The long run of 20 seasons is not the most shocking aspect of ‘Grey’s Anatomy‘. The drama series revolves around a team of surgeons saving lives, almost every day, from the most bizarre of ailments. The series takes viewers on an emotional ride along with the critically ill patients. However, if we were to look beyond the many tears, viewers question the fantastical diseases and accidents that borderline the hilarious.
The series is also full of medical inaccuracies, where medical personnel use MRI to observe a metal fork stuck in a patient’s neck. Nonetheless, showrunners have gone well beyond fantasy to create episodes with bizarre storylines. Where else have we seen a patient being dragged on a stretcher with tree branches for arms or being operated on with a live bomb inside them? Here are ten such bizarre medical cases tacked by the surgeons of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
10. Pregnant Man
The atmosphere of episode seven of season two was not dampened by Meredith and Derek’s slump in their relationship as a medical miracle arrived at the Seattle Grace Hospital that beat Mother Mary. In her third trimester, Tina is about to deliver her first child. However, her husband’s focus does not seem to be on his future family planning.
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Shane Herman claims that he too is pregnant. The interns believe that he is mirroring his wife under unconscious sympathy. But the tables turn when the pregnancy test comes back positive. However, Shane was not technically pregnant he had a tumor called a teratoma. It is a rare tumor that grows hair, nails, and tissue faking a fetus and releasing hormones that make pregnancy test positive.
9. Judy Dolls Fetish
Perhaps the ‘Enough Is Enough’ episode should have been the waking call for showwriters when Mr. Hubble ate ten Judy Doll heads, which caused a bowel obstruction. After Dr. Bailey discovered the figures in the imaging viewers thought it would have been better if Hubble was a drug mule. Bailey extracted all the ten Judy Doll heads in the surgery.
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Izzie, George, and Christina along with others wondered over the patient’s reason to swallow doll heads. When Mr. Hubble told Meredith, viewers were shocked not over the reason but Meredith acceptance of it.
8. Man Allergic To Pain Medication
Allergies are not unusual but when Henry Lamott arrived all eyes gawked wide open. In the season two episode titled ‘Bring On The Pain’, Lamott is allergic to all pain medication. To deal with the constant pain his doctor has prescribed Lamott pornography which, not surprisingly, works. Producer Zoanne Clack related, “We also wanted to introduce the pain-management storyline, with Derek being the doctor who dealt with it.”
7. Awkwardly Stuck Divorced Couple
Divorces can be hard and often one or both partners are stuck with the memory of their failed marriage. However, this former couple was stuck together more tangibly and shouted the title of the episode ‘Oh! The Guilt’ of Season Three. Sonya Cowlman’s IUD got stuck in her ex-husband, Adam Morris’ piercing during intercourse. Both couples had to go through an embarrassing imaging process with an even more embarrassing conversation with their daughter while still stuck.
6. Penis Fish
Ironies and puns swam deep into episode 21 of season three titled ‘Desire’. Larry Jennings was brought to Dr. Fischer and Dr. Webber when a candiru fish swam up his urethra and obstructed bladder flow. The patient was not able to urinate for three days and the bladder had to be relieved via a suprapubic catheter. Clack revealed that they had always wanted to include this story as early as season one. Finally when they did, “it was hilarious.”
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5. Two Impaled By A Pole Together
A train accident brought mass casualties into the Seattle Grace Hospital in season two episode six titled, ‘Into You Like A Train’. Bonnie Crasnoff and Tom Maynard were impaled by a train pole. The rod ran through the patients. Although the plot ended very sadly with Bonnie’s death, the improbability of the case cannot be ignored. Even Clack confessed, “That was absolutely fabricated.”
4. Cement Man
Doing ridiculous pranks with friends is a memorable treat and Andrew Langston will surely remember when he jumped in a vat of cement and almost died. In the season four finale titled ‘Freedom Part 2‘, Andrew arrives at the hospital enveloped in cement. Surprisingly, the chunk of cement around him was not the threatening issue. Andrew could have died if he could not relieve his bladder.
3. Woman With Spontaneous Orgasms
Pamela Calva’s quality of life has deteriorated as she keeps having spontaneous orgasms multiple times over the past few months. In season two episode 18 titled ‘Yesterday’, Pamela and her father are both embarrassed as she climaxes in public. The improbable cases again make the plot of the show bizarre. Dr. Krista Vernoff explained that Pamela had a small tumor on her pudendal artery. The oversupply of blood to the clitoris caused spontaneous orgasms.
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2. Girl Who Could Hear Her Internal Organs
Our body cleverly tunes out all the internal processes of the body. That is why we can not feel the peristalsis of the intestines. But what if you could hear your internal organs? Hayley May was incorrectly diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Alex toils over the teenager’s imaging and discovers that she has Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome which left the teenager’s inner ear unclosed.
1. Operating On A Patient With An Active Bomb Inside Him
In season two episode 16, James Carlson is sped into surgery when a bazooka shell crashes into his chest cavity. A brave new paramedic named Hannah Davies stops James from bleeding by putting her hand into his chest. However, her bravery melts away when Alex discovers that the entire active bazooka is inside James and can go off at any moment. To make the scene more pressured, Derek is performing surgery on Dr. Bailey’s husband, while Bailey is in labor, and Meredith takes Hannah’s place. The intense narrative can’t take away from the implausible case unfolding on the operating table.
But Grey’s Anatomy does everything in extreme right? Be it family drama or far-fetched romances, they know how to push the boundaries. So, some illogical and wild cases have made their way to the show’s records, even if real doctors might smirk at them.
