A Texas physician was suspended and arrested after officials say he tampered with IV bags, causing serious cardiac complications and one death.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release that Dr. Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr. is accused of injecting nerve-blocking agents and other drugs into patient IV bags. He was arrested Wednesday and charged with tampering with a consumer product causing death, and intentional drug adulteration.
The cardiac incidents reported by the DOJ happened during the time Ortiz worked at the Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas facility, from May through September 2022.
None of the cardiac complications occurred during Ortiz’s surgeries, but they started two days after Ortiz found out about a “disciplinary inquiry” involving an incident where he allegedly “deviated from the standard of care” during an anesthesia procedure.
Ortiz has a history of disciplinary actions against him, the DOJ said.
Some physicians allegedly heard Ortiz say the center was trying to “crucify” him.
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According to the DOJ, most of the incidents happened during longer surgeries that used more than one IV bag taken mid-surgery from a stainless steel bag warmer.
Officials said Ortiz was captured on surveillance video putting IV bags into the warmer shortly before patients began experiencing cardiac emergencies.
In one instance, agents saw him walking quickly from an operating room to a bag warmer, place a single IV bag inside, look around the empty hallway and quickly walk away. A little over an hour later, a 56-year-old woman suffered a cardiac emergency during a scheduled cosmetic surgery after a bag from the warmer was used during her procedure, the DOJ said.
On June 21, a fellow physician took one of the IV bags home to rehydrate. Once she inserted the IV into her vein, she almost immediately had a serious cardiac event and died, the documents say. According to the DOJ, an autopsy found that she died from bupivacaine, a nerve blocking agent that is often used during anesthesia administration.
Bags from the lab were tested and there were holes in the plastic wrap around the bags. They tested positive for bupivacaine, but they were not properly labeled.
Two months later, an 18-year-old had a cardiac emergency during a routine sinus surgery. The teenager was intubated and taken to an ICU. The saline bag used during his surgery was analyzed and investigators found bupivacaine, the stimulant epinephrine, and lidocaine.
Surgical center personnel said the incidents involving both the physician who died and the teenager suggested a pattern of “intentional adulteration of IV bags” at the surgical center, per the DOJ release. They found 10 other unexpected cardiac emergencies during other surgeries between May and August 2022; it’s an exceptionally high rate of complications over such a short period of time, personnel said.
Ortiz was licensed in February 1991, the Texas Medical Board said. His public profile lists anesthesiology as his specialty, and he is also part of Garland Anesthesia Consultants; however, Ortiz is not board-certified.
Board staff found out on Sept. 8 that Ortiz was part of an investigation into serious cardiac complications and one patient’s death, the board said in a news release.
The medical board ruled that if Ortiz continues to practice medicine, he’d pose a threat to public health and safety; the board also said he violated multiple sections of the Medical Practice Act. He will get a temporary suspension hearing within 10 days’ notice, unless he chooses to waive it.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757 – and loves all things horror, witches, Christmas, and food. Follow her on Twitter at @Saleen_Martin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.