The only thing unusual about her was her age, recalls Maureen Welch, a respiratory therapist who was assisting in the trauma room that night. [6] In Houck and Siegel's textbook, the authors state that, although some weaknesses exist, the postulated scenario is "the most scientific explanation to date" and that "beyond this theory, no credible explanation has ever been offered for the strange case of Gloria Ramirez. Vapors of dimethyl sulfate, the index explained, kill cells in exposed tissues, such as the eyes, mouth, and lungs. As for the illness in the hospital workers and how that might be linked to Ramirez, Hill concluded that exhaustive toxicological studies have not identified any external toxic substances that would have contributed to her death. Most patients who show up in an emergency room with such symptoms are elderly people, Welch says. One thing, however, is certain: several days after the autopsy, the Riverside coroner had still found nothing remarkable and had begun to solicit help. The coroners office has remained tight-lipped about the analysis it conducted in the days that followed. Medical staff also noticed a strange fruity garlic scent on her breath and manila-colored particles floating in Ramirez's blood. That could have aggravated the buildup of dimethyl sulfone by preventing it from being flushed out of her system.). But given its potential side effects, its a dangerous remedy because in its readily available hardware- store grease-cutting form, its 99 percent pure. Buy paint matching this color However, Osorio and Waller did not rule out the possibility that some substance poisoned emergency room staff who had worked directly over Ramirez. What had been (CH3)2SO2 became CH3, CH3, and SO2. It is manufactured as an industrial solvent, but it is also sometimes produced naturally in our bodies from amino acids that contain sulfur. All in all, officials conducted three autopsies on Ramirezs body and concluded that she died of heart failure due to kidney failure brought on by her late-stage cancer. The woman, clad in shorts and a T-shirt, was awake, but she responded to questions with only brief and sometimes incoherent utterances. Ramirezs seemingly average life took its unusual turn on Feb. 19, 1994, when she was taken to General Hospital in Riverside, Calif. after she experienced a rapid heart rate, a drop in blood pressure, and was unable to form coherent sentences. This WWII Shipwreck Is Pouring Pollutants Into The North Sea. DMSO2 is known to crystallize at room temperature, and crystals were observed in some of Ramirez's drawn blood. The most severe case required two weeks of hospitalization. Complaining that she was lightheaded, she left the trauma room and sat at a nurse's desk. Others developed breathing problems and one nurse experienced paralysis and no one knew why. Order Pick-Up; Pure Leaf Iced Tea . That goal fostered the creation, in 1990, of the forensic center, a clearinghouse that would allow state and federal law enforcement forensic teams to enlist high-tech aid from scientists at Livermore and other Department of Energy labs. Over a period of two years, various staff reported hearing loss, nausea, and memory loss connected to these sounds. If Andresens team is right, one has to wonder whether the outbreak was unique. Residents speculated that it could be human waste dumped from passing planes, which could explain why it made people sick, but airlines quickly disputed this because plane waste is dyed blue. someone shouted. But other scientists come to Livermores defense. Users of this substance report that it has a garlic-like taste. [2], Manila paper was originally made out of old Manila hemp ropes which were extensively used on ships, having replaced true hemp. In the end, all of the dimethyl sulfate either vaporized or broke back down in the blood into its constituents. Suddenly, one of the attending nurses started to faint. But in Ramirezs blood and tissues there was a hefty concentration of tens of micrograms per milliliter, about three times higher than the codeine in the samples. The tent was sliced open from the inside. They emerged 90 minutes later with samples of blood and tissue along with air from the body bag and aluminum crate holding the body. Although the books on Ramirezs death were now officially closed, there was no explanation for the outbreak of illness among the hospital staff. Her blood smelled like ammonia and there were manila-colored particles floating in her blood. Bizarre Case of Gloria Ramirez, AKA "The Toxic Lady", Whose Body Emitted Toxic Fumes That Caused the ER Staff to Faint More recently new woodpulp has often been replaced with a high proportion of recycled fibers. Her name was Gloria Ramirez. She fainted after handing the syringe to a medical resident, Julie Gorchynski, and was taken out of the room. Doctors quickly got to work trying to save her life, but nothing seemed to be working. In support of this mass hysteria theory, Osorio and Waller cited the lack of evidence for a poison and the fact that women were more likely to suffer severe symptoms, both hallmark signs of mass hysteria. The only remaining theory for many people is murder, and unlike most murders, this one has a very specific number of suspects. The staff was then ordered to evacuate all emergency department patients to the parking lot outside the hospital. The conclusion: The hospital staff most likely experienced an outbreak of mass sociogenic illness, perhaps triggered by an odor. When oxygen was added, it could have become dimethyl sulfone, forming the crystals in Ramirezs blood. The investigation by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health had also found this amine and had suggested that it was a possible culprit, despite its minuscule levels in the autopsy samples. [4] The Livermore scientists postulated on The New Detectives that the change in temperature of the blood drawn, from the 98.6F (37C) of Ramirez's body to the 64 F (18C) of the emergency department, may have contributed to its conversion from DMSO2 into DMSO4. By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications. Each of the emitters has its own texture emission attributes, so you can apply a different texture (or color) to each group of particles even though each emitter emits the same nParticle object. It took the fire department hours to respond and by then the house had burned completely to ash. Its a really clever piece of detective work, says Oregon State toxicologist Frank Dost. It contained a photo with a strong resemblance to him, but the lead went nowhere. The riverside coroners office felt it had reached the end of the road, too. It is just as strong as kraft paper but has better printing qualities, such as stronger pigment retention. The fire was ruled an electrical accident. Adapted from Sheng, 2017. Thousands of Cuban scientists and officials investigated the case at the time and the country denied any involvement with a potential attack, but many people remain unconvinced. Then with an electrical shock from the defibrillator, it could have become dimethyl sulfate, a toxic chemical that could have poisoned the staff. The incident was initially considered to be a case of mass hysteria. Reich doubts that dimethyl sulfone would split apart in the human bodys relatively cool environment. DMSO is a solvent used as a powerful degreaser and sometimes as a home remedy for pain. When Susan Kane drew blood at the hospital, however, the cool temperature had slowed the breakdown of the dimethyl sulfate. Our colored particles are prepared by polymerizing styrene in oil soluble dye solution in styrene. The match between the symptoms experienced by the hospital staff and the symptoms of dimethyl sulfate exposure was uncanny. The drop, containing hundreds of chemicals, was vaporized and shunted into a chromatography column, where it was slowly heated to 570 degrees. Medical personnel think of sterile as being without bugs, not without chemicals, Andresen says. A third odd chemical signal defied being pigeonholed as either trivial or important: dimethyl sulfone. Meanwhile, over the past 30 years, DMSO gained an underground following as a home remedy. Kane flailed her arms and kicked, and her face still burned. In 2016, diplomatic staff in Cuba began to experience a strange illness. "[7], Grant's conclusions and speculations about the incident were evaluated by professional forensic scientists, chemists, and toxicologists, passed peer review in an accredited, refereed journal, and were published by Forensic Science International. Source: Wikipedia commons Realizing dimethyl sulfate was their best lead yet, Richard Whipple and Jeffrey Haas, chemists at the forensic center, searched among the thousands of papers that have been written about these compounds. A search of his house turned up a bizarre note taped to the back of his computer, which contained quotes from Freemason texts, lists of movie titles, and names of Hollywood figures. To obtain blood for analysis, a registered nurse named Susan Kane swabbed Ramirezs right arm with rubbing alcohol, inserted a catheter, and attached a syringe. An investigation by local scientists found human white blood cells in the material, leading to the idea that the blobs were at least once a living material. tough manila colored stock. in /home1/neuxs/public_html/www.biggervisionmusic.com/wp-content . Colortrieve offers high quality manila, pressboard and colored folders at competitive prices with many options: tab cut, pockets, and fasteners. Of the 20 types of symptoms reported by the staff, from the fainting to the convulsions to Gorchynskis hepatitis, only one nausea and vomiting is not a symptom of dimethyl sulfate exposure. Half an hour later, she woke up to smoke filling the house. In January of 1959, ten college students decided to go on a hiking trip in the Ural Mountains of the Soviet Union. Matching Colors Simply White 2143-70 Add to Cart Shopping List Its like that silliness with cold fusion, except this has the potential to hurt people, he says. Gloria Ramirez sickened half a dozen ER personnel after she came in. But other factors that correlated with severe symptoms didnt seem to match a scenario in which fumes had been released: the survey found that those afflicted tended to be women rather than men, as well as people who had skipped dinner that evening rather than those who had a full stomach. A bare minimum of staff remained to stabilize Gloria Ramirez. She had been admitted to the emergency department while suffering from late-stage cervical cancer. Police turned suspicion onto her husband, who they believed may have attacked her with a fireplace poker. The Livermore scientists had been working on the case for free as a public service, after hours and on the weekends. This material-related article is a stub. When it became clear that Ramirez was responding poorly to treatment, the staff tried to defibrillate her heart with electricity. Im pretty skeptical, says Hans Reich, an organic chemist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. At 12:30 a.m. Jeannnie answered a phone call from a woman who claimed to have a wrong number. But Lams case is one of the most bizarre. To refresh Grants memory of the case, he also showed him his results, including the puzzling compounds he had identified. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Word of the Week: Manila envelope, a holdover from Philippine fiber", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manila_paper&oldid=1082782492, This page was last edited on 15 April 2022, at 02:46. Ochoa and three others repeatedly administered electric shocks and drugs, but their efforts to stabilize Ramirez failed. She was now the second member of the Riverside emergency room staff being wheeled away from the trauma room on a gurney. The American government stated that they believed Cuba was responsible for the events. Cause of illnesses of multiple hospital workers. Lam appeared to be hiding from someone in the hallway or potentially suffering a mental crisis of some kind. They interviewed 34 hospital staff who had been working in the emergency room on February 19. Questions were immediately raised over how she made it to the locked rooftop and how she replaced the heavy lid from inside. It was so bizarre that it inspired episodes in many TV shows, including The X-Files, Greys Anatomy, The New Detectives, and Law & Order. Andresens team is going to conduct more experiments and check Ramirezs blood again; soon they hope to turn their preliminary report into a paper they will submit to a refereed forensic journal. Following that, several other people, including staff, started saying they felt ill and the staff was ordered to evacuate the emergency room to the hospitals parking lot. Kane turned toward the door of the trauma room and swayed. The investigation into her death, Hill said, was finished. Kane handed the syringe to Welch and leaned closer to the dying woman to try to trace the odors source. On May 11th, 2000, Marks visited the stations doctor three times feeling ill and they attempted to ask for medical advice by satellite, but Marks died the next day. However, the unique environment also means that the United States, New Zealand, and Australia all share jurisdiction, which prevented significant investigation from taking place. 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Fearing that a DMSO drug might ruin peoples eyesight, the Food and Drug Administration ordered companies to cease clinical trials of the drug in 1965. Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month. There was not yet a sufficient amount of nerve gas to harm the paramedics. The most commonly discussed explanation for the death is that Lam suffered a mental health crisis. Grant was more familiar with dmso because, he says, Id used dmso in a former life as an athlete. Some people believed he may have poisoned himself accidentally by attempting to home-brew alcohol, but this theory was quickly disproved by the fact that the station had a well-stocked bar available. Hospital, however, the cool temperature had slowed the breakdown of the manila colored particles... A strange illness manila-colored particles floating in her blood smelled like ammonia there! Answered a phone call from a woman who claimed to have a wrong number organic chemist at the of... 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