When you tune into a medical drama series, you're know what you're getting yourself into. There are usually some pretty out-there medical cases dealing with rare diseases you have never heard of before. Chicago Med isn't known for pushing the envelope too much, but the most recent episode might have contained the show's most bonkers case in quite some time.
In Chicago Med season 11 episode 12, Asher and Frost treated a teenage patient who ended up being diagnosed with an allergy to the Midwest. Yes, really. Kiana, the teenage patient who had fainting spells and health issues after moving from her home state of Hawaii to Chicago, has a unique allergy to a whole region. But was she actually allergic to the Midwest? Well, yes and no.
Archer and Frost discover that Kiana has a rare autoimmune disease that causes her body to react in negative ways to the climate in Illinois. Being from Hawaii, she isn't used to the cold weather and other conditions that don't mix well with her health. There's no cure-all treatment for her condition, except for moving back to Hawaii and avoiding the climate in Chicago that caused her health decline.
Chicago Med's Midwest allergy was a unique case we didn't expect
Chicago Med only jokingly refers to Kiana's condition as an allergy to a specific region of the United States, but it's the truth of what's aggravating her autoimmune disease. The show has had some rather bonkers cases over the years, but someone's body having a hypersensitivity to specifically the Midwest might be one of the wildest that veered the series into 911 territory.
But Chicago Med season 11 episode 12 kept the strange cases coming. The characters aren't going to space or fighting off bee-nados like in 911, but they are performing heart surgery on a plane, which is another wild case we definitely weren't expecting. On the way to a board meeting with other members, including one she previously fought with, Goodwin's forced to execute a risky procedure.
While Goodwin was saving a life thousands of feet in the air, back at Gaffney, Charles and Lenox attempted to crack the code on a pair of brothers who own a pizza shop together. One of the brothers had a mental break and stabbed the other, blaming him for his mental state, which inspired Charles' medical student mentee to wonder if the brother was experiencing folie à deux.
Another one of Charles' medical students (who we hope to see more of in the show) came up with the actual truth: Celiac disease was causing aggressive side effects, including psychosis. Seriously, this episode had the perfect trifecta of unexpected medical cases we never could have dreamed up or expected coming from a mile away. Eleven seasons in and Chicago Med still knows how to surprise us.