Dana takes a leave from the clinic to help her mother through a double mastectomy. Lu's impromptu safe-sex speech at a prep school's career day puts her in the middle of a legal dispute over a date rape. Peter's ""alternative"" approach to pain management for a patient with Hodgkin's disease gets them both arrested. And Dana and Lu must each decide how much they want to know when they are both tested for the mutated BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that would reveal a predisposition to breast cancer.

A journalist comes in with an infection on her foot and Dana(Janine Turner)realizes that she is actually a closet heroine addict. Lu (Rosa Blasi) is called to the emergency room when her patients, a deaf family, are brought in following a fire in their apartment building. She worries about their safety and suggests a risky ear surgery for them — but the husband disapproves. Lu brings her boyfriend home to meet Marc(Chris Marquette).

It's an all-nighter for Lu at Rittenhouse — and there's not a moment's rest. Robert's wife, Susan, is back in the hospital as her MS progresses. A baby is kidnapped — from a pregnant mother's womb. And Lana's blind date ends in the ER.

A mother goes on a hunger strike in the hopes of saving her son from being executed. And when something goes wrong in the OR, Dana wonders whether it's time for her to leave Rittenhouse.

The second season begins with Dana and Lu at odds over the fate of a dead college student's fertilized eggs. The day is further complicated by the arrival of Peter's mother, who clings to the idea that her heterosexual son is gay. Elsewhere, a dying patient and her husband wait impatiently for a donor heart and Nick's appointment to the ER staff is in doubt.

Dana's bedside manner is put to the ultimate test when a former high-school rival comes to her for treatment. A nurse considers suing the hospital after she tests positive for the HIV virus following an incident in the ER.

Lu travels to Puerto Rico, where her beloved grandmother urgently needs a bone-marrow transplant to survive. As the headstrong doctor copes with this life-or-death situation, she flashes back to her days as a resident, recalling her first meeting with Peter and Lana. Mary J. Blige guest stars as a moody blues singer named Simone.

The parents of conjoined twins refuse to have them surgically separated, even though that means they may both die. Lu suspects a leukemia patient may have attempted suicide by starting a fire. Peter is concerned about a patient with a severe rash on her arm and suspects it to be the some kind of virus. Dr. Jackson feels that Rittenhouse needs a good safety & emergency plan and he puts Lana in charge of it.

Philadelphia baseball fans blame Dana when the home team loses a crucial playoff game. Lu cares for a piano prodigy with scleroderma, a potentially fatal disease that hardens the body's organs. Peter helps a retired research chimp find greener pastures.

A patient of Dana's gives birth to twins — one baby is black, the other is white. And Lu suspects that a woman with chronic back pain is addicted to prescription drugs.

Dana waits for Nick to decide when they will get married, and treats a figure skater who's determined to compete in the Olympics despite being diagnosed with osteoporosis. Elsewhere, Lu takes an instant dislike to her son's new girlfriend's father (Don Michael Paul). Lana looks forward to graduating from high school. Peter finds his new romantic relationship to be fleeting.

Dana suspects an Amish woman is infected with mad-cow disease; and Lu treats Lana for a sexual dysfunction stemming from her days as a prostitute.

Dana counsels a woman and her emotionally distant son, who are both being treated for lead poisoning. Also, Lu goes to bat for a stenographer with carpal-tunnel syndrome.

Dana is troubled when a patient requests new breast implants immediately after her first ones rupture. Elsewhere, Lu fears for the life of a wanted criminal's sickly newborn.

Striking nurses send the hospital into chaos, forcing Dana to withhold an experimental treatment for a dying baby. Also, an abused patient of Lu's is turned away.

Lu is raped by Rittenhouse's star surgeon — but he insists that the sex was consensual. Meanwhile, Dana attempts to help a critically injured woman whose car crash may or may not have been an accident.

Lu has plenty of opinions when it comes to deciding on Dana's replacement, but she soon learns that Dr. Robert Jackson, the chief of staff, has already hired someone for the position. Enter Dr. Andy Campbell, a former Army colonel who has returned to civilian life for the sole purpose of co-directing the Rittenhouse Women's Health Clinic. It's not long before tempers flare and Andy and Lu butt heads over a case involving a wealthy patient who needs a kidney transplant and a poor woman who sells her healthy organ for the money.

It's Andy Campbell's official first day as co-head of the Rittenhouse Women's Health Clinic. But before she can go in and save lives, she needs to help her two young daughters adapt to their new lives. Once she arrives at the hospital, Andy is left scratching her head, wondering what could be causing a woman's repeated miscarriages. Later, Lu and Andy face off when a drug-addicted patient almost dies from an overdose.

Strange things are brewing at Rittenhouse. A patient seeks Lu's treatment for what appears to be a simple rash; but upon closer examination, the condition turns out to be a dangerous flesh-eating bacteria. Meanwhile, Andy is caught in the middle of a sensitive case when a mother wants to have her schizophrenic daughter's tubes tied. And Peter tries to piece together clues to close the book on a doc who's up to something sneaky.

A local politician hot on the campaign trail needs Andy's help to remain cool under pressure. Her issue? She wants to stop blushing. Meanwhile, Lu tries to ease her patient Melissa, a former drug addict, into taking pain medication for a muscular disorder. But after she starts the meds, Melissa is soon rushed into the ER—and Lu must help fight for her patient's life.

Lu faces the horrifying memory of her rape when a patient turns to her for help in dealing with her brother, a convicted sex offender. When Andy's patient displays baffling, life-threatening symptoms, Andy suspects foul play.

Lu goes up against the government when one of her patients turns out to be a suspected terrorist. Meanwhile, Andy treats a deaf woman for rheumatoid arthritis, which has the potential to cripple the hands—silencing her ability to speak.

Dr. Campbell's diagnosis of the first local case of West Nile Virus causes a near panic in the community; Lu tries to help a hard-working mother remain close to her hospital-bound son.

Academy Award-winning actress Rita Moreno guest stars in this episode of ""Strong Medicine,"" airing March 9, 2003 on LIFETIME Television. Moreno plays a street doctor treating patients who don't have the financial means to obtain medical treatment. Dr. Delgado makes a point of checking on her when she suspects the doctor may be growing senile. Later, Lu becomes frantic when she learns that a building has collapsed and her fire fighting boyfriend is unaccounted for while Andy counsels parents who are forced to make an extremely difficult medical decision about which of their two children should have lifesaving surgery

Lu faces an ethical dilemma about her doctor/patient confidentiality when an abused, pregnant woman appears to be missing. Andy confronts a doctor whose chauvinism may have cost a patient her life.

Andy and Lu put their heads together when each of their patients show signs of being poisoned. It appears their exposure to chemicals may turn out to have more to do with where they shop. Lu tries to mediate between an alcoholic and the daughter offering a piece of her liver for transplant.

Nick is transferred to Manhatten General. Ben's HIV test has a positive result. Also, Ben hires his ex-wife to make up for the damage he caused to her career. Andy learns that her daughter Jesse's friend is addicted to cough syrup. Kayla Thorton, a new intern, is pushed into the hustle and bustle of the ER. She gets into trouble when she asks a girl if she is sexually active in front of her mother and things go terribly wrong.

Jesse gives her friend CPR to save her life after she loses consciousness due to consuming too much syrup. Andy feels responsible for the incident because Jesse's friend was in her care.