TV Dr. "House"

[Maura]

I wonder if anyone saw "House" last week. He's the prickly, sarcastic medical
genius who works with a team of very bright doctors to sort out unusual conditions and ailments in special patients.

Last week he had a runway fashion model, who as it turned out had unusually small ovaries. He announced to the trembling girl and her father, "Your daughter is your son, and he needs his testicles removed!" It was done in such a fashion that I wanted to reach for my shotgun and blow the TV set away. Just wondering if anyone else saw that, and how you feel about the way it was presented.

[Priestess]

I wonder if anyone saw "House" last week. He's the prickly, sarcastic medical
genius who works with a team of very bright doctors to sort out unusual conditions and ailments in special patients.

Last week he had a runway fashion model, who as it turned out had unusually small ovaries. He announced to the trembling girl and her father, "Your daughter is your son, and he needs his testicles removed!" It was done in such a fashion that I wanted to reach for my shotgun and blow the TV set away. Just wondering if anyone else saw that, and how you feel about the way it was presented.

My reaction was that seeing it left me feeling a bit sadder and more weary of all our struggles. With too much suffering, somehow very little shocks me anymore.

[Dana Gold]

He's the prickly, sarcastic medical

I've seen "House" before and having worked in the medical profession (late 60s and mid 70s) as a nurse (USA) and physician's assistant (Germany), I have a very low opinion of the character portrayed: an addicted neurotic and "loose cannon" who, if were in the series as a Charge Nurse, would prohibit him from coming near my ward after I report him to the Medical Board and AMA as completely incompetent and a danger to his own patients. He has the tact and humanity of a stumbling drunk and should have his medical license revoked....the character is a disgrace and the show makes me sick.

Dana

[Priestess]

I've seen "House" before and having worked in the medical profession as a nurse (USA) and physician's assistant (Germany), I have a very low opinion of the character portrayed: an addicted neurotic and "loose cannon" who, if were in the series as a Charge Nurse, would prohibit him from coming near my ward after I report him to the Medical Board and AMA as completely incompetent and a danger to his own patients. He has the tact and humanity of a passed out drunk and should have his medical license revoked....the character/show makes me sick.

Dana

All the doctors I've seen to date have been no better for their patient. Perhaps not addicted, though I did have one who was, except they didn't think so. What's the medical board going to do? Those consist of doctors who are at least as bad.

[Dana Gold]

Don't speak, I know what you're thinking

Noone can ever claim to know what I am thinking (or feeling)...

[Priestess]

Noone can ever claim to know what I am thinking (or feeling)...

Sounds better when Gwen Stefani says it?
http://www.nodoubt.com/lyrics/DontSpk.html

[Dana Gold]

I apologize, I over-reacted; I've had my share of "bad doctors", ones who outright rejected me....ones that left both physical (minor, but resulting in "no sensation") and psychological scars from childhood to this very day. I am very critical of many aspects of the medical (and psychiatric) community.....and have reflected that in past posts.... however, I have met (and known of) of some "good ones".....am I totally satisfied?....no; but at least they (now) care for my health, and I am grateful for that......it took me months to find the ones I have now (2) after having gone through several #*%$#@<hidden>* s before that.

[Priestess]

I apologize, I over-reacted; I've had my share of "bad doctors", ones who outright rejected me....ones that left both physical (minor, but resulting in "no sensation") and psychological scars from childhood to this very day. I am very critical of many aspects of the medical (and psychiatric) community.....and have reflected that in past posts.... however, I have met (and known of) of some "good ones".....am I totally satisfied?....no; but at least they (now) care for my health, and I am grateful for that......it took me months to find the ones I have now (2) after having gone through several #*%$#@<hidden>* s before that.

Oh, that's okay Dana. I wasn't offended any worse than living generally hurts, and who could stay upset with a good soul like yourself? :grouphug0
I changed my sig slightly so that no one else gets a bad impression.

[Dana Gold]

good soul like yourself

Thank you, I appreciate that. The "Dr." House (Louse?) thing just upset me...the crass bastard. :angry_smi .....reminds me somewhat of one asshole gastro-enterologist I had to deal with (me as the patient) 3 years ago.....not to mention one Schwein internal medicine doc before that

:umno:

[zenditz]

And I'm glad,

I usually love House, despite the fact I feel Dr. House totally sucks it's the others Dr's that make up for it, especially Dr. Cuddy... did anyone of the other characters in the show clarify the situation? Was intersexed, or even what kind she had explained? Was her situation similar to mine, ovarian tumors? I'm glad I didn't see that part of the show, but I hope that more than just that one remark was made in regards to her being intersexed, especially through other characters... if not, well that's one more show that lost my viewership, and a network that's getting several of my letters.

After reading the transcript from the show it sounds like she had CAIS, but that it wasn't touched on at all, let alone explained... so there goes that show. Not to surprising though, something similar to a lot of reactions I've had through my live with Doctors', I just wish they could have been a lil more in depth about IS, and CAIS, and even more sensitive... like they did on the recent Grey's Anatomy. Sadly I have to admit, though I didn't like Dr. House's character, I did like the show.

If someone could explain whether anything else was done to explain IS issues by others on the show... if not, I guess I'll just be reading more... to bad, they have been a lot of shows in the last few years that have lost my respect, and viewership because of IS issues. Law & Order: SVU to name one. I'm getting nauseous just writing this. They had a chance to make a change, or at least have other Doctors clarify IS issues. Of course that would have been totally unlike Dr. House's character, but I'll be saddened to hear that no other efforts were made to inform the viewers in a less painful... and well just bullshit manner.

Why are so few Doctors worth the title?

*Sign.... cry*,
Katie

[prince....ss?]

People!!!

It’s a TV Show, I assume a bad one at that, my dogs watch more television than I do and they have indicated to me that they would prefer not to watch that show"House". I have large dogs with big paws so they have realized that changing the channel themselves is most difficult using the remote control, the buttons are too small for the big feet to operate effectivly. Now keep in mind my dogs do watch the 700 Club religiously every morning and Jerry Springer in the afternoon, so that will attest to their tolerance and taste in TV shows. So if my dogs won’t watch "House" then why should I.

This is a MFP but it relates to Television. I hate running across people that the only topic of conversation is about some TV show and base their lives on the “Gospel of the Tube”. After all if Opra said it, it must be true. I also love it when it becomes a part of their reality.

I say go out and live life, leave the TV for the dogs.

[zenditz]

This is a MFP but it relates to Television. I hate running across people that the only topic of conversation is about some TV show and base their lives on the “Gospel of the Tube”. After all if Opra said it, it must be true. I also love it when it becomes a part of their reality.

Ditto,

Just like you said, that's the reason we all feel so passionately about this... it's not that we're that way, but to many people are... and what that and other shows say, do, and portray impacts peoples lives... yours or not, it does impact others opinions and thoughts, whether any of us like it or not... so lies and hate, even on a bad T.V. show, still hurts us, whether we like it or not... whether we even want to admit it or not.

Take care,
Katie

[Dana Gold]

Yes, prince....ss; ultimately you are right about the shows on local channel TV (and some cable); many are inane and insulting. For some reason, though, they have become popular as the content level of ignorance increases and dignity of life decreases. The general public seems to gluttonize itself on human cruelty, misery and stupidity and then, as discussed here, on sensationalistic and demeaning depictions of "non-normal" people , which are inaccurate to say the least and a travesty morever. What I am seeing and experiencing with this thread is the "triggers" that these shows incite within the psyche and hence bring back memories of torment and pain at the hands of those who have "normalized" and cursed/ridiculed us. Therefore I rarely watch TV anymore; except for PBS, which has some relative intelligence and humanity in its program content.......at least there, for the most part, they don't show anti-social sots as heroes ....and gutter programs like Jerry Springer etc as "entertainment"

:roll:

[Maura]

And I'm glad,

I usually love House, despite the fact I feel Dr. House totally sucks it's the others Dr's that make up for it, especially Dr. Cuddy... did anyone of the other characters in the show clarify the situation? Was intersexed, or even what kind she had explained?
After reading the transcript from the show it sounds like she had CAIS, but that it wasn't touched on at all, let alone explained... so there goes that show. Not to surprising though, something similar to a lot of reactions I've had through my live with Doctors', I just wish they could have been a lil more in depth about IS, and CAIS, and even more sensitive Katie

I believe that she was a typical example of CAIS, but there was no mention of her condition at all, unfortunately Hollywood is into nothing but sensationalism, hype and all manner of wierdness for the sake of increasing viewer ratings.

[Peter]

April Herndon has a thoughtful blog about the "House" episode over at the ISNA website:

http://www.isna.org/node/1008


Peter

[Dana Gold]

Thank you, Peter, for posting the ISNA article which describes how House treated this woman in such a dehumanizing and arrogant manner....I didn't see it..and my opinion of this POS "doctor" is now even lower than low....how much harm this episode has done to the general public's understanding of AIS in particular and humann anatomic sex ambiguity in general is unfathominable...and the series portrayal of House as a genius is unforgiveable.

When House enters the hospital room to tell the young supermodel and her father what the team has found, he immediately questions the young woman’s sex identity, calling her “him” and announcing that he will schedule “him” for surgery. In what appeared to be an incredibly bungled and inaccurate explanation of AIS, House tells the young woman and her father that she is really a man because her DNA says so. He refers to the young woman as a male pseudohermaphrodite and callously comments that the ultimate woman (the supermodel type) is really a man. When the young woman becomes upset and protests, crying out that she is a woman and ripping her hospital gown off to show her body to the doctor as proof, House quips that he’s going to “cut her balls off” and then she’ll be fine. In a final offensive twist, House tells the father that he supposes knowing his daughter is really a man will keep him from sexually abusing his daughter again because doing so would now be “gross” and would mean the father was a “homo.”

It is not surprising that FOX , a well-known conservative/moral TV Network would allow such debasement in the guise of "medical expertise"...these people probably agree with House's assessment of a woman with AIS as a "he"...DR. Paul McHugh (another right-wing conservative) of the President's Council on Bio-Ethics certainly does:

http://www.bodieslikeours.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1012

Anyway, enough.......:sarcastic

:umno:

[zenditz]

Let's let Fox know how we feel,

I personally I liked House (the show), although his character is an @<hidden>$$, I actually like the show, and would not have been offended by Dr. House's actions had the shows writers, producers, and medical advisers spent sometime adding some discussion between the other Doctors, and with her (patient), and her father. Now I'm no longer a fan of the show, I almost feel to sick about it to even enjoy Fox in general... mostly because of "triggers" that the show brought up. But nothing was done. It was just House going off and alienating a large group of people... whether fox knows it or not.

That's what bothered me. Dr. House's actions fit his character perfectly (for those who used to watch the show), but the lack of compassion when discussion her AIS and the complete lack of accuracy when it comes to the statistics they used was just sickening. I like the show because although Dr. House is an ego-maniac, and a jerk, the other Dr's tend to balance things out... and if that were done I would prolly still be a fan of House (the show). But sadly more damage than we can imagine was done to Intersexed people everywhere, especially Fox's viewers who have AIS. So instead of just getting upset (and I am). Let's write Fox... their e-mail address is askfox@<hidden> (mailto:askfox@<hidden>). I doubt we'll here anything near an apology from them, but at least we can make sure they hear from us.

*Sigh*,
Katie

[Meadow]

While I do admit to watching about 10 minutes of "House" a good while back out of curiousity (which was quickly satisfied and thus I have not seen it since!), probably of more concern than the show are the medical references upon which the producers rely. I am speaking of Medline Plus. There is a link from the House site to an area they refer to as "Research" which justifies what they stated on the show.

Please look at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003269.htm

Some quotes:

"Because of the potential social and psychological effects of this condition, the decision to raise the child as male or female should be made early after diagnosis, preferably within the first few days of the infant's life."

"Note: It is often technically easier to treat (and therefore raise) the child as female (it is easier for a surgeon to make female genitalia than it is to make male genitalia), so in some cases this is recommended even if the child is genetically male. However, this is a difficult decision and should be discussed with your family, your doctor, and the surgeon involved."

While this in no way excuses the episode, in looking at the stance of Medline (both rushing a decision and seemingly promoting a surgical "fix"), one can understand how the producers felt justified in the content of the program.

Respectfully, Meadow

[Dana Gold]

Screw that clinical shit; we're talking compassionate care and respect and dignity of the person who happened to be an adult and was treated as some lab specimen by a cretin who has the humanity of a belligerent stumbling drunk....AND she had been sexually abused!!!!...where was the compassion for that!!??....it all sounds like a familar story to me in real life..... ...that's why the hurt is so deep and the anger so raw....


:angry_smi

[Meadow]

Hi Dana!! (Good to hear from you!!)

Well, I certainly agree with your sentiment!! I do not find entertainment in any program where one is merely showing one's ass, and feels justified because they think they are smart. His callous attitude is both reprehensible and repugnant. I felt you had covered that aspect quite nicely earlier in this thread.

All I wanted to do is to illustrate that the problems with the episode possibly run even deeper than just a few persons sitting around dreaming up how to make something shocking. Igrnorant producers are one issue. Information from the National Institute of Health is another.


Meadow

[Dana Gold]

I'm not angry at you, Meadow....just the show and its ....well, leave it at that....zenditz (Katie) has the right idea....write FOX and let them know the episode and House are "not cool"....sexual abuse etc...did the "father" get away with his abuse....with a bit of "wisdom" from Louse?

Sickening

[miriam]

While I do admit to watching about 10 minutes of "House" a good while back out of curiousity (which was quickly satisfied and thus I have not seen it since!), probably of more concern than the show are the medical references upon which the producers rely. I am speaking of Medline Plus. There is a link from the House site to an area they refer to as "Research" which justifies what they stated on the show.

Please look at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003269.htm

That article is about ambiguous genitalia. A girl with CAIS has very unambiguous genitalia. There is nothing to "fix" and in many cases the condition goes unnoticed until puberty. That means that the parents don't have to decide anything.

That said, we should not forget that this dr. House is NOT a real doctor.

Groeten, Miriam

[Meadow]

Hi Miriam,

Thank you for that clarification. Yes, a woman with CAIS would not have ambiguous genitalia. Yet, the link from the House web site (their "research") pointed not to a page on CAIS, but rather to the page that I posted, which was indeed entitled "Ambiguous Genitalia". And with some of the tone on the Ambiguous Genitalia page weighing heavily upon chromosomes as a determination of "gender", that page seemed to give justification for Dr House to refer to the woman in the program with CAIS as "he".

I suspect that most women with CAIS would not appreciate being referred to as "he".

So yes, Miriam, that was a good catch, that their link was not even on the appropriate subject. But none the less, taken by itself, that page seemed to perpetuate the concept that ambiguous genitalia is a social emergency.

Meadow

[Dana Gold]

dr. House is NOT a real doctor.
A girl with CAIS has very unambiguous genitalia
That, perhaps is the main thing to remember; and that AIS (and variants) is a condition not generally and medically associated with other conditions presenting with "ambiguous genitalia". Obviously the producers and other personnel associated with the program and script knew very little about either and the episode was focused on sex, drama, and controversy....the usual fare for today's TV and cinema.....which to some may have been "entertaining" and others distressing. I am assuming most modern day medical personnel would not behave as House; in truth they would be standing before the Medical Board and facing charges of unethical conduct....not to say the least of this House's personal hygiene :sick: and obvious psychological problems:push: ....and his dependency upon narcotics.....doctors who "cover up" for him would be similarly charged....all parties would be suspended from practice respective to their degree of "malpractice".....most patients would be disgusted with House's demeanor and appearance....he would never "make it" in a medical center or clinic of today.

Dana

[zenditz]

Please look at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003269.htm

Some quotes:

"Because of the potential social and psychological effects of this condition, the decision to raise the child as male or female should be made early after diagnosis, preferably within the first few days of the infant's life."

"Note: It is often technically easier to treat (and therefore raise) the child as female (it is easier for a surgeon to make female genitalia than it is to make male genitalia), so in some cases this is recommended even if the child is genetically male. However, this is a difficult decision and should be discussed with your family, your doctor, and the surgeon involved."


That's just so sad,

I can't believe the last part of that link... I mean OMG... I know we're making progress in Intersexed activism, but that writing just shows how much further we have to go.

Thanks for the link,
Katie

[Sophie338]

Hi :)

I had posted the following in another forum and then spotted this one. (Silly me :pat: ) anyway I will repeat it here.

We have just heard about them planning to screen said episode here in the UK on our Channel 5 network. My gut reaction is to write a good steaming bit of libel about the producers of house, Let them get all upset about it and take me to court and then stand up and say something like.


Quote:
"Well as someone with an intersex condition, who was treated like the person you portrayed as a child by the medical profession, and was sexually abused, does that mean children and adults born with these conditions are subject to one rule and you another."


No doubt they would laugh (Having been commissioned by the all powerful Murdoch clan at Fox).

But then when it is as offensive, as the House episode was, you do sort of end up wondering wether the more angry reactions are justified, i think they are.

Either way I wont follow my gut instinct just yet. I will see how it develops, But I do feel similarly to a number of people. that is I am sick and tired of being treated as sub human by people in the media I actually regard similarly.

shalom

Sophie