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In 1994, Gloria Ramirez was admitted to a California hospital. The woman had advanced cervical cancer. When the nurse took her blood, something shocking happened. Medical staff members began to have convulsions and convulsions, and some of them lost consciousness. The admission room had to be evacuated.
- The blood sample from Gloria Ramirez contained white crystals. There was also a smell of ammonia coming from it
- Soon, more and more staff members began to pass out in the emergency room
- Ultimately, it was necessary to evacuate. Patients were treated in the parking lot in front of the hospital
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“Toxic Lady” – what happened in the emergency room?
The case of Gloria Ramirez is one of the greatest medical puzzles of our time. And the whole thing happened relatively recently, because in 1994, the woman suffered from advanced cervical cancer, and was hospitalized in California due to her deteriorating health. The nurse in the emergency room took blood for tests and immediately realized something was wrong. There was a strong smell of ammonia in the room, and white crystals appeared in the blood sample.
However, the surprising events did not end there. Soon symptoms began to appear among the medical staff that could indicate a kind of epidemic – they began to have convulsions, some also fainted. Out of 37 emergency department workers, 23 showed strange symptoms. Therefore, the emergency room was evacuated. The patients were taken to the parking lot for further medical assistance. At that time, employees protected by special coveralls tried to reach the source of the mysterious ailments.
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That same night, Gloria Ramirez died of kidney failure caused by cervical cancer digesting her body. At the same time, reports appeared in the media that medical personnel had poisoned themselves by the vapors released by the body of a dying patient. She was hailed as a “toxic lady”. But no one knew what actually happened.
Medical mystery. Why did staff pass out because of Gloria Ramirez?
One thing was for sure: the mysterious events happened as a result of contact between hospital staff and Gloria Ramirez. But were there any dangerous substances in her body? This was what they tried to find out. Thus, several hypotheses were put forward. One was simply a medical error. The relatives of the deceased believed that the staff had improperly cared for the patient and had invented an unlikely story to cover up the matter.
But there were also strictly scientific explanations. First, there was talk of possible organophosphate poisoning from Gloria Ramirez’s body. However, the investigation did not find any trace of substances that would explain the events.
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Another hypothesis was that of mass hysteria in which all staff were under the illusion that something was wrong. So the fainting and spasms were supposed to be mental, not physical.
It wasn’t until 1997 that scientists managed to find an explanation that may actually be true. According to an article published in Forensic Science International, the patient may have used dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) – an analgesic to relieve her suffering caused by the disease. As a result of its connection with oxygen administered to the patient in the emergency room, dimethylsulfone could be formed. This substance crystallizes at room temperature, which may explain the presence of strange white crystals in Gloria Ramirez’s blood.
Scientists have suggested that as a result of defibrillation, the patient could develop dimethyl sulfate, a highly toxic substance, even classified by some as biological weapons. It is absorbed through the skin, mucosa and digestive system. Symptoms of dimethyl sulfate poisoning usually occur within hours of exposure.