r/TheLastShip • u/xLite414 • Aug 17 '14
Discussion The Last Ship - 1x09 "Trials" - Episode Discussion
Season 1 Episode 9: Trials
Aired: August 17, 2014
Rachel and Chandler ask for six volunteers to participate in human trials of her vaccine, but the tests could be a living hell as the virus and the vaccine do battle inside their bodies. Meanwhile back in the States, Chandler's wife and father are doing everything they can to keep their family alive.
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u/dualstrike19 May 24 '25
I watched this when it was on TV when it first came out and I was a teenager. Now 10 years later as a pharmacist it was interesting how close they were with some of the medications but not quite 100%. (And to be fair it’s very possible drugs available and best practices could have changed in the time from the show since I can’t really compare to back in 2014 since I lacked the knowledge).
During the seizure: Valium (Diazepam), while benzodiazepines are great for breaking seizures diazepam is not recommended to be given IM due to erratic absorption. Now granted if they don’t have a line, and no other better benzodiazepine for IM use (like Midazolam) sure give it IM if that’s all you’ve got but but then they do get a line, so probably worth re-dosing again. Additionally once they get a line they give 60mg ketorolac, which right dose for IM, a bit high if giving IV and is more for the fever aspect as it is an NSAID.
Overall if they reversed those two meds in the route they were given then would be spot on and the argument could be made those meds were chosen due to limited resources and what they had on the ship. Potentially the argument could be made that in a panic it wasn’t clear thinking of what to give. Although you’d hope in preparation for the trial there would be a plan for an event like a seizure discussed ahead of time and a clear plan of meds to be given in place.
The other one is morphine 10%. That’s a concentration of 10g per 100mL, or 100mg/mL. Now not really a product available today (the highest I could see is 50mg/mL) and also would probably be some ludicrous dosing, unless the plan was to just end it for the test subjects vs just some comfort medication in which case high dose might make sense.
All in all probably worth a B-B+ at least for those medications in terms of accuracy. I don’t have enough knowledge to accurately judge the IVIG or antibody with the primordial virus plan, although it sounds pretty not realistic.