First Do No Harm | |
Season 05, Episode 21 | |
Air Date | April 16, 1998 |
Previous | Murder at the Finish Line |
Next | Promises to Keep |
First Do No Harm is the twenty-first episode of Diagnosis Murder's fifth season which was first broadcast on April 16, 1998.
Plot[]
When a young girl is rushed into the hospital in need of immediate treatment, but dies due to a HMO's negligence, Dr. Travis and Community General are sued for negligence. Dr. Sloan must choose between his ethical convictions and the hospital.
Summary[]
Unlike most episodes, this one has no deliberate killing. Instead, doctors Mark Sloan and Jesse Travis refuse to accept the grave medical consequences -such as medically irresponsible delays and refusal of necessary therapy- for non-affluent patients of the virtually exclusive medical circuits (ambulance, treatment facilities etc.) imposed by so-called HMOs, a type of medical insurance, which puts medical staff in an impossible position between budget-orientated rules, malpractice claims and Hippocratic conscience. A few fatal cases lead to law-suits and an arbitration procedure with serious financial stakes.
Cast[]
- Dick Van Dyke as Mark Sloan
- Victoria Rowell as Amanda Bentley
- Charlie Schlatter as Jesse Travis
- Barry Van Dyke as Steve Sloan
- Kevin McNally as EMT
- Alan Oppenheimer as Dr. Leonard Gould
- Jason Schombing as Melvin Pinter
- Richard Fancy as Harold 'Hal' Lomax
- Nancy Youngblut as Nurse Nancy Rush
- Neil Dickson as Dr. Arthur Holbine
- Davenia McFadden as Betty Pearson
- Paul Picemi as Judge Kenyon
- Bianca Rossini as Lena Rizzoli
- Debra Sharkey as Andrea Turner
- Kimberly Moss as Thelma
- Gavin Glennon as Trent Erdman
- Damara Reilly as HMO Attorney