I am such a fanatic fan of House M.D. the weeekly telly serial, that I have withdrawal symptoms if I don't get to see it. His flamboyant, irreverent, brash mannerisms which disguise a sensitive man who plays the piano, strums a guitar, rides a Bike, misses his ex wife, and suffers with his limp.. alone with his Vicodin.. sigh...before I start drooling. What I realised is that we as Indian doctors have a lot in common with the genius doctor. We diagnose patients sometimes by starting treatment 'empirically' and that happens a lot of times among AMO's and medical officers in the PHC's and other primary health care setup's.. sometimes this' empirical' form of treating takes place in teaching hospitals too.. because either the diagnostic test is not available, or the the test is too expensive and the patient can't afford it. So we say ' lets start treatment and , then if it doesn't work start something else.. relying on our clinical