swordfish

Clueless - S2-E15

Continuity mistake: When the wife is taken away by the police, it's late in the evening: the lights are off in the hallway, and outside the hospital is dark (only illuminated by streetlights, with no natural light). However, when Cameron speaks to House in his office following this, it's bright broad daylight outside his office window. Then, when House drives home, it goes back to being dark. (00:40:32 - 00:41:46)

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Histories - S1-E10

Factual error: The rabies foreman was experiencing is advanced enough that there is complete numbness to the bite area. As such, it would almost certainly have been untreatable in real life - by the time symptoms actually show, cases are almost always fatal.

swordfish

Histories - S1-E10

Factual error: The scene where Wilson gives Foreman his rabies jabs was outdated even by the early 2000s when the episode is set. Rabies shots haven't been administered to the abdomen since the 1980s - particularly not in the First World.

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Euphoria (1) - S2-E20

Factual error: The patient is diagnosed with legionnaire's disease, caught from the AC unit above their desk. The legionella bacteria causing the disease is found in warm water (commonly dehumidifiers, industrial AC cooling towers, hot water tanks) - the key point being that a water source is required. The problem with this is that the AC unit above the patient's desk is a window unit. These sorts of AC units don't use water as a coolant - you can't catch legionnaire's from them.

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Euphoria (2) - S2-E21

Factual error: Naegleriasis is a rare disease, and all the known cases involved people who had submerged their nostrils in contaminated water (commonly while swimming or diving). Foreman's exposure was just that he walked past a mister spraying contaminated water: nowhere near enough exposure to get infected. It's also highly unlikely Foreman would have survived Naegleriasis (which has an extremely high death rate) and without lasting brain damage - particularly given the length of time before diagnosis.

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Euphoria (1) - S2-E20

Continuity mistake: When Baby Shoes fires the gun at Joe, the first camera shot shows he's holding the gun with both hands. However, in the next camera shot he's only holding the gun in one hand. (00:01:55)

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Euphoria (1) - S2-E20

Character mistake: House tells Foreman to search the cop's home, car and workplace. He says that he will focus on the precinct. But the cop's workplace is the precinct.

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Cursed - S1-E13

Character mistake: Cameron suggests the patient is suffering from either "Buerger's disease" or "Berger's disease" (it isn't clear which she means). Foreman rejects this out of hand, since he says the patient has never been out of the USA. However, neither of those two diseases is region-specific. Buerger's disease relates to thrombosis (clotting) of arteries and veins of the hands and feet, and is associated with the use of tobacco. Berger's disease relates to kidney inflammation. Neither is region-specific. (00:33:00)

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Paternity - S1-E2

Continuity mistake: Chase is doing the crossword and asks Foreman what the answer to the clue "iodine deficiency in children" is. The close-up shot of the magazine shows Chase has already written the answer in (cretinism), so why is he asking Foreman the same question? Then, when Foreman gives the (same) correct answer to Chase, he writes it down - only, of course, it's already been written down. (00:02:58)

swordfish

Son of Coma Guy - S3-E7

Factual error: Given Gabriel has been in a coma for a decade, it is astonishing that once he wakes up he has no trouble speaking, and his muscles haven't atrophied at all— in fact, his muscles are remarkably toned.

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Son of Coma Guy - S3-E7

Factual error: It is debatable whether Tritter has enough evidence for a court to grant civil forfeiture against House. However, the evidence absolutely wouldn't warrant (even with a sympathetic court) freezing the bank accounts of four other doctors and seizing Wilson's car. Tritter's evidence is that the doctors have prescribed House Vicodin. There's no evidence of a broader conspiracy to traffic. No court would grant this, and any lawyer (including the hospital's own lawyers) could easily challenge it.

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Merry Little Christmas - S3-E10

Factual error: Wilson rolls House onto his back and leaves him lying on his back. Any doctor (especially one as good as Wilson) would never do that when there is a risk of vomiting (you can see in the background that House has already thrown up). If House were to vomit again while lying comatose on his back, he would risk choking to death on his vomit. (00:41:07)

swordfish

Merry Little Christmas - S3-E10

Factual error: Tritter states he reviewed the pharmacy log and spotted the dead man's meds being collected. Regardless of Tritter's status as a cop, this is a violation of patient-physician confidentiality. No hospital would allow him log access without a court order (which he doesn't have, would take ages to be granted and requires a very high evidential threshold), and even then it is likely this work would be allocated to the DEA rather than local police like Tritter. (00:42:30)

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Words and Deeds - S3-E11

Factual error: Chase and Foreman suggest the evidence of the pharmacy log is inadmissible at court due to patient-doctor confidentiality, but Cameron states House was neither the patient nor the doctor in question, and so confidentiality does not apply. Cameron's point is irrelevant: since the patient (who has died) and doctor in question (Wilson) did not consent to Tritter's reading the log, confidentiality still applies. As such, Tritter did not validly acquire this evidence, and it is indeed inadmissible. (00:04:18)

swordfish

Whac-A-Mole - S3-E8

Factual error: There is no way that Tritter could have Wilson's bank accounts frozen on such shallow evidence. Courts require serious evidence before granting an asset freezing injunction. Given no formal charges have been filed against Wilson, they won't grant an injunction. Asset freezes are to stop someone moving money overseas/spending funds; there's no suggestion Wilson has been paid by House for the meds or might move money offshore. No court in the US will grant an asset freeze on so little evidence.

swordfish

Whac-A-Mole - S3-E8

Factual error: The pharmacist refuses to provide Wilson with the medicines he has prescribed to his patients, since Tritter has had Wilson's DEA number/license suspended. However, DEA licenses/numbers are only in relation to controlled substances. Wilson is an oncologist; the chemotherapy medications he would be prescribing aren't controlled substances, and as such, not having a DEA licence wouldn't prevent him from writing scripts for these (although he couldn't prescribe any strong pain meds). (00:10:38)

swordfish

Euphoria (2) - S2-E21

Factual error: Cameron forces House (against his wishes) to do the biopsy on Foreman because Foreman has made her his medical proxy. This is completely incorrect; Cameron may be Foreman's proxy, but that doesn't mean she can overrule the attending doctor. Having the right of medical proxy allows her to *refuse* a test in Foreman's name (or refuse consent to any number of medical activities on Foreman), but absolutely not to order a test or operation contrary to the attending doctor's views. (00:34:45)

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Fidelity (aka: Truth or Consequences) - S1-E7

Factual error: House rules out Lyme disease from being the cause of the sickness, since he says Lyme disease presents with a rash, which the husband would have noticed. However, although a rash is a common symptom of Lyme disease, it is by no means universal. Estimates suggest that around one-third of people with the disease don't exhibit that symptom. Doctors wouldn't therefore rule out Lyme disease solely in the absence of a rash. (00:10:25)

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