Occam's Razor - Recap

Brandon Merrell is at home and calls in claiming he's sick. He's faking so that he can get off work and spend time in bed with his fiancée. He admits that he does have a cough, and Mindy notices that he has a rash. She starts to kiss him and then moves on to rough sex. However, when they're done, he collapses and she soon realizes that he's unconscious.



Brandon is taken to the hospital and Mindy sits at his bedside, holding his hand. Wilson asks House to take the case, and House wonders why. Wilson doesn't have a good answer, but House agrees anyway because Brandon' BP is non-responsive to IV fluid. In differential, the team is unable to identify anything that accounts for all the symptoms. House tells them to get the blood pressure under control first and orders broad-spectrum antibiotics for spectrums to stabilize him.

Chase and Foreman administer the treatment and check his chest, Mindy realizes that they don't know what he has, and Foreman says that's how they do it: identification first and then treatment.

House arrives late at the clinic and finds Cuddy waiting for him. To avoid clinic duty, he announces that he might be stoned, discouraging the patients. Cuddy assigns him the case of a Lisa Matthews anyway.



Mindy talks to Chase, who notes that discouraging Brandon isn't a good idea. She explains that they were having sex just before he collapsed, and wonders if the rough sex caused it.

Jodi explains that she had goldenrod mucus but it went away. House figures that she's trying to use up her health insurance before her medical coverage runs out when she's fired. When she insists that she doesn't like being told what to do, he orders a full round of tests to help her.

Chase tells Foreman and Cameron about Mindy's theory, and Cameron suggests they take it seriously. Foreman gets the test results and determines that the antibiotics are having an effect: Brandon's lungs are filling with fluid and his kidneys are shutting down.



Back in differential, Foreman suggests that the antibiotics caused the kidney shutdown, and an infection is responsible. The odds are against it, but Foreman insists his theory accounts for all the symptoms. House admits it's a long shot, and notes that it doesn't account for the cough and the rash. He reviews all of their theories and admits that no condition accounts for all the symptoms. However, two conditions might account for all of the symptoms, despite the odds. House orders treatment for hypothyroidism and sinus infection.

As Cameron gives the treatment, Brandon's parents arrive to see their son and he takes the opportunity to tell them that he and Mindy are engaged. Afterward, Cameron tells Foreman and Chase that she didn't tell the parents the full extent of House's theory. Foreman objects to being House's puppets, and goes to the lab to test for viral infections. Chase and Cameron help him, and Foreman gets the idea that Chase wants to have sex with Foreman. Chase denies it, but Foreman isn't convinced.

House waits in a clinic room with a patient and plays video games. Cuddy finally comes in because house has asked her for a consult. She tells House the patient has a sore throat, much to his faked astonishment. Cuddy tells the patient to go home and leaves.

As they run tests, Foreman congratulates Cameron that Chase can't look at her without thinking of sex, and she has control of their relationship. When Cameron objects to being viewed as a sex object, House comes in and notes that she can't expect anything else. He tells them that he figured they'd be in the lab trying to prove his theory wrong, takes some Vicodin, and leaves.



Later, Foreman comes to tell House that the kidney failure wasn't caused by the antibiotics. House lies that he talked to the patient, and Wilson explains that he was in there. House boasts that he's right and Foreman leaves. Once he's gone, Wilson wonders why House is insulting Wilson, and House says that he wants him to work his hardest.

Foreman goes to Brandon's room and confirms that he has his cold. Other than that, he appears to be recovering. Foreman orders some tests but assures them that there's nothing to worry about.

House meets with another patient and pages Cuddy to have her in for a consult. While he waits, Foreman comes in and tells House that the test for hypothyroidism proves negative. House insists that Brandon is getting better so he's right, but Foreman warns that it proves nothing and insists it can't be two illnesses. House bets Foreman that he's right, and tells him to check Brandon's white blood count. If it's too high, it means that he has an infection. Wilson then comes in and explains that Cuddy sent him to handle the consult.

Chase is trying to pour coffee when Cameron is around. She apologizes for being glib about sex being fatal, and explains that she was making a joke.. Cameron then goes on to describe all the effects of sex, rendering Chase speechless, and goes back to casual conversation as Foreman and House come in. Foreman admits that the white cell count is down because Brandon's immune system is failing.



The team gets Brandon into a clean room to prevent further infection. Foreman and Chase explain to Brandon's patients that if he gets a cold, he could die due to his weakened immune system. Foreman takes a marrow sample for a biopsy, and Brandon wonders what happens if they don't get an answer.

House defends his right for a consult and then insists there are other doctors who can handle clinic duty. However, Cuddy insists it will instill compassion in him, but House isn't convinced. She warns him that it's all a game and she'll win, because he's miserable and she has a head start. After Cuddy goes, Wilson wonders if there's something between House and Cuddy, but House insists there's nothing there. In response, Wilson suggests that he kick ass. However, House realizes that the cough is significant because it was the first symptom.

House goes to his office to consider the symptoms and do research late into the night. Finally he tells the team that Brandon has gout. Foreman points out that none of the symptoms fit, and House says that's because Brandon doesn't have gout. However, he explains that gout medicine would cause the symptoms. House figures that when Brandon went to get cough medicine, and got gout medicine by mistake. The only thing it wouldn't have done is cure his cough. Cameron notes that Brandon got better and then worse, so House's theory doesn't fit. House figures that two people screwed up and goes to see the parents. He asks them which one gave Brandon cough medicine, and figures one of them did it just before he got worse. Mrs. Merrell finally admits that she gave him pills, but Brandon took the rest before he went into the clean room.



Chase and Foreman go to the pharmacy with Mindy and the family, but the pharmacist insists that he gave Brandon the right medicine. They double-check and confirm that Brandon got the right pills.

When House gets the news, he's disappointed that his perfect theory wasn't right. He figures the cough medicine aggravated something in his blood, and Wilson suggests lymphoma. He suggests they do an exploratory test to confirm, but House warns that the surgery will kill Brandon in his current condition. However, House has no choice but to agree.

As the team prepares Brandon for the surgery, Brandon complains that his fingers are numb. They insert a catheter into his heart and Brandon flatlines. They manage to shock him back but it's clear they can't risk surgery.

House sees another clinic patient and explains that he sucked up to Cuddy so he could get out an hour early. The patient, confused, decides to leave. However, House notes that it won't come out on his own, and explains that he knows the patient has something in his rectum. The patient admits that he inserted a MP3 player, and House waits until he's out at 3 and then has the nurse bring Cuddy in to deal with it.

As House goes, Cameron tells him about Brandon's crash during the prep and the pain in his fingers. House gets an idea and goes to the clean room. he storms in and explains that cells regenerate every so often. Thus the symptoms of colchicine poisoning vary based on how quick the body parts regrow. Each of Brandon's symptoms match the progression. House figures that Brandon is doing ecstasy, and Brandon admits that he took it twice. Ecstasy is cut with colchicine. House orders the proper treatment of antibodies and Brandon recovers.



House goes to the pharmacy and insists the case isn't solved, and insists that his original theory was right, and Brandon somehow got the colchicine via his medicine.

As Brandon discusses wedding plans with Mindy and his parents, he asks for some cough medicine. He notices that the pills have a letter on them, and his old pills didn't. As they leave, Chase suggests to Cameron that they go out, but she refuses.

House goes through the pills and finally finds the cough medicine pills with the letters... and the ones without. He realizes that he was right.



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