cameron, harem bottom-boy Chase, etc.). The character chooses to be a default psychopath with departures to add drama to the series (imagine Candice Brennan, but with a more pronounced dependency power/influence dynamic for dramatic effect).
I am wondering how you aare doing today, since usiing the
Marshall Protocol?
House is not primarily about illness, which is counterintuitive. Like a Machiavelli novel, the medical setting is just a backdrop over which to explore deeper philosophical issues, and moveover, social ones. Eg, People always like. The show is an exploration of human nature. Did the writers go WAY overboard in using sarcoidosis and lupus. God yes. You could build a dinking game around the use of those two diagnoses. But let’s not oversimplify. Disease is the tip of the show’s iceberg.
I am now a 56 year old White Male and in December of 2008 i became very ill with a chronic cough and it took 3 months, 4 er visits, 11 days in the critical care unit and a lung biopsy, before i was diagnosed with pulmonary Sarcoidosis, I have been on and off Prednisone for 8 years now and i can tell you it is a drug with a double edge sword. It makes you feel better and at the same time it is destroying many parts of your body, I have been ill everyday for 8 years and counting and i do not see treasure at the end of the rainbow, so it is disappointing to ser the tv show make light of this serious disease!
What TV show are you watching, I just binge watched 7 seasons of House on Netflix, they SUGGEST lupus and sarcoidosis very often, and it’s more often ruled out than it is the final diagnosis, in fact it’s very rarely the diagnosis.
I found in watching the show that he actually wasnt Racist, Sexist or otherwise. He played on peoples assumptions that such things were the case with an almost sociopathic outlook, the point being that he didnt care in the slightest about the people around him and would say whatever he needed to to gain the results he desired.
He was an unpleasant person doing good for his own self interest, but never was there an ounce of hatred toward anyone for any reason other than them getting in his way.
House is an anti-hero, he has a deep backstory, and life isn’t perfect. I have had multiple doctors treat me so much worse than “House”. People read into things way too much…ffs. The show was masterfully crafted and the writing has been used to cure real-life cases. I am a former drug addict (ironically to pain meds), and I have an emotional connection with Hugh Laurie’s character. This show is my all-time favorite, and I’m not trying to be a “fanboy”, but using terms like “super crip” is just disgusting. Fail no-point to article is fail.
Oh, and BTW….I will recite one of the show’s MAIN lines…”IT’S NEVER LUPUS”.
KK THX BYE,
JP
I have never gotten the impression that they are making fun of Sarcoidosis and or Lupus. They are happy because they have done their job and got the diagnosis right. Life is never fair, and of course we all hate to see our loved ones go through something like that, but we are happy it was diagnosed correctly and they have a treatment plan and a chance to LIVE. If you can watch the episode “Help Me” and not cry, you have no heart IMO. The show was amazing, and as far as the pointing to Lupus/Sarcoidosis, “House” takes on EXOTIC cases! He is almost always right, but he also has to go through multiple wrong diagnosis to get the right one. Obviously, they couldn’t script it where he always got it right on the first try. This is just my opinion, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m trying to be an @ss, I’m just saying that the show never made light of those conditions, and if I remember correctly, there were less than a HANDFUL of times it was actually Lupus or Sarcoidosis at the show’s end. My heart goes out to the great people that have to suffer through diseases such as these, and I wish you a Merry christmas, and am glad you are here with us for another year! The drugs for those diseases are not pleasant, I know from family experience. But you are still here with us, and I am thankful you got your diagnosis correct.
Happy Holidays,
JP