I think part of it is that he uses them as a safety mechanism. If they're afraid to say no to him, they won't tell him (or tell on him to Cuddy) when he's really out of line. Part of it is: Subordinates can disagree with me all they want. It's healthy. People who can shut me down on the other hand... Forget Cuddy. I'll have Wilson keep her busy. And part of it is: And this guy knew that he wasn't accepted by the staff, didn't even try, didn't dress well. He didn't pretend to be one of them. The people around that place, they didn't think that he had anything they wanted... except when they needed him. Because he was right. Which meant that nothing else mattered. They had to listen to him. On a personal level, that's probably true (considering the way he talks to them.) But they forget and carry that attitude over to his medical opinions and there he does deserve better treatment.

Yet another instance of real life medical cases and "House" medical cases. Warnings about both kids and pets being exposed to estrogen cream this time.

Accent slip: FOREMAN: You just said there were no tumours. We scanned both their brains. CHASE: They looked clean. So did their mom's until it didn't. CAMERON: It can't be genetic. Mom had none of the same symptoms. CHASE: Yes she did, if the symptoms were pubic hair and menstruation. CAMERON: That's ridiculous, if menstruation is a symptom of brain cancer then I should be on chemo right now. HOUSE: That's ridiculous. You're way too skinny to be menstruating. Chase pronounces the "U" in "menstruation" because he's Australian. Cameron doesn't because she's American. House does because Hugh Laurie is English.