5. Damned If You Do

When a nun comes into the clinic with swollen arms, rash, and bleeding in her palms, Dr. House's diagnosis is a bad allergy, not stigmata as she believes. House gives her an antihistamine which appears to set off an allergic attack. However, when the nun gets tachycardia from the epinephrine House gives her to treat it, Cuddy concludes he gave her ten times the appropriate dose. When House insists he gave her the proper dose, Cuddy gives him 24 hours to prove the nun has another condition before she calls the malpractice lawyers. Although House finally vindicates himself, the answer doesn't help the patient. As her condition worsens, her fellow sisters pray for her while House and his team work to discover the cause of her illness. House wonders if he misdiagnosed her situation, not realizing that her past is coming back to haunt her.

Plot summary and ending

Spoilers ahead. Coverage follows the scope labeled below.

Complete story — includes the ending

Sister Augustine ( Elizabeth Mitchell ) arrives at the hospital with her hands covered in severe rash, which her fellow nuns think looks like stigmata and which House diagnoses as dermatitis caused by a dish soap allergy. When the antihistamines he gives her cause an asthma attack, House administers epinephrine, and she suffers a minor heart attack. House's team suspects that House made a mistake with the epinephrine, but when they try to find the source of her problems, she suffers hallucinations, convulsions and a rash appears on her leg. Cuddy pulls House off of the case when she hears of House's methodology. An investigation of the convent reveals figwort tea, which explains only the reaction with the epinephrine. She is placed in a hypoallergenic room but inexplicably still has an allergic reaction. But when she begins shouting that she has God inside her, it allows House to find a copper IUD inside her uterus. The device is surgically removed and she fully recovers. Final diagnosis: Allergy to Copper IUD

Sources and content license

Source and revision history · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, House season 1. HTML formatting and reference markers removed. · Content license