Carter says that Brad Enloe is a candidate for immunotoxin therapy for his leukemia, this is one of the more recent types of cancer treatment and was highly experimental at the time this episode aired, but it has since shown good success for treating certain cancers, especially cancers of the blood. Immunotoxins are artificially engineered proteins that are composed of an antibody fragment bound to a toxin, both bacterial and plant toxins are used depending on the specific cancer. In 2005 refinements in the process allowed for the creation of recombinant immunotoxins, which are artificial toxins created by splicing the DNA of both bacterial and plant toxins together to create new, more effective cancer fighting toxins. The antibody fragment is designed to only target cancer cells, the protein binds to the cell surface and then introduces the toxin into the cancer cell killing it. This has the huge advantage over chemotherapy and radiation of only killing cancer cells but not healthy cells, as chemo and radiation do not discriminate between the two.
Carol tells the teenage girl she is seeing for acne that it is clinic policy to prescribe birth control pills to all women of child bearing age when prescribing them isotretinoin (Accutane), due to the fact that isotretinoin can cause severe birth defects. In 1998 it was also the FDA's recommendation as well, they recommended that all women of child bearing age taking isotretinoin use two forms of birth control while taking the medication, and for one month before starting and up to one month after stopping the medication, the FDA also highly recommended that all women of child bearing age must first have a negative pregnancy test before being prescribed the medication and most physicians required a negative pregnancy test. However not all physicians required testing and not all patients followed the recommended guidelines, as such between 1983 and 2000 around 2,100 women in the United States taking isotretinoin became pregnant, with almost all of the pregnancies ending in abortion or miscarriage, not a single pregnancy that was carried to term was without a serious birth defect. This led to the FDA adding stricter requirements, in 2011 a new program called iPLEDGE was started the requires all women of child bearing age to use at least two forms of birth control, typically estrogen pills and condoms, while taking isotretinoin as well as requiring them to be using them for at least one month prior to starting isotretinoin and for at least one month after. Women are also required to have pregnancy tests one month before starting the medication, every month during treatment (which is usually for 4-6 months) and a final test one month after treatment has ended.
All the publicity material for Season 5 shows Noah Wyle with a beard. In this episode, Dr Carter is forced to shave off what remains of his beard after accidentally sticking his face to a patient covered in glue.
First appearance of Officer Reggie Moore (Cress Williams).