Grey’s Anatomy was brought to a premature close after its 16th season finished four episodes early. However, in the finale it seemed Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr) was officially on the mend – here’s what showrunner Krista Vernoff had to say about this.

Is Richard Webber still in danger?

Fans of Grey’s Anatomy were left in turmoil when Richard began experiencing some worrying symptoms.

This all happened when he hallucinated seeing his wife at a conference he was speaking at.

Then he blacked out and collapsed, leading viewers to believe he was in serious danger.

However, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) was tasked with finding exactly what was wrong with him.

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This was thankfully resolved in episode 21 when she worked out his symptoms were caused by cobalt poisoning from his hip replacement.

Atticus “Link” Lincoln (Chris Carmack) operated on him and seemed to fix the problem but viewers never saw him recovered and well before the season came to an end.

This, therefore, left some concerned he might not be out of the woods just yet.

Thankfully, showrunner Vernoff has now confirmed what happened next to Richard.

Asked by Deadline if this meant he was now safe, she said: “Yes and I thought that that was one of the most amazing things about this diagnosis.

“[It] was that the cobalt poisoning thing is real and it really can cause all of those symptoms.

“It can cause dementia-like symptoms. It can cause Parkinson’s-like symptoms – tremors, hallucinations – and the amazing thing about it is that once you diagnose it, and you get the leaky hip out of your body, you can recover, totally.

“That felt, just as the storyteller, an amazing thing because it let us give Jim Pickens this really rich, rich material, without us having to permanently disable his character.

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“I think that that was an amazing ride for the fans, because the outcry of [us] showing symptoms that don’t feel like they have cures.”

She went on to explain why this made his storyline so gripping for viewers of the show.

Vernoff added to the publication: “There’s not really a cure for Parkinson’s. There’s not a cure for Alzheimer’s.

“So I know everyone was in a panic, and so, we got to tell this really satisfying story, and we got to let people know that sometimes, there’s another diagnosis for those symptoms.

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“Which we found fascinating, as a group of writers who write medicine, that it’s so rare to see something this satisfying.”

Fans will see Richard back to his old self in the upcoming 17th season of the show.

The new outing has officially been confirmed but it is not clear when it will be released yet.

The coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak could see the series delayed from its usual September slot.

Grey’s Anatomy is available to catch-up on ABC and Sky

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