House, M.D.

Cursed - S1-E13

Character mistake: In this episode we learn that Chase is 26 years old. His parents were divorced when he was 15, and this was stated as being 15 years ago, which would make him 30, not 26.

Safe - S2-E16

Character mistake: When discussing plasmapheresis, Foreman incorrectly classifies white cells as the heaviest (most dense). The correct order is red cells white cells, platelets, plasma. (00:25:06)

Carrot or Stick - S7-E10

Character mistake: The girl who admits to changing Chase's profile says that what she is doing is negative reinforcement when it is actually positive punishment. Negative reinforcement involves taking something away (eg a noise) to encourage the behaviour whereas positive punishment involves adding something (the pictures) to discourage future behaviour.

kristenlouise3

Forever - S2-E22

Character mistake: House says to Chase "I've got a dead baby for you to biopsy." A biopsy is a test performed on tissue from a living patient. He should have said 'autopsy' - the procedure performed on a dead person to determine how they died. House, as a doctor, would know this distinction. (00:32:45)

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)

swordfish

All In - S2-E17

Character mistake: Dates on a former patient's file indicate a birthdate of 04/24/24 and an admission date of 02/04/94 (an attained age of 69 yrs 9 months 11 days); House subsequently refers to that patient as a "73-year-old woman." (00:06:19 - 00:08:37)

Transplant - S8-E2

Character mistake: While talking to a patient awaiting a lung Transplant, Wilson comments that there is no urine in the catheter bag "despite taking in 200 cc of fluids." I suspect that Wilson meant to say 'despite taking in 2000 cc of fluids' as it would take more than 7 fluid ounces of intake (without noticeable output) before a doctor would begin to worry about decreasing kidney function. A minimum urine output of 30cc/hr is expected for a 70 kg human at a maintenance IV rate of 25-30 ml/kg/day (~73-88 cc/hr). (00:16:01)

Epic Fail - S6-E2

Character mistake: When reviewing the results of the mercury testing on a patient, Dr. Taub says "Test results - Surprise, Surprise, Marcus Webly was wrong". The character to which Taub referred was actually Marcus Welby of 1969-1976 TV fame. (00:08:14)

Fools for Love - S3-E5

Character mistake: After the differential, House instructs his team to start the patient on "Fluoroquinolone." A fluoroquinolone is a type of drug, not a drug itself. (00:04:58)

Maternity - S1-E4

Factual error: House's team listed the potential offending organisms of the infection as "MRSA, H. Flu, VRE, and pseudomonas." House then suggests Vancomycin and Aztreonam. Vancomycin only covers gram (+) organisms and Aztreonam only covers gram (-) organisms. VRE is a gram (+) organism, thus it would not be covered by Aztreonam. VRE stands for vancomycin resistant enterococcus, thus it would not be covered by Vancomycin either. House's team therefore failed to cover for an offending organism that could have caused the infection during their initial differential. (00:09:10)

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Humpty Dumpty - S2-E3

Dr. Foreman: You really want to screw Whitey? Be one of the few black men to live long enough to collect social security. Take the medicine.

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Trivia: Hugh Laurie auditioned for the role as Dr. Gregory House in his hotel room bathroom in Namibia. He was rehearsing his role for the film The Flight of the Phoenix and claimed that the bathroom was the only place with enough light. He also apologized for his appearance on tape before the audition as he'd just come back from filming. The fact that House has a somewhat scruffy and unkempt look, particularly his constant five o'clock shadow, has been attributed by creator David Shore to Laurie's appearance in this audition tape.

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Answer: If he were caught, he would still be forced to serve the jail sentence he was given. In addition, he may be charged with various kinds of fraud: insurance fraud if someone collects on a life insurance policy, identity fraud if he gets fake documents, tax fraud, etc.

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