At the Hogan-Hayes Clinic for diabetic patients, two people die and seven go into comas in the space of one night. Now Logan and Briscoe are investigating. When it's discovered that the patients had all been given overdoses of insulin, Cragen notices similarities in the victims' dates of birth. He suggests that someone could have used an algorithm to tamper with the blood scanner. Sure enough, investigation shows that a hacker uploaded a virus to the system. The detectives trace a high school student named John Cook, and he is arrested.
The judge deems the search of John's computer to be illegal, and won't allow charges against him, even when Stone and Robinette learn that John's father (Dana Elcar) was a patient at Hogan-Hayes. He lost his sight because the clinic failed to cure his diabetic retinopathy; his attempts to sue Dr. Hayes, the head physician, were unsuccessful. So Stone brings charges against Mr. Cook as an accessory to murder. Mr. Cook went to numerous doctors for help with a malpractice suit, but they all stated there were no grounds and his condition would have been incurable. He is clearly delusional and believes they are all protecting Dr. Hayes.
Confronted with the threat of his father going to jail, John confesses to the hacking. He blames Dr. Hogan for his parents' divorce, and wanted to get revenge by ruining Dr. Hogan's business. John receives a lengthy prison sentence. Schiff, Stone, and Robinette agree between them that doctors aren't infallible, and it's a shame that John didn't yet have the maturity to understand this.
This episode contains examples of:
- Disability as an Excuse for Jerkassery: A variation, as John is not disabled himself, but he uses his father's disability to justify his actions. And his father appears to encourage it. Sort of a jerk by proxy.
- Disappeared Dad: John hadn't seen his father for three years before the case, on account of his parents' bitter divorce.
- Downer Ending: Two people are dead, with seven others in comas and may also die later. Mr. Cook fails to prevent John from going to jail; Stone says that John, who is currently 16, is likely to be at least 50 years old before he's released.
- Halfway Plot Switch: The first half of the episode is about the investigation into the hacking and John Cook. The second half is about Mr. Cook's vendetta against Dr. Hogan, and whether he was involved in John's actions.
- Literal Soapbox Speech: In court, Mr. Cook uses the stand for a lengthy rant about the perceived incompetence of the doctors at Hogan-Hayes.
- The Paranoiac: Mr. Cook genuinely believes that the entire medical and legal professions are involved in a conspiracy against him.
