DEA vs. 'House' Does the DEA control what we watch on TV? Active tvsquad.com commenter bruce is stirring up controversy with recent accusations about the TV show 'House'. We have not been given, nor will we be given, an adequate explanation for why House's chronic pain is suddenly manageable without painkillers. Keep in mind House had a legitimate, verifiable medical condition (infarction leading to muscle death) in his leg, so it's not like fibromyalgia or bad headaches some other painful condition that is hard if not impossible to medically verify. The DEA has been writing letters to Fox complaining about House's "flagrant use and abuse of narcotics without consequence" for years now, and finally the network, writers, and producers all caved in to the government's demands... in the worst possible way. They decided to make the vicodin House had been taking for over a decade into a sudden hallucinogen, causing him to see dead people. They showed him going through the painful detox, and now he's just fine and dandy, no reference to his pain at all. And there won't be any further reference to his pain, other than "it's all manageable." Idiots will consider this to be "character growth" but you can do your own Freedom of Information Act request and get the letters the DEA sent to Fox demanding that "House" no longer show a character using drugs and performing well (exceptionally well, in fact) at his job, without horrible consequences. You know, "for the children." House's chronic pain and need for vicodin (in reality he should be on something much stronger and without the toxic acetaminophen that vicodin contains) were a central part of the show and the character of Dr. Gregory House. If they are going to destroy the character like this - at the request of the government, no less - then I won't be watching the show for much longer. They gave the DEA final script approval over all episodes of House. Talk about big brother. Then again, "big brother" is the very essence of drug prohibition. This thread also appears in tvsquad.com comments from the This thread also appears in tvsquad.com comments from the House season premier recap a few weeks back. Viewers seemed disappointed that House's hallucinations were blamed on Vicodin. Not sure if this is a DEA conspiracy, pressure from lawyers in the Standards and Practices dept., bad writing, or what, but the impression is that Vicodin was thrown under the bus for political reasons and House will now tell patients with chronic pain to suck it up and deal. Thanks to Sleepy for digging this one up! Thanks to Sleepy for digging this one up! » more at: www.tvsquad.com Posted By jamesk at 2009-10-07 12:04:32 permalink | comments » More ways to bookmark this page





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