Toxic patient? Mystery of Gloria Ramirez, woman who made doctors collapse mid-surgery
Back in 1994, an ordinary Saturday night at Riverside General Hospital turned into a bizarre medical mystery that baffled health officials and made national headlines.
According to a report published by Discover Magazine in April 1995, at around 8:15 p.m. on February 19, paramedics rushed 31-year-old cervical cancer patient Gloria Ramirez into Trauma Room One.
She was conscious but barely able to speak, hyperventilating, and her blood pressure was rapidly dropping because of an abnormally fast heart rate.
Respiratory therapist Maureen Welch noted that while such symptoms were common among elderly patients, they were unusual in someone as young as Ramirez.
