A recent Chicago Med episode that featured Dr. Caitlin Lenox crossing an important line should inspire a closer look at how the series handles ethical missteps.
Trigger Warning: This article will touch on a Chicago Med storyline that featured domestic violence in general terms.
When Dr. Caitlin Lenox was introduced during Chicago Med season 10, there initially was no way for viewers to know how much fans of the show would come to love that character. However, by the time that viewers learned that Dr. Lenox has Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease, there was a lot of concern about the character’s future.
Now that season 11 of Chicago Med has been airing, it has been fascinating to see how the character has changed. Most notably, there is no doubt that Dr. Lenox has become more reckless after she was confirmed to have the disease. As interesting as that can be, I am shocked by how the show treated Dr. Lenox crossing a serious line with a patient as no big deal.
Dr. Caitlin Lenox breaking into a patient’s phone was a huge deal
During Chicago Med season 11, episode 4, “Found Family,” Dr. Caitlin Lenox found herself in a nightmare situation that would no doubt worry and haunt most people. During her work in the ER, Dr. Lenox learned that a patient she was trying to help was the victim of severe domestic violence. However, when Dr. Lenox tried to provide help to her patient who’d clearly undergone a lot of violence, they were too afraid to leave.
When faced with the inability to help someone whose safety she feared for, Dr. Lenox made a startling decision. She broke into the patient’s cell phone and put her phone number inside. Not only that, Dr. Lenox then proceeded to carry her patient’s phone around in her pocket as the woman was receiving further treatment for her extensive injuries. Later during the episode, as the patient was partially opening up to her, Dr. Lenox suddenly pulled out the phone and said this. “I took this out of your bag. I put my number in it. It’s under Catie with a C.”
To be clear, Dr. Lenox’s actions were clearly undertaken in a desperate attempt to provide her patient with an escape hatch. However, breaking into the cell phone was a huge deal for two reasons. First off, a doctor breaking into a patient’s cell phone like that is a massive invasion of privacy that could result in serious consequences for the medical professional.
Of course, given Dr. Lenox’s recently exhibited reckless behavior, she may not care very much about risking her career during current storylines. On top of that, there is a strong moral argument that bending the rules in an attempt to protect someone who is being abused is the right thing to do. However, purely from the standpoint of wanting to get her patient to safety, Dr. Lenox’s move was incredibly questionable.
Before Dr. Lenox revealed that she’d taken, carried, and broken into her phone, the patient was starting to open up to her. After that revelation, however, the rapport that was being built instantly dissolved. The shocked-sounding patient initially thanked Dr. Lenox while sporting a 50-foot stare. After seemingly taking a moment to accept what her doctor had done, the patient’s entire energy changed as she shut down the conversation and professed that she was fine, and her injuries were an accident.
Despite the fallout of Dr. Lenox’s action with her patient’s phone, the Chicago Med episode never actually drew any real attention to how egregious that behavior was. That seems like a strange choice to me.
