TB or Not TB
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| House episode | |
| "TB or Not TB" | |
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| Episode no. | HOU-204 |
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| Airdate | 1 November 2005 |
| Writer(s) | David Foster |
| Director(s) | Peter O'Fallon |
| Guest star(s) | Ron Livingston as Dr. Sebastian Charles |
| All House episodes | |
TB or Not TB is the fourth episode of the second season of House, which premiered on the FOX network on November 1, 2005. The title, "TB or Not TB", is an allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet soliloquy, which starts with "to be or not to be".
[edit] Plot
Sebastian Charles is a famous doctor who works in Africa. During a presentation to persuade companies to provide more medicine to the poor, he collapses and is taken to the hospital. Charles and Cuddy thinks he has tuberculosis, but House quickly disagrees.
In Charles’s room, Charles refuses to take the pills for his resistant strain of TB, hoping to bring publicity to his story and the problem with big pharmaceutical companies. House is furious at the news.
Charles later speaks to the press from his bed as House and Wilson watch from another room. House notices that Charles is heavily sweating, even though his internal heating and ventilation should not be working. House marches into the press conference. He notices that Charles is disoriented. His heart fails and Cameron tries to shock him back. House yells into one of the cameras that this isn’t TB. House suggests a very tiny tumor and nesidioblastoma, which is an abnormal growth of the insulin secreting cells in the pancreas. This causes only intermittent secretion of insulin, usually in response to stress.
House and the team take Charles into surgery. They inject calcium into the pancreas, which will cause the beta cells to release insulin. If there are too many beta cells because of a tumor, Charles’ blood sugar will drop quickly. The blood sugar plummets and surgery is scheduled to remove the tumor.
[edit] External links
- FOX.com-House official site
- Television Without Pity-House recaps
- House Episode Guide at epguides.com
- TVGuide's Page: Full list of House Episodes
- House M.D. Guide
- "House M.D." IMDB Profile
- Medical Reviews of House: TB or Not TB
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