Mysterious ‘Toxic Lady’ Leaves 23 Nurses Sick in Bizarre Turn of Events

In February 1994, a woman named Gloria Ramirez was rushed to Riverside General Hospital in Southern California, US. She became known as the 'Toxic Lady' because of her mysterious condition, which caused many medical staff to fall ill after treating her. Ramirez had been diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and was experiencing a fast heartbeat and difficulty breathing.

When nurses checked on her and took blood samples, they noticed something unusual. They saw an oily sheen on her skin, a strange garlic-like odor coming from her mouth, and odd particles in her blood. Shortly after, hospital staff began feeling ill, reporting symptoms like trouble breathing, nausea, fainting, and temporary paralysis. In total, 23 out of 37 emergency room workers were affected, according to UNILAD.

A few days later, Ramirez tragically died. A special team in hazmat suits arrived to handle her body and searched the ER for any poisonous gas or harmful substances, but Knewz.com noted that they found nothing to explain why the nurses had fainted. Officials conducted three autopsies: one six days after her death, another six weeks later, and a third before her burial. A detailed autopsy on March 25 found Tylenol, lidocaine, codeine, and Tigan (an anti-nausea medicine) in her system. Tigan broke down into amines, which might have explained the ammonia smell in her blood sample.

Additionally, the toxicology report found large amounts of dimethyl sulfone (DMSO) in her blood and tissues, as reported by All That's Interesting. Normally, this substance leaves the body in three days, but in Ramirez’s case, six weeks after her death, the amount was still three times higher than normal. After examining the body and autopsy reports, doctors declared on April 12, 1994, that Ramirez had died from heart failure caused by kidney failure due to her advanced cervical cancer.

Officials had sealed her body in an aluminum casket for two months to protect people from the toxic levels. Her family became upset and blamed the hospital for mishandling her funeral. After months of investigation, officials concluded that the medical staff had suffered from stress and mass hysteria triggered by the smell.

Several theories emerged, with some suggesting that Ramirez had regularly used DMSO as a remedy for her pain and anxiety. She may have applied it to her skin to treat her cancer. DMSO had been popular in the 1960s but was labeled toxic in 1965. Its dangers came to light when studies showed it could cause serious harm, including damage to eyesight.

Furthermore, Assistant Deputy Director Pat Grant discovered that when DMSO was exposed to oxygen, it turned into dimethyl sulfate, a hazardous substance. If inhaled, dimethyl sulfate could cause symptoms like seizures, confusion, paralysis, and damage to cells in the eyes, lungs, and mouth. He concluded that on the night Ramirez died, the symptoms experienced by the hospital staff had matched 19 of those caused by dimethyl sulfate exposure. This ruled out mass hysteria or stress, as the staff were likely poisoned by dimethyl sulfate.

Pat mentioned to The Sun, "Although dimethyl sulfate was not detected in any analyses related to this event, there are plausible scientific explanations for that."