S03.E02: Essential Workers

[Whimsy]

Quote

Max is forced to face the heartbreaking consequences of one of his policies. Bloom comes to a startling realization about Iggy.

 

[LexieLily]

How long has Ella been pregnant? If New Amsterdam is at the point in the pandemic where doctors are getting vaccines it's been at least a year, and she was already four-five months along when the show ended in April!

Re: @ams1001 and forgetting that Ella's baby was his grandchild, is the show-universe just straight up ignoring the fact that Kapoor's son knocked her up and ran? Are they ever going to circle back to that storyline? There was the implication, at least in my head, that Kapoor's son (I don't even remember his name) befriended Ella and dated her in some retaliatory move against his estranged father.

Edited March 10, 2021 by LexieLily

[ams1001]

I'm no medical professional but I feel like there are some HIPAA issues going on with this whole opiate policy-zoom call-delivery thing. (I know that some pharmacies do delivery but do they hire random delivery app workers to do them? What are the laws around delivering drugs like opiates? According to the CVS website, they don't deliver controlled substances, as of January 2014.)

So Max just wrote a prescription for every patient who was cut off however long ago it was without actually seeing them and making sure they still need them?

These people have no concept of the "middle ground," do they? And who's gonna be checking pills for this watermark?

Who else was expecting a predictable "Baby's born as Vijay dies" scene? Glad I was wrong. (I totally forgot Ella's baby was his grandchild.)

 

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

I'm no medical professional but I feel like there are some HIPAA issues going on with this whole opiate policy-zoom call-delivery thing. (I know that some pharmacies do delivery but do they hire random delivery app workers to do them? What are the laws around delivering drugs like opiates? According to the CVS website, they don't deliver controlled substances, as of January 2014.)

So Max just wrote a prescription for every patient who was cut off however long ago it was without actually seeing them and making sure they still need them?

These people have no concept of the "middle ground," do they? And who's gonna be checking pills for this watermark?

Who else was expecting a predictable "Baby's born as Vijay dies" scene? Glad I was wrong. (I totally forgot Ella's baby was his grandchild.)

 

I assume the patients agreeing to join the Zoom got around the HIPAA thing. I also assume Max got their names from doctors at the hospital who reported they really need the opiates and had only stopped prescribing because of the policy.

However, I'm not sure why MAX had to write all the prescriptions instead of having the patients actual doctors do it. Or how bike messengers can get to the guy on Long Island. Or why they couldn't arrange to have the patients pick up their medication at their local CVS every week, which would be a pain, but still faster than going to the hospital. Or why Max wouldn't know the legalities of delivering opiates. I am sure there are restrictions. Those random bike messengers are probably more likely to steal the pills than the patients in actual pain.

I did laugh when Max asked why he was being arrested, and then was all, "Oh, right" when they told him.

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

How long has Ella been pregnant? If New Amsterdam is at the point in the pandemic where doctors are getting vaccines it's been at least a year, and she was already four-five months along when the show ended in April!

Re: @ams1001 and forgetting that Ella's baby was his grandchild, is the show-universe just straight up ignoring the fact that Kapoor's son knocked her up and ran? Are they ever going to circle back to that storyline? There was the implication, at least in my head, that Kapoor's son (I don't even remember his name) befriended Ella and dated her in some retaliatory move against his estranged father.

I guess they could have the son come back, but it seems like he was just an ass who knocked her up and ran. I don't know if they need to circle back, I like the idea of Kapoor supporting the woman his son abandoned.

[Kleav]

2 hours ago, ams1001 said:

who's gonna be checking pills for this watermark?

Yeah, I loved the way the administrator didn’t have a single question about how that was going work. Brilliant, Max. 
 

[LexieLily]

Also, where was Reynolds' hospital that they only had three Covid deaths the entire year?

[Dowel Jones]

Even with the watermarks, there's no real accountability in the opiate distribution, unless each and every pill has a unique and  identifiable tracer to it.  The cops bust someone with the opiates and say, "Look, it came from New Amsterdam".  So tell me how it got out on the street, with 25 different delivery vectors.  And that's not counting the black market sales from the patients or their relatives.  All in all, that has to be one of the dumbest ideas Max has ever had.

I liked Iggy stepping on Bloom with that comment "You almost killed a patient because of your drug addiction.  I haven't hurt anyone with my food addiction."  She knew it too, even though she still tried to equate the two conditions.

[ams1001]

8 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Also, where was Reynolds' hospital that they only had three Covid deaths the entire year?

Didn't he move to San Francisco?

At the end he was looking at the memorial wall which looked like all employee badges; were they all NA employees who died specifically of covid? Maybe he meant they only lost three hospital workers? (Though google statistics says SF County has had only ~34K cases and 436 deaths, so maybe...)

[FnkyChkn34]

13 hours ago, LexieLily said:

How long has Ella been pregnant? If New Amsterdam is at the point in the pandemic where doctors are getting vaccines it's been at least a year, and she was already four-five months along when the show ended in April!

That was my first thought too.  I can see why they'd want to finish the storyline by showing the baby's birth, but that poor woman!  Pregnant for like 18 months!

I got distracted and missed the last 15 minutes or so.  I assume that Kapoor lived?  Hero Reynolds swooped in to save the day?

[ams1001]

10 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I got distracted and missed the last 15 minutes or so.  I assume that Kapoor lived?  Hero Reynolds swooped in to save the day?

Yes. They cut from the operating room "his blood pressure is dropping" panic to him sitting alone at a table in a room (with that sort of hazy-bright lighting that tells you it's a between-life-and-death sort of place), his wife approaches with a tray of some food (not sure what it was; not too familiar with Indian food but it was some kind of round orange thing), and holds a piece out to him, telling him to eat it. He says he doesn't need it, just needs to be with her, but she tells him it'll give him strength because he needs it to take care of his granddaughter (which is when I remembered that it was his son's baby; I remembered that Ella was living with him but I totally forgot the reason he had taken her in). Then he wakes up in his bed post-surgery.

[txhorns79]

19 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

However, I'm not sure why MAX had to write all the prescriptions instead of having the patients actual doctors do it. Or how bike messengers can get to the guy on Long Island. Or why they couldn't arrange to have the patients pick up their medication at their local CVS every week, which would be a pain, but still faster than going to the hospital. Or why Max wouldn't know the legalities of delivering opiates. I am sure there are restrictions. Those random bike messengers are probably more likely to steal the pills than the patients in actual pain.

This.  Why in the world would Max have written the prescriptions?  These weren't his patients.  He's never even examined these people, yet he felt comfortable writing them prescriptions for highly addictive medications.  And then he just gave them out to random bike messengers!  I appreciated someone pointing out to Max that his initial policy was counterproductive and harmful, but honestly, only a deeply incompetent administrator would think Max's response was a good one. 

Also, Iggy should probably not be seeing patients.  He's one messed up dude. 

[DanaK]

I enjoy this show, including the jazz beat as Max and the staff deal with stuff, so I’m glad to see it back. But it feels like I or we missed some stuff from last season, including the intro of Daniel Dae Kim and what’s going on with Helen, so I feel like I’m lost on some things. I am aware they cut a virus episode last season

I'm glad that VJ lived and that his grandchild was born. The pain medication story seemed like a fevered dream Max was having, though I thought it was entertaining at the time. And Iggy does seem messed up right now

[Johnny Dollar]

The show lost a few episodes last season when COVID shut everything down, so the DDK/Helen relationship must’ve started at the end of last year.

The state limits how many opiates can be prescribed at one time, so I don’t know why Max felt he had to control how many pills he’s doling out. And once a patient has left the hospital, why aren’t they seeing other doctors for follow up care?  Does the guy in Long Island schlepp into the city every time he needs a refill?

Pardon the pun, but Ella was more like Ella-phant with her 15 month gestation.

Couldn’t tell if Floyd’s hospital lost three patients or three staff to COVID. Seems like they should’ve clarified that. 

[Rammchick]

I kept getting caught up in, "Hey, why aren't they wearing masks in the hospital?". Last week's episode showed such dire straits with COVID patients, and this week, no one is wearing masks?  However, everyone was wearing one out on the street.  It took me right out of the show.  

[pwdrpuff]

Am I the only one that think Janet Montgomery, plays Dr Lauren looks anorexic now? I was shocked to see her this episode. It’s in both her face and body. It’s quite disturbing. 

[ams1001]

39 minutes ago, Johnny Dollar said:

The state limits how many opiates can be prescribed at one time, so I don’t know why Max felt he had to control how many pills he’s doling out. And once a patient has left the hospital, why aren’t they seeing other doctors for follow up care?  Does the guy in Long Island schlepp into the city every time he needs a refill?

Yeah, that makes no sense. Also, it was hundreds of prescriptions, right? You'd think at least some of those patients would have found care elsewhere; did they all get told "sorry, can't prescribe any more" and just go home and live with their pain until Max swooped back in to save the day?

3 minutes ago, pwdrpuff said:

Am I the only one that think Janet Montgomery, plays Dr Lauren looks anorexic now? I was shocked to see her this episode. It’s in both her face and body. It’s quite disturbing. 

No, I noticed she looks very thin.

[pwdrpuff]

11 minutes ago, pwdrpuff said:

Am I the only one that think Janet Montgomery, plays Dr Lauren looks anorexic now? I was shocked to see her this episode. It’s in both her face and body. It’s quite disturbing. 

It’s sort of ironic, since started this season dealing with someone else’s eating disorder. 🤔

[KaveDweller]

47 minutes ago, pwdrpuff said:

Am I the only one that think Janet Montgomery, plays Dr Lauren looks anorexic now? I was shocked to see her this episode. It’s in both her face and body. It’s quite disturbing. 

She looked very thin in this episode, it even seemed different than last week.

[Emily Thrace]

6 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

She looked very thin in this episode, it even seemed different than last week.

She had just had a baby last season I wonder if it just that shes stopped breast feeding. That might take the fullness out of her face and down a few cup sizes.

[LadyNebula]

Wasn't that group Zoom call a possible massive HIPPA violation?

[CarpeFelis]

22 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Also, where was Reynolds' hospital that they only had three Covid deaths the entire year?

I wondered if he meant 3 deaths on the staff.

If Kapoor’s heart was in such bad shape, why wasn’t he put on the transplant list?

[circumvent]

I m confused about the delivery of opioids but also why is the hospital the one prescribing long term medication. Even if New Amsterdam is a public hospital, wouldn't the patients have a doctor for whatever condition they need the meds for? I thought the issue with the hospital would be prescribing those substances in the ER, not in an on going basis. As for delivery, if the hospital is running their own pharmacy, they could have a mail order for delivery. I am not sure if opioids specifically can be mailed but controlled substances in general can, that I know for sure.

I agree that Bloom seemed way too thin.

One of my peeves is continuity and the extended pregnancy annoyed me. Maybe Ella is like a Kangaroo, delaying the development of the embryo because the situation outside is not favorable, LOL. But what also bothered me is the amount of time it took for her to have the baby, without any of the supports she would need due to her OCD (yet she had relatively little trouble managing it), if you consider that it was the same time it took to prepare Kappor and have him go through a major surgery, then the complications, ending with perfect synchronicity between him waking up and the baby finally arriving.

The unresolved issues with Iggy are also a little far reaching. As a therapist, I believe he would have gone through his own therapy during his training and such a trauma would have come up. I think it was a little too dramatic in the way and speed they decided the plot should go. It could have been better explored, it is an interesting enough plot to have, male eating disorder.

[driver18]

I don't care about the specifrics, logistics of things. I just watch this show for the heart. I KNOW they're gonna get things like that wrong. This isn't real.

I normally don't care about Iggy at all. (He annoys me like tons.) But I gotta say when he was telling Lauren about his dad and growing up, I legit was tearing up. I mean, man! That was good stuff. THAT was real.

And the stuff with Kapoor in the end, when he saw his wife, and said "I just need you," and she said you need this for your granddaughter! Awww! I loved it.

Yes, Ella was pregnant way longer than she should have been, but Covid messed with so much stuff, I'm glossing over that timeline, because it gave us this beautiful moment. Again, I don't watch this show expecting even remotely realistic medical stuff. It's the heart I love.

[txhorns79]

4 hours ago, circumvent said:

 

One of my peeves is continuity and the extended pregnancy annoyed me. Maybe Ella is like a Kangaroo, delaying the development of the embryo because the situation outside is not favorable, LOL. But what also bothered me is the amount of time it took for her to have the baby, without any of the supports she would need due to her OCD (yet she had relatively little trouble managing it), if you consider that it was the same time it took to prepare Kappor and have him go through a major surgery, then the complications, ending with perfect synchronicity between him waking up and the baby finally arriving.

I'm actually a little frightened for her baby, just given that she'll apparently have no support (there is no way Kapoor is leaving the hospital anytime soon, and even if he was, he's in no condition to serve as a back up for her) and her OCD seems on the verge of out of control.

 

22 minutes ago, driver18 said:

I don't care about the specifics, logistics of things. I just watch this show for the heart. I KNOW they're gonna get things like that wrong. This isn't real.

I don't mind if a medical show doesn't do everything right.  I realize they take liberties to keep the story moving along.  I mind when the stories are ridiculous and make you feel like they aren't even trying.  Max's storyline was that kind of story.  It made little sense, and had the character act in such extremes that a normal hospital would have fired him.

[SilverLake0315]

12 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

Couldn’t tell if Floyd’s hospital lost three patients or three staff to COVID. Seems like they should’ve clarified that. 

I agree they could have specified, but I assumed the scene of him looking at the wall of staff NA lost suggested he had meant 3 staff at his hospital. Maybe that was a leap on my part! 🤔

[circumvent]

1 hour ago, txhorns79 said:

I'm actually a little frightened for her baby, just given that she'll apparently have no support (there is no way Kapoor is leaving the hospital anytime soon, and even if he was, he's in no condition to serve as a back up for her) and her OCD seems on the verge of out of control.

It is not possible for anyone to actually know when someone with OCD is at a point of getting out of control (whatever this means, it is relative). It manifests differently in different people. My problem is that they show her going into a crisis and the only person who could have helped her is out of reach. Usually people who know and acknowledge they need supports are more prepared. She knew the doula would be unavailable and even though she said she still had three weeks until due date, she would have made arrangements for a back up support. She is someone who needs extreme preparations, that much we know, so the whole thing was a big contradiction. 

The baby shouldn't be in extra danger of anything only because she has OCD. Obviously, she needs even more supports because everything is new but once a routine is established, things can go smoothly, for the most part. Support team and planning are key (I am speaking in generalizations based on people I know and how they manage their OCD)

[LittleIggy]

I think the timeline for Ella’s pregnancy was messed up because the episode(s) about a “flu pandemic” (which weren’t shown) were made pre-Covid, then the actual pandemic intervened, pushing back production. They wanted to keep the pregnancy after production started again, so I guess they hoped nobody would notice the pachyderm gestation length. 🧐

Guess Dr. Kapoor will need a heart transplant.

DDK is still so hot!

[CB-LXX]

I felt bad for Izzy... I know what it feels like to have that self-loathing because you don't feel like you're good enough, because of your weight, because of other people's reaction to your weight.

I knew Max sending off those opioids with the bike messengers was a really bad idea. What was to stop any of them from taking them and selling them on the streets?

But I'm here for Ella. And I hadn't even thought about the passage of time with her pregnancy. I'm here for the epidural! Brings back very VERY painful memories of my own labor because I had the same thing happen to me. The epidural didn't take (it was the second of three epidurals that they gave me) and for 4 hours, it hurt so freaking bad the last thing I was able to do was have a meaningful, coherent conversation with anyone the way she was having with Helen. I was squeezing my husband's and MIL's hands so hard I'm surprised I didn't break them. Man, she got off easy. Personally it ruined me from ever wanting to go through another pregnancy again, and up until that point I had a good one. I know, it's a judgmentally thing to do, based on my own experience, but I almost kind of figured that with her OCD, that unexpected pain would be something she'd have a hard time dealing with.

I know there were various things that irritated me last season, the lack of medical realism, etc., but I guess I'd just forgotten about it in the passage of time.