Family Gets Body of Woman in Fumes Case : Mystery: Officials still have no explanation for why hospital personnel were sickened while treating the patient.
The Riverside County coroner’s office said Tuesday it has released the body of Gloria Ramirez, who died in an emergency room after mysterious fumes sickened medical workers and led to the facility’s evacuation.
The coroner’s office said Ramirez’s family could claim the body, but would have to keep it sealed in a casket until burial.
On Feb. 19, six emergency room workers were sickened or collapsed at Riverside General Hospital while treating Ramirez, a cancer patient. A doctor was hospitalized for nearly three weeks.
Some said they had smelled an ammonia scent coming from Ramirez’s body. She died of a heart attack as hospital workers tried to help her and their downed colleagues.
Coroners’ officials have not released autopsy results. They expect to finish the inquiry in about a month.
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