A Dallas anesthesiologist, Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz, has been sentenced to 190 years in federal prison after being convicted of injecting drugs into intravenous bags, which led to at least one death.
In April, Ortiz was found guilty on multiple charges, including five counts of intentional drug adulteration, four counts of tampering with consumer products resulting in serious injury, and one count of tampering with consumer products.
Leigha Simonton, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, described Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz’s actions as comparable to a gunman “spraying bullets indiscriminately into a crowd,” underscoring the recklessness and danger of his behavior.
In her statement following the sentencing, Simonton added, “But he wielded an invisible weapon, a cocktail of heart-stopping drugs, concealed inside an IV bag designed to help patients heal.”
Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz was consequently sentenced in federal court on Wednesday to 2,280 months in prison, with the judge ordering that the sentences be served consecutively.
Ortiz’s public defender expressed disagreement with the verdict, stating that the defense “respectfully disagrees” with the decision and plans to exercise Ortiz’s right to appeal.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, between May and August 2022, several patients at Baylor, Scott & White SurgiCare North Dallas suffered cardiac emergencies during routine procedures.
Doctors began suspecting some issues with IV bags in August 2022 after an 18-year-old patient’s condition became critical during a routine sinus surgery. A laboratory analysis of the IV bag used for the surgery found traces of a drug cocktail that included a nerve-blocking agent, a stimulant and an anesthetic, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors stated during the trial that Ortiz tampered with saline IV bags by injecting them with epinephrine, bupivacaine, and other drugs before placing them in a warming bin for his colleagues to use.
Video footage presented as evidence showed Ortiz “repeatedly retrieving IV bags from the warming bin and replacing them” just before they were taken into surgery.
Doctors testified that the medical emergencies occurred shortly after new IV bags were hung for the procedures.
Back in September 2022, the Texas Medical Board suspended Dr. Ortiz’s medical license, citing concerns that his continued practice posed an ongoing threat to public safety. Although the suspension was initially listed as temporary, there have been no updates regarding further actions taken by the board.
