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Critical Care (Star Trek: Voyager)
Encyclopedia
"Critical Care" is an episode of Star Trek: Voyager
, the fifth episode of the seventh season. It has an average fan rating of 4.8/5 on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.
mobile emitter to a crowded hospital where he barters a price for the 'trinket' with Administrator Chellick. The emitter is activated and the Doctor vehemently protests his kidnapping. However, when injured patients arrive, the Doctor puts his emotions aside in order to treat them.
Back on the USS Voyager
Harry
and Tom
discover that the Doctor was kidnapped after they visit sickbay. Voyager begins to try and locate the Doctor.
Meanwhile on the medical ship the Doctor discovers a miner named Tebbis has a terminal condition that could easily be treated by cytoglobin, but has not been. When he asks a fellow doctor, why Tebbis hasn't been treated he is told that Tebbis doesn't have a high enough Treatment Coefficient (TC), calculated by a complex algorithm that measures their benefit to society.
Chellick returns and tells the Doctor that the main computer, known as the allocator, has decided he would be better utilized on Level Blue, where patients with the highest TCs are kept. On Level Blue conditions are vastly superior. The Doctor learns that this is because a person's TC determines the quality of treatment they get.
On Level Blue, the Doctor tells a nurse that a patient requires an additional cytoglobin shot which he takes to Tebbis. With his help medicine is distributed to other patients with low TCs. Chellick discovers this scheme and has the Doctor restricted to Level Blue.
Voyager finds Gar's ship and has him beamed
to the brig. There, Neelix
feeds Gar a meal made with Talaxian wormroot, telling Gar afterwards it could give him painful abdominal spasms. He says that without the Doctor, they can't be treated. Gar quickly tells Neelix where the Doctor is and Voyager sets off to get him.
Meanwhile, the Doctor learns that Tebbis has died and manages to escape Level Blue so he can continue to help low TC patients. When Chellick finds the Doctor he attempts to de-activate him but the Doctor injects Chellick with blood from Tebbis, turning him into a low TC patient. With a low TC, Chellick can only be given cytoglobin by moving all low TC patients to Level Blue where they will all be treated. Chellick does this as Voyager rescues the Doctor.
Back on the ship the Doctor asks Seven of Nine
to perform a scan on his ethical subroutines as he thought deliberately infecting Chellick might be a sign they were malfunctioning. Seven tells him Borg
philosophy states that the loss of one for the greater good is worth the sacrifice; she then declares that his ethical subroutines are in perfect order.
s.
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
, the fifth episode of the seventh season. It has an average fan rating of 4.8/5 on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.
Plot summary
A trader named Gar brings the Doctor'sDoctor (Star Trek)
The Doctor, an Emergency Medical Hologram Mark I , is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Voyager, played by actor Robert Picardo...
mobile emitter to a crowded hospital where he barters a price for the 'trinket' with Administrator Chellick. The emitter is activated and the Doctor vehemently protests his kidnapping. However, when injured patients arrive, the Doctor puts his emotions aside in order to treat them.
Back on the USS Voyager
USS Voyager
USS Voyager can refer to:*USS Voyager , a motorboat that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919 and in the United States Coast Guard from 1919 to c...
Harry
Harry Kim (Star Trek)
Ensign Harry S. L. Kim, played by Garrett Wang, is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. He serves as the USS Voyagers operations officer.-Depiction:...
and Tom
Tom Paris
Thomas Eugene "Tom" Paris, played by Robert Duncan McNeill, is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Paris serves as the chief helmsman and an auxiliary medic aboard the USS Voyager...
discover that the Doctor was kidnapped after they visit sickbay. Voyager begins to try and locate the Doctor.
Meanwhile on the medical ship the Doctor discovers a miner named Tebbis has a terminal condition that could easily be treated by cytoglobin, but has not been. When he asks a fellow doctor, why Tebbis hasn't been treated he is told that Tebbis doesn't have a high enough Treatment Coefficient (TC), calculated by a complex algorithm that measures their benefit to society.
Chellick returns and tells the Doctor that the main computer, known as the allocator, has decided he would be better utilized on Level Blue, where patients with the highest TCs are kept. On Level Blue conditions are vastly superior. The Doctor learns that this is because a person's TC determines the quality of treatment they get.
On Level Blue, the Doctor tells a nurse that a patient requires an additional cytoglobin shot which he takes to Tebbis. With his help medicine is distributed to other patients with low TCs. Chellick discovers this scheme and has the Doctor restricted to Level Blue.
Voyager finds Gar's ship and has him beamed
Transporter (Star Trek)
A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an energy pattern , then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter...
to the brig. There, Neelix
Neelix
Mr. Neelix is a fictional character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. He is played by actor Ethan Phillips.-Fictional Biography:Mr. Neelix is a Talaxian originally from Rinax, a moon of the planet Talax, in the Delta quadrant, although his great-grandfather was Mylean. His entire family...
feeds Gar a meal made with Talaxian wormroot, telling Gar afterwards it could give him painful abdominal spasms. He says that without the Doctor, they can't be treated. Gar quickly tells Neelix where the Doctor is and Voyager sets off to get him.
Meanwhile, the Doctor learns that Tebbis has died and manages to escape Level Blue so he can continue to help low TC patients. When Chellick finds the Doctor he attempts to de-activate him but the Doctor injects Chellick with blood from Tebbis, turning him into a low TC patient. With a low TC, Chellick can only be given cytoglobin by moving all low TC patients to Level Blue where they will all be treated. Chellick does this as Voyager rescues the Doctor.
Back on the ship the Doctor asks Seven of Nine
Seven of Nine
Seven of Nine is a fictional character on Star Trek: Voyager, portrayed by actress Jeri Ryan. Born human, she was assimilated by the Borg at the age of six. Eighteen years later, Voyager left Borg space with Seven on board, after attempts to negotiate passage through Borg space proved only...
to perform a scan on his ethical subroutines as he thought deliberately infecting Chellick might be a sign they were malfunctioning. Seven tells him Borg
Borg
Borg may refer to:* Borg * Borg means Castle in some Nordic languages.-Places:*Borg, Saarland, Germany*Borg á Mýrum, Iceland*Borg, Vestvågøy, Norway*Diocese of Borg, Norway*Borg Massif, Antarctica*Borg El Arab, Egypt...
philosophy states that the loss of one for the greater good is worth the sacrifice; she then declares that his ethical subroutines are in perfect order.
Controversy
This episode tackles the issue of health care. In an interview on the bonus disc of the Voyager Season 7 DVDs, Robert Picardo describes this episode as an "indictment" of HMOHealth maintenance organization
A health maintenance organization is an organization that provides managed care for health insurance contracts in the United States as a liaison with health care providers...
s.