Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden) on the phone in The Pitt season 2, episode 7via MovieStillsDB
By
Sean Morrison
Published Feb 26, 2026, 9:30 PM EST
Sean is a senior writer for ScreenRant and has been writing about new TV releases since December 2023. He has received multiple advance screenings of popular shows and ideated his own coverage read by hundreds of thousands of readers.
Sean is a self-published author of a Western novel. Sean has also written award-winning opinion pieces related to local politics while getting his Bachelor's degree in journalism.
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Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Pitt season 2, episode 8.Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden) has been worrying about a medical malpractice lawsuit since The Pitt season 2 began, and this week's episode finally revealed why she's being sued. Dr. King is one of the most beloved characters in the cast of The Pitt, and she's had an unorthodox story so far in season 2. Since the premiere of the season, Mel has been obsessing over being named in a medical malpractice suit.
For most of the season so far, we haven't known anything about Mel's malpractice suit. She's refused to speak about it with anyone, and all The Pitt had revealed was that Mel was stressing out about it. Her deposition is slowly approaching, and this week's episode finally revealed why she's being sued. Not only that, The Pitt season 2, episode 8 also confirmed that Mel's lawsuit is a direct callback to a controversial patient from The Pitt season 1.
Dr. King & Dr. Ellis Are Being Sued By The Mother Of The Measles Patient From The Pitt Season 1
Dr. Melissa King (Taylor Dearden) taking samples from a patient's spinal cord in The Pitt Season 1 Ep 15Image via Max
As The Pitt season 2, episode 8 revealed, Mel and Dr. Ellis were both named in a medical malpractice suit filed by Hillary Edwards. Hillary was the mother of Flynn, a boy who was brought to PTMC at the end of The Pitt season 1 with a case of measles. Viewers will recall that Hillary was an anti-vaxxer who refused to let Ellis and Mel perform a spinal tap on her son, even though they needed it to treat his measles.
In The Pitt season 1, Hillary's husband, Larry, eventually gave the doctors permission to perform the spinal tap. Mel then did the procedure, and they were evidently able to save Flynn's life. Now, Hillary is claiming that the spinal tap caused Flynn to experience intellectual decline. As Ellis explained, however, Mel's spinal tap was perfect, and the mental decline was likely caused by measles pneumonia, not Mel's spinal tap.
Mel’s Malpractice Suit Should Be Extremely Easy To Win
Taylor Dearden as Dr. Melissa King in The Pitt season 1
Now that we know who is suing Mel and why she filed the malpractice suit, it's pretty obvious that Mel had nothing to worry about. This medical malpractice suit should almost certainly be ruled in Mel's favor. There's no reason to think even a misperformed spinal tap would cause intellectual decline in a patient, much less a properly performed one. Mel didn't make any mistakes, and even if the judge does rule in Hillary's favor, Ellis was a resident supervising Mel's work.
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Posts By Grant HermannsThere's virtually no way for Mel to face negative repercussions from this case. Larry gave his verbal consent to perform the spinal tap, they clearly logged that Flynn had measles pneumonia which explains his intellectual decline, and Mel was being supervised by a resident. The spinal tap was a justifiable medical procedure, and Hillary's lawsuit is entirely frivolous. Mel has essentially been worrying over nothing all season long.
Dr. Robby Had More To Worry About From The Measles Patient Than Mel Did
Robby leaning over a desk speaking in The Pitt season 2
If anyone had anything to worry about with regards to how Flynn Edwards was treated in The Pitt season 1, it was Dr. Robby, not Mel or Ellis. Both Ellis and Mel followed procedure to the letter, getting verbal consent for everything they did and saving a patient's life. Robby, on the other hand, was flying off the handle when Flynn came into the hospital.
Flynn came into the hospital shortly after the PittFest shooting started dying down, and Robby was in a precarious mental state. When Hillary refused the spinal tap at first, Robby began yelling at her. Later, to convince Larry to do the spinal tap, Robby brought him into the impromptu morgue to scare him into the procedure. If there was any medical malpractice, it was done by Robby, not Mel and Ellis.
The Pitt Season 2 Release Schedule
Title
Release Date (Thursdays @ 9 p.m. ET)
7 AM
January 8
8 AM
January 15
9 AM
January 22
10 AM
January 29
11 AM
February 5
12 PM
February 12
1 PM
February 19
2 PM
February 26
3 PM
March 5
4 PM
March 12
5 PM
March 19
6 PM
March 26
7 PM
April 2
8 PM
April 9
9 PM
April 16
Robby was also one of the attendings for at least part of Flynn's treatment, so it's a wonder he wasn't named in the malpractice suit. It's clear now that Robby isn't going to face repercussions, as he's not named in the malpractice suit, but Mel shouldn't have any either. Fans of Dr. King can rest easy for the rest of The Pitt season 2, even if she won't.
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The Pitt
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-MA Drama Release Date January 9, 2025 Network Max Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill Directors Amanda Marsalis Writers Joe Sachs, Cynthia Adarkwa
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Noah Wyle
Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch
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Tracy Ifeachor
Dr. Heather Collins
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