Deception (House)

"Deception" is the ninth episode of the second season of House, which premiered on Fox on December 13, 2005. After House is replaced temporarily by Foreman as department head, problems arise as House tries to make life miserable for him.

Plot

While House is at off-track betting a woman named Anica (Cynthia Nixon) who is standing next to him has a seizure. She also shows severe busing on her stomach and House tells the bystanders to call the paramedics and to take her to Princeton-Plainsboro. Meanwhile Foreman is temporarily the head of the diagnostics department which irritates House. He complains to Cuddy, but she reinforces Foreman's power. She tells Foreman that if someone makes a mistake, it's his problem, and that he will not be able to blame it on House. The team tries to diagnose the anemic woman, after she has the seizure. Foreman thinks she has DIC due to the alcohol in her system, and House thinks that she has Cushing's syndrome. Cameron thinks that Anica is injecting herself with adrenocorticotropic hormone, which causes Cushing's, because she has Münchausen syndrome. Cameron finds two notes at Anica's apartment for doctors' appointments. Cameron claims that multiple appointments with multiple doctors is a sure sign of Münchausen's. House still does not believe Cameron. In order to prove herself right she puts antibiotics on a desk in front of Anica with a warning label that says dangerous. Foreman then gets a call that Anica's urine has turned orange, which confirms the Munchausen's diagnosis because it means Anica took the antibiotic Cameron had baited her with, despite the warnings.

The team is convinced that she has Münchausen's and want to discharge her. House suggests Münchausen's and aplastic anemia, but Foreman will not allow him to do any more tests. Before Anica leaves the hospital, he tells her that she has aplastic anemia. House tells her that he needs to inject her with a drug, Colchicine, that will make her seem sick in order to confirm his diagnosis. House injects her with her consent and then walks back inside. Anica collapses and begins convulsing. She is sent back to the hospital the next day and begins irradiation treatment.

Meanwhile House sits in Anica's room and notices a strange odor. After sniffing Anica's pillow and bra, he realizes that she has an infection and stops the treatment. There was no fever because the Cushing's suppressed her immune system. Cameron's dosing her with antibiotics to prove her theory also suppressed symptoms that would've shown it earlier. House stops the irradiation, leads the team into the nuclear room and nicks Anica's torso, which gives the blade a fruity smell. The bruises that Cushing's gave her made a home for bacteria (Clostridium perfringens). She's treated for her infection and accepts out-patient treatment for her Münchausen's because her talk with House helped her come to terms with it, but it looks like she may have relapsed later. Cuddy offers Foreman the job of being head of diagnostics permanently but when he decides to take the offer she refuses because House's actions convinced her that keeping House in the job is the best thing to do, angering Foreman.

The episode ends with dual scenes of Anica getting admitted to another hospital due to a low white cell count – the side-effect of Colchicine – while House was simultaneously placing bets on races at OTB.

Reception

The episode received 14.52 million viewers.^[1]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Deception

• "Deception" at Fox.com
• "Deception" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Deception" at TV.com