The skin deep
House goes to the patient and explains that "he has cancer on his left testicle". They do an MRI and find the cancer in her groin. House shows Cameron the patient's medical history, which reveals that she has never menstruated, had little pubic hair, and has undersized ovaries. The twitching returns, showing the patient is actually ill. She slept with her father because she knew doing so would allow her to do as she pleases. Cameron confronts the patient, who admits that she regularly sleeps with men who can further her career. The social worker visits the patient and dismisses the abuse allegations because both father and daughter deny it. They try a placebo to see if the twitching returns. The only explanation is that the patient is responding unconsciously to the anti-twitching medication. Despite that, the team agrees with House. House is unconvinced by the test results because the other symptoms fit. When the team examines the patient, they can't find any tumors. Cuddy agrees to give him the shot after he shows his atrophied thigh muscle. He doesn't want his team to know he is suffering, and Wilson thinks it's psychological. Meanwhile, House asks Cuddy for a shot of morphine. The tumor's location, however, remains a mystery. To verify, they treat her with immunoglobulin, which immediately stops the twitching, confirming the cancer. House comes up with a new diagnosis: paraneoplastic syndrome from cancer. Meanwhile, House is resigned to Cameron's disclosure to Cuddy, and the brain biopsy was normal. In response, House strikes Wilson's leg with his cane and asks him if he misses Stacy, too. Wilson diagnoses that House's worsening leg pain is psychological because he misses Stacy. The team discusses the ethics of the disclosure and Chase points out that, without the promise of confidentiality, the father would never have admitted to the abuse.
Cuddy goes to House in the MRI to tell him to cooperate with the abuse investigation. Wilson takes the opportunity to play God with the microphone and House plays along. Meanwhile, Wilson does an MRI of House's leg to see if there is a problem. She agrees to the procedure and they drill a burr hole into her skull to extract a brain sample.Ĭameron goes to Cuddy about the abuse. Foreman goes to the patient and disregards the wish of the father to keep the risks of the procedure hidden from her.
When Cameron presses the matter, House tears into her, noting he needs to keep the father around in the event he needs more information about his very sick patient. House claims doctor/patient confidentiality, but Cameron says that it doesn't apply in abuse cases. The revelation of the sexual abuse leads Cameron to want to report it to social services. However, the team finds elevated proteins in her cerebro-spinal fluid, which indicates that it's not a stress disorder. House confronts the father and, on the pretext of being bound by doctor/patient confidentiality, gets him to admit that he had sex with his daughter once. Meanwhile, the team does an MRI of the patient, but the patient keeps twitching, although she denies that she is. Foreman accuses House of rushing everything because of his pain. He diagnoses her with post-traumatic stress disorder, as the result of sexual abuse from her father. However, House holds his breath for 30 seconds, proving that brain damage couldn't have occurred within a 30 second time frame. The patient comes out of the coma, but shows signs of short term memory loss, which might be the result of brain damage from her cardiac arrest. They explain to the father that if they bring her out of the coma before the detox is over, she will be in extreme pain. She later goes into cardiac arrest, but they revive her. They put the patient into an induced coma. They explain the risks to her father, who agrees to the procedure. They decide on a rapid detox procedure because they feel the drugs are masking another disease and they don't have time to wait four weeks to find out. House keeps going on about the patient's looks. The tox screen shows she has been taking heroin and the team thinks she's addicted. He orders blood and urine tests for a tox screen.Ĭameron confronts House about his attraction to the girl. The father admits to the Valium, but House doesn't think that's the whole story.
House tells the patient she exhibited cataplexy, which he feels is drug-related. She describes being conscious, but unable to move or talk. He goes to meet the patient, who can't remember why she got angry. House is suffering more leg pain than usual, but is more than happy to take on the case of the "teenage supermodel". After walking out, she gets into a violent confrontation with another model, then collapses on the runway. A pretty 15-year-old model is given Valium by her father before taking the stage at a big fashion show.