MEDICAL LOGS

MELD
Season 2 : Episode 32

 

EMH SPECIFICATION:

The Doctor is programmed with the medical knowledge of every world in the Federation (presumably as at the date of his original initialisation plus any updates that are made available to him which is not really possible until  [#82 Message In A Bottle] and then via the Project Pathfinder datastreams in 2376 onwards).

MORGUE RECORD:

There is an issue with the warp drive when the manifolds refuse to fire up due to a problem in EPS Conduit 141. The problem turns out to be Crewman Darwin whose body remains are found there. It is assumed to be an accidental death until the Doctor's post-mortem which reveals that 98 per cent of Darwin's body suffered third-degree plasma burns. If the circuit had not failed, the body would have been vapourised. It was made to appear that Darwin had entered the conduit to repair a faulty circuit when the accident occurred, but he has a contusion which is the result of a hard blow to the back of the skull. The time of death is listed as 2214 hours. Ensign Suder was the only one in Engineering at the time and he eventually insists on confessing, adding that he used a two-kilo coil spanner to deliver the fatal blow to Darwin. Suder then hid the spanner behind an access panel on deck 7. The Doctor's investigation confirms the culprit.

the Doctor finishes the post-mortem on Darwin

the Doctor points out evidence on a monitor: "The coup-contracoup pattern of breakage should tell us if the blow is the result of a moving head hitting a stationary object, or a moving object hitting a stationary head. In this case, the pattern clearly indicates the latter. I'm sorry to report Crewman Darwin was murdered."

the Doctor shows Tuvok the DNA evidence

the Doctor confirms the murder weapon - a coil spanner

MEDICAL REPORT:

A Betazoid, Suder claims that he cannot feel his own emotions, much less the emotions of others. The Doctor reports that Suder's genetic profile reveals that his neurogenetic markers are normal and there is no tendency toward bipolar disorder. Later, the Doctor acquires a patient in Tuvok after the Vulcan mind-melds with Suder (who, after demotion, is now confined to the Brig). As a Vulcan, Tuvok has internal processes that allow him to control violent instincts, and he believes that through a mind-meld it is likely that Suder will gain, at least for a time, some of Tuvok's self-discipline to better control his own violent nature. But the attempt misfires when some of Suder's violent tendencies transfer to Tuvok and his Vulcan self-discipline fails to suppress them adequately. After Tuvok relieves himself of duty and trashes his quarters, Janeway persuades him to attend Sickbay. After Tuvok's mind-meld the levels of neuro-peptides in his limbic system are down 15 per-cent and there is a definite neurochemical imbalance in the mesio-frontal cortex, which is where the Vulcan psycho-suppression systems are located. This may be the result of an incompatibility with the Betazoid telepathic neural centre. The Doctor immediately follows the recommended course of treatment, which consists of the following: First they take away his ability to control his violence, which is done in short bursts over a period of time in the hope it will provide a shock to his system. If it works, his mind's neural controls will take over again. They temporarily remove his emotional suppression abilities and he feels emotion. They also disable his telepathic abilities so that he cannot affect Kes.

the first part of Tuvok's treatment, during which he abuses those present and tries to attack Janeway

After Tuvok breaks out of confinement in Sickbay and makes an abortive attempt to execute Suder, he returns to Sickbay where the Doctor completes the treatment.

MISCELLANEOUS:

The Doctor explains that elevated norepinephrine levels, which suggest aggressive even violent tendencies, are readings not significantly different from those of the other Maquis crewmen: "Obviously it takes a certain personality type to be attracted to the life of an outlaw."

DOCTOR'S QUOTE:

When Tuvok cannot accept the lack of motive for the murder: "How to close the case without understanding the logic of the crime. For a Vulcan, that would be a dilemma, wouldn't it." He later explains: "All of us have violent instincts. We have evolved from predators. Well, not me of course. I've just been programmed by you predators. The question is: in a civilised world can we suppress those instincts? Most of the time we can. Vulcans certainly can - you've got your violent feelings buried underneath centuries of control. But the rest of the humanoid races aren't always so skilled at self-discipline. Crewman Suder may have violent impulses he just can't control."