Vicodin is Gregory House's signature prescription painkiller in House M.D.
House takes Vicodin to manage the chronic pain caused by an infarction in the quadriceps muscle of his right leg. His dependence on the drug becomes a recurring part of the story and affects his health, judgment, and professional life.
Vicodin combines hydrocodone and paracetamol, also called acetaminophen. The series uses House's medication use as both a character detail and a source of conflict. It is sometimes confused with other opioid painkillers shown in medical dramas, but Vicodin is the specific drug repeatedly associated with House.