"Complications" is an episode of JAG that first aired on January 7, 2003. Directed by Bradford May. Written by Paul J. Levine.
The young daughter of Marine General Chad Kubin (Lyman Ward) dies in the operating room and General Kubin demands a court martial of the medical staff.
Admiral Chegwidden assigns Commander Rabb and Lt. Colonel MacKenzie to investigate. They recommend dereliction of duty charges against Lt. Commander Bartell (David Gail), the surgeon in charge of the operation. Commander Turner (Scott Lawrence) defends Bartell; Mac prosecutes.
The judge, Commander Helfman (Jennifer Savidge), throws out the case when Lt. Hamilton (Henriette Ivanans) claims she felt intimidated by General Kubin and told him what she thought he wanted to hear. Helfman approves a probable cause hearing to determine whether Kubin should be court-martialed for exerting undue command influence.
Kubin rejects a defense based on his grief for his daughter, then approves Mac's defense that there really was a cover-up in the operating room. Rabb prosecutes. Mac asks the civilian Dr. Stoudamire (Wayne Wilderson) "Would you be surprised if DNA tests showed...?"
Stoudamire then confesses that the anesthesiologist, Lt. Commander Ashley (Missy Yager) made a mistake in calculating the dosage and pushed it through too fast. Stoudamire tried to cover up Ashley's mistake by mixing in another patient's blood (the other patient had hepatitis).
So there was a cover-up but Kubin still exerted undue command influence. Helfman asks Mac and Rabb if they can come to an agreement out of court. Rabb offers a punitive letter of reprimand but no confinement or loss of pension. Mac thinks she can convince Kubin to accept.
Meanwhile, the medical evaluation board hearing for Lt. Roberts seems hopeless when the board members, unimpressed by his improvement in upper body strength, point out his lack of improvement running, and imply that his wanting to stay in the Navy is selfish.
Roberts goes back to work, complaining about the small nature of his workload, until the case of Lt. Fred Kiefer (Matt Carmody) catches his eye. Kiefer claims that a laser light from a North Korean vessel has damaged his eyesight, necessitating his departure from the service.
Roberts investigates and discovers that Kiefer has been deliberately exposing his eyes to lasers at home in order to convince the Navy ophthalmologist that his eyesight is worsening. Instead of getting his medical discharge rubber-stamped, Kiefer will probably have to answer some charges.
Despite Roberts telling Petty Officer Tiner (Chuck Carrington) not to make "a big production" of the response from the medical board, Tiner still gives the letter to Roberts in front of everyone at the office. The board have approved him to stay in the Navy.
Lt. Singer (Nanci Chambers) asks to extend her 30 days' leave to full maternity leave. Chegwidden was under the impression that Singer intended to have an abortion, instead she plans to give the baby up for adoption.
At Benzinger's, Rabb is still convinced that his Russian half-brother Sergei is the father, and demands Singer call Sergei. But Singer insists the baby is not Sergei's and it's none of Rabb's business. Rabb insists, going so far as to ask that Singer give the baby to him.
Annoyed, Singer leaves without even sipping the beer she ordered, and likewise Rabb leaves without sipping the coffee he ordered. We see that Petty Officer Coates (Zoe McLellan) was in the next booth, she must have overhead everything.
Tropes
- Artistic License – Military: The Marine Corps "has neither preachers nor healers," according to the old saw, meaning that Marines and their dependents almost always rely on the Navy for doctors and chaplains (sometimes Army or Air Force). As a consequence of this, a Marine flag officer like Kubin can't be in the direct chain of command of any military doctor, as is pointed out in the second half of the episode. But this makes a line in the first half of the episode sound rather odd. Kubin's complaining about Mac's stubbornness. "She won't give us any of my expert witnesses," Kubin says. "The doctors you want her to use served directly under your command," Chegwidden replies. Although it's possible that a Navy corpsman (field medic) who served under Kubin in the past is now a Navy doctor, or that some Marine subordinate of Kubin's is now a civilian doctor, a likelier explanation for Chegwidden's line is that Kubin was probably originally intended to be an admiral rather than a general.
- Family Versus Career: Singer wants to give up her baby for adoption, so it doesn’t stall her career. Rabb, who thinks the baby is Sergei's wants her to either keep it, or let him raise it.
- Foreshadowing: Rabb arguing with Singer in this episode will be mentioned in a later episode.
- Lying to the Perp: Without the "Would you be surprised if" preface, Mac's question might be considered misconduct as an officer of the court.
- Murder by Inaction: The initial suspicion is that the surgeon failed to react in time after the patient flatlined due to a nicked carotid artery. He was instead interrogating the anesthesiologist and the nurses. However, the anesthesiologist was distracted by the surgeon telling joke, and pushed the anesthesia too fast. Thus the patient received too much too quickly and died.
- Playing Sick: Lt. Kiefer, who really is injured, but not for the reason he claims.
- Self-Harm: Turns out he was intentionally firing a laser beam into his eyes off duty so he could claim disability and get a medical retirement note
