Janet Fraiser

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Dr. Janet Fraiser

Summary

Dr. Janet Fraiser was the Chief Medical Officer at the SGC for over seven years, until her untimely death while on an off-world rescue mission. She was an exceptionally skilled, caring, and dedicated doctor who saved many lives, sometimes more than once. She defended her medical principles as strongly as her patients, sometimes in contradiction to near-term mission goals. She was a beautiful, warm, compassionate woman, fiercely protective of her adopted daughter Cassandra and of her friends. She was Samantha Carter's best friend and a confidante at one time or another to all of SG-1 and General Hammond as well. The pain of her absence is keenly felt if not openly acknowledged.

Janet: A Visual History

Introduction
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Memorial Service

Comprehensive Character Biography

Personal Statistics

Not much is known about Janet Fraiser's past except that she was divorced (1.14 "Hathor", 7.17 "Heroes Part 1"). She had no children and lived alone until she adopted Cassandra, a 12-year old Hankan orphan brought to Earth by SG-1 and the only survivor of her people (1.15 "Singularity"). She raised Cassandra as her own, with help from her closest friend Sam Carter. Carter spent a lot of time with them, going on outings with them (3.16 "Urgo), visiting for birthdays, and playing chess with Cassie (5.06 "Rite of Passage"). When Fraiser died, Cassie was about 18 years old (7.18 "Heroes Part 2").

Military Career

It is not known exactly when Dr. Fraiser joined the staff at Stargate Command under Gen. George Hammond, except that it was shortly after the attack by Apophis. The first major medical crisis she dealt with was the histaminolytic virus encountered in the Land of Light by SG-1 and brought back to the base by them (1.05 "The Broca Divide"). Thereafter, her medical capabilities were put to the test on many occasions. She treated not only the the traumatic injuries that many military doctors see in wartime, but also a variety of illnesses originating on other worlds and resulting from exposure to alien substances and devices. She was even called upon to treat aliens, whose physiology is often vastly different from that of humans. In addition to her duties at the SGC, she had an office at the Air Force Academy Hospital (2.02 "In The Line Of Duty").

When she started at the SGC she was a Captain. She was promoted to Major by the time of SG-1's encounter with the giant aliens, as indicated by her uniform (3.21 "Crystal Skull). However, her promotion was never discussed.

She was a military officer as well as a doctor and was called upon to act in that capacity or use weapons on several occasions (1.14 "Hathor"). She received a commendation for her role in freeing the SGC males from Hathor's influence.

Saving Lives

Janet saved many lives during her years of service at the SGC. Teal'c suggested an enumeration of the people she had saved at her memorial service, and Carter followed his advice. Here also is such a summary.

  • She saved O'Neill, Daniel, and Carter, Hammond, many other SGC personnel, and presumably hundreds of inhabitants of the Land of Light. She realized that the parasitic histaminolytic virus which had infected them and caused them to revert to aggressive, primitive appearance and behavior could be counteracted with a cure based on antihistamines. After she treated all affected SGC personnel with massive doses of chloropheniramine maleate, O'Neill, Carter, and Teal'c went to the planet and rescued Daniel, then cured all of the infected people on the planet, turning the populace into long-term allies (1.05 "The Broca Divide").
  • She helped to save O'Neill from the rapid aging effects of the Goa'uld nanovirus that had infected him while the team was on Argos. Fraiser found the strange organisms in O'Neill's blood and helped Carter identify the non-organic nature of the objects, as well as their desire to multiply and spread. Once Carter figured out how to disable the nanovirus, by turning the controlling mechanism off, all of the Argosians were freed of their terribly short life cycle and O'Neill returned to his correct age (1.09 "Brief Candle").
  • She cared for O'Neill, Carter, and Teal'c when they returned from Oannes traumatized with memories of Daniel's death. Her careful attention to their behavior led her to conduct MRI scans of their brains, on which she saw evidence of tampering with their memories. When they started to doubt their own belief in Daniel's death, Fraiser informed Hammond and referred the team to MacKenzie, who hypnotized Carter, enabling her to remember that they had left Daniel behind with the underwater creature Nem. The three returned to the planet and brought Daniel home. Without Janet's careful attention, they might never have known that Daniel was still alive, and he might have remained trapped on the planet with no GDO, even after Nem freed him (1.13 "Fire and Water").
  • She discovered the reason for the deaths of all of the inhabitants of Hanka and brought back the one survivor, Cassandra, to care for her at the SGC. There she saved Cassie from cardiac arrest once and discovered the bomb device being constructed next to her heart. After SG-1 discovered by accident that the device would disintegrate if Cassie were taken far from the Stargate, Cassandra recovered and Janet adopted her (1.15 "Singularity").
  • She cared for Carter when she was blended with the Tok'ra symbiote Jolinar. As Jolinar died inside Sam, Janet performed CPR and administered treatment and drugs to get Sam's heart started again (2.02 "In the Line of Duty").
  • She treated Daniel for his addiction the sarcophagus. She monitored his condition and administered sedatives to try to make him comfortable. After his escape and attack of Fraiser, the airman, and O'Neill, presumably Janet continued to treat him until he was fully recovered (2.05 "Need").
  • She cared for O'Neill after his shoulder was pierced by an alien orb and discovered the nature of the organism that was spreading from it. She worked with Carter to find a way to kill or at least slow down the progress of the organisms until Daniel realized they should instead attempt to communicate with it (2.07 "Message in a Bottle").
  • She resuscitated Ma'chello's body while Daniel's consciousness was still trapped inside it, buying time until Carter was able to figure out how to return everyone to their own bodies. Afterward, Ma'chello did pass away with Janet by his side, tearful (2.18 "Holiday").
  • She spent three weeks at Teal'c's side after he was the only member of SG-1 found after the team had been ambushed by Jaffa and both he and his symbiote were badly injured. Hammond said that it was Fraiser's refusal to give up that kept Teal'c alive (2.22 "Out of Mind).
  • She worked with Carter and Doctor Warner to extract the protein marker from Carter's blood that would deactivate Ma'chello's Goa'uld-killing organisms, which were killing her and O'Neill. It was her idea to bypass a complicated extraction process and simply use a centrifuge to separate out the unwanted red blood cells (3.04 "Legacy").
  • She cared for Daniel after his emergency appendectomy, and may have performed the operation herself (3.22 "Nemesis Part 1", 4.01 "Small Victories Part 2").
  • She formulated a sedative based on the liquid in the canopic jar that had held Isis and used it to create some darts for Daniel to use on Sarah/Osiris. This enabled Daniel to neutralize Osiris long enough to save Steven Rayner, without killing Sarah (4.14 "The Curse").
  • Fraiser discovered that the deaths of personnel returning from the Goa'uld palace on P4X-347 were dying of withdrawal from something they had become addicted to on the planet. Her insistence that O'Neill bring Daniel back to the planet when Daniel was near death saved both of their lives (4.18 "The Light").
  • She was critical to understanding what was going on when an alien entity invaded Sam's mind. She kept Sam's body alive and with help from Daniel returned Sam's mind to her body after the entity had left (4.20 "Entity").
  • She determined the cause of Cassandra's sudden illness, a retrovirus planted by Nirrti. In spite of Cassandra's determination to continue her transformation, Janet kept her at the SGC and treated her as best she could. With time running out, she threatened Nirrti with a gun if she didn't help Cassandra. Nirrti did help in exchange for her freedom. Janet's perseverance and commitment saved Cassandra's life (5.06 "Rite of Passage").
  • Her long-term research into ways for Jaffa to live without symbiotes, combined with a ready supply of tretonin courtesy of the Tok'ra, enabled her to save Teal'c and Bra'tac when the symbiote they had shared between them for three days died (6.19 "Changeling").
  • She used CPR and a defribrillator to resuscitate Carter after she was electrocuted by a power spike during a gate overhaul (6.21 "Prophecy").
  • She found the anomaly in Jonas' brain and insisted that he have surgery, even though he wanted to delay it so that he could use his visions to help SGC personnel (6.21 "Prophecy").
  • She treated and saved Teal'c after a Jaffa hit him with a staff blast that passed through his empty symbiote pouch and injured his spine. She was also sensitive to his self-doubt about returning to duty (7.04 "Orpheus").
  • She used her medical skills to treat Daniel and her psychological skills to establish connections with the people inhabiting Daniel's mind. By doing so she learned what had happened on the ship and how it might be reversed. She saved Daniel's life and gave the people of Talthus a second chance as well (7.06 "Lifeboat").
  • She stabilized the badly wounded Airman Simon Wells while SGC personnel were battling Jaffa on P3X-666. While treating Wells, and with Daniel at her side, she was shot in the chest with a staff weapon and died instantly. However Wells credited Janet with saving his life by naming his daughter after her (7.17 "Heroes Part 2").

Solving Medical Mysteries

  • While doing a post-mission physical on O'Neill and the rest of SG-1, she discovered that they were no longer human, but robots with the consciousness of SG-1 inside of them (1.19 "Tin Man").
  • After Drey'auc noticed that Rya'c had two teeth that had been missing, Fraiser discovered the restored teeth were filled with biological poisons that, if combined together, would become the deadliest plague the world had ever seen (2.08 "Family").
  • After Teal'c was stung by a large flying insect on BP6-3Q1, Fraiser discovered that the insect DNA was overwriting Teal'c's and that he would eventually become a larva for many of the insects. She worked with a Doctor Harlow to find a drug to counteract the effects, but only in combination with Teal'c's symbiote was it effective in curing him (2.10 "Bane").
  • She characterized the effects of the Ancients' knowledge download on O'Neill's mind, noting his brain was operating at 90% of capacity, then that his language centers were being overtaken by the Ancients' language (2.16 "The Fifth Race").
  • She confirmed that the headaches, nausea, and irritability that SG-1 had been experiencing on were caused by very low frequency sounds being emitted on the planet and on Daniel's videotape of it, and she treated the strange, painted aliens who had been affected by the UAV on PJ2-445 (2.19 "One False Step").
  • She identified the dual-race, genetically engineered nature of Charlie and predicted his early demise due to organ failure. She was not able to cure him but did prolong his life for long enough that he was able to leave Earth and become a Tok'ra (2.20 "Show And Tell").
  • Fraiser discovered that it was nanites in the Orban Merrin's body that contributed to her incredible intelligence, and that their presence had prevented Merrin's brain from developing normally, so that once they were removed she would become child-like (3.05 "Learning Curve").
  • She discovered and investigated the nature of the implants that were making each member behave strangely. While a bit skeptical at first, she kept an open mind about the existence of Urgo, rather than write it off to mental illness or some less other-worldly explanation (3.16 "Urgo").
  • She was concerned about the motives of Anise/Freya when the Tok'ra asked Jack, Daniel, and Sam to wear the Atanik armbands as an experiment. Rather than trust her to properly care for SG-1, Janet ran her own medical tests of the team and discovered the negative health effects of the armbands, and the fact that they couldn't be removed. If not for her investigation, the team members might have gotten into even more trouble than they did (4.03 "Upgrades").
  • A future version of Janet insisted on examining Sam herself when Sam had been unable to get pregnant. Janet discovered that Sam was physically unable to conceive and thereby uncovered the Aschen plot to depopulate Earth and take it for themselves (4.16 "2010").
  • She discovered the residue on Teal'c's jacket that was causing SG-1 to remember a teammate who had never existed, Tyler. After experiencing a flash of memory of Tyler herself when she touched the stain, she had the substance analyzed and confirmed that it was causing their shared hallucination. If she hadn't, Hammond would not have been able to authorize the rescue mission that brought Jack home (5.06 "The Fifth Man").
  • She diagnosed Kelownan Dr. Keiran as schizophrenic and postulated that it was due to brain damage from long-term exposure to naquadria radiation. Kelownan scientists confirmed that he was not the first case they had seen (6.07 "Shadow Play").
  • When Jaffa and Tok'ra were dying violently but mysteriously, threatening their alliance, Fraiser travelled to the Alpha Site to help with the Tok'ra who were evacuating to there from their Risa Base which was being attacked by Anubis. She also performed autopsies on the first two victims of the Ashrak (Tok'ra and Jaffa), and determined the cause of death and identified the type of weapon used (6.09 "Allegiance").
  • She discovered on behalf of Earth the true nature of the symboiote-based drug Tretonin, namely that once taken it suppressed the patient's own immune system and that it had to be taken forever, and that its effects were irreversible. The irreversibility was solved once Tok'ra Queen Egeria revealed the way to create an antidote (6.10 "Cure").
  • She found the genetic breakdown causing Young Jack's deterioration, and with the help of Selmak, discovered that he was a clone (7.03 "Fragile Balance").

Standing Up for Medical Ethics

  • She treated Apophis and his host, not only so that Apophis could withstand questioning, but also to relieve his pain, stating simply "He is my patient." (2.17 "Serpent's Song").
  • She argued strongly against allowing Teal'c to suffer and die by removing his symbiote, even if relieving his suffering did mean he wouldn't be able to cast off Apophis' brain washing. Overruled by Hammond, she vowed to resign if Teal'c died. Thankfully she was able to revive him after his vital signs momentarily ceased (5.02 "Threshold").
  • She acknowledge to Carter that Daniel was going to suffer horribly before dying of radiation poisoning and he would be better off if she ended his suffering early, but she could not do it because it would go against all of her training and beliefs (5.21 "Meridian").
  • She insisted on returning the symbiote to the pouch of female Jaffa Mala, even though Mala didn't want it because she was trying to transition to tretonin. Unfortunately it was too late, and Mala died (7.10 "Birthright").

Expert on Symbiotes

Janet became a foremost Tau'ri expert on Goa'uld symbiotes. She devised and used an aquarium that could sustain them for extended periods of time (2.10 "Bane", 5.02 "Threshold", 6.19 "Changeling"). She collected their DNA for analysis (1.14 "Hathor"), performed autopsies on them (4.14 "The Curse"), and learned to treat injured Jaffa (Teal'c many times, Moac in 3.20 "Maternal Instinct", Ishta's people in 7.10 "Birthright"). She also became expert at regulating and administering Tretonin (6.19 "Changeling", 7.04 "Orpheus").

Injuries Received

  • Shot in the upper arm during the takeover of the base by the male staff under the influence of the Goa'uld queen, Hathor (1.14 "Hathor").
  • Thrown across the room by Daniel, who was desperate to escape the SGC and return to the sarcophagus to which he had become addicted. She appeared to recover quickly, telling Jack only moments later that she was fine (2.05 "Need").
  • Infected by three of Ma'chello's Goa'uld-eradicating devices. Because no symbiote was present, these machines caused symptoms of schizophrenia including vivid hallucinations and hearing voices. The machines were expunged after she was injected with a protein marker from Carter's blood, fooling the machines into thinking that the host had been freed from the symbiote and their purpose henceforth fulfilled (3.04 "Legacy").
  • Subdued by aliens and duplicated, placed in suspended animation on Sublevel 23 (3.14 "Foothold").
  • In Egypt, thrown back against the wall of an ancient Egyptian temple, along with Maj. Carter, by Osiris (4.13 "The Curse").
  • On a rescue mission to P3X-666, hit in the chest with a staff weapon blast fired by a Jaffa. She died instantly (7.18 "Heroes Part 2").

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--Michelle 23:22, 15 Jun 2005 (PDT)

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