Pedophile?

Afternoon, Fam…

So, last night’s Good Doctor was titled “Empathy” starting with Shaun demanding Dr. Glassman’s driver’s license after last episode’s surprise mental eval Shaun gave Glassman at n behest.  Needless to say, Glassman was pissed, because he thought going through Shaun’d give him a pass.  Shaun didn’t get why Glassman was so pissed.  Of course, there was some closure and Shaun learned empathy through Leah teaching him to drive, but that’s not the plot that grabbed me this week.  It was sad and cute all at once, but not the most compelling IMO.

Anyway, a guy came in presenting with strokes symptoms from, it turns out, testosterone blockers, but why, he wasn’t transitioning, he was adamant about that.  No, he had urges that he knew were unhealthy and he’d taken measures to keep himself from acting on said urges.  He came in wanting the docs to castrate him.  Of course, Dr. Browne and Dr. Reznick already passed judgement on him, so they were willing to do the procedure despite the ethicality of it since there really wasn’t anything wrong with his balls health-wise to warrant them getting lopped off.  They told him they could order a pysch eval, but he argued that’d just add time.  He left frustrated but was brought back when he tried to do it himself.

He refused the meds they tried to give, opting to wallow in the pain, interrupting the rest of the ward, so they isolated him until he got so bad, he passed out…then, they took him to surgery…but, by then he was starting to go septic and his BP tried to bottom out.  It’s their job to save him, and they do, balls intact.  When Dr. Brown checks on him, he’s not there, having conned his way off his alarmed bed under the guise of needing to take a leak.  She and Reznick get out the front door just in time to see him step out in traffic.

Wow, what to think about this episode…

On the one hand, ya gotta feel for the guy, he knew he wasn’t right, and he was doing everything in his power to do right.  The health system ironically failed him.  On the other hand, ya gotta understand the docs’ prob.  They knew it was the right thing to do…from a disgusted POV, and again, their own system’s rules and oaths prohibited them from doing the right thing.  The dude thought he had no choice, but to off himself.

Which is the lesser of the evils?

Be good to each other.

-J-