I have a question about something in "Storms" (Part 1).

Please don't call me stupid or anything, but I obviously missed something.

Did Doug reset the PCA machine before he left the house, or did he just give the code to the PCA machine to the mother before he left? Who actually set up the lethal dose? Doug, or the mother?

-- Susan C. Hanrahan (hanrahan@picard.evms.edu), April 15, 1999

Answers

I think the whole point of the episode, was to air the whole euthanasia debate, and Doug Ross was obviously the perfect candidate given his rather liberal views, however the impression that I got from this episode was that it was actually Joi, Ricky's mother who administered the fatal dose and that Doug had just released the set dosage to allow her to end the child's life. Therefore Doug did not actually "murder" the child but was a vital factor in instrumenting the death.

-- Joanne Ross (steven@thurso25.freeserve.co.uk), May 06, 1999.

You ask a very good question. In fact, it would have been interesting if we were privvy to an autopsy report. The implication is that Doug showed Joi how to break the code, in essence putting Ricky's life in the hands of the one person who loved him the most in all the world.

Did she use it to sedate him to the point of death? Was there enough painkiller to do the job? Did Doug give her the code so she could actually hasten his death, or did he know there wasn't enough left to do actually kill Ricky, but gave her the code so he could help comfort Joi, who was so helpless at the time? We don't know.

The most interesting thing of all is that in the car with Jeanie, Doug says, "So you never asked me if I did it." Jeanie replies that she hopes he did. Why that line from Doug? No one came out and asked Doug, they assumed. I'm sure we'll never find out for sure, but it was hazy enough so we don't know the truth.

-- Phyl (erfan@flash.net), September 18, 1999.