Inherent Bias

**Inherent Bias** is the seventh episode of Season 2 of Chicago Med. It aired on November 3, 2016.

## Summary

Goodwin's childhood sweetheart arrives at the hospital, but finds himself in dire straits. To help get his financial footing, Dr. Halstead gets lured into a concierge doctor app idea. A young woman with a heart infection is treated by Dr. Rhodes against Dr. Charles' advice, and Reese's former patient, a sex trafficking victim, reaches out to her for help.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead
* Yaya DaCosta as April Sexton
* Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning
* Rachel DiPillo as Dr. Sarah Reese
* Colin Donnell as Dr. Connor Rhodes
* Brian Tee as Dr. Ethan Choi
* Marlyne Barrett as Maggie Lockwood
* S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin
* Oliver Platt as Dr. Daniel Charles

### Recurring Cast

* Mekia Cox as Robin Charles
* Deron J. Powell as Tate Jenkins
* Roland Buck III as Dr. Noah Sexton
* Patti Murin as Dr. Nina Shore
* Nick Marini as Danny Jones
* Lorena Diaz as Nurse Doris
* Shay Rose Aljadeff as Dr. Leah Bardovi
* Jürgen Hooper as Dr. Jason Wheeler
* Desmond Gray as Paramedic Desmond
* Kamal Hans as Dr. Choudry

### Guest Cast

* Robert Gossett as Reggie Dixon
* Paloma Nozicka as Pamela
* Julian Hester as Eliot
* Torian Miller as Barista

## Plot

The episode begins with April Sexton getting ready to go to work at her boyfriend, Tate Jenkins' house. He hands her a packed lunch and new memory foam soles for her shoes, and she thanks him. As she's leaving, she turns around and says, "Yes," accepting the marriage proposal he made to her several months ago. She apologizes for how long it has taken her to make up her mind, and Tate produces a large diamond ring from a drawer in the kitchen, telling her he has had it ready for months. They kiss and embrace. At the hospital, Dr. Nina Shore is surprised to see Dr. Will Halstead getting ready to leave, as she thought he was picking up an extra shift. Will tells her that Sharon Goodwin put a moratorium on overtime. He tells her his roommate, Mandelbrot is not working out, and he says he needs a new roommate. Noah, overhearing, tells Will that if needs a little extra cash flow, and tells him he can help.

Dr. Natalie Manning, Nurse Doris, and Dr. Ethan Choi treat a 61 year old man who is having heart problems and difficulty speaking. The man, Reggie Dixon, repeatedly asks for "Sharon McGee" and Maggie Lockwood, overhearing, tells them that McGree is Sharon Goodwin's maiden name. Sharon Goodwin identifies Reggie as an old childhood friend, who grew up in the same neighborhood as her, briefly dated her, and served as a military photographer in Vietnam. While speaking with Goodwin, he flirts with her, reminds her of their childhood memories, and tells her he's back in Chicago, and single. Sharon asks the team to keep her updated on his treatment. Natalie, Sharon, and Ethan try to confirm whether Reggie has been exposed to any tropical diseases, as his work as a photographer requires him to travel widely. Ethan suspects that Reggie might have a parasitic roundworm, based on experiences with treating it at the V.A., which might have been dormant in his system since he was in Vietnam. They tell Sharon that at the advanced stage which Reggie has reached, there is not much they can do, in their medical opinion. Sharon is upset, and tells them to keep him alive. While Sharon and Reggie wait, they sit together and reminisce, especially about staying up all night on evening at Rainbow Beach, before he was deployed, and about why their teenage romance didn't work out. Sharon tells Reggie she is now separated, and they talk about whether this is better timing - but as they discuss it, Reggie collapses. Sharon discovers he is bleeding from his side, likely to be a gastric hemorrhage. Although Dr. Ethan Choi and Dr. Natalie Manning try to address it, they are unable to control the bleed. Sharon remains closely involved, rebukes them to failing to resolve it to her satisfaction, and later rebukes Nurse Leah for shifting Reggie in his bed, taking over from her to do it herself. Natalie and Maggie discuss the situation and Maggie tells Natalie that Reggie was Sharon was her first real love, but the relationship didn't work out. When Dr. Choi tells them that the infection is in Reggie's lungs, she scolds him and blames him for the situation. She later disagrees with Dr. Natalie Manning and Dr. Ethan Choi, insisting on putting Reggie on bypass rather than making him comfortable for his inevitable death. When she threatens to reassign the case to another doctor, Natalie reluctantly consents to putting Reggie on ECMO.

Natalie and Ethan discuss the case, and when Ethan asks why Natalie changed her mind about ECMO, Natalie tells him they didn't have any alternative treatments, and that Sharon should have the reassurance that they tried everything. Ethan points out that their concern should be what is best for the patient, Reggie, and not for Sharon's feelings, and that Reggie will not survive, even on ECMO, and should be allowed to rest. Natalie goes in to talk to Sharon, who admits finally that her judgment is clouded by the fact that Reggie was her first love, and that ECMO will not save him. Finally, Sharon consents to taking Reggie off ECMO, and he passes away, as she holds his hand.

Dr. Natalie Manning and Dr. Ethan Choi also treat a man who complains that his belly feels like it is on fire. On examining him, they realise he has worms.

Noah Sexton overhears Dr. Will Halstead and Dr. Nina Shore talking about Will's financial problems, and offers to let Will take up jobs on his new house call app, which is currently in beta mode but has received positive reviews from tech magazines. He describes the service as a 'medical concierge,' with several residents on board, and says having an attending physician on board would be mutually beneficial. Will agrees to try it out, and together they go to treat a 21 year old man with persistent nosebleeds, at his office. The man, Eliot, is a highly paid, workaholic computer programmer working very long hours at a startup. He tells Will and Noah that he has a headache as well. While they treat Eliot's nosebleed, Eliot takes selfies, and then offers to pay Noah via his phone. Before he can pay, Will asks Eliot to come back to the hospital for further testing, telling them he suspects Naegleriasis, an amoeba contracted from swimming in fresh water. Noah takes Will aside and tells him it is unlikely that Eliot got the infection swimming in Wisconsin in cold weather, even though it has been unseasonably warm. While Noah is concerned about keeping the customer satisfied, Will points out that treating the cause of the nosebleeds, and tells Noah that failing to treat a suspected condition could open them to liability.

At the hospital, Will runs a series of tests on Eliot, who is insistent on returning to his office as soon as possible, while Noah is concerned about getting a negative rating. He attempts to get April to intervene, but she declines. Noah expresses the difficulty of trying to manage Will in working on the app, since at the hospital, Will is Noah's boss. Eliot's tests show that he doesn't have naegleriasis, and he is further irritated by the fact that he now has to pay a higher medical bill than originally envisioned. Will is surprised, as he thought Eliot would be glad to have confirmation he's healthy, but Eliot gives them a negative review, threatening to make it go viral, and leaves. Will tells Noah that he doesn't think he is cut out for concierge medicine, and Noah gladly accepts his refusal to do more work for the app.

At the hospital, April shows off her engagement ring and is congratulated by everyone except Maggie, who does not show enthusiasm. Later in the cafeteria, Maggie and April talk about the engagement, and April tells Maggie that with her tuberculosis remaining dormant, she feels ready to take the next step. When Maggie reminds April that Tate and April had other conflicts that are still unresolved (such as Tate's son, and April's role in his life, or the fact that Tate asked April to quit her job), April tells Maggie that she's ruining April's happiness and leaves. Later, Maggie apologizes to April, telling her she shouldn't have let her mouth get away from her, and that she was just looking out for her. April tells her that she considered her decision carefully, and is sure of it. They embrace, and make plans to go dress shopping together.

Dr. Sarah Reese treats a former patient and victim of sex trafficking, Danny Jones, who has come in with stomach pains. Danny tells Sarah that he was kicked out his shelter as they didn't have enough room. He also tells Sarah that he is afraid his former captors will find him, and hurt him. Sarah tells Danny she will keep him safe. Sarah talks to Erin Lindsay, a Chicago P.D. officer about taking Danny into protective custody, and Erin tells her that it won't be possible, but they can try and talk with Danny. They attempt to get Danny to give them more information on the people who held him captive and abused him, but Danny is unable to share anything, getting increasingly distressed and telling Sarah his stomach hurts. Erin tells Danny to call her if he has any more information to share, and later tells Sarah that Danny isn't ready, and is afraid to share with them. After Erin leaves, Danny begs Sarah to allow him to sleep in her house for one night, assuring her that he is clean and not taking drugs. When Sarah hesitates, Danny takes it to mean that she doesn't want someone like him (a victim of sex trafficking and drug addict) staying with, taking it as a personal rejection, and calling himself 'trash'. He's not convinced by Sarah's explanation that hospital rules don't allow her to breach the doctor-patient relationship in that manner. She promises Danny that she will find him a place to stay.

Sarah talks to Dr. Daniel Charles, and asks if she can take Danny to her house, saying she doesn't see any more options. Dr. Charles attempts to stop her, but when Sarah reaches the E.R., she finds that Danny is gone. Maggie tells her that she doesn't know where Danny has gone, and Sarah blames herself, saying she should not have hesitated in response to Danny's request.

In the cafeteria, Dr. Connor Rhodes and Dr. Robin Charles bump into each other and realise that they have the same coffee order (double iced latte with one pump of sugar free vanilla). They joke about the odds of that, and Robin actually calculates the odds, which impresses Connor. He also realizes that she is Dr. Daniel Charles' daughter.

Dr. Daniel Charles and Dr. Jason Wheeler together treat a woman, Pamela, found loitering outside a convenience store, talking to herself. The woman tells them she just wanted potato-flavored ice cream. Dr. Charles notices discoloration on her nails, and tells Dr. Wheeler to page cardiology, and get some tests, telling him she has endocarditis. Dr. Charles asks if Wheeler didn't notice the nails, and the fever, and when Wheeler seems confused, tells him that he'll answer it himself. Dr Charles brings in his daughter, Dr. Robin Charles, to examine Pamela, and Robin suspects she might have MRSA, but is finding it difficult to confirm without having a patient history. Dr. Charles tries to speak with Robin about her recent break up with a boyfriend, and mentions that Robin has not made time to meet him. He asks if Robin has time to come collect a scarf he got her from his office, but Robin declines and returns to work. Maggie, noticing, commiserates with Dr. Charles. As Pamela passes them in her hospital bed, on her way to tests, and grabs on to Dr. Charles and begs him not to leave her. He accompanies her to get tested. Later, Dr. Charles is informed by Maggie that his diagnosis of endocarditis was correct, and that Pamela is on her way to surgery. Dr. Charles, who was considering non-surgical treatment options, is surprised, and discovers that Dr. Robin Charles spoke directly to Dr. Connor Rhodes and authorized the surgery. While discussing it, they flirt again and Robin calls Connor "Dr. Vanilla Latte."

Dr. Charles prevents them from going ahead with the surgery, telling them that Pamela currently lacks the capacity to consent to it, due to her impaired mental state. When Connor points out that the surgery could resolve her mental impairment, Robin tells them the situation is a Catch-22. Dr. Charles is adamant, and points out that Connor, as a surgeon, is inherently biased towards surgical treatment. Connor argues that Dr. Charles has inherent biases too, but Robin interjects again to say that they need the infected valve in Pamela's heart, in order to find out how she got endocarditis, to protect other patients at risk. Dr. Charles tells them both that surgery without informed consent is technically assault. They take the matter to Sharon Goodwin, with Connor having collected signatures from other surgeons confirming his approach as urgent and necessary. Sharon asks Connor if he is sure that the surgery is the best course and will fix it, and when he confirms, allows it. Dr. Charles tells her that they cannot make medical decisions by majority opinions, but Sharon tells him that she is not willling to question doctor's judgments anymore and that he should file a complaint if he wants.

After the surgery, Pamela is recovering and is lucid, but no longer remembers Dr. Charles, or meeting him. Dr. Charles is not pleased with Connor and they exchange words. Robin meets them and tells them that the infected valve shows that the patient has Q fever, which she contracted working on a dairy farm. Robin asks Connor if he'd like to join her in the cafeteria to write a report, and he agrees. Dr. Charles overhears, but does not say anything. After Connor leaves, Robin tells Dr. Charles that the reason she broke up with her previous boyfriend was that he was "too soft," and did not disagree with her on anything. She indicates that Connor is not likely to behave like that.

At the end of the episode, in the break room, Ethan comforts Sarah, telling her that Danny is a survivor, and that Chicago P.D. will find him. Sarah says she can't sit around and do nothing, and Ethan is shocked when Sarah says she's going to go out looking for him. He offers to go with Sarah, and help. They walk around, showing pictures of Danny to people on the street and asking if anyone has seen him.

At Molly's bar, Will and Dr. Nina Shore discuss Will's concierge patient, Eliot, and Will tells her that Eliot initially offered him stock options as payment. He tells her that concierge medicine is not for him, and he'll find another way to make money. Nina suggests that Will should move in with her, and he is reluctant, telling her that if they do move in together, it shouldn't be for financial reasons alone. Nina tells Will that she thinks their relationship is worth exploring. Will looks over her shoulder and sees Natalie, laughing, at the other end of the bar. He hesitates.

April shows off her ring to colleagues as they celebrate, at the bar, but starts coughing when she tries to lift up some drinks to carry back to her friends. Noah goes to assist April as she's running out, and finds she has a fever in addition to the cough.

At home, Sharon looks over Reggie's website, reading about all his professional accomplishments in the past few years.