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  "path": "/articles/next-season-on-david-ellisons-the-pitt",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-11T16:30:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.mcsweeneys.net",
  "tags": [
    "The Week"
  ],
  "textContent": "_“ Paramount Skydance appears to have won the bidding war to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery. If the $110.9 billion deal goes through, it will place a vast media kingdom in the hands of Paramount CEO and staunch Trump administration supporter David Ellison, with his father, billionaire Larry Ellison, also likely to play a role. This includes nearly unprecedented access to a variety of news organizations and Hollywood tentpoles.” —_ The Week\n\n- - -\n\n**INT. TRAUMA BAY – DAY**\n\nA TODDLER _wheezes. Bright red rash. Monitor blares._\n\nDR. ROBBY: What’ve we got?\n\nDR. JAVADI: Two-year-old. Fever 104. Persistent cough. Conjunctivitis. Rash started at the hairline this morning and is moving south.\n\nDR. ROBBY: Mouth?\n\nDR. JAVADI: Koplik spots. Tiny white spots on buccal mucosa. Classical presentation. It’s measles.\n\nDR. ROBBY: Vaccination status?\n\nDR. JAVADI: Parents opted out.\n\n_A relieved exhale from_ ROBBY.\n\nDR. ROBBY: Good. The vaccine has been linked to autism spectrum disorder, seizure disorders, chronic inflammatory syndromes, autoimmune encephalitis, developmental regression, speech delay, sensory processing disruption, autoimmune thyroid disease, myocarditis, infertility, endocrine dysfunction, mitochondrial injury, blood-brain barrier permeability, and long-term immune suppression.\n\nDR. JAVADI: Not to mention latent spike-protein expression.\n\nDR. ROBBY: In this country, measles kills only about one to three children per one thousand. Vaccine injury is permanent.\n\n- - -\n\n**INT. OB TRIAGE – DAY**\n\nA PREGNANT WOMAN, _mid-thirties, shivering violently. Sweat-soaked. Monitors flicker._\n\nNURSE DONNIE: Temp 103.8. Twenty-three weeks pregnant.\n\nDR. KING: Fetal heart rate?\n\nNURSE DONNIE: Tachycardic. One sixty and climbing.\n\nDR. SANTOS _enters, scanning the chart._\n\nDR. SANTOS: Source of the infection?\n\nNURSE DONNIE: Unknown. Labs pending.\n\n_The woman trembles._\n\nPREGNANT WOMAN: I feel like I’m burning up.\n\nDR. KING: We need to bring the fever down. Let’s start with acetaminophen.\n\n_Silence._\n\n_Santos looks at her skeptically._\n\nDR. SANTOS: You want to give her Tylenol?\n\nDR. KING: Yes.\n\nDR. SANTOS: During gestation?\n\nDR. KING: That’s the standard of care.\n\nDR. SANTOS: Was.\n\n_A beat._\n\nDR. SANTOS (cont’d): There are longitudinal correlations.\n\nDR. KING: Correlations aren’t causation.\n\nDR. SANTOS: They’re signals.\n\n_The fetal heart monitor ticks faster._\n\nDR. KING: A fever this high can hurt the baby. It can cause a miscarriage.\n\nDR. SANTOS: Acetaminophen exposure risks neural tube defects. Autism.\n\nDR. KING: That’s not established.\n\nDR. SANTOS: Nothing is “established” until it’s too late. If we give the mother Tylenol now, we could ruin her infant’s life forever.\n\n_The woman groans._\n\nPREGNANT WOMAN: Is my baby okay?\n\n_King hesitates._\n\n_Santos answers gently._\n\nDR. SANTOS: We’re protecting your baby’s long-term neurodevelopmental arc.\n\nDR. KING: By letting her cook?\n\nDR. SANTOS: It’s called watchful waiting.\n\n- - -\n\n**INT. GENERAL WARD – DAY**\n\nDIGBY, _forties, homeless, gaunt. Cheekbones sharp. Hospital bracelet loose around his wrist._\n\nNURSE EVANS _enters, checks her chart._\n\nNURSE EVANS: How are we doing, Mr. Digby?\n\nDIGBY: Hungry.\n\nNURSE EVANS: Weight’s down another eight pounds.\n\nDIGBY: They don’t serve much under the bridge.\n\n_Evans nods, thoughtful._\n\nNURSE EVANS: Well, you’re in luck. The administration has released new nutritional guidelines, making it very affordable to eat a healthy, nutritious meal.\n\n_Digby brightens._\n\nDIGBY: Like a meal plan?\n\nNURSE EVANS: Exactly.\n\n_She consults a laminated card clipped to the medical station._\n\nNURSE EVANS (cont’d): For three dollars, every American should be able to eat a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla, and one other thing.\n\n_Digby studies her, unsure if she’s serious._\n\nDIGBY: What’s the other thing?\n\n- - -\n\nEXT. AMBULANCE BAY – DAY\n\n_Cold air. Hum of traffic._\n\nDR. LANGDON _stands alone, coat collar up, rubbing his hands together._\n\n_In the distance, sirens._\n\n_The ambulance pulls in. Doors swing open._\n\n_Inside: the small, stiff_ CARCASS OF A BABY BEAR _on a gurney._\n\nPARAMEDIC: Recovered from Schenley Park. Dumped near the fountain.\n\n_Langdon nods gravely._\n\nDR. LANGDON: Cause of death?\n\nPARAMEDIC: Unknown. Possibly vehicular.\n\n_Langdon takes a step closer. Studies the bear._\n\nLANGDON: Malnourished.\n\nPARAMEDIC: You want to send it to pathology?\n\nDR. LANGDON: No. Bring it inside.\n\nPARAMEDIC: Inside?\n\nDR. LANGDON: There’s viable protein here. Bone broth for pediatrics. Fat tallow for general.\n\nPARAMEDIC: Copy that.\n\n_He wheels the bear through the automatic door. Langdon watches it go._\n\n_A banner inside reads:_ MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN.",
  "title": "Next Season on  David Ellison’s  The Pitt"
}