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[DAILYBEAST] A Texas doctor accused of injecting drugs into IV bags—leading to the death of a colleague and medical emergencies in as many as a dozen patients—may have tampered with them because he was unhappy his surgery center was investigating him, authorities say.
Police arrested Dr. Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr. on Wednesday, almost a week after the Texas Medical Board suspended his license and said his “continued practice of medicine poses a continuing threat to the public welfare.”
Investigators say Ortiz’s contamination of his surgery center’s intravenous fluids killed 55-year-old coworker Melanie Kaspar, who used an IV bag to rehydrate herself and died almost immediately afterward; lab results later determined the IV bag contained a lethal dose of the anesthetic bupivacaine.
[WFAA] He’s accused of tampering with IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas which resulted in multiple patients suffering medical emergencies after undergoing routine surgeries and the death of a fellow anesthesiologist at the center who’d taken a bag home in June to treat her dehydration.
That doctor, Dr. Melanie Kaspar, passed away after suffering a cardiac event almost immediately after administering the IV, according to a report from the Texas Medical Board.
Kaspar’s husband, John Kaspar, attended Friday’s hearing.
[CBSDFW] According the criminal complaint, on June 21, Melanie Kaspar, 55-year-old coworker of Ortiz, experienced a medical emergency and died immediately after treating herself for dehydration using an IV bag of saline taken from the surgical center.
An autopsy report revealed that she died from a lethal dose of bupivacaine, a nerve blocking agent that is rarely abused but is often used during the administration of anesthesia.
Two months later, on Aug. 24, an 18-year-old male patient, identified in court documents as J.A., experienced a cardiac emergency during a routine sinus surgery. The teen was intubated and transferred to a local ICU. Chemical analysis of the fluid from a saline bag used during his surgery revealed the presence of bupivacaine, epinephrine (a stimulant), and lidocaine, drugs that could have caused the patient’s sudden symptoms.
https://youtu.be/tGA_tmUEogc?si=CE98xp70tHt9TfyC
[PEOPLE] Dallas Morning News reports that Ortiz had his license suspended by the Texas Medical Board after he was allegedly seen on surveillance video placing IV bags in a warmer outside operating rooms just before patients suffered unexpected medical issues during routine surgeries.
Tiny holes were also discovered in the IV bags, which also contained bupivacaine, a drug used to treat localized pain, according to WXAS-TV.
[PEOPLE] A Texas anesthesiologist is accused of tampering with IV bags at a Dallas surgical facility, resulting in a fellow doctor’s death and multiple cardiac emergencies — and in court on Monday, prosecutors referred to Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz, Jr., as a “medical terrorist.” At the hearing, a federal judge denied Ortiz’ request to be released from jail without bail, KDFW reports.
Ortiz was arrested on Sept. 14 and faces federal charges of tampering with a consumer product causing death and intentional drug adulteration. The charges stem from alleged incidents in mid-August, when Ortiz was working at Baylor Scott and White Surgicare at North Dallas. Authorities allege that Ortiz tampered with a number of IV, causing the death of a Dallas physician.
UPDATE 1: [ABC8|VIDEO]: EXCLUSIVE: ‘All that stuff… was a lie’ | In jailhouse interview, North Dallas doctor denies he poisoned IV bags. Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz, who faces up to life in prison if convicted, says surveillance video evidence of him at an IV warmer is misleading. [FULLSTORY]
UPDATE 2: Forensic scientist testifies in North Texas doctor’s tainted V bag case
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