Medical Review: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip “B-12″

December 3rd, 2006

Filed under: Medicine, TV

This has been bothering me since last Monday.

Spoiler Warning!

A viral illness strikes the set of Studio 60 and they decide to bring a nurse on location to give everyone a Vitamin B-12 shot. When one of the performers collapses while on stage, they give him a B-12 shot. When Jordan feels faint, they plan on giving her a B-12 shot until they find out her “big secret.”

This is painfully bad medicine. In fact, I suspect it was added to the plot only as a device to lead (clumsily) to the sudden reveal at the end.

The medical mistake is fairly simple: B-12 shots have one use — they treat Vitamin B-12 deficiency.

If you’re not B-12 deficient, then you gain nothing from the shot (well, nothing other than the risks inherent with having a fluid injected into your body tissue via a sharp needle). B-12 shots do not treat fatigue or cure a lack of energy. They cannot prevent infections, cure infections, or otherwise help at all in combatting infections.

As for the performer who collapsed on stage: he was sick and likely feverish. He was under hot lights and wearing a heavy costume. He is undoubtedly dehydrated and likely has heat exhaustion as well. He doesn’t need a B-12 shot. What he needs is rehydration (probably with IV fluids) and some time to rest in a cool area.

Finally, despite what the show would have us believe, B-12 shots are not contraindicated in pregnancy. They are considered Category C, which means “Uncertain Safety.” In other words, there aren’t enough studies to comfortably say whether they are safe or not; they can be given if the potential benefits outweigh the possible risks. I certainly wouldn’t give this class of drug to a pregnant woman routinely, but if a Category C drug is all that will treat a particular condition, it should be strongly considered (for example, many seizure medications are Category C. So which is riskier — giving a Category C drug, or a pregnant mother possibly having a bad seizure and going into status epilepticus? It’s not a clear cut answer, but personally I would keep her on the medication. Situations like these are why medicine is an art and not always a science). Anyway, pregnant or not, Jordan was right to refuse the B-12 as it wasn’t going to do anything beneficial.

My main complaint with Studio 60 is the sketches. They should never have shown any of them, but just left them to our imagination. That way we would have been sure they were absolutely hilarious. Instead, we get shown skits that just aren’t funny at all. For instance, their redemption skit in the first episode was based on Pirates of Penzance? I doubt that many members of their supposed hip young audience are that familiar with Gilbert and Sullivan. (Sure, it was funny when Wakko, Yakko, and Dot did it — but they had slapstick and better rhymes). My advice to Sorkin and company is to focus on the behind the scenes, and keep it off the stage.

Tomorrow, James Bond, digitalis, and AEDs.

Tags:

8 Responses to “ Medical Review: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip “B-12″ ”

  1. plok
    December 4th, 2006 at 8:01 am

    Oh my God, I completely gapped out on the fact that what they were getting was a B-12 shot! What lousy sense that makes. I do recall thinking “well, isn’t it a little late to be giving the flu shot to the guy when he’s already got the flu?”, but I figured…I don’t know what I figured. That they were all pretty stupid, or something. But the B-12…gee.

    It’s like the time I was having an argument with an old roommate, and in the middle of it he said, parenthetically, “well, of course the Sun’s made out of liquid”, and I said “yeah, yeah, but anyway…” Had to call him on the phone an hour later after it hit me. “Dude, what’s wrong with you?!” I cried. “Why do you believe the Sun is a liquid?”

  2. dionigi
    December 4th, 2006 at 4:59 pm

    at first the skits on the show bothered me, but i’ve since come to view them as a larger sort of gag- for all the writer’s grandstanding about the show’s importance and/or cultural signifigance, in reality it’s still just a lame, mildly-amusing sketch show, just like SNL in the real world.

  3. BeaucoupKevin
    December 4th, 2006 at 10:31 pm

    This is why I’m getting in touch with you to confirm all medicine in comics I write.

    Er…which may be a while. I tend to just have people get shot.

  4. plok
    December 5th, 2006 at 5:18 am

    Wow, Dionigi…how do you get “mildly-amusing” out of the S60 sketches, man. Did you ever laugh or chuckle or smile at them? I’ve smiled at two so far.

  5. Scott
    December 5th, 2006 at 7:08 am
    Official Comment

    I have to admit that the Dateline MSNBC “To Catch A Predator” Santa Claus sketch on last night’s show (December 4th) was pretty clever, but that’s the only one I really laughed at so far.

  6. mike.
    December 5th, 2006 at 1:51 pm

    While on the topic of NBC’s Monday lineup, did you happen to catch Greg Grunberg’s character’s psychic nosebleed on “Heroes”?

  7. Marc
    December 5th, 2006 at 3:24 pm

    Isn’t B-12 considered some kind of wonder drug among alt-med folks? I’d be willing to believe that enough of the Studio 60 characters are alt-med believers and would have the useless shots administered.

  8. plok
    December 5th, 2006 at 9:47 pm

    Scott’s official comment jogs my memory: I’ve smiled at three S60 sketches, not two.

    I thought “Meet The Press with Juliette Lewis” was kinda funny, and also I like the idea that the banker on Deal Or No Deal is also just saying “yeah…uh-huh…right” etc. back to Howie Mandel.

    But here’s a question on Psychic Nosebleeds: who’s the Patient Zero? Where did it all start? Personally I think it isn’t ever going to stop, it’s going to join “tractor beams” and reversed polarities in the great public domain of SF shorthands…

Leave a Reply

« Scott’s Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar - December 3rd Scott’s Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar - December 4th »