As the finale of Malpractice begins, Lucinda Edwards (Niamh Algar) goes home and receives a phone in a package. She begins getting messages from clients wanting to book an appointment with her. Lucinda calls George Adjei (Jordan Kouame) who comes over moments later. George listens to something on the phone before going back to Norma Callahan (Helen Behan) and telling her that she needs to listen to Lucinda. Together, they listen to a recording of Jubair Singh (Ash Tandon). Lucinda pleads with them to go to Eva Tait, but Norma says they can’t do that right now.

She soon learns that Rob passed away last night. Lucinda explains that it is more important than ever now that Rob is dead and Jubair can’t find out that she was talking to them. As for her tribunal hearing, it is still going ahead as scheduled. George comforts Lucinda as she leaves. She finally admits that she was with Rob when he was hit by a vehicle. Lucinda visits Dr. Eva Tait (Georgina Rich) to talk to her about Rob and the drugs. Once they sit down, Lucinda tells her that they’re going to know she is involved so she should go to them and tell them about Jubair’s involvement. Eva isn’t going to do that because they were a tiny part of the operation and Jubair made it clear they were expendable.

Eva tells her about Rob’s brother who struggled with drugs and his daily methadone pickups. Rob prescribed him drugs from time to time. Jubair found out and offered him money to prescribe for some wealthy customers. When Lucinda says those people came to the Guelder Clinic to get off drugs, Eva explains that addiction treatment in this country is a revolving door. Eva doesn’t think people recover and even points to Lucinda as an example of that. People weren’t overdosing at first, but something changed and it concerned Rob. He spoke to Jubair only to be threatened and told to keep going. That’s when he brought Lucinda in.

Lucinda is warned that this whole thing goes a lot further than Jubair Singh. After that, Lucinda calls Oscar Beattie (Scott Chambers) and tries to get him to give her Milo Hanbury’s information. Norma tells George that the Wellspring Pharmacy is being audited by the GPhC tomorrow morning. Lucinda visits Milo (Darryl Dale) to talk to him about the drugs. She learns that he got fentanyl from the Wellspring Pharmacy with a prescription. He cooked the same amount and didn’t take anything else. Lucinda convinces him to give her the remaining patches. As she leaves, she calls the manufacturer to talk to them about the batch since there might be something wrong with it.

Tom Edwards (Lorne MacFadyen) goes home and finds the mess that Lucinda has left. Lucinda goes to the hospital to tell Oscar about the drugs. They look through his audit for the batch number and find that it was marked as waste. Oscar tells them how the drugs are tested and sent to developing countries. Lucinda confronts Dr. Mike Willett (Tristan Sturrock) to ask about the waste drugs. Oscar gets Leo Harris (James Purefoy) who says he’ll try to talk some sense into her. Mike calls security so they can remove Lucinda from the hospital. Lucinda says Edith would be alive if the waste drugs weren’t sold. Willett calls her delusional. Lucinda wonders why he is so determined now to believe her.

She questions whether he has something to do with it. Willett reminds her that she is a drug addict and that is why she doesn’t believe her. Security arrives and escorts Lucinda out of the building. Later, Lucinda gets a call from Camilla Woodham (Lucy Martin) who says her friend is overdosing. Lucinda asks for her address so she can come help her. When Camilla gets there, she finds herself surrounded by Jubair Singh (Ash Tandon) and two other men. They hold her down and make Jubair inject her with an overdose. Camilla watches the men leave. Norma tells George to call the lab and ask them to get Lucinda’s drug screen results back faster. They’re surprised to learn that Eva is there to see them.

At the hospital, Matron Beth Relph (Hannah Walters) gets a call about an overdose coming in. Oscar is distraught when he finds out that it is Lucinda so he isn’t able to help. He goes looking for assistance. Ramya Morgan (Priyanka Patel) takes over and helps save Lucinda’s life. Willett enters and learns that she allegedly locked herself in and deliberately overdosed. Tom visits Lucinda in the hospital as she recovers. Norma receives a call and learns about the overdose before telling George. They visit her at the hospital. Norma says Oscar didn’t think this was a suicide attempt.

Lucinda denies trying to commit suicide. She claims Jubair and two other men are responsible. Norma says Oscar informed them of her discovery with the hospital’s drug disposal process. Lucinda contributes it to Jubair’s attempt on her life. Norma asks if anyone else knows. Lucinda admits to telling Mike Willett. Norma says Eva confirmed her story and admitted to planting the drugs in Edith’s flat. She assures her that she believes her story.

George and Norma compare the data from RH with Oscar Beattie’s data to notice a few indiscrepancies. RH has ordered too many drugs over the last five years. The unused excess is wasted and donated to the Developing Aid charity. They question Leo about Developing Aid. Leo says hopefully Lucinda receives the care she needs. Norma informs him that their visit isn’t about Lucinda. He assures them that her allegations are false. George claims Lucinda mentioned his being in Ghana. Leo says he was employed at a hospital there.

Leo speaks to them about starting Developing Aid with three other doctors. After doing an audit on wasted medications, he persuaded hospitals to let him take some of that medication to Ghana. The following year, he founded Developing Aid. Leo denies profiting from the illegal sale of hospital waste drugs to wealthy addicts. Norma says they have evidence that Developing Aid is diverting drugs for illegal resale via the Wellspring Pharmacy Chain. Willett said it was Leo’s suggestion to switch to Developing Aid for drug waste collection.

Leo admits that he might’ve submitted incorrect audit data, but everything they’re saying is based on complete supposition. They agree to meet again to talk when he has representation. Norma tells him that the police want to speak to him about payments he has been receiving into an offshore account. He is arrested on charges of charity fraud, NHS fraud, and profiting from the sale of illegal drugs when he steps outside. Lucinda tries to get him to speak, but he doesn’t say anything before being taken away in a police car. Eva is arrested. Jubair is stabbed and killed by Yussef. Lucinda goes to the hospital to thank Ramya for saving her life and to tell her she will be a great doctor.

Lucinda speaks to Norma before the tribunal. She realizes she is in trouble because she is on a list of doctors that prescribed drugs for Jubair. Norma offers to give a statement to police saying why she did that if Lucinda admits to having a diazepam addiction. Tom approaches Lucinda next. She tells him what they want her to say and how she’ll be offered treatment. Tom thinks she has a problem and needs to admit it. Otherwise, she is going to lose more than her job. She says the drugs help her cope with everything at work, but Tom reminds her she is using them at home too. He thinks it is more than just coping.

He pleads with her to tell the truth and get help. Lucinda admits she needs help and can’t do this by herself. Tom watches her go into the tribunal as the episode ends.

 

Malpractice Review

The finale of Malpractice was okay at times although the convoluted story made for a messy, unbelievable episode. The performances have remained solid throughout and it was great to see Ramya step up and help save Lucinda’s life. However, it is hard not to feel like Malpractice was a missed opportunity to explore so many relevant topics, including drug addiction, overdose, malpractice, and corruption.

The characters that were meant to be drug addicts really didn’t fit the criteria well. These people are supposed to be using fentanyl and overdosing, but they don’t look any worse for the wear. Unforgotten’s latest season did a better job of portraying addicts with Hebe Beardsall’s Cheryl and Rhys Yates’s Jay. The whole story around Lucinda bringing down a drug operation fell flat possibly because it ended up being more complicated than it needed to be.

Again, a legitimate drug addict who was ready to abuse even up until the tribunal wouldn’t throw away her easiest connection to her drug of choice. The series really could’ve been a lot better, but there are some good performances hidden in Malpractice. Stupid Microsoft restarted and updated my computer causing me to lose every bit of this recap and a few hours of my time so that was extra frustrating.

The finale of Malpractice was just okay, but a more grounded story would’ve been more meaningful. It scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Malpractice are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.