Toxic Blood

[DARBEN at REDASH.QUT.EDU.AU]

You've caught me with my references down, but this case has recently had 
a flap in certain quarters. I can remember reading an article on the case 
in a recent issue (78 or 79) of the British magazine "Fortean Times (this is 
NOT a plug :). The major theory regarding the source of the chemical was 
that it was Dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO), which the victim, a cancer 
patient with a terminal prognosis was using as treatment (pain relief, I 
think). Evidently, some drug users utilise DMSO to carry narcotics across 
the skin. The theory went that the DMSO was metabolised into something 
less pleasant and that was what caused the effects. There's something 
about this theory which doesn't seem right but I can't put my finger on 
it. The effects were real, however. many of the medical staff have 
suffered long-term and sometimes permanent health effects. The original 
poster might wish to post an enquiry to the forteana mailing list at 
forteana at primenet.com, as the author of the article receives this list.

peter