WEBVTT - Short Stuff: The Toxic Death of Gloria Ramirez

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh, there's Chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>there's Dave. Let's get to it. No need for further explanation,

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<v Speaker 1>let's just start. Let's go today February, thirty one year

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<v Speaker 1>old woman brought into a hospital in Riverside, California named

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<v Speaker 1>Gloria Ramirez. I like where this is going so far, Chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>it's succinct, it's to the point. It was for for

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<v Speaker 1>sixty seconds. She had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. But

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<v Speaker 1>that's not why she was there. She was brought to

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<v Speaker 1>the hospital because her heart was super beating. It was

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<v Speaker 1>beating out of her chest such that the chambers were

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<v Speaker 1>not filling with blood. That was lowering the volume that

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<v Speaker 1>her heart was pumping to the rest of her body,

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<v Speaker 1>and her blood pressure was plummeting, and it was very

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<v Speaker 1>dangerous and very strange for a thirty one year old woman, right, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>But like you said, she had cervical cancer. So they

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<v Speaker 1>were like, okay, well, let's just figure this out and

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<v Speaker 1>we'll treat her and we'll just life saving measures and

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<v Speaker 1>do what we can for And so the e er

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<v Speaker 1>staff started working on her like they would any other patient. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>but they were unsuccessful in bringing her back. In less

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<v Speaker 1>than an hour, she was pronounced dead by the head

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<v Speaker 1>of the e R. But it's what took place during

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<v Speaker 1>that hour that has created a lasting mystery since February

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<v Speaker 1>that remains unsolved to this day because by the time

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<v Speaker 1>the head of the e R pronounced Gloria Ramire is dead,

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<v Speaker 1>the entire emergency room, all of the patients, and almost

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<v Speaker 1>all of the staff had moved out to the parking

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<v Speaker 1>lot had evacuated the emergency room because they wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>get as far away from Gloria Ramires as absolutely possible. Right, So, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>the first thing that happened was they noted that they

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<v Speaker 1>drew some blood, and they noticed that the blood smelled

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<v Speaker 1>like ammonia, which is not what blood smells like. They

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<v Speaker 1>started looking closer and they found these crystals had solidified

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<v Speaker 1>within the syringe in the blood. Um. They were called

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<v Speaker 1>Manilla crystals. I looked for twenty minutes on what manilla

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<v Speaker 1>crystals are and couldn't find it. Well, no, they were

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<v Speaker 1>Manila colored crystals. Okay, well that makes sense then, yeah, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>she the Mr. Ramirez was she herself was emitting an

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<v Speaker 1>odor on her breath. It was they described it as

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<v Speaker 1>garlicky and fruity, and then her her body was seemingly

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<v Speaker 1>covered in an oily sheen. So so far that's not

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<v Speaker 1>too bad or whatever. But the first big problem that

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<v Speaker 1>they had, aside from those flex and her her blood

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<v Speaker 1>the syringe full of blood, was that the nurse who

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<v Speaker 1>had drawn the blood fainted in the er, which is

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<v Speaker 1>pretty unusual. But even more unusual is that the nurse

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<v Speaker 1>that she handed the syringe too, also fainted, staggered out

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<v Speaker 1>of the room, sat down at a nurse's station desk,

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<v Speaker 1>and just slumped over dead away. Also super weird. But

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<v Speaker 1>it got even weirder. A third nurse and then ultimately

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<v Speaker 1>a fourth nurse all fainted um passed out. One of

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<v Speaker 1>them started wretching from nausea, all seemingly because of Gloria Ramira.

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<v Speaker 1>Something was happening with Gloria Ramirez in her body that

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<v Speaker 1>was making the e Er staff sick. And this was

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<v Speaker 1>highly unusual, and that's about when they evacuated the e

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<v Speaker 1>Er to get everybody as far away from Gloria ramiras

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<v Speaker 1>as possible. Yeah, in the end, twenty three of the

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<v Speaker 1>thirty seven people on staff in the e R had

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<v Speaker 1>at least one odd symptom arranging from tremors to apnea. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>One of them even was an intensive care for two weeks. Pancreatitis,

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<v Speaker 1>hepatitis like weird things is like an X Files episode. Basically, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that one nurse had all all all of those were

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<v Speaker 1>in one nurse. Hepatitis, pancreatites, and something called a vascular necrosis,

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<v Speaker 1>which is where the bone becomes starved of oxygen and

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<v Speaker 1>starts to die. And this was concentrated on her knees.

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<v Speaker 1>This is not supposed to happen when you're just you know,

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<v Speaker 1>administering routine life saving measures to somebody who's having atrial fibrillation. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>So what they did was they said, let's um seal

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<v Speaker 1>the body in a bag. Let's seal that body bag

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<v Speaker 1>and an aluminum box, and let's then seal that in

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<v Speaker 1>a room until hazmat can get here. Has Matt arrived

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<v Speaker 1>that night, and they said, you know, when we go

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<v Speaker 1>to check this out, we assume we're going to find

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<v Speaker 1>some kind of toxic gas because everyone's getting sick here.

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<v Speaker 1>And it got even weirder when they discovered that Gloria

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<v Speaker 1>Ramirez was not emitting any kind of toxic gas. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>they expected to find something like um seward gas, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>something coming from the e er and not necessarily Gloria

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<v Speaker 1>Ramirez or phosgene gas, which can produce all sorts of

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<v Speaker 1>horrible symptoms as well. And they found nothing, not just

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<v Speaker 1>on her body, nothing in the bag, nothing in the

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<v Speaker 1>box that they sealed her in, nothing in the room.

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<v Speaker 1>There was just nothing. And yet she had made twenty

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<v Speaker 1>three of the thirty seven emergency room staff sick, so

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<v Speaker 1>something had happened. But now they're like, Okay, we've got

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<v Speaker 1>a modern medical mystery on our hands. Should we take

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<v Speaker 1>a break. I think we should. All right, We'll be

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<v Speaker 1>right back, all right. So the has Matt team checks

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<v Speaker 1>out Gloria Ramirez. Nothing unusual going on. Not only no

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<v Speaker 1>weird gases. Uh, there were no viruses, no bacteria. They

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't find any kind of biological source. And so they

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<v Speaker 1>said she died of heart failure brought on by kidney failure,

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<v Speaker 1>which was brought on by this cancer. But everyone's getting sick,

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<v Speaker 1>so they said, we need to up our game here

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<v Speaker 1>and bring in uh Quincy. Pretty much, they brought in

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<v Speaker 1>someone from Lawrence Livermore National Labs, and they had better equipment,

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<v Speaker 1>and they were basically charged with sampling tissue and sampling

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<v Speaker 1>blood and finding out just what had happened to her. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and so they found a lot of stuff that they

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<v Speaker 1>expected to find, but they found three things that stood

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<v Speaker 1>out to them. One was A means, which are a

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<v Speaker 1>metabolite of ammonia. Another thing called niko tinamedes, which is

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<v Speaker 1>a B vitamin that you sometimes find in drugs because

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<v Speaker 1>it can produce euphoria and drug dealers will use it

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<v Speaker 1>to extend their supply some um. And the third one

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<v Speaker 1>is dimethyl sulfone, which is a metabolite of an amino.

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<v Speaker 1>Asaid that the body is usually capable of breaking down,

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<v Speaker 1>so it was an unusual thing to find even though

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<v Speaker 1>it's found in the body, it's usually broken down and

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't have shown up on a test, which means that

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<v Speaker 1>there was a lot of dimethyl sulfone in Gloria Ramirez's body. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's what they honed in on. The A means,

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<v Speaker 1>they said, is probably from breaking down from some drug

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<v Speaker 1>that we gave her because we were giving her cocktails

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<v Speaker 1>of drugs to try and stabilize her. We weren't. But

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<v Speaker 1>the e er was the second one. They said, well,

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<v Speaker 1>this is quite a leap in my opinion, that suggested

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<v Speaker 1>maybe she was using PCP, right, even though they didn't

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<v Speaker 1>find any PCP in her system. But at any rate,

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<v Speaker 1>they decided to focus on the third one, the dimethyl

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<v Speaker 1>sul phone, which uh seemed to make a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>more sense than the other two at least, right, and

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<v Speaker 1>I mean like it was, it was written off much

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<v Speaker 1>less easily than the other two, so it was the

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<v Speaker 1>one that was kind of left over. And one of

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<v Speaker 1>the researchers that Lawrence Livermore, said, Hey, dimethyl sulfhone. That's

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<v Speaker 1>a type of sulfur with a single oxygen bond. But hey,

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<v Speaker 1>get this, if you add two oxygen molecules to to

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<v Speaker 1>this type of sulfur, you get dimethyl um sulf fox side,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's something that people use as like a topical

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<v Speaker 1>pain reliever. Maybe Gloria Ramirez was using this dimethyl sulf

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<v Speaker 1>ox side as a topical pain reliever, because didn't you

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<v Speaker 1>say that her skin was oily, So maybe that's where

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<v Speaker 1>it came from. And everyone said, hey, that's great, but

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<v Speaker 1>still there's nothing toxic um that could knock out an

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<v Speaker 1>entire e er from dimethyl sulfone or dimethyl sul fox

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<v Speaker 1>side yes, but they said, oh, some chemical nerds stood up.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, but get this. You add four oxygen molecules

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<v Speaker 1>and it's just crazy how a couple of molecules can

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<v Speaker 1>make something deadly. But you add four and you're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>get dimethyl sulfate. And that is if is a substance that,

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<v Speaker 1>if it's in gaseous form, can kill you in ten minutes.

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<v Speaker 1>And they went, oh, yep, okay, this makes a lot

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<v Speaker 1>more sense because there can be a burning sensation, there

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<v Speaker 1>can be tissue death and the eyeballs and mucus membranes.

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<v Speaker 1>It can lead to paralysis and coma and convulsions, and

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly it starts to come into form a little bit right.

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<v Speaker 1>Solawrence Livermore went to the corner of Riverside, California, and said,

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<v Speaker 1>here's what we think. We can't prove this, but here's

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<v Speaker 1>the best theory we've come up with. Gloria Ramirez was

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<v Speaker 1>using dimethyl sulfoxide d M s O as a topical

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<v Speaker 1>pain reliever for her cervical cancer, and when she was

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<v Speaker 1>brought in for heart failure, the paramedics and the e

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<v Speaker 1>er staff started flooding her system with oxygen. Well, that

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<v Speaker 1>oxygen combined with breaking down dimethyl dimethyl sulf ox side

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<v Speaker 1>managed to combine into dimethyl sulfate, and that turned into

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<v Speaker 1>some sort of gas that emitted from her that poisoned

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<v Speaker 1>the e er staff. And everybody said, okay, good enough,

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<v Speaker 1>that's the best anyone to come up with, kind of

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, that was a decent theory, but they couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>show the exact um pathway that that might have taken

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<v Speaker 1>and why her body would have converted that sul phone

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<v Speaker 1>into sulfate. It was a good guess, but they couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>prove it necessarily, and they still can. It's still unpre

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<v Speaker 1>even but some people say, well, this is just like

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<v Speaker 1>no one's ever demonstrated how it happened, but this is

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<v Speaker 1>probably what happened, say a lot of people. And the

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<v Speaker 1>symptoms didn't exactly match because we mentioned some of the

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<v Speaker 1>UH doctors and nurses suffered nausea and wretching, and apparently

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<v Speaker 1>sulfate doesn't produce those symptoms. And nobody said, my eyes

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<v Speaker 1>burned or my mucous membrane burns, which would be like

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<v Speaker 1>the primary symptom, and everybody in the room would have

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<v Speaker 1>it if one person was affected from being in close

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<v Speaker 1>quarters with Gloria Ramirez like that, that's just what would

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<v Speaker 1>happen first, And so the symptoms not matching. And then

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<v Speaker 1>on top of that, the fact that Gloria Ramires his

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<v Speaker 1>family said she never used d M s O kind

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<v Speaker 1>of shoots some holes into this theory. So over time,

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that this has remained a mystery has allowed

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<v Speaker 1>some other ideas to kind of float to the surface too. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>mass hysteria, which is I think that's just a go

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<v Speaker 1>to anytime something happens you can't explain. Yeah, but it

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<v Speaker 1>was it was particularly sexist to because they're like, look,

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<v Speaker 1>it was mostly female nurses who were subject to this,

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<v Speaker 1>so of course it was mass hysteria, right of course. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>And then this one is really interesting to me and

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<v Speaker 1>also not true, but an urban legend arose that the

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<v Speaker 1>on the hospital staff there were some people smuggling ingredients

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<v Speaker 1>for meth amphetamine manufacturing through the E R and I

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<v Speaker 1>V bags, so a little breaking bad operation going through there,

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<v Speaker 1>and that one of the staff accidentally gave her an

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<v Speaker 1>I V bag with these meth amphetamine ingredients and that

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<v Speaker 1>produced this toxicity. Ye, pretty interesting stuff. I mean, probably

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<v Speaker 1>not the case, but it's still I mean, you can

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<v Speaker 1>float interesting ideas like that because it's still not proven. Agreed,

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<v Speaker 1>may never be. Well, that's the case of the toxic

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<v Speaker 1>corpse of Gloria Ramirez. May she rest in peace? Uh

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<v Speaker 1>And since I said may she rest in peace, that

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<v Speaker 1>means that this short stuff is over right, Chuck, That's right.

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<v Speaker 1>The short stuff out. Stuff you Should Know is a

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