Recap

Creepy Medical Topics

Medical doctor turned best-selling author, Tess Gerritsen, discussed the difficulties in diagnosing death and shared several cases of people who were mistakenly declared dead.

She recounted a story from 1984 in which a 'corpse' leaped up from an autopsy table and grabbed the pathologist by his throat. The doctor fell over dead from shock, Gerritsen reported. In a tragic case from the 1800s, a young girl 'died' of diphtheria and was entombed in a mausoleum. According to Gerritsen, the girl's remains were found lying on the floor behind the door when the tomb was reopened some time later to bury another family member.

Gerritsen also touched on other topics, including the dangers of biotechnology, Bird Flu, and the Tyrannosaur bone that was found to contain well-preserved soft tissue. Gerritsen said the ancient T-Rex tissue was similar to blood vessels recovered from ostrich bone, and provides further credence to the theory that modern birds descended from dinosaurs.

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Credit: NASA/JPL