House MD uses constant patient lying and a contrasting lecture to further explore the conflict between beneficence and autonomy in medical ethics. Medical autonomy is the ability of a patient to make their own decision regarding their health. Medical beneficence, however, is the responsibility of the physician to maximize benefits to the patient and minimize costs. These two parts of medical ethics are in constant conflict throughout the House series, with the series' motto being "Everybody Lies". The main character House, with his cynical and suspicious nature, is the ideal doctor to care for these sometimes unconsciously deceptive patients. The chosen episode "Three Stories" shows this deception of patients with a gripping detective story of three patients who all have leg pain, but one of them lies about the source of the pain. The main characters of this series are House and his colleagues James Wilson, Lisa Cuddy, Eric Foreman, Allison Cameron and Robert Chase. The most important of these characters is James Wilson, who is Dr. House's only true friend and who acts as his conscience in many cases. The typical episode begins with a cold showing an event outside the hospital that ultimately leads to this week's patient's symptoms. The team comes up with different basic diagnoses and presents them to House who dismisses their conclusions, saying they are missing factors not taken into account. Clues are often missed because the patient has lied, intentionally or unintentionally, about symptoms or circumstances. These factors lead to patient misdiagnosis and, in some cases, mistreatment multiple times during the episode. This constant misdirection which...... middle of paper ...... argues. “The global community has considered individual autonomy to trump beneficence in medical decision-making. » (Fogoros) House MD delves deeper into this conflict with deceptive patients who withhold vital information from doctors that could lead to a correct diagnosis. The particular episode "Three Stories" shows this conflict through the conference with House and the contrasting students. The series promotes the idea that beneficence is more important than autonomy, but also realizes that this argument is difficult to make and reflects this in its episodes. Works Cited Fogoros, Rich. “Why does America love Dr. House?” Better health. Np, April 15, 2009. Web. February 20, 2014. Shore, David. “Three stories.” MD Fox House. May 17, 2005. Television. Thompson, Ethan and Jason Mittell. How to watch TV. New York (NY): New York University, 2013. Print.