'Chicago Med' Season 5 Episode 8: Dr. Choi and Dr. Charles try to persuade live-streaming patient to get surgery
This week's episode of 'Chicago Med' featured a plotline that you may never have seen before, but still might be quite relevant today. Dr. Choi's patient comes in with a stomach ache that is then diagnosed to be appendicitis. However, there's a catch.
Dennis always live-streams his life (with his girlfriend) and any decision he needs to make is decided by online viewers. He never goes against their decision. And so, when Dr. Choi tells him he needs surgery, Dennis asks his users to vote - and they overwhelmingly vote 'no.'
Throughout the episode, though Dennis's condition gets worse, he continues to ask Choi about alternate methods. Choi even gets Dr. Charles to step in and talk to the patient, but Dennis is steadfast in his decision.
At one point, Dennis's live-stream goes viral, viewed by over a million users, implying they just hit a major payday. However, Choi almost begs Dennis to go against the users' vote, and still, Dennis does not listen to Choi.
Since Dennis does not seem to budge, Dr. Charles tries talking to the patient's girlfriend - telling her that they stand to lose everything. Her trust in their followers is immense and she is sure they will let Dennis have surgery if he goes into septic shock.
To get Dennis and his girlfriend to realize the folly of their ways, Dr. Charles gets an idea - he takes Dennis up to the roof and asks him to ask tell his followers to vote on whether he should jump. They vote 'yes' by 62%. Dennis says he will not jump and starts losing followers, causing his girlfriend to panic and tell them that it wasn't a serious question. This gets Dennis to finally agree to surgery and his appendectomy goes well. But Dr. Charles gets in trouble with Sharon who tells him it looks bad that there is a video of him telling a patient to jump off the roof.
The plotline is no doubt one that viewers would not have seen before - and it seems unthinkable that someone would place his safety in the hands of strangers - especially those who might seem to be online trolls. However, 'Chicago Med' showed how a social media influencer's life can get away from them.
'Chicago Med' airs on NBC on Wednesday nights. The midseason finale of Season 5 of 'Chicago Med' will air next Wednesday, on November 20th.
