Prescription for Death
From The Law & Order Wiki
| Prescription for Death | ||
|---|---|---|
| L&O, Episode 1.01 Production number: 66209 First aired: 13 September 1990 | ||
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| Teleplay By Ed Zuckerman Story By Ed Zuckerman & David Black Directed By John Whitesell | ||
After a young woman dies suddenly in an Emergency Room, detectives Max Greevey and Mike Logan discover that the chief resident, Dr. Edward Auster, may have been drunk at the time.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
- Plot
[edit] Guest cast
- Erick Avari as Dr. Raza
- Rocky Carroll as Dr. Davids
- Alvin Epstein as Dr. Chester
- Tom Kubiak as Dr. Rasmussen
- W.T. Martin as Dr. Lignell
- Bruce McCarty as Dr. Stephen Simonson
- Maeve McGuire as Dr. Walters
- Frederica Meister as Mrs. Melanie Stivic
- Ron Rifkin as Phillip Nevins
- William Roerick as Dr. Robert Abraham
- Paul Sparer as Dr. Edward Auster
- John Spencer as Howard Morton
- Maryann Urbano as Dr. Jean Mills
- Leslie Goldman as Judge Benjamin Harcourt
- Nick Damici as Officer Dubuque
- Sean Whitesell as Intern
- Lee Tergesen as Clemens
- Ed Setrakian as Hoffman
- Derrick Simmons as Stabber
- Harry S. Murphy as Don
- Stephanie J. Gordon as Nurse
- Russell Horton as Markham
- Joan Kaye as Nurse
- Annie Corley as Stewart
- Daniel Benzali as Medical Examiner
- Kate Wilkinson as Gray-Haired Lady
- Avis McCarther as Secretary (uncredited)
[edit] Quotes
"Look! Someone's lying! Whether it's Gunja Din or Doctor God, we don't know."
- - Max Greevey
"You solve every case you work on?"
"We can tell a felony from a traffic ticket."
"Look, a patient walks in with a headache. She could have a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a berry aneurysm, a retro-orbital tumor... or does she just have a headache? Do you give her an aspirin? Or do you saw open her skull?"
"You make this speech at funerals?"
- - Dr. Edward Auster, Mike Logan, and Max Greevey
"My children want to stay in this country, my wife wants to stay, and to stay, all I have to do is to be perfect all the time!"
"Well you, uh, fell a little short of perfection on Suzanne Morton's chart."
- - Dr. Raza and Mike Logan
"Isn't it possible that pneumonia killed Suzanne Morton?"
"It's possible that death rays from Mars killed her. But I don't think so."
- - Phillip Nevins and Medical Examiner
"Well, people like to believe that medicine is pure science. Medicine is a science. But doctors know it's also a lottery."
- - Dr. Edward Auster
"We got what we needed from Dr. Simonson."
"An intern, Mr. Stone. Are you planning on asking the cleaning lady to testify, too? About the time I threw the tissue into the wastepaper basket and missed?"
- - Benjamin Stone and Dr. Edward Auster
"When you practice medicine, Mr. Stone, sometimes the patient dies."
"And when you're a lawyer, Dr. Auster, some of the people you prosecute are convicted."
- - Dr. Edward Auster and Benjamin Stone
"You know the difference between Auster and a serial killer?"
"The weapon."
- - Benjamin Stone and Paul Robinette
[edit] Trivia
- This was the first aired episode of Law & Order. The episode, "Everybody's Favorite Bagman" (1.06), was the pilot episode for the series. Although originally produced for CBS in 1988, it never aired on that network. In syndication and on the first season DVD, the episodes are shown with "Prescription for Death" as the first episode.
- This episode is based on the Libby Zion case. Libby died at age 18, shortly after being admitted to New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center with a high fever. A grand jury determined that the long hours of often unsupervised interns and residents contributed to her death. While an appeals court exonerated the doctors, the subsequent investigation led New York State to form the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on Emergency Services, more commonly known as the Bell Commission. This committee developed a series of regulations that addressed several patient care issues, including restraint usage, medication systems, and resident work hours. One aspect of these regulations is commonly referred to in the medical community as "the Libby Zion Law" and "the Libby Law," setting limits to working hours for medical "post graduates" (commonly referred to as interns and residents).
- Actor Chris Noth supplied his own brown leather coat for this episode, after buying it from a second-hand clothing store.
- In this episode we learn that Executive Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Stone's father was an alcoholic, and drank every day at lunch. We also learn that Captain Donald Cragen has a drinking problem, and that he was partnered to Detective Max Greevey.
- Detectives Max Greevey and Mike Logan have very different opinions about healthcare. Logan is glad that his father is still alive because of a heart transplant, but Greevey despises Doctors because a simple subdural hematoma was once misdiagnosed as a brain tumor.
- Actors Bruce McCarty and Daniel Benzali will later star together in the CBS drama, The Agency.
- According to one of the scene cards the Detectives are stationed at the 36th Precinct. In later episodes the Homicide Department will be working from the 27th Precinct.
- Episode scene cards:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
36th Precinct |
Urban Medical Center |
The Office of |
Dr. Robert Abraham's |
| 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|
|
Office of |
Manhattan Superior Court |
Manhattan District Attorney |
| Previous episode: "None" | "Prescription for Death" Law & Order Season 1 | Next episode: "Subterranean Homeboy Blues" |
