Ben Casey

Dr. Ben Casey is at odds with the medical board, particularly Dr. Zorba and Dr. Jensen, because of his manner toward interns. Under a reprimand, Casey tries to persuade the board to approve neurosurgery on nine-year-old Pete Salazar. After the first of three operations on the boy, Casey is accidentally jabbed with a needle while administering a rabies test to a female patient. During his thirty-day wait for a life-or-death prognosis, he is given permission to resume the surgery.

Little Cathy Reed is brought to the hospital for emergency treatment after an auto accident. Casey prepares a blood transfusion, but her mother won't consent.

Dr. Michael Waldman, a former professor of Casey's and a former colleague of Zorba's, comes to the hospital with a cardiovascular ailment diagnosed as fatal. Casey and Zorba want to try a new surgery on him, but the medical board is opposed.