Impossible Reactions, mass Hysteria & More

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Livermore investigators found that Ramirez's body contained a high concentration of the harmless compound dimethyl sulfone. Its presence may be explained, they felt, by the use of DMSO, a common folk remedy for ailments such as cancer pain.

With two oxygen atoms added, dimethyl sulfone becomes dimethyl sulfate, an enormously deadly chemical. Livermore offered the theory that such a reaction had occurred within Ramirez's body, and so the source of the mystery fumes had been identified.

Most scientific authorities call the Livermore hypothesis impossible. Dimethyl sulfate causes eyes to tear, does not take effect immediately upon exposure, and would most likely cause death, none of which was true of the alleged Ramirez toxin. Furthermore, proper conditions for dimethyl sulfone to gain two oxygen atoms do not exist in the human body. And the Ramirez family denied that she had ever used DMSO at all.

The official explanation issued by Riverside County Department of Health, and the one most widely accepted, is that the incident was the result of "mass hysteria."

Given the lack of a physical explanation and the inconsistent reactions of those present, stress and anxiety were judged the true source of the spontaneous afflictions. This mass hysteria could have been triggered by an incidental odor in the environment, such as cleaning chemicals or smelling salts. The phenomenon is thought to affect women more strongly than men, and those most profoundly affected in the ER were all female.

Two of the stricken ER staffers, Julie Gorchynski and Maureen Welch, forcefully objected to this conclusion. Possibly in deference to Gorchynski's $6 million lawsuit pending against Riverside County, the health department later revised its opinion to state that Gorchynski, Welch and Sally Balderas were in fact not casualties of mass hysteria.

It can be tough to accept that an event that feels entirely, objectively real may in fact exist only in one's mind. And such a conclusion is especially difficult to swallow for someone like a medical professional, who is supposed to be in control and above such distractions at all times.

But -- allowing that its heavy negative connotations may render a term such as "mass hysteria" inappropriate -- it may be that a psychological explanation for the Gloria Ramirez incident is much more likely than a biochemical one. Ultimately, there are no conclusive answers to the Ramirez case, and for the time being at least, it will continue to remain a baffling medical mystery.

(c) Copyright 1996 ParaScope, Inc.

Emergency In Riverside -- Inconclusive Autopsy -- Impossible Reactions