Prescribed Toxic!
I have so much respect for my friends in HealthCare, especially when you have to put up with my antics and dark humor. Honestly some days I feel like a human pin cushion, as I sit here waiting for yet another set of Blood panels and tests it reminded me of the Case of Gloria Ramirez, a.k.a The Toxic Woman.
February 19, 1994, Ramirez, after taking a few Tylenol earlier in the evening, she was now suffering from severe sweats, rapid heart rate, and cramps and was brought into the emergency department of Riverside General Hospital, by paramedics. She was extremely confused and was suffering from tachycardia and shallow breathing.
The medical staff administered gravol, and injected her with, diazepam, midazolam, and lorazepam to sedate her.
When it became clear that Ramirez was responding poorly to treatment, the staff tried to defibrillate her heart; at that point, several people saw an oily sheen covering Ramirez's body. Attending medical staff noticed a fruity, garlic-like odor that they thought was coming from her mouth, and as the lab tech drew blood from Ramirez's arm they noticed an ammonia-like smell coming directly from the tube.
There was 5 ER staff assisting her, and within minutes 3 of them had started to complain of light-headedness, spasm and cramping, and feeling nauseated.
Then they all started to faint.
The staff was immediately ordered to evacuate all emergency department patients to the parking lot.
Overall, 23 people became ill and five were hospitalized. Some for up to 3 weeks, with long-term vision loss, breathing issues, and physical ailments from the incident
45 mins after being admitted.
Ramirez was pronounced deceased.
The incident was initially considered to be a case of mass hysteria. However, this wasn't the case at all.
An investigation by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory proposed that Ramirez had been self-administering dimethyl sulfoxide as a treatment for pain, which converted into dimethyl sulfate, an extremely poisonous and highly carcinogenic alkylating agent
When mixed with the drugs administered upon her arrival…she basically became Human Mustard gas.
Makes ya think about following those instructions to a T on the prescription bottle, doesn't it?
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