diagnostic realism
4.0/5
House
Season 1 Episode 11
Detox
A useful draft can be prepared for House's "Detox" because the official FOX recap supports the central medical mystery and the Vicodin-withdrawal subplot. The page should remain in review: the final toxicology explanation and House's withdrawal arc have trusted medical context, but transcript-level verification, route checks, and curated topic targets are still missing.
Air date: Feb 15, 2005
overall
4.0/5
procedure realism
4.0/5
workflow realism
4.0/5
Medical Cases in This Episode
These are the patient stories worth unpacking. Open any case for the real-world medicine, what the episode shows, what it leaves out, and source-backed context.
2 cases identified
Case 1
Keith's internal bleeding and acute naphthalene toxicity
A teenage patient develops coughing blood, prolonged internal bleeding, eye clotting, and liver failure; the episode ultimately attributes the illness to acute naphthalene toxicity connected with termites in his bedroom.
- Episode shows
- A teenage patient develops coughing blood, prolonged internal bleeding, eye clotting, and liver failure; the episode ultimately attributes the illness to acute naphthalene toxicity connected with termites in his bedroom.
- Clinical takeaway
- This case links the episode's medical beat to keiths-internal-bleeding-and-acute-naphthalene-toxicity.
Case 2
House's week without Vicodin
The episode depicts House attempting one week without Vicodin and experiencing withdrawal-like symptoms while continuing to direct the case.
- Episode shows
- The episode depicts House attempting one week without Vicodin and experiencing withdrawal-like symptoms while continuing to direct the case.
- Clinical takeaway
- This case links the episode's medical beat to keiths-internal-bleeding-and-acute-naphthalene-toxicity.
Episode Summary
In "Detox," House investigates Keith, a teenage patient whose coughing blood and internal bleeding begin before a car crash and continue afterward. The team works through several possible explanations while Keith worsens in the hospital. Away from the case, Cuddy challenges House to stop taking Vicodin for a week, turning the episode title into a double thread: the patient's poisoning mystery and House's own attempt to function without narcotic pain medication.