The volume of patients in need of hospital care led several emergency room physicians on Monday to call for an end to raves at the Coliseum.
Cathy Chidester, director of the county Emergency Medical Systems agency, said Monday that officials treat raves at the Coliseum like a "multi-casualty incident," which she said was similar to planning for a disaster like the Chatsworth Metrolink train crash, which killed 25 and injured more than 130.
Tuesday's death was the latest in a string of high-profile problems at raves at public venues. Earlier this year, at least 18 drug overdoses tied to ecstasy were reported at a New Year's Eve rave at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, next to the Coliseum. And two men died of suspected drug overdoses during a Memorial Day weekend rave at the Cow Palace in Daly City, south of San Francisco.
Although many partygoers consider ecstasy to be safe, doctors and researchers warn that the drug, also known as MDMA, can cause high blood pressure leading to stroke. The hallucinogen can also trigger seizures, releasing toxins that cause kidney failure.
"There are multiple mechanisms through which ecstasy can cause death," Reed said earlier this month when a CDC report she co-wrote on the overdoses at the New Year's Eve rave was released.
