A teenage boy suffers pain and embarrassment when his leg becomes grotesquely swollen and infected. His doctors can’t stop it from getting worse, and the problem spirals out of control. But his teacher refuses to give up on him. Working together, they make a startling discovery.

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A couple in Colorado is accused of child abuse when their infant daughter is diagnosed with multiple fractures in her legs. The ordeal threatens to break the family apart – and there may be no putting them back together.

Follow MrBallen's Medical Mysteries on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes publish for free every Tuesday. Prime members can binge episodes 41-48 early and ad-free on Amazon Music. 

Wondery+ subscribers can listen ad-free--join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts.

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Seemingly out of nowhere, an otherwise healthy man’s body starts filling with a thick, lemon meringue-like liquid that is slowly drowning him in his own fluids. His family is terrified, both for him, and for themselves – because this mysterious disease might come for them too.

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One night, two girls from the same school are rushed to the hospital with the same deadly disease. At first, doctors worry the girls’ entire school was exposed to the same disease. But soon they realize that the problem is even bigger.

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 In late 1976, a terrifying new disease that causes eyes to bleed grips the country of Zaire. Doctors from all over the world arrive to search for the cure… if one exists at all.

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“A Step Too Far”

A man in Scotland suffering from crippling breathing difficulty is mystified when his doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with him. As he grows weaker and weaker, he worries that one day he’ll go to bed… and never get up. 

“Dying of Boredom”

After undergoing ankle surgery, an Australian high schooler is dreading a summer stuck inside. But when he suddenly starts struggling for breath, his couch-bound recovery becomes the least of his problems.

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A boy in Minnesota is rushed to the emergency room with one of the worst food poisoning cases the doctors have ever seen. A short while later, a little girl shows up with the same illness. Soon, cases are popping up throughout the state, leaving some on the brink of death as doctors scramble to figure out why. 

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When a young mother’s baby is suddenly hospitalized, doctors accuse her of intentionally harming him. Desperate to prove that she’s innocent, the mother seeks an answer before she loses her son forever.

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In December 1979, young women all over Wisconsin fall ill with a mysterious disease that starts with a bright red rash – and sometimes leads to death. Soon, it’s happening to women all over the United States – and nobody knows why.

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A doctor in the early 1900s is tasked with discovering the cause of a sometimes-fatal disease ravaging the American South. But in order to figure it out, he has to conduct a dangerous experiment that puts people’s lives at risk.

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