House's Clinic Duty: Orange Skin, Affairs, Asthma

House reacted with sarcasm, asking for a TV to watch 'General Hospital' instead of treating patients and attempting to offload work to a colleague by suggesting she hand out aspirin while he handled paperwork.

A patient presented with back spasms, attributing the pain to a golf injury sustained when his cleat got stuck.

Dr. House, however, ignored the back pain and focused on the patient's unusual orange skin color, concluding it resulted from excessive consumption of carrots and megadose vitamins.

He explained that carotenemia from carrots combined with niacin intake caused the skin discoloration.

"By the way, do you consume just a ridiculous amount of carrots and megadose vitamins? Carrots turn you yellow, the niacin turns you red. Find some simple finger paint and do the math."

"Painkillers."

He argued that if the patient's wife had not noticed his significant change in skin color, she was not paying attention, suggesting a deeper issue in their relationship.

Based on this observation, House advised the patient to seek legal counsel.

"Your wife is having an affair. ... It's one thing for you not to notice, but if your wife hasn't picked up on the fact that her husband has changed colors, she’s just not paying attention."

A mother expressed concern over the frequent steroid use for her 10-year-old child's asthma medication.

Dr. House explained that stimulants trigger cells in a child's airways, releasing substances that inflame and contract air passages, while steroids are essential to counteract this inflammation.

He emphasized that the benefits of the medication in allowing the child to breathe far outweigh any perceived risks.

House concluded by stating that distrust in steroids is equivalent to distrust in medical expertise.

"A stimulant triggers cells in your child's airways to release substances that inflame the air passages and cause them to contract. ... But the steroids stop the inflammation. If you don't trust steroids, you shouldn't trust doctors."