AGAIN: people who are actually IN pain [as is Dr. House] do not get "high" off of pain killers/narcotic pain medications, as it simply [and SOLELY!] works to reduce/minimize their pain, and does not - in fact - produce a "euphoric" effect, as it might for someone who is NOT actually in pain, but simply taking it just TO get high....Therefore, it is probably NOT likely that House:

"won't be allowed, as House, to get off Vicodin until someone dies because he was just a bit too high."
as surmised by DeAnn on 1/17/07 [above]

due to the fact that he doesn't take it to get high, and it probably doesn't even have that effect on him at all - actually, a more likely scenario is that: they (Cuddy, Wilson, someone...) will somehow convince and/or force House to stop taking his Vicodin, and he will then be SO distracted by the excruciating pain he is experiencing, that he WILL end up killing a patient...Thus, a tragedy will probably occur not because House IS taking Vicodin, but as a result of his NOT being able to take it...!!

I agree that they wrapped up the Tritter arc way too easily, and I also agree that it would have been fairly difficult for that orderly to procure Vicodin for House regularly and not lose his job. There are a lot of things in the show that are over the top, done for dramatic purposes and illogical, but I think most people put up with them because the show is so well written and the characters so well enacted by the cast. Hugh Laurie (congrats to him on his Golden Globe) is amazing, and I would bet that, as one person said, he won't be allowed, as House, to get off Vicodin until someone dies because he was just a bit too high. And how come nobody is commenting on the engagement of the actors who play Cameron and Chase? I bet their romance has been interesting behind the scenes at the show! And I am still hoping that Cuddy and House end up trying to swap some bodily fluids, only to be interupted by Wilson!

We have not seen the last of Tritter. To simply end the arc the way it ended is completely illogical for this, one of the best written shows on TV. I believe Tritter will be back; moreover I believe there will be consequences for his actions. At least, I'm HOPING there are consequences for his actions, which clearly were not out of a sense of duty, but personal. Tritter crossed the line, and what goes around, comes around.

I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR THIS LONG-WINDED WRITING - It's just that I get soooo aggravated every time they refer to House as - or imlply that he is - an addict...Also, it's personal to me, so that is probably why it gets on my last nerve so easily...

Although I absolutely LOVE this show, I too am bothered somewhat by the non-realistic incidents that occur on the show; however, most of these far-fetched plots are not annoying enough to make me stop watching the show...EXCEPT, maybe, the portrayal of Dr. House as a strung-out, junkie, Vicodin addict just beause he takes it for pain relief.

First of all, House is surrounded by other doctors, who purportedly know the difference between drug DEPENDENCS and drug ADDICTION (see below - definition from website, link at end); clearly, they do not...:

[starting below is quote from website]
Differentiating dependence from addiction is important.

People receiving maintenance opioid therapy for extended periods of time may require increased doses to alleviate their pain. They may develop tolerance to the drug and experience withdrawal symptoms if the medication is abruptly stopped (this is dependence).

Addiction is elevated narcotic abuse that becomes compulsive and self-destructive, especially concerning an opioid user's need to obtain the drug for non -pain-relief purposes.
[end of quote - and the link to it is directly below]
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/narcotic_abuse/article_em.htm
[now, my words again]
Secondly, if they DID understand this [very important]distinction, they would realize that House is actually NOT an addict; yes, he is physically dependent on his pain meds (Vicodin) - but to relieve his PAIN...!! That, however, is simply an unfortunate result of being on a medication that your body can become quickly dependent on - BUT, that in no way determines whether he is in fact addicted to the medication. Addiction is determined by factors such as: [1] psychological addiction (i.e whether the person psychologically craves the drug due to the euphoria, or high, that it produces), [2] whether the person is taking the drug solely for this euphoric effect, and [3] if the patient requires increasing amounts and/or strengths of the drug to attain the "high," which, in turn, usually leads to taking increasingly stronger types of meds (e.g. going from Vicodin to Percocet to OxyContin, etc.)...Furthermore, addiction has a myriad of anti-social components, which include activities such as: doctor shopping (going to several different doctors for pills - with each doctor being unaware of what each others is prescribing to the patient), as well as faking pain/ailments in order to procure the pills, stealing in order to get the drugs, as well as lying to - and stealing from - family members (lying about the fact that they are taking the meds/drugs, and stealing money - and/or items they can sell quickly to make money - to buy them) AND then buying the drugs "on the street" from drug dealers, as opposed to receiving legitimate prescriptions from a doctor...

Thus, based on the above-mentioned [partial] criteria for addiction, it is clear that House is not actually an addict - he is simply dependent on his meds for pain management...He does not lie about the fact that he takes them (in fact, he flaunts it!), he receives legit Rx's from real doctors, and for a real condition that actually causes [him] a great deal of pain...Also, he has not escalated to stronger medications, is functioning just fine in his everyday life (not missing work, is paying his bills, etc.), and doesn't seem to be exhibiting ANY of the other signs normally associated with drug addiction (i.e. there are seemingly no changes in personality, etc. according to those who know him - and knew him before he started taking narcotic pain medications). They have never shown House taking his meds for ANY other reason than the fact that he is in horrible PAIN...Even when he was supposed to be in the throes of a horrible withdrawal, he wasn't miserable due to the horrific symptoms of the withdrawal, he was actually going out of his mind because he was in so much PAIN, i.e.: when Cameron came to his house, she saw that he had cut his arm [on purpose] and was bleeding pretty badly - now, if he were an addict, he would have done this solely for the purpose of going to an ER to get pain meds from them [for to the cut] (and to relieve the effects of withdrawal)...However, House had actually done it b/c [he explained]: the body reacts to pain by dealing with the most acute type/kind that it is experiencing at any given time - thus, he cut himself in order to distract his brain from the excruciating [leg] pain he was in due to being off of his pain meds...!!!

So, if they wanted

To whomever made the comment about 1 treatment of ES... it was 5 total.

I'm not happy with it either... and all I can say is, doing it for his well-being or not I would have run Wilson over with the buss he threw me under.

I can't wait to see exactly HOW House gets under his skin now.

I find it oddly hilarious that, as Dave H mentioned, the diagnosis "Scrubs" used in last week's episode to poke fun at "House" (Broken Heart Syndrome) was the same diagnosis on "House" this week. At first I thought it might not have been a coincidence, but since "Scrubs" started filming at the same time as other series but didn't begin airing until November, they probably filmed their "My House" episode long before this "House" ep was filmed.

They're still both my 2 favourite shows on TV.

I wasn't entirely happy with the way this arc wound up, either. It seemed too pat. I also wasn't crazy about the similarity between this arc and the Vogler arc from Season One--which I also felt had an unsatisfactory ending.

In a lot of ways, I think House is a series that doesn't really do that well with multi-episode arcs. I'll withhold judgment on that, though, until I've watched all of Season Two.

I'm not from the U.S. - and I am curious to know whether it is true as presented that House could have got 10 years for trying to procure a prescription illegally - that seems an awfully long time and pretty pointless to me.

Regarding the ECT - I think the treatment is more common than presented - though for seriously depressed patients, that cannot be treated otherwise - it seemed quite unrealistic in this case.

I like the way House acts just like an addict - no easy solutions. And I don't think we've seen the end of Tritter.

He couldn't have been taking Vicodin the whole time. He was detoxing rather prominently throughout the episode. I don't think even House would make himself throw up constantly in order to convince people he doesn't really care about (only what the judge and Tritter believed mattered). But according to the "twist" at the end, that's what happened. Garhh. Damn logical fallacies. And yet I keep watching.

Dependance, (addiction) to all sorts of Meds, including implanted morphine dispensors, and stronger, is not uncommon. Getting MD's to pay attention, take you seriously, and risk censure if it is deemed inappropiate (still unlikely), IS a problem. Playing House's addiction as good vs evil, and having schock treatments erase your memory, and dwarfs, that aren't, well that's just Hawkeye gone bad.