'Chicago Med' Season 5 Episode 5: Will Dr. Natalie Manning be fired from Gaffney Chicago Medical Center for her actions?
In this week's episode of 'Chicago Med', Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) may have pushed her luck too far. Maybe she was trying to prove that she was still a good doctor after her accident, maybe she really wanted to make sure her patient, a little boy, would survive, but there is only one way to define her actions at the end of the episode: assault.
When a little boy is brought in by his nanny after he had a nosebleed in the park, Natalie meets with the parents to discuss what the issue could be. We learn soon that the parents prefer natural remedies for their son -- the last time he was treated with antibiotics for an ear infection, he broke out in hives that turned out to be worse to recover from than the ear infection.
The parents reluctantly agree to blood tests for their son when Natalie says she needs to know the results just to be sure. When the results come in, Natalie initially suspects a bacterial sinus infection and dehydration. Again, Natalie talks the parents into letting her give the kid a saline drip for his dehydration. When Natalie is convinced that it is pneumonia, she wants to give him antibiotics, but the parents vehemently disagree.
This is when Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) steps in and convinces the parents to let them do an x-ray scan to rule out pneumonia. Will tells Natalie this is the second time parents have lost their trust in her as a doctor this season. Finally, when Natalie pushes to give the antibiotics to the son after the x-ray proves inconclusive, the parents refuse again, so Natalie locks herself in the room with the kid and gives him the antibiotics without the parents' consent as they scream for her to stop -- and unfortunately for the viewers, that's where the episode ends.
We will definitely see Natalie deal with the repercussions of her actions in this week's episode. She may have her reasons, but her actions were undeniably wrong. From the preview for next week, we see that the hospital administration does not want to cover for her, but what's worse is that she could be arrested as her actions will be seen as a case of assault -- and this seems to be the case for next week as the police show up at the hospital.
What will happen to Natalie? Will she be fired? She is a fan-favorite, so that seems unlikely. But if 'Chicago Med' wants to remain realistic, Natalie will have to pay the dues for what she did -- a doctor treating without consent is a serious issue and we don't see Natalie getting out of this too easily.
What remains to be seen is how her relationship with Will could be after this incident. Will she open up to him, will he support her through this difficult time? Phillip will also most likely make an appearance in the next episode and that could increase the tension between the two doctors.
'Chicago Med' airs on NBC on Wednesday nights.