A day in the life of the Chicago Med Emergency Room most recently was the sight of several patients who had no intention of being treated. It was interesting to see so many different stories of diagnoses which could require treatment, though immediate action could do more harm than good. Letting the patient decide what is best for their own body is a slippery slope for doctors, yet sometimes it’s a necessary consideration if the outcome could be a better choice for the patient overall.
Now that Dr. Rhodes is aware of Dr. Latham’s Asperger’s diagnosis, he knows how to better approach him on certain things, like breaking routine and operating on a patient out of town. Yet the two find ways to help each other through the trip. In fact it is Latham who aides Rhodes when a situation in the OR becomes confusing. Rhodes returns the favor by intervening when Latham becomes the victim of a swindler at the bar. The two might become true friends yet.
Dr. Manning is appalled when she finds out the father of one of her patients has been withholding his son’s medication because he let his son make the decision. Manning thinks the kid isn’t old enough to comprehend the decision he’s making, but after four failed chemotherapy treatments, he understands completely. Because Manning hesitates, April’s growing mama bear instinct kicks in, and she is the one to push for DCFS to intervene. As it turns out, withholding treatment actually helped the child’s health, so it was actually worth it.
It seems like everyone’s refusing treatment today. Dr. Halstead and Dr. Charles evaluate the crazy cat lady who has let her health deteriorate despite the fact that she was once a successful architect. It is the junior Dr. Charles who figures out the cats are the problem, as they caused her Toxoplasmosis. However, there is some confusion about if that was the case, or if the Toxoplasmosis caused her to love cats, in which case the woman can’t trust her own desires. It’s confusing, so she’d just rather avoid treatment and not find out.
Reese is confused when Dr. Charles doesn’t want to put a firm diagnosis on a woman whose personality is so fractured she claims her alter crashed her car. The more they dig into this woman’s alter, the more upset her husband gets, and the more Reese is convinced the woman needs to be put on anti-psychotics. Charles isn’t so sure the woman needs to be slapped with a diagnosis and medication after he witnesses the alter help the patient. Reese may not fully understand how psychiatry is more of a vague science, but she can at least understand when empathy from that perspective does more good for the patient.
The idea of refusing treatment in various situations is a fascinating one. Did Chicago Med do it justice?
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