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Insensitive is the fourteenth episode of the third season of House and the sixtieth episode overall.

Plot Overview

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The cold open begins with a teenager girl being taken to the hospital after falling on ice. Her mother seems overly concerned, but the girl insists she's fine. The conversation is interrupted by a car wreck.

Meanwhile, the hospital is short staffed on Valentine's Day and the diagnostics team is helping out in the ER. When Hannah, the girl in the car wreck, is being examined by Dr. Foreman, House notices that she has Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, and orders a battery of tests on her, including for a spinal nerve biopsy. The diagnostics team scoffs at this suggestion, and states that a spinal nerve biopsy could paralyze or seriously harm her.

In addition, the team cannot perform any procedure on Hannah because she will not submit until she has more information on her mother who is in surgery. Eventually, House comes in and verbally spats with the girl until he tricks her into revealing an area where he can sedate her.

Because the team refuses to perform the spinal nerve procedure, House defers for permission to Cuddy. House had discerned that she has a blind Valentine's date, due to her makeup and dress, and meets her at a cafe close to the hospital, embarrassing her in front of her date. Perhaps because of this, Cuddy quickly grants permission.

Hannah develops a fever while House continues to insist on the spinal nerve procedure. Instead of performing the dangerous nerve biopsy, Chase convinces the others to somehow find the problem by inducing pain. Wherever Hannah could feel the pain would be where the problem is located. However, Hannah fakes being in intense pain to remove the restraints and then threatens to jump off a balcony which she does when her legs are paralyzed.

Meanwhile, Wilson then judges that House wants the spinal nerve biopsy in order to grow it and then plant it in his own leg, a procedure which would allow him to walk pain free. House reluctantly decides that the team can biopsy a "safe" nerve rather than the spinal nerve, and goes to Cuddy (at her house) for an endocrinology consult, ostensibly because the endocrinologist on duty was not picking up his phone. Cuddy tells House that he did not need to personally visit her because the endocrinologist on duty is available and that she thinks he visited her to interrupt her date. Cuddy then asks House if he likes her and is jealous. Cuddy's comments seem to fluster House and he leaves her to return to the hospital. Cuddy's date overhears comments she makes about him and leaves, believing that she does not share the same passions as him; his being arts and music, and hers being House.

When House returns to the hospital, after Hannah's condition worsens due to a meeting with her mother, he consults with Wilson on a potential cancer diagnosis. While stealing a bite from Wilson's sandwich he realizes it's a Vitamin B12 deficiency, which the team had already covered, but caused by something else and that the sedatives caused her to become paranoid. He dramatically takes over an OR (with the patient screaming and protesting in mock pain under a delusion caused when they initially tried to sedate her) and with the patient awake, removes the 25-foot tapeworm which had caused the problem.

Near the end of the episode, Foreman's girlfriend realizes that Foreman cannot take commitment and is going to break it off with her. Cameron announces to Chase that she thinks they should have non-committal sex, and House and Wilson go out to breakfast.

Diagnosis

Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, with neurological complications secondary to a Vitamin B12 deficiency caused by a 25-foot long tapeworm.

Medical Terms

CIPA is a rare inherited disorder of the nervous system which prevents the sensation of pain, heat, and cold. A person with CIPA cannot feel pain or differentiate extreme temperatures.
"Anhidrosis" means the body does not sweat, and "congenital" means that the condition is present from birth.

Dr. Wilson refers to a new technique in which nerves can be quickly grown. If the nerve grown was from a CIPA patient, these nerves would theoretically be insensitive to pain, something which could be used in Dr. House's leg.

• Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency
• Tapeworm

Clinic Patients

None

Arc Advancement

Happenings

After House interrupts Cuddy's date, she asks him if he likes her.

Foreman breaks up with his girlfriend because he is not ready for a big commitment.

As Chase and Cameron walk out of the hospital at the end of the episode, they discuss Valentine's Day and what their plans are when Cameron suggests that they should have sex. Chase is puzzled and questions why to which Cameron replies that someday she hopes to find her true love, but in the meantime she will simply have sex with Chase. Chase cluelessly follows.

Characters

Cuddy: House goes to Cuddy's house for an endocrinology consult, making this the first episode to reveal her medical specialty.

House: House shows jealousy of Hannah's pain-free body. Wilson deduces that House is attempting to gain Hannah's spinal nerve for a medical reason, grow it, and plant it in his own leg. House would not feel pain in his leg afterwards.

Foreman: Foreman does not want to be close with anyone and thus, breaks up with his girlfriend.

Cameron: Cameron decides to pursue a relationship with Chase because she feels he is the person she is least likely to fall in love with.

Wilson: Wilson wants to hang out and discuss the latest hospital gossip with House, but is frustrated by always needing to be House's conscience.

Referbacks

Cameron refers to the drug induced tryst she had with Chase in the Season 2 episode "Hunting."

Trivia

The Show

Behind the Scenes

Allusions and References

In the second season finale, House was shot.

Memorable Moments

House gets flustered when Dr. Cuddy announces that she thinks that the only reason he cares about what she does on her personal time is because he likes her.

Quotes

Hannah: "Boys can't hold me too long because I overheat."
House: "Girls can't hold me too long because I only pay for an hour."

House: "You can't feel pain - nothing left but pleasure. Why don't you tell me how wonderful that is!"
Patient: "It sucks."
House: "Better than being in pain all the time. Get in the chair!"

Patient: "Every morning I have to check my eyes to make sure I didn't scratch a cornea in in my sleep."
House: "Oh god, stop! I'm in a pool of tears here."
Patient: "I can't cry."
House: "Neither can I. Every morning I check my eyes for jaundice to see if the Vicodin finally shot my liver."
Patient: "I can't run anywhere without examining all my toes for swath."
House: "I can't run."
Patient: "Boys can't hold me for too long because I can overheat."
House: "Girls can't hold me for too long because I only pay for an hour."
Patient: "I need an alarm on my watch to remind me to go to the bathroom. Do you know how many humiliating experiences before I thought of that?"
House: "Bathroom's fifty feet from my office. For every drink of water I weigh the pros and cons."
Patient: "After everything I do, I self-check: Mouth, tongue, gums for cuts, count teeth, check temperature, toes and joints for swelling, skin for bruises..."
House: "I got shot."

Patient: "I sat on a stove when I was three. Wanna see the coil marks?"
House: "Yeah."
Patient: "Do you think I'm lying?"
House: "Do you think I just wanna check out your tucus as your people would say?"

Cameron: "You weren't shot because of leg pain, you were shot because you're a jerk."
House: "Some think the two are connected."

Cameron: "So I’m thinking we should have sex."
Chase: "That makes sense."
Cameron: "Despite the wisdom of pop songs there’s no point in putting our lives on hold until love comes along. We’re both healthy and busy people, and we work together so it's convenient."
Chase: "Like microwave pizza?"
Cameron: "And of all the people I work with you’re the one I’m least likely to fall in love with."
Chase: "Like microwave pizza."
Cameron: "The point here is to make things simpler, not more complicated. Some day there’ll be a time to get serious about someone. Meanwhile, we’ve already had sex once and didn’t get weird about it, so…"
Chase: "I get it, I get it. So, what if I’m offended by your judgment?"
Cameron: "Then you’re not the man I’m looking for."

Foreman: "She's going to jump off the lobby balcony!"
House: "You think I can catch her?"

House: "Could have left the scarf at home and just told him you'd be wearing a look of desperation."

House: "I was curious. Since I'm not a cat, that's not dangerous."

House: "Oh my God. You're not wearing a bra."

Foreman: "That tapeworm must be at least twenty feet."

House: "Damn, the world record is sixty feet."

Music

"Hit the Ground" - Lizz Wright

References

External links

• FOX.com-House official site
• Television Without Pity-House recaps
• House Episode Guide at epguides.com
• TVGuide's Page: Full list of House Episodes
• House M.D. Guide
• "House M.D." IMDB Profile

• House (TV series) episodes