Also known as: Bone thinning
Professional baseball pitcher presents with bone density too low to support arm surgery after injury. This drives the central diagnostic mystery of the episode as the team searches for the underlying cause in a young, otherwise healthy athlete.
Also known as: Kidney failure
Patient shows poor kidney function on CHEM-7, which becomes a critical factor in treatment planning. The kidney damage creates conflict as the wife attempts to donate her kidney, leading to major plot developments.
Also known as: Low testosterone with testicular shrinkage
Physical examination reveals testicular atrophy, initially leading the team to suspect steroid use. This finding is a key diagnostic clue that eventually points toward the correct diagnosis.
Also known as: Cadmium poisoning
The final diagnosis that explains all symptoms. Patient was exposed to cadmium-contaminated marijuana, causing multisystem toxicity. Discovery is made when both patient and wife share loss of smell. This is the key resolution of the episode's medical mystery.
Also known as: Loss of sense of smell
Patient's inability to smell becomes the breakthrough clue when his wife is discovered to have the same symptom, pointing to an environmental/shared exposure cause.
Also known as: Marijuana addiction
Patient's ongoing marijuana use, which he concealed from his wife and medical team, is the source of his cadmium exposure. His refusal to provide urine samples and eventual confession drive significant plot tension.
Also known as: Suicide attempt
Patient steals digitalis pills from his coach and attempts suicide, causing cardiac symptoms that complicate diagnosis. This creates major tension around the transplant decision and reveals his psychological state.
Also known as: Digoxin overdose
Patient's heart rate fluctuates wildly and he hallucinates after taking stolen digitalis pills in a suicide attempt. These symptoms temporarily mislead the diagnostic team.