House Calls 

Did a shady doctor irresponsibly prescribe pain-killing drugs to one of his patients, which resulted in her death?

Director:

Jace Alexander

Writers:

Dick Wolf (created by), Janis Diamond

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, S. Epatha Merkerson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Lennie Briscoe
Jesse L. Martin	...	Detective Ed Green
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
Sam Waterston	...	E.A.D.A. Jack McCoy
Elisabeth Röhm	...	A.D.A. Serena Southerlyn
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	D.A. Arthur Branch
Alexis Dziena	...	Lena Parkova
Michael Boatman	...	Defence Attorney Dave Seaver
Jonathan Hogan	...	Dr. Ellis Heinz
Leslie Hendrix	...	Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
Doug Stender	...	Judge Joseph Flint
Iris Little Thomas	...	Judge Barbara Lusky
Misha Kuznetsov	...	Sergei Parkova
Lisa Bostnar	...	Yolanda Parkova
Louis Vanaria	...	Anthony Matteo

Storyline

Did a shady doctor irresponsibly prescribe pain-killing drugs to one of his patients, which resulted in her death?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 May 2003 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Universal Network Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Misha Kuznetsov (Sergei Parkov) also played the role of Andropov in episode 15.9, Law & Order: All in the Family (2004).

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Goofs

The drug which caused Nadia's death, the mythical Deverol, is an overt reference to the drug Demerol (meperidine), which is contraindicated with so many medications and is so ineffective for pain relief, and so addictive due to its euphoric effects, that it's limited to intravenous/intramuscular hospital inpatient use only for the last 8 years in the US. McCoy refers to it as an opiate. It effects opiate receptors but is unique as a schedule 2 narcotic in that it is not a metabolite of nor derived in any way from opium.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of this episode there is a dedication to the memory of Jerry Orbach 1935 - 2004

User Reviews

I don't look like one of those compassionate, sweet doctors you see on television.

Two sales clerks in an outfit store watched on CCTV a charming shoplifter stealing some dress. They followed her in the fitting room where she died of heart attack. Detectives found a syringe in her purse, the one used to inject painkillers. She was a wannabe model but she wasn't fluent in English (due to her Russian origin) as well as her family, except her younger sister (Alexis Dziena) who attends the local school. She had broken ribs and detectives thought at first she could have been abused by a boyfriend or someone inside the family. Anyway, in order to pursue her modeling career, she needed medicine for easing her pain (she suffered from a sever headache) at the point she became addicted to that. A doctor who advertise his activity in fliers without any clinic was actually her pusher. She even suffered from asthma and the painkiller is a killing mix together with asthma pills: did the "doctor" really know about that?

In this episode we see several poor immigrants situations (even a poor porter who need money for his son tuition). What happen at trial is not very clear (regarding the behavior of the prime witness on the stand: is she lying?)