Gregory House is addicted to Vicodin in House M.D.
Vicodin is a prescription painkiller containing hydrocodone and acetaminophen. In the series, House uses it to manage chronic pain caused by muscle damage in his right thigh, a condition linked to the infarction that occurred before the main events of the show. His dependence becomes one of the character’s defining conflicts.
House’s drug use affects his judgment, relationships, employment, and medical license. Colleagues repeatedly challenge him to stop, while House insists that the medication helps him function. Several storylines depict withdrawal, relapse, rehabilitation, and the consequences of obtaining or using the drug improperly.
The medication is sometimes misremembered as OxyContin or Percocet because those are also prescription painkillers. In House M.D., however, Vicodin is the recurring drug specifically associated with House’s chronic pain and addiction. The show uses the addiction both as a realistic professional hazard and as part of House’s self-destructive characterization.