A Dallas anesthesiologist has been sentenced to 190 years in prison on Wednesday following accusations of tampering with patient IV bags. Prosecutors claim that he injected drugs into the bags, which ultimately caused the death of his colleague.
In a recent sentencing, U.S. District Judge David Godbey for the Northern District of Texas referred to the man’s actions as “tantamount to attempted murder,” according to a news release by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Anesthesiologist Raynaldo Riviera Ortiz Jr., 60, faced a trial in April of this year. After seven hours of deliberation, a jury found him guilty of four counts of tampering with consumer products resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of tampering with a consumer product, and five counts of intentional adulteration of a drug, according to the DOJ.
According to the Department of Justice, the case is related to his tenure as an employee at the Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas facility from May to August 2022.
In October 2022, he faced suspension and subsequent indictment over allegations of tampering with IV bags.
The Department of Justice reported in 2022 that the tampering resulted in cardiac complications for certain patients. However, it should be noted that none of these complications occurred during Ortiz’s surgeries.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the cardiac complications occurred just two days after Ortiz was informed about a “disciplinary inquiry” regarding an anesthesia procedure in which he was found to have “deviated from the standard of care.”
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Ortiz had faced several disciplinary actions before experiencing cardiac complications. Some of his colleagues reported overhearing him say that his employer was trying to “crucify” him.
What happened to the patients treated with the tainted IV bags?
In June 2022, roughly a month after the medical emergencies commenced, an anesthesiologist, who also served at the facility, brought an IV bag home to replenish her hydration. Unfortunately, when she administered the IV into her vein, she experienced a severe cardiac event, which ultimately led to her untimely demise.
The DOJ reported that the autopsy findings determined bupivacaine, a nerve blocking agent commonly used in anesthesia, as the cause of her death.
A few months later, doctors at the surgical care center became suspicious that tampered IV bags were responsible for the medical emergencies. In one instance, an 18-year-old patient undergoing a routine sinus surgery had to be urgently transferred to the ICU in critical condition.
The fluid from the teen’s IV bag was examined by a lab at the University of Texas in Denton. The lab discovered the presence of bupivacaine, along with epinephrine, a stimulant, and lidocaine, an anesthetic.
The combination of the drugs resulted in severe health complications, including significantly elevated blood pressure, cardiac dysfunction, and pulmonary edema, according to federal authorities. Additionally, it was discovered that there was a puncture in the bag.
Attorney says doctor is ‘no better than an armed assailant spraying bullets’
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the evidence presented during Ortiz’s trial has confirmed that he injected epinephrine, bupivacaine, and other drugs into IV bags. He would then place these bags into a warming bin, where they would be retrieved by doctors for use in surgeries.
Prosecutors presented compelling evidence, including surveillance video, which depicted Ortiz grabbing IV bags from the warming bin and subsequently replacing them. It was observed that shortly after the bags were replaced, patients in the operating rooms experienced complications.
The Department of Justice stated that surveillance footage also captured Ortiz in the act of mixing vials of medication.
The Result:
After being found guilty, a Texas doctor who tampered with patients’ IV bags is now facing a sentence of 190 years.
Ortiz faced the risk of losing his medical license during the period when these medical emergencies took place.
According to the DOJ’s news release, U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton for the Northern District of Texas described his actions as an assault on a minimum of nine patients.