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Season 5
PRIVATE PRACTICE - "Andromeda" - Sam tries to take care of his sister, Corinne, but her mental condition makes that nearly impossible; Sheldon learns that Amelia has life-changing news; the flirtation between Addison and Jake continues, and Cooper rejects Charlotte's suggestion to seek outside help with Erica's care, on "Private Practice," THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.  (ABC/KELSEY MCNEAL)BENJAMIN BRATT, KATE WALSH
Andromeda
Season 5 | Episode 16 | Aired 02/23/12

Corinne has been preoccupied with thoughts visiting the planetarium. She admits that she's worried about letting Sam down by sliding back to her old self. Sheldon shares her concerns that there could be setbacks. Sam, however, seems unwilling to accept this. A late night incident when Corinne manically charts the stars in the sky may be a sign that Sheldon was right to be worried.

Another troubling scene at the office seems to indicate that Corinne is spiraling downward. Things go from bad to worse at home. Corinne is out of control. Sam tries to grab hold of her, but his little sis ends up crashing through a glass door. She needs to be sedated at the hospital. Sheldon tells Sam that Corinne needs more care than he can give her. He finally seems to be realizing this may be true.

Addison wants to have a follow-up chat with Jake about the conversation they started about their feelings. That's not going to happen. See, Jake has nothing more to say. But if he did, he's pretty sure Addison would tell all her friends about it. Yes, he knows that she blabbed to a few of his colleagues about their complicated relationship and he's not happy about it.

Addison wants to know why Jake asked her about her feelings in the first place. That's easy. He tells her that he could fall in love with her. But he can't do that while she's still hung up on another man. Jake says, "You're not ready for what I have to offer." Addison responds, "I could get ready." That would be nice.

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  • Do You Risk One to Possibly Save Two?   By Noah Evslin, Director of Medical Research  If you watch our show closely, you'll realize it's not the medical treatments that make Private Practice different than other shows on television; rather, it's the ethical debates surrounding the myriad decisions our doctors need to make every week.    In episode 516, "Andromeda," we meet Addison's patients, LAUREL EPSTEIN and her partner DANI MILES.  Laurel is pregnant with twins and we very quickly discover that she's facing every pregnant woman's worst nightmare – one of her twins has a life-threatening problem, a severe diaphragmatic hernia which is preventing the lungs from forming properly.  If left untreated, the baby won't be able to breathe on its own after delivery.  The only way to fix this problem is to undergo a risky in-utero surgery, which is dangerous enough when you're only dealing with one baby, but when you're dealing with two babies...  the risks become almost unfathomable (for both the mother AND the unborn babies).  This, of course, brings us to this week's ethical debate:   If faced with this situation, do you do nothing knowing that one of your babies might die?  Or, do you risk the life of the healthy baby to try and save the sick one?    This is definitely not a situation that any mother wants to be in, especially since this type of surgery is risky and could result in two dead babies.  That being said, Dani and Laurel's problems don't just end there.  Here is a secondary problem they're facing:   What if the parents of a sick child don't agree on a plan of action?  Who gets to decide?    Normally, in the case of an unborn child, the mother gets to make the decision for the fetus growing in her stomach.  But, in this somewhat unusual case, we have two mothers – and while Laurel might be carrying the babies, they're Dani's eggs.  And they definitely aren't on the same page about what to do.  Laurel feels like it's her body and that the risks are too high.  Dani, on the other hand, is adamant that they do everything they can to save both babies, as she doesn't want to say goodbye to either one of them.    Could this decision be any harder?  Poor Violet and Addison are caught in the middle.   Addison feels like she can save both babies, but she admits there's a good deal of risk.   Violet is just trying to keep the couple together as their disagreement is tearing their relationship apart.   Addison ultimately convinces Laurel to have the surgery and manages to save both babies.  But what if Addison wasn't able to do it?  What if one of the babies died? Or, worse, both of the babies died?  Do the ends justify the means in this situation?    In other words, do you think Addison made the right decision to risk the life of one baby to save the life of the other?
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE - "Andromeda" - Sam tries to take care of his sister, Corinne, but her mental condition makes that nearly impossible; Sheldon learns that Amelia has life-changing news; the flirtation between Addison and Jake continues, and Cooper rejects Charlotte's suggestion to seek outside help with Erica's care, on "Private Practice," THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.  (ABC/KELSEY MCNEAL) CATERINA SCORSONE, AMY BRENNEMAN, KATE WALSH, BENJAMIN BRATT
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE - "Andromeda" - Sam tries to take care of his sister, Corinne, but her mental condition makes that nearly impossible; Sheldon learns that Amelia has life-changing news; the flirtation between Addison and Jake continues, and Cooper rejects Charlotte's suggestion to seek outside help with Erica's care, on "Private Practice," THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.  (ABC/KELSEY MCNEAL) BENJAMIN BRATT, KATE WALSH
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE - "Andromeda" - Sam tries to take care of his sister, Corinne, but her mental condition makes that nearly impossible; Sheldon learns that Amelia has life-changing news; the flirtation between Addison and Jake continues, and Cooper rejects Charlotte's suggestion to seek outside help with Erica's care, on "Private Practice," THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.  (ABC/KELSEY MCNEAL) CATERINA SCORSONE, AMY BRENNEMAN, KATE WALSH, BENJAMIN BRATT