Huge Ego, Sorry: Dr. Gregory House

I agreed that if he has a medical proxy and if he had to choose between Wilson and Cuddy, Cuddy would be most logical choice because of the reasons that Poeia listed above. Wilson is too close to him, the chances that he might follow Stacy's example are too high and I can't believe House would risk that all over again. Besides Namaste's very salient point that House told Cameron to talk to Cuddy about the ketamine, we also saw in Fetal Position that while Cuddy can get emotional, she tends to do so over what the patient wants, not what the numbers say. In terms of diagnostics and House's usual focus, not so good. But in terms of what House would like to see in his proxy, I think he'd think that was good. He'd want his wishes respected and he knows that Wilson is capable of deciding to do what he thinks is best for House rather than what House thinks is best for House. I don't think House wants to risk that path again. The first time around, Stacy made the decision, not Cuddy, assuming that doctor was Cuddy. I don't think Cuddy would make that decision herself at this point in time.

One being that he told Cameron to tell Cuddy he wanted ketamine, not Wilson. I always interpreted that as being due to the fact that Cuddy is in charge of the hospital, so she would have to approve any experimental treatment (as she has final say over all of House's patients and has voted yes or no on experimental methods in the past). I do agree though that House would be more likely to make Cuddy his proxy, if he has one. Considering that he's always portrayed as ignoring paperwork (including vital things like his certification and insurance obligations) he may not have bothered to get one after Stacy. Wilson is likely his emergency contact, as evidenced by 97 Seconds.

Wilson is likely his emergency contact, as evidenced by 97 Seconds. How does "97 Seconds" show that Wilson is his emergency contact?

I can't imagine that House would give the same kind of power that Stacy once had to anyone else. If he doesn't explicitly give it to someone, by default, as next of kin, his parents get to make the decisions if he's not able to. I think House would rather Dr. Buffer decide than leave it in his father's hands.

Wilson was away from the hospital when House electrocuted himself and was quite clearly called back in, judging by his clothes and behavior. Either he's House's emergency contact or Cuddy personally had him called right away. Which I think is unlikely considering we don't see Cuddy anywhere around. (She may have not known of the stunt until later.) None of the other doctors or nurses who would've treated House after the electrocution would likely have called Wilson if he was not listed as the emergency contact because of privacy laws, no matter how many of them know he's House's bestest and only friend. We don't know if he was called -- or if we saw Wilson -- immediately after the event or three hours later. All we know is that House wasn't conscious yet. For all we know, Cameron was the one who called Wilson, since she's the one in the emergency room and the hospital is full of people who know that Wilson is House's buddy. All "97 Seconds" proves is that someone contacted Wilson -- not that Wilson's name is written down anywhere as House's emergency contact.

Poeia wrote: I think House would rather Dr. Buffer decide than leave it in his father's hands. It had never crossed my mind that if House doesn't have a medical proxy he could end up in the hands of Papa House... I guess this is the best reason for him to have one, so I'd put my money on Cuddy, for all the reasons already mentioned. About who called Wilson, I always assumed it was Cuddy. We didn't see her but I believe that she'd be immediately informed if one of her doctors was eletrocuted - specially if this doctor is House. The idea of being Cameron works too, but we can't be sure she was in the ER at that time - I suppose she goes home at some point, right?

Okay, okay. Namaste makes a good argument and I can go along with Cuddy being House's proxy. As for 97 Seconds, I just assumed that Cuddy called Wilson.

Way to turn your back on me, LMC! After the lovely hurt/comfort scenario I provided you. :cry: :wink: I still say there is no way on earth that House makes Cuddy his proxy. There is no way he trusts her medical judgment over Wilson's. House actually respects Wilson as a doctor; he barely respects Cuddy as a doctor. Plus it's possible that Cuddy was involved in House's leg fiasco. (I won't get into the debate of whether Cuddy was Cuddy in "Three Stories.") If he couldn't trust Stacy after that, why would he trust Cuddy?

Because Cuddy will be sure to never make the same mistake (ignore his wishes) again? And it's not about who is the best doctor (I'm sure Wilson is) but about who will follow his decisions more easily. Wilson is not a safe bet, there are too many emotions involved (I'm not talking about hoyay, here!) and House lost the woman he loved because of that, he'd never put Wilson in the same position and risk to lose him too. Of course I can be wrong, wrong, wrong...

In most cases, you're right: it's not about who is the best doctor; it's about who you trust to follow your wishes. And for most of us, our healthcare proxy (whether by default or by designation) is a layperson. Family member or close friend. (For some people, the proxy happens to be a doctor. But I'm sure that's not true for most people.) I am 100% certain that House has designated someone, because he would not want his parents making decisions for him. The only people in his personal life are Cuddy and Wilson. And I'll eat my words if we learn I'm wrong. But I just can't see him choosing Cuddy. It does not compute for me. Now, he uses both Wilson and Cuddy as his doctor in various scenarios. I think he goes to Wilson as a doctor more often (for his Vicodin/pain management, for the prescription for the med to help his prostate, etc). But he went to Cuddy for the morphine in "Skin Deep" only because he thought Wilson would say the pain was all in his mind. He's opportunistic. But that is not the same as a proxy. I think he has some level of trust in Cuddy, but his trust in Wilson runs far deeper. And I like Cuddy, but I do think Wilson is better than her at making tough decisions.

Way to turn your back on me, LMC! After the lovely hurt/comfort scenario I provided you. Sorry, still friends? Okay, I can see the logic that House is afraid of losing Wilson like he lost Stacy and for that reason did not choose him as his proxy. And while I certainly believe that House respects Wilson more as a doctor than he does Cuddy, Cuddy does cave to him all the time. Wilson holds out better than she does and I can see him thinking that he could get Cuddy to do what he wants more than he could convince Wilson. And I like Cuddy, but I do think Wilson is better than her at making tough decisions. ITA, that's kind of my point, she's not great at making tough decisions so she'd just go along with whatever House wanted, or at least after putting up a very mild fight. Wilson is much better at putting his foot down.

Yes we are still friends. :wink: The thing is, if someone has to make decisions for House, it's because House is unconscious or mentally incapacitated or something. So he can't sit there and argue against a doctor's recommendations or his proxy's decision. All that can happen is House's attending physician will recommend a test or a treatment, etc, and the proxy has to decide whether to go along with it. Whether to try something risky. Whether to be conservative. "What would House decide for himself if he could?" That's the question the proxy has to answer. We know that House is a risk-taker, even with himself. And that's what I mean that Wilson is better at making tough decisions. Cuddy is NOT a risk-taker; she usually takes the safe route. Wilson has the chops to make the tough decision to do the risky thing that House would want.

Cuddy is NOT a risk-taker; she usually takes the safe route. That certainly wasn't the case in "Fetal Position," in which she took a route so extreme that House didn't agree with it -- but it was the only option the patient herself would permit. Besides, if Cuddy weren't a risk taker, she never would have hired House in the first place -- or continued to keep him there. Let's not forget, she gave up Vogler's $100 million for House. That's not the safe choice.

I see Cuddy as a poor choice for proxy because her medical chops in action are usually based on how she feels about the situation personally. I don't see Cuddy as either particularly risky or risk-averse; she merely acts as to what serves her own feelings most. She was overly empathetic to Emma's baby and personalized the case. She went overboard risky because that's what she, a person desperate to be pregnant, would have done. In the case of Alfredo, Cuddy was reluctant to take the definitive action that was needed because she felt guilty and over emphasized with Alfredo's ability to get a job later. (Seems like she could have found one at the hospital for him, but oh well.) Given that Cuddy treated Stacy as though she were the patient, not House, there's no way in the world I would believe that House would want Cuddy as his medical proxy. He'd have to constantly be keeping one eye open waiting for her to slip him a placebo.

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