Episode 57 The Bizarre Death of Gloria Ramirez - The Toxic Lady - video Dailymotion

The Dark Mystery Lounge

Gloria Ramirez was a woman from Riverside, California, who was dubbed "the Toxic Lady" by the media when  several hospital workers became ill after exposure to her body and blood. She had been admitted to the  emergency department while suffering from late-stage cervical cancer. What caused not only this woman to die and everyone else around her becoming ill?  #mystery #october2023 #death

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to the Dark Mystery Lounge.

00:03Happy October everyone!

00:05Let's kick off the spooky season with a mystery that,

00:08even though it happened almost 30 years ago,

00:11it still leaves people puzzled, even to this day.

00:15The case of Gloria Ramirez, also known as the Toxic Lady.

00:20Let's get started.

00:25On the evening of February 19th, 1994,

00:30at around 8.15 p.m.,

00:32a woman was brought in by ambulance

00:34to Riverside General Hospital in Riverside, California.

00:39It was 31-year-old Gloria Ramirez,

00:42married mother of two,

00:44who was diagnosed with end-stage cervical cancer

00:46just six weeks prior.

00:49She was suffering from chest palpitations

00:51and difficulty breathing.

00:54The medical staff administered sedatives

00:56to try and get her heart rate and breathing under control.

01:00When it became clear that Gloria wasn't responding

01:03to the treatment very well,

01:05the staff tried to defibrillate her heart.

01:08When they removed her shirt to expose her chest,

01:11they noticed an oily sheen covering Gloria's body,

01:15and some noticed a fruity, garlic-like odor

01:17that they thought was coming from her mouth.

01:21Nurse Susan Cain drew blood from Gloria's arm

01:24and noticed an ammonia-like smell coming from the tube.

01:28She passed the tube to Julie Graczynski,

01:31a medical resident,

01:33who noticed manila-colored particles floating in the blood.

01:37Suddenly, Susan fainted.

01:39She was quickly removed from the room.

01:41Shortly after,

01:43Julie began to feel nauseated.

01:45She complained that she was feeling light-headed

01:47and left the trauma room as well

01:50and sat at a nurse's desk.

01:52When another staff member asked if she was okay

01:55before she could respond,

01:57Julie fainted.

01:59Marlene Welch,

02:00a respiratory therapist

02:01who was assisting in the trauma room,

02:04was the third to pass out.

02:06The staff,

02:08who saw that something was very wrong,

02:10ordered to evacuate

02:11all emergency department patients

02:13to the parking lot outside the hospital.

02:17A total of 23 people became ill

02:19and five were hospitalized.

02:22A skeleton crew stayed behind

02:24to stabilize Gloria.

02:26Unfortunately,

02:27at 8.50 p.m.,

02:29Gloria was pronounced dead.

02:36Gloria was placed and sealed in a metal box

02:39and her body stayed in there

02:41for a week

02:42before any investigation

02:43was conducted.

02:45Dressed in hazmat suits,

02:47the building was inspected

02:48to make sure

02:49there was no gas

02:50or chemical leak.

02:52The county's health department

02:53called the California's

02:55Department of Health

02:56and Human Services,

02:57which put two scientists,

02:59Drs. Ana Maria Osorio

03:01and Kirsten Waller,

03:03on the case.

03:05They interviewed 34 hospital staff

03:07who had been working

03:08in the emergency room

03:10on February 19th.

03:12Using a standardized questionnaire,

03:14they found that the people

03:15who had developed

03:16severe symptoms,

03:18such as loss of consciousness,

03:20shortness of breath,

03:21muscle spasms,

03:23headaches,

03:23nausea,

03:24and a burning sensation

03:25on the skin,

03:27tended to have

03:27certain things in common.

03:29People who had worked

03:31within two feet of Gloria

03:32and had handled her IV lines

03:34had been at high risk.

03:36But others that correlated

03:38with severe symptoms

03:39did not appear to match

03:41a scenario

03:41in which fumes

03:43had been released.

03:44The survey found

03:46that those afflicted

03:47tended to be women

03:48rather than men,

03:50and people who hadn't

03:51eaten anything for dinner.

03:53They all had normal blood tests

03:54after the exposure.

03:57In conclusion,

03:58they believed that hospital workers

04:00suffered from mass hysteria,

04:02which to me is just

04:04a lazy way of saying

04:05we can't figure this out.

04:07They pretty much just

04:08labeled everyone as crazy

04:09and moved on.

04:11Julie Gorzinski

04:12denied that she had been

04:14affected by mass hysteria

04:15and pointed at her own

04:17medical history as evidence.

04:20After the exposure,

04:21she spent two weeks

04:22in the intensive care unit

04:24with breathing problems.

04:26She developed hepatitis

04:27and avascular necrosis

04:29in her knees.

04:30The first autopsy

04:32conducted on Gloria's body

04:33was done a week later,

04:35while dressed in hazmat suits

04:37and in a special room.

04:40They found Tylenol,

04:41lidocaine,

04:42codeine,

04:43and Tigen in her system.

04:46Tigen is an anti-nausea medication.

04:49These were standard medications

04:50that would be found

04:51in a patient

04:52with late-stage cancer.

04:54An interesting note,

04:56Tigen breaks down

04:57into amines in the body.

04:59Amines are related

05:01to ammonia,

05:02which could explain

05:03the ammonia smell

05:04in Gloria's blood sample

05:05at the hospital.

05:07The only reason

05:08why this autopsy

05:09was performed

05:10was to find

05:11the cause of death,

05:12which was ruled

05:13as heart complications

05:14due to kidney failure.

05:16Plus,

05:16she was in the beginning stages

05:17of liver failure.

05:19But this still didn't explain

05:21why 23 people

05:22became ill

05:23due to exposure

05:24to Gloria's blood.

05:25So she was resealed

05:27and another autopsy

05:29was conducted

05:29five weeks later.

05:31This time,

05:32they collected samples.

05:34Riverside Coroner's office

05:35contacted

05:36Lawrence Livermore

05:37National Laboratory

05:38to investigate

05:39the incident.

05:41They take the samples

05:42and run tests

05:43for everything,

05:44not just normal toxins.

05:46What they found

05:47was strange.

05:48Gloria's blood

05:49and tissues

05:50had large amounts

05:51of dimethylsulfone.

05:54Dimethylsulfone

05:55does occur naturally

05:56in the human body

05:57as it breaks down

05:58certain substances.

06:00Once it enters the body,

06:02it disappears quickly

06:03with a half-life

06:04of just three days.

06:06However,

06:07there was so much

06:08in Gloria's system,

06:09it still registered

06:10at three times

06:11the normal amount

06:12six weeks

06:13following her death.

06:15Livermore Labs

06:16postulated

06:17that Gloria

06:18had been using

06:19dimethylsulfoxide

06:20or DMSO,

06:23a solvent

06:23used as a powerful

06:25degreaser

06:25and used for pain

06:27in alternative medicine.

06:29It was in creams,

06:30pills,

06:30and ointments,

06:31mainly for muscle pain

06:32and soreness,

06:33but the DMSO

06:34that was in those products

06:36were highly diluted.

06:38It's also used

06:39on horses

06:39in veterinary medicine.

06:42Back in the 50s

06:43and 60s,

06:44it was regarded

06:45as a cure-all,

06:46but in 1965,

06:48studies were done

06:49and found

06:49that prolonged

06:50use of DMSO

06:52can cause damage

06:53to the lens

06:54of the eyes.

06:55It's still around,

06:56but like I stated earlier,

06:58it's diluted.

06:59It was even advertised

07:00as a cancer cure

07:02in the 80s,

07:03but of course

07:03that's not remotely true.

07:05Users of this substance

07:07report

07:07that it has

07:08a garlic-like taste.

07:10Sold in gel form

07:11at hardware stores,

07:12it could also explain

07:13the greasy appearance

07:15of Gloria's body.

07:16The Livermore scientists

07:18theorized

07:18that the DMSO

07:20in Gloria's system

07:21might have built up

07:23owing to urinary blockage

07:25caused by her kidney failure.

07:27Oxygen was administered

07:29by the paramedics

07:30would have combined

07:31with the DMSO

07:32to form dimethyl cell phone,

07:35DMSO2.

07:37DMSO2 is known

07:38to crystallize

07:39at room temperature,

07:40and crystals

07:42were observed

07:42in some of Gloria's

07:44drawn blood.

07:45Electric shocks

07:46administered

07:47during emergency

07:48defibrillation

07:49could have converted

07:50the DMSO2

07:51into dimethyl sulfate,

07:54DMSO4,

07:56which is a highly

07:56toxic nerve gas

07:58or an agent

07:59for nerve gas.

08:00It was tested

08:01back in World War I

08:02in France and Germany

08:04for use

08:05in chemical warfare.

08:06It's extremely dangerous

08:08even in very small amounts.

08:10So this explains

08:11the symptoms

08:12that the medical staff

08:13were experiencing.

08:15So the theory going

08:16is that Gloria

08:18was diagnosed

08:18with cervical cancer

08:19in a desperate attempt

08:21because her cancer

08:23was so advanced

08:24any chemo

08:24or other treatment

08:26probably wouldn't

08:27have worked.

08:28So she bought

08:28some DMSO

08:29from the hardware store

08:30and applied it

08:31to her skin.

08:33Then because of

08:33her kidneys failing,

08:35the DMSO

08:36built up in her system.

08:37The oxygen

08:39and electric shock

08:40from defibrillation

08:41caused a chemical reaction

08:43so when her blood

08:44was drawn,

08:46the trauma room

08:47became a small

08:48gas chamber.

08:54Not everyone

08:55was sold

08:55on the DMSO theory.

08:58Gloria's family

08:58claimed that

08:59she never used DMSO.

09:01but this theory

09:02as bizarre

09:03as it is

09:04seems to be

09:05the only explanation

09:06as to how she died

09:08and how everyone

09:09else around her

09:10became ill too.

09:12Her death

09:12was definitely

09:13one of a kind.

09:15Two months

09:15after Gloria's death,

09:17her body

09:17was released

09:18to her family.

09:19An independent

09:20autopsy

09:21was conducted

09:21which the pathologist

09:23was unable

09:24to determine

09:24a cause of death

09:26because her heart

09:27was missing.

09:28Her organs

09:28were cross-contaminated

09:30with fecal matter

09:31and her body

09:32was too decomposed.

09:34On April 20th, 1994,

09:37Gloria's body

09:37was laid to rest

09:38at Olivewood Memorial Park

09:40in Riverside.

09:42Her funeral

09:42was attended

09:43by almost 100 people.

09:46The media

09:46dubbed Gloria

09:47the Toxic Lady,

09:49a harsh name

09:50given to a woman

09:51that was very much loved

09:52and gave love

09:53to all who knew her.

09:55Rest in peace,

09:56Gloria Ramirez.

10:00To me,

10:04this has to be

10:04one of the most

10:05bizarre deaths

10:06I've ever heard of.

10:08It has never

10:08happened before

10:09and most likely

10:11will never happen again.

10:13I don't think

10:13Gloria was foolish

10:14or stupid

10:15for trying DMSO.

10:17She was just trying

10:18to find a way

10:19to beat her cancer.

10:20Since her cancer

10:21was in the late stages,

10:23she was just trying

10:24anything

10:24in the hopes

10:26that she could live

10:27just a little bit longer.

10:28after all,

10:29what other options

10:30were left?

10:32I understand

10:32that her family

10:33denies that she

10:34ever took it,

10:35but what other

10:35explanation is there?

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10:55Thank you for

10:55hanging out with me

10:56in the Dark Mystery Lounge.

10:58This is Phoenix

10:59signing out.

11:00Have a good evening

11:01and stay safe.

Episode 57 The Bizarre Death of Gloria Ramirez - The Toxic Lady

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