#gloria ramirez

[suppuration]

can't stop thinking about the gloria ramirez episode of murdoch mysteries

[lakesandquarries]

gloria ramirez is kind of my litmus test for if a "horror" channel is going to be any good. her case is talked about frequently but it's so often discussed in ways that are dehumanizing and needlessly cruel.

for those not familiar with the name, gloria is also known as the "toxic lady" which is a nickname that i hate. she was admitted to the hospital and several hospital employees who treated her became sick and passed out. she passed away that evening of kidney failure.

this happened back in 1994 so the case has been thoroughly dissected and there's a few legitimate theories on what might have happened, but nothing is confirmed 100% so she's a popular topic for horror channels to talk about. i don't think this is neccessarily a bad thing—it's an older case and it doesn't require speculating about who might have murdered her—but the way so many channels talk about her pisses me off. so many people will talk about her like she wasn't a living human being who died tragically. or they'll actually call her "the toxic lady" which is genuinely just mean.

one of the few that i like is Cadaber on youtube. he talked about her in a video that covered two other cases, including junko furuta which is another case that people are awful about but that's another post. anyway. he spends time in the video to talk about her life, her family, her as an actual human being. he does not use language that blames her for the adverse health effects that happened to other people and even points out how her death overshadowed her life and takes the time to gives quotes and accounts from people who loved her.

[archivist-crow]

On this day:

BAFFLING BIOLOGY

On February 19, 1994, in California, six staff members of a seven-person medical team at Riverside General Hospital were rendered unconscious when one of the attendants took a blood sample from Gloria Ramirez, who had just gone into cardiac arrest. Ramirez had been admitted, semiconscious, with vomiting, chest pains, and trouble breathing; a slick, oily film coated her body. Ramirez's medical history said she was being treated for cervical cancer with an anti-nausea drug only and had not yet begun radiation treatments. As the syringe punctured her skin, strong, ammonia-like fumes filled the air, knocking out most of the team. Only one member was unaffected, for some unknown reason. The ambulance members who brought her to the hospital were not affected, and it is uncertain exactly where the fumes originated from. The emergency room was evacuated.

Those who had been contaminated went on to suffer extreme symptoms, and two required hospitalization. One doctor became bedridden with a bone-degenerating disease, and another required a ventilator because of erratic breathing. Three of the team appeared to have been poisoned by the deadly chemical class called organophosphates.

Blood samples taken from Ramirez and one of the infected staff members were shown to contain unknown particles of white and yellow crystalline materials. Ramirez died shortly after entering the hospital, and her autopsy was performed in a specially sealed coroner's chamber by emergency personnel in hazmat suits, who searched for a "nonspecific substance"; the body was later encased in layers of bags and an aluminum casket. Laboratory analysis detected an unidentified chemical compound in the bag containing Ramirez's body and in air samples taken during the autopsy. The conclusion was that she had died of kidney failure related to cancer, and no explanation of the bizarre phenomenon was found.

Text from: Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored by Juanita Rose Violins, published by Weiser Books, 2009

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

The Toxic Lady

In February 1994, Gloria Ramirez was admitted to a California emergency room while suffering with aggressive cervical cancer. When she entered the hospital at 8.15 pm, she was described as being extremely confused and having an oily sheen covering her body. Within minutes of treating her, medical staff began feeling ill and fainting. Ramirez was pronounced dead after 45 minutes of CPR and defibrillation, and 23 people became ill, five of which were hospitalised – one medical resident spent two weeks in an intensive care unit. The county health department believed hospital workers suffered from mass hysteria, but some of the affected staff members disagree with this.

[morbidology]

On the evening of 19 February, 1994, Gloria Ramirez was rushed to the emergency room of Riverside Hospital, California. And here was the beginning of one of the world’s most baffling medical mysteries.

Gloria had been suffering from the effects of advanced cervical cancer. She was immensely confused as well as suffering from tachycardia and Cheyne-Stokes respiration. When she arrived at the hospital, she was injected with several drugs including diazepam and lorazepam to keep her sedated. Gloria immediately started responding to the drugs negatively leading doctors to defibrillate her heart. It was now that doctors began to notice some oddities.

There appeared to be an oily sheen which was covering Gloria’s body and a fruity, garlic, odour emanated from her. When a nurse attempted to draw blood from Gloria, she noticed an ammonia-like smell. When another nurse attempted to draw blood, she noticed particles floating in the blood. Suddenly, the nurse fainted, followed by another nurse and another nurse. In total, 23 people within the vicinity of Gloria became ill with 5 being hospitalised. Gloria was soon afterwards pronounced dead with the cause of death being listed as kidney failure.

The main theory was that Gloria had been using dimethyl sulfoxide as a way to alleviate her pain. Two months after her death, her decomposed body was released to her family who wanted an independent autopsy. Their pathologist could not determine a cause of death. Gloria became known as the “toxic lady.”

[Read More at Morbidology]

[msaleemeng-blog]

The Mystery of the Toxic Lady: Unraveling a Lethal Case

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” – Rachel Carson On February 19, 1994, Gloria Ramirez arrived at Riverside General Hospital. She was very sick. The medical team looking after her started to feel ill too. Her story is surrounded by mystery. People have called her the “Toxic Lady”. Key…

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[skellybonesandtrees]

I had never heard about the history of the hospital where Gloria Ramirez was admitted into and uh...it sures adds a lot of nuance to the case that was already quite complex.

[neutralbusdriver]

you should take your passengers to meet

"the toxic lady"

if they want to meet weird people on history ::)

-Eldritch

Oooh, Gloria Ramirez? *sigh* I blame myself for that really. She was on my bus and we just...we drove a liiiiitle too close to Chernobyl at the wrong time and...