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Pharmaceuticals are designed to mimic the body's natural brain chemicals. The ones that make you feel good, make you feel better, make you feel unstoppable. They make it in a lab and put it in a pill for pain relief, giving you the high your body creates naturally every time you do something you love. They call it a high for a reason. Because the flip side is really low. The chemical version isn't worth what comes after. But the dopamine rush from a job well done? That's free. And it's one of the very best parts of being alive.

I Want a New Drug is the fourteenth episode of the fifteenth season and the 331st overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary[]

While Meredith breaks a hospital record, the rest of the doctors are sent scrambling in the wake of a massive overdose within the community. Meanwhile, Jackson wants to take a reluctant Maggie camping, and Levi and Nico's relationship continues to develop.

Full Summary[]

Meredith's operating with Andrew, Taryn, and another intern assisting. Up in the gallery, Dahlia wonders how long it'll take for her to be ready to do 24-hour surgery. Link's not sure that's a healthy life goal. Jo comes in and Alex tells her about the surgery. In 5 hours, Meredith will break the hospital's longest surgery record. Down in the OR, Meredith checks if any of the interns need to step out. Taryn and Andrew are good, but the third one drops to the floor.

Nico and Levi are working in the ortho practice lab. Nico's checking if he's ready to scrub in on a hip replacement. Levi knows all the steps by heart. Nico suggests they do actual breakfast on Thursday rather than a quick breakfast in the lab.

Maggie is surprised to find camping supplies in the trunk of Jackson's car. She didn't know their weekend away would be camping. She's not convinced she'll like not having a toilet. He assures her she'll love it.

As they walk into the ambulance bay, Teddy tells Bailey about dating Tom Koracick. She didn't expect to be dating at 30 weeks pregnant. Suddenly, a car comes speeding up behind them. A man is tossed out at the entrance and the car drives off. The doctors check up on the guy. They suspect an OD.

Richard joins Bailey in the ER. He thought she'd be in OR 3. She tells him what happened in the ambulance bay and asks what's going on in OR 3. He tells her about Meredith's surgery. Teddy and Ben bring in two more overdoses. Ben knows these people as regular overdoses, but they're not responding to Narcan this time. There's a bad batch of something out there. Dispatch calls for all available units to go to Meridian Park for more suspected overdoses. Teddy calls for the attention of all personnel and asks to have everyone on call paged. They need to be prepared for side effects and secondary injuries. Richard will get the residents from Meredith's gallery. He asks Teddy about Owen. Teddy is reluctant to page him since he's saying goodbye to Leo, whom Betty's parents are taking, but Richard thinks they'll need him.

Amelia and Owen are packing up Leo's stuff. They ignore the doorbell for a while so they can say their goodbyes to Leo in private. Owen promises Leo he'll always be rooting for him. He hands Leo over to Amelia and goes to open the door for Betty's parents. They hand Leo over and he starts fussing. Amelia says that means he's hungry. John says they have raised one before. Owen leaves for the ER. Amelia suggests they feed Leo while she finishes packing up.

Teddy reminds her staff that communication is key. She checks on Casey's and Bailey's patient. Bailey noticed there are lot of teenagers among the overdoses. Teddy wants to go out and attempt to organize the ambulance bay, but Owen takes that off her hands. He wants to keep busy. On his way out, he comes across Ben, who says people are dropping like flies. There are 50 reported OD's so far. Outside, Owen finds that the ambulance bay is entirely filled with ambulances and police cars.

Owen uses a megaphone to let everyone know his plan to keep things organized. They are going to set up a triage area. Red tags get priority for the ER, walking wounded will be evaluated in the clinic.

In surgery, Meredith quizzes Taryn on the SMA approach. Taryn has had too much coffee so she needs to pee. She's determined to hold it in. If Meredith can do it, she thinks she can, too. Andrew says the hard part is not the bodily aches, but actually the fact that the surgery only gets harder. Meredith's instincts will need to keep getting sharper. Meredith tells Taryn to go update the family and then go help out in the pit.

Jo checks OR availability with Alex for an elective surgery. He wants all possible OR's free for emergencies. He hates that this is all happening while Meredith's breaking her record. They come across Wendy, who's looking for her 3 year old son Truman. They were playing at the park and she lost Truman in the chaos of the ambulances. The police is looking in the park so she figured she'd come look here. Jo takes her to security.

Maggie finishes up a consult on Bailey's patient. She brings up her camping trip with Jackson. Bailey thinks she shouldn't have to do something she doesn't like, but Maggie wants to make it work.

Jackson and Dahlia are working on a patient with a shooter's abscess. He knows the smell's bad, but Dahlia needs to work on her facial expression.

Nico and Levi find Link and tell him they are ready for Mr. Frazier's hip replacement, but Link cancels the surgery. They need to see past the butterflies around them long enough to notice the flood of patients around them. It's all trauma now. His patient, for example, broke both her arms when she fell following her overdose. Levi can assist on this. Levi says he's ready for this, but Link wants him to show instead of tell.

Owen's taking in an apneic patient with erratic rhythms. Taryn briefs him about two patients. One responded well to two doses of Narcan while the other is responsive and talking despite decreased mentation. Owen starts CPR and tells Taryn to take her patients to the clinic for monitoring. Taryn returns to her patients, who turn out to be Linus and Betty. They are moved to the clinic.

Meredith has officially broken the record. The staff applauds for her. She tries to downplay it, but she admits she'll later want to break her own record. Meredith asks Andrew to go update the family. He'll tell them their son is being saved by a surgical legend. Meredith says no. BokHee suggests Wonder Woman.

Levi and Nico are operating on the broken arms patient. Nico can't imagine wanting something so bad you want to break both your arms over it. Levi says the patient didn't mean to. He broke both his arms once. The new X-Men comic was coming out and he had to be the first to have it, which was the only thing to brag about in his world. He flipped over the handlebars of his bike one block from the store. Nico finishes up. He hopes the patient will manage to detox since she'll be unable to shoot up.

Jo finds Alex and says she's worried about Wendy, who is so worried her BP's going through the roof. An unhoused man comes in with a kid in his arms. It's Wendy's son. Jo takes the boy to his mother. Alex convinces the man to let the doctors check out his feet. Ralph asks if Wendy's alright. Alex says she will be now thanks to him. Ralph says he saw her passed out on a bench with the rest of the junkies.

In the clinic, Betty tells Linus she wants to go. She doesn't want Amelia to see her and put her through all that again. She suddenly gasps and reaches for her chest. Linus calls for help. Link and Taryn come running up. Link asks what Betty took. Linus says they smoked some meth before the pills came around. Betty's BP is extremely high. Link asks for a gurney, but it's too chaotic. He picks up Betty and carries her across the ambulance bay to the ER. Owen jumps into action upon seeing them and clears a trauma room.

Linus appears in the doorway to check if everything's okay while the doctors intubate. Link makes him leave. Richard wants to tag Owen out. Owen refuses. He wants Richard to call Amelia.

Link is taking care of Linus in an exam room. He hangs an IV. Linus talks about the things Betty's afraid of: blood, being home alone in the dark, falling into a frozen lake, and having to tell people her dealer got her pregnant at 15 for the rest of her life. Linus loves Betty no matter what. Link says Betty is getting the help she needs and promises to update Linus when he can.

Dahlia is checking out Ralph's feet. She has a paged a plastic surgeon to check out the skin lesions. Dahlia says she'll need a urine sample. Ralph says that's unnecessary. He just lives in the park, but he doesn't do drugs or alcohol. Those junks are bringing down the neighborhood. Dahlia asks if there's a temporary shelter he can stay at, but he's already maxed out on his days there. Jackson comes in to take a look at Ralph's feet.

Richard's examining Betty while Owen, Teddy, and Bailey take a look at her scans. Given the meth and opioids, Teddy thinks the images could indicate an aortic dissection. Betty's got the classic signs.

Owen intercepts a worried Amelia outside the trauma room and tells her about the OD. She brought Betty's parents. They start fighting with Owen until Bailey interferes and explains they are prepping Betty to go to the OR. Teddy has decided she will operate on Betty. They don't have time to wait for Maggie. Amelia agrees. Bailey forbids Owen for joining them.

Jo is examining Wendy, who has no idea why she's not allowed to leave. Alex comes in with Stuart, Wendy's husband. He can't believe she took their son to the park to buy drugs. She says she's sorry. Stuart asks Alex to take him to his son.

Link and Amelia take a moment for themselves in an empty hallway. It's one of those days where being a doctor feels futile. People are killing themselves faster than they can save them. Amelia asks where he'd go if he were to give it all up. He says he once opened a blues bar in Barbados with expats. She agrees that sounds great. They hear a thud and find blood coming out from under a closet door. They find Linus with a syringe jammed into his arm inside.

Teddy is scrubbing in as Maggie comes in. Teddy explains she's putting in an endovascular stent. Maggie wants to take over, but Teddy says no. Betty's situation is dire so chances are Amelia will never see that girl again. She's going to need her sister for that, so Teddy should be the surgeon to tell her. Maggie agrees.

Meredith is nearing the end of her operation. She needs Andrew to tell her something to distract her from the pain. He says he broke the world record of a minor riding a rollercoaster most times in one day as a 7-year-old. He rode it 12 times. He admits he never broke a record, but for years, he believed he did.

While scrubbing out, Levi tells Nico he was an artist in that OR. It never occurred to him because Nico himself is a work of art, but what he did in that OR, Levi wants to be that good. Nico says he'll get there. And he's also good at a lot of things.

Amelia is sitting on a gurney, staring at the bloody trail left by Linus on the floor. A frustrated Link returns. He couldn't get him back. He was perfectly healthy when he left him before. He then sees Amelia is struggling. Amelia says she knew that kid. She'll need to call his parents. Link offers to do that for her, but she declines. Amelia tries to keep herself together, but she breaks down.

Jackson is supervising Dahlia as she is cutting away dead tissue. Ralph will get to keep his feet. Maggie comes in and tells Jackson she can't go camping this weekend. He tells her about how amazing it will be. When they're out there, she'll realize she doesn't need three pairs of ski boots. Maggie then explains it's because of Amelia. He understands. She says he can still go. Jackson says he'll bandage up Ralph's feet. He'll need to keep them clean and dry. Ralph says that will be tricky. Dahlia explains he lives on a park bench. Ralph says it makes you realize all the things you don't need.

Jo finds Alex and Stuart and tells him Wendy has been taken into custody. Stuart is not interested in her. Jo tells him Wendy needs treatment for her problem more than she needs punishment. Alex cuts in and says he should only worried about his son. He shouldn't let Wendy near Truman until he knows she's clean. Wendy should get treatment, but protecting Truman needs to come first.

Teddy and Richard find that the stent was placed perfectly, but there's no flow from the celiac. Teddy hates that Betty did this to herself. Richard says that's addiction. The thing that hurts you keeps whispering in your ear that you need it to survive. They find the entire distal aorta is blocked, meaning there is no blood flow to Betty's legs. Teddy decides to open Betty up for an entire distal aortic reconstruction.

In the waiting room, John tells Owen and Amelia that the last thing he told Britney before she disappeared was, "I can't even stand to look at you." He deeply regrets that now. He wants the doctors to tell them she'll make it through this. Owen wishes he could tell him that.

Meredith is officially done operating. With 27 hours and 3 minutes, that beats the hospital's record with over 3 hours. The staff applauds once again. Meredith thanks DeLuca for the assist and leaves. Maggie is waiting for her in the scrub room. She tells Meredith Amelia needs them.

Amelia tries to comfort Carol in the waiting room. Teddy finally arrives and tells them Betty is out of surgery. She's being moved to the ICU. Amelia hugs Teddy, who hugs her back and comforts her. Maggie and Meredith arrive in the waiting room. They think that means Betty made it. Maggie turns around and finds that Meredith has fallen asleep against a wall.

Bailey and Ben leave the ER together. Bailey says the world is scary, no matter how well you raise your kids. Ben says it's beautiful, too. When you descend into the fear and lose track of the beauty, that's when you reach the bad place and the need to escape. Bailey wasn't planning on doing drugs. He knows, but he wants her to be in the beauty with him for a second.

Jackson's on the phone trying to find a shelter for Ralph, but to no avail. He feels awful about going on about the camping trip in front of him. Keeping Ralph in the hospital for another night is not a long-term solution.

Amelia tells Britney's parents that Owen took Leo up to daycare so that they can focus on their daughter. Carol wonders how they'll tell her about Linus. John thinks they shouldn't. He fears it might kill her. Amelia tells them about the death of her fiancé. She thought it would kill her, but it actually saved her life. His death is what made her decide to live. They can't protect her from the pain, but they can hope that this is her bottom. Amelia hopes that she will decide to live. Carol begs Britney to decide to live.

Jackson has decided to give all of his camping equipment to Ralph. It'll help him until he gets off the waitlist for a real place.

Jo sits down with Alex in his office. She has come to realize his addict father left him once. Alex says it was in a parking lot when he was 6. He wishes he were 3 so he wouldn't remember. Jo hands him a cup of hot chocolate. He loves her.

Link, Richard, and Teddy take a moment to rest in the ER.

Betty wakes up in the ICU. She smiles upon seeing Owen and Amelia and is then shocked to see her parents are there, too. They comfort her.

Andrew finds Meredith sleeping on a gurney in a hallway. He wheels her into an empty patient room and covers her up with a blanket. He kisses her on her head and lets her sleep.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Medical Notes[]

Meredith's Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:
    • Pancreas-sparing total duodenectomy in a frozen abdomen

Meredith did a pancreas-sparing total duodenectomy on a patient. The surgery took a total of more than 24 hours.

Dropoff Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Drug overdose
  • Treatment:
    • Narcan

A car pulled up into the ambulance bay and dumped him out onto he ground. He was overdosing, so they gave him narcan.

OD Patients[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Drug overdose
  • Treatment:
    • Narcan

Multiple patients came into the ER with drug overdoses, including two named Paula and Jerry. It took multiple doses of narcan to reverse the drug's effects.

Heart Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Drug overdose
  • Treatment:
    • Narcan

Maggie saw one of the overdose patients with cardiac symptoms and ordered monitoring and tests.

Abscessed Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Drug overdose
    • Shooter's abscess
  • Treatment:
    • Narcan
    • Washout
    • Antibiotics

Jackson and Dahlia treated a patient with an abscess on his arm from drug use. Jackson ordered antibiotics and washout in the OR.

Mr. Frazier[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:
    • Hip replacement

Mr. Frazier was scheduled to have a hip replacement, but it was rescheduled due to the mass overdose.

Link's Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Drug overdose
    • Broken arms
  • Treatment:
    • Narcan
    • Surgical repair

A woman overdose and then broke both arms when she fell. She was given 4 of narcan in the ER and taken to surgery for her arms. In surgery, they found a humpback deformity, which meant they had to use a different point of entry when they screwed her arms back together. Her surgery went well.

Owen's Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Drug overdose
  • Treatment:
    • Narcan

Owen treated a patient who was apneic at the scene. The patient lost pulse, so Owen started CPR and took him inside.

Linus[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Drug overdose
  • Treatment:
    • Narcan
    • IV fluids

Linus overdosed and was taken to the hospital after receiving narcan in the field. He was triaged and sent to the clinic. He became dehydrated, so Link put in an IV. While he was waiting, Linus found some drugs at the hospital and injected himself, killing him.

Betty Nelson[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Drug overdose
    • Hypertension
    • Aortic dissection
  • Treatment:
    • Narcan
    • Endovascular stent of the descending aorta

Betty overdosed in the park. She was given narcan at the hospital and taken to the clinic. While she was waiting in the clinic, she started having chest pains. Linus said she'd taken meth before taking the pills. They moved her to the main hospital and started running tests. She had signs of an aortic dissection, so she was rushed into surgery, where Teddy placed an endovascular stent. However, her distal aorta was blocked, so Teddy opened her chest to reconstruct her distal aorta. Her surgery was a success.

Wendy Cole[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Hypertension
  • Treatment:

Wendy had been separated from her son. Her BP was high, which they attributed to her anxiety. However, Ralph informed them that she'd been doing drugs in the park.

Ralph Tennyson[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Skin lesions
    • Ulcerations
    • Eschars
  • Treatment:
    • Debridement

Ralph, 75, came into the hospital to return Truman to his mother. Alex noticed that his feet were injured. Dahlia started cleaning up his feet. Once his feet were debrided, they were bandaged.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Better" Tess Henley
  • Meredith operates.
  • Dahlia, Link, Jo, and Alex talk about her breaking the record while they watch.
  • Meredith asks the others if they need to tag out, but they decline. An intern in the OR collapses.
"Hardwired" Hailey Knox
  • Meredith and Andrew talk while she operates.
  • Nico tells Levi he'll be a good surgeon and he's good at a lot of things
  • Amelia sees Link discard his gown.
"Look Up Child" Lauren Daigle
  • Meredith finishes her surgery. She beat the record by over three hours.
  • Maggie tells Meredith Amelia needs them.
  • Owen, Amelia, and Betty's parents wait for news.
  • Teddy comes out and says Betty's being moved to the ICU.
  • Maggie and Meredith see Amelia and Teddy hugging, which means good news.
  • Meredith falls asleep leaning on a wall.
  • Bailey and Ben worry about the world being so scary.
"For You" Greg Laswell
  • Betty's mom asks her to decide to live.
  • Jackson gives Ralph his pick of the camping equipment from his car.
  • Alex and Jo talk about Alex being left in a parking lot by his father.
  • Teddy, Link, and Richard rest after their long day.
  • Betty wakes up and is excited to see her parents.
  • Andrew sees Meredith sleeping on a gurney and rolls it into a room, where he covers her with a blanket.

Notes and Trivia[]

Grey's_Anatomy_15x14_Promo_"I_Want_a_New_Drug"_(HD)_Season_15_Episode_14_Promo

Grey's Anatomy 15x14 Promo "I Want a New Drug" (HD) Season 15 Episode 14 Promo

  • This episode's title originated from the song I Want a New Drug, originally sung by Huey Lewis.
  • This episode scored 6.89 million viewers.[1]
  • Meredith breaking a hospital record is a nod to Grey's Anatomy tying the episode count of E.R., the now-formerly longest-running American medical drama, with 331 episodes. This is also reflected in the time at which Meredith breaks her record, being 3:32PM.
  • This episode was followed by a PSA from Caterina Scorsone about drug use.[source?]
  • While she has been on the show since the beginning and has appeared in almost every episode, this marks the first time that Kathy C. An is credited for playing Nurse BokHee.
  • Goof: Andrew states that by performing record-breaking surgery of 27 hours and 8 minutes, Meredith has broken the previous record by over 3 hours. However, Derek's surgery on Isaac in Give Peace a Chance was shown to take at least 26 hours, the final duration of the surgery being unknown.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.


References[]

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