The 10 Best Medical Cases in ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ Ranked
With 20 seasons under its belt, Grey’s Anatomy has had many wild moments, both in and out of the hospital. There have been an abundance of dangerous situations occurring at what is now known as Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Additionally, there have been many bizarre and sometimes terrifying medical cases that the doctors somehow always found a way to solve.
At its best, Grey’s Anatomy successfully balanced patients’ medical problems with the doctors’ personal issues. With these combined, fans never really know what to expect from Grey’s Anatomy. Even the guest characters who were only in an episode or two had medical cases that made an impact. These are the 10 best medical cases on Grey’s Anatomy, ranked.
Grey’s Anatomy has had many iconic medical cases over the years. Typically, these cases have meant great opportunities for the doctors, and great misfortunes for the patients. One of these was a patient with Tree Man Syndrome in the underrated Grey’s episode “Superfreak.” In the episode, a patient named Jerry Adams came to the hospital for help with a severe case of HPV that was also known as Tree Man Syndrome.
Jerry’s HPV had combined with an immune deficiency to cover his skin in warts that would grow back even after surgical removal. His skin was covered, and his hands especially looked like they were coated in tree bark. This was a very memorable case, particularly for the emotional aspect. When Jerry was unable to safely remove the warts and would have to wait for a skin graft, his wife left him.
One of the best parts of the older seasons of Grey’s Anatomy was how the patients’ cases would frequently mirror aspects of the surgeons’ personal lives. In Season 2, episode 7, “Something to Talk About,” Meredith was struggling after Derek chose Addison over her. To make matters worse, she had overheard a great deal of gossip about the situation, with herself at the center of the rumors.
This aspect of Meredith’s personal life caused her to empathize with a patient named Shane Herman. Due to what turned out to be a mesenteric teratoma, Shane looked like he was pregnant, and even tested positive on pregnancy tests. Meredith went out of her way to protect the privacy of Shane and his family, despite the public interest in his case. She even took to getting rid of the tumor after its removal, so it would not be put on display.
