Grey’s Anatomy: If DeLuca was right, why did no one believe him?

On Grey’s Anatomy, no one took DeLuca’s suspicions seriously, even though it turned out he was right about his patient all along.

Grey’s Anatomy‘s Dr. Andrew DeLuca has been on a downward spiral for some time now. As soon as Carina mentioned he might have inherited their father’s mental health issues, all his past behaviors suddenly made sense.

He’s not immature or annoying; he’s unwell. He needs help. Now that he’s had a full breakdown and all but completely walked away from his job and his loved ones, will he get the treatment he needs? The longer he goes on believing no one trusts or cares for him, the slimmer those chances may become.

Viewers not familiar with the protocols of identifying human trafficking may have been caught off guard by DeLuca’s suspicion of his patient and her “aunt” — and that may have been the point. It’s possible we weren’t supposed to know whether he was exaggerating or seeing something he’d been trained to see.

So most were shocked — even furious — when it was revealed that he was right.

We still don’t know if it was a matter of human trafficking specifically or just that something was going on between the patient and her so-called aunt. Whatever the true story is, DeLuca was right that something was amiss. But not a single doctor, nurse, or other personnel seemed to notice the same signs he did.

If medical professionals are trained to recognize the signs of human trafficking when interacting with patients, then why did no one else believe DeLuca’s accusations?

Maybe it’s because only one other doctor took less than a few minutes to evaluate the situation before dismissing the whole thing.

Bailey was the only one besides DeLuca who spoke with the patient — the only one who could have noticed (or missed) the signs he claimed to pick up on. No one else was called or consulted. Two assessments. That’s it.

Perhaps he was wrong to summon Bailey directly. It may have been the right move on principle, or it could have even been hospital protocol to alert the chief of situations like these and not consult anyone else. Either way, he really was trying to do the right thing.

It seems a little out of character that Bailey, who has had her own personal issues with mental health, would so readily dismiss his claims. She asked the patient and her “aunt” a few questions before waving the whole thing aside and moving on to her own duties.

But maybe we can cut her a little slack. Maybe it was the pressure of the pro-bono surgeries that altered her judgment. Maybe she really did let her mistrust in DeLuca’s behavior and judgment make the decision for her.

Whatever the case, though, there could still be consequences for that choice down the line. The patient left the hospital before she received care. And even though a doctor was alerted to her possibly being in danger, no action was taken.

We can’t fault Grey’s Anatomy for its unrealistic portrayal here — someone else should have been consulted after the patient’s immediate needs were addressed. But this all can’t just fall on DeLuca. At some point, someone is going to figure out he’s right. And someone is going to have to face the consequences of that reality. That’s the hope, anyway.

DeLuca’s future is uncertain. Speeding off on that motorcycle was a flawless metaphor for his complete loss of control over his actions and his state of mind.

This show has done a decent job of handling mental health in the past, even as recent as earlier this season (and even more recent than that if Richard really is dealing with depression). Let’s hope this storyline continues the trend.

Was Bailey wrong to not take DeLuca seriously? Do you think that choice will come back to haunt her?