"The Toxic Lady"

After checking Glorias vitals, Susan left, but soon after she felt a burning sensation on her face and passed out. Her unconscious body was removed from the trauma room and sent to examination.

Dr. Julie Gorchynski quickly noticed small manila-coloured particles floating in the syringe of Gloria's blood taken by Susan Kane. Dr. Gorchynski began feeling nauseous and light-headed herself. She then sat at the nurses station and passed out shortly afterwards.

Then another patient fainted, and another, and another. A domino effect fell upon the hospital and soon doctors, nurses, and patients alike were sick. The hospital had to evacuate everyone because of this. A group of nurses and doctors tried to save Gloria, but couldn't and died. One of the nurses named Sallie Valdez, who tried to save Gloria and others' lives that night, later began to vomit, felt the burning sensation, and was hospitalized for ten days.

Gloria Ramirez wasn't buried until two months later because of the contamination of the facility. The cause of the toxic air and blood though, remains a mystery, however, there are popular theories related to the incident.

Theory One

After interviewing thirty-four of the hospital staff members, experts believe that the the hospital staff experienced mass hysteria from an illness with no identifiable cause. However, most victims were able to agree on common symtoms they experienced which counters this theory.

This theory is supported because the emergency staff that responded did not exhibit similar or any symptoms the hospital staff did.

The Department of Health and Human Services said that the odor smelled by the staff could have triggered their reactions and the thought that they were sick. The hospital staff don't agree with this statement and one of the medical residents and victims, Julie Gorchynski, filed a lawsuit for $6 million because of the invalidity of these claims.

Theory Two

This theory comes from the Livermore Laboratory who discovered abnormally large amounts of a compound called Dimethyl Sulfone in Gloria’s autopsy samples. They theorized that Gloria used an anti-inflammatory gel called DMSO to help with her cancer pains. The gel easily absorbed by the skin that can explain why she had such an oily sheen. It is also only one oxygen atom away from the compound Dimethyl Sulfone.

They then formed a test that combined DMSO and the oxygen given to her from the mask at the hospital. The results were that it created crystal like objects because of the oversaturation of Dimethyl Sulfone. This could explain why Gloria had crystal like objects in her bloodstream that night.

Although they have came up with all these explanations they couldn't explain how everyone got sick. The combination of DMSO and oxygen is nowhere near poisonous. But some speculate that the electric shocks of the defibrillator they used to attempt to revive Gloria, created some sort of chemical reaction that causes damage to the heart, liver, and kidneys. It can also cause paralysis, delirium, and convulsions, much like that the hospital staff experienced.

A few scientists, however, have come out to say that this theory is impossible.

Theory Three

The Ramirez family have also come out with a theory of their own.

They believe that it was the Riverside General Hospital that killed her.

This is due to the hazardous conditions that were already present at the hospital. In 1991, three years before Gloria’s death, two employees received medical treatment after exposure to poisonous gas from a sterilizer.

In 1993, sewer gas was found in the emergency room during an inspection. Gloria’s sister truly believes she wouldn't have died if she went somewhere other than the Riverside hospital and that the county covered it up.

Why?

The first strange occurrence that proves that the county was trying to cover it up was that the Riverside deputy coroner first statement after the autopsy was that Gloria did not die of natural causes, but after the county revealed their official autopsy statement he changed his statement and said she did die of natural causes.

The second strange occurrence was that one of the top investigators in this case committed suicide one month into her investigation. The deputy coroner, Dan Cupido, said that because of the case she could have been under pressure. The third strange occurrence was that the syringe used to take Gloria’s blood had been “accidently” thrown out. This is suspicious due to the fact that the hospital took the time to put the staff members clothes in bags.

Conclusion

The case of Gloria Ramirez is in fact one of the most strangest scientific occurrences to ever happen. Even the television series, X Files, used this story for one of their episodes.

What makes this case even more crazy is that every theory makes a lot of sense, but we will never know what really happened that night. Hopefully one day we will, but for now it remains an unsolved mystery.