A Texas doctor was sentenced to 190 years in prison this week over charges relating to tampering with intravenous (IV) bags.
The injections, which included a nerve-blocking agent and other drugs, resulted in a coworker's death and triggered cardiac emergencies in multiple patients.
The Case
The cardiac emergencies started just two days after Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr., an anesthesiologist, was informed of a disciplinary investigation into allegations that he had "deviated from the standard of care" during an anesthesia procedure in which a patient suffered a medical crisis.
Ortiz, who had faced prior disciplinary actions, reportedly told colleagues that the surgical center was attempting to "crucify" him.
According to court records, Ortiz, who was arrested in September 2022 and convicted in April, chose to waive his appearance at the federal sentencing hearing.
An attorney identified in court records as representing Ortiz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors revealed that multiple patients at Surgicare North Dallas experienced cardiac emergencies during routine procedures between May and August 2022. They also noted that an anesthesiologist from the facility died after using an IV bag to self-treat for dehydration.
Staff at the surgical center determined that the incidents pointed to a deliberate tampering of IV bags used at the facility.
According to the complaint, investigators identified 10 other unexpected cardiac emergencies during routine surgeries in the months leading up to Ortiz's arrest—a strikingly high rate of complications within such a brief timeframe.
The Texas Medical Board suspended Ortiz's medical license following his arrest in 2022.
In a statement announcing the suspension of his medical license, the Texas Medical Board said, "The Board panel found that on September 8, 2022, Board staff received information from federal law enforcement engaged in an ongoing investigation involving Dr. Ortiz, relating to serious cardiac complications and one patient's death connected with Dr. Ortiz' presence at the Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas facility from May through September 2022."
Ortiz's Conviction
In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the conviction against Ortiz, saying "after eight days of trial and seven hours of deliberation, a jury convicted him 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."
U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton for the Northern District of Texas said, "Dr. Ortiz cloaked himself in the white coat of a healer, but instead of curing pain, he inflicted it."
"He assembled ticking time bombs, then sat in wait as those medical time bombs went off one by one, toxic cocktails flowing into the veins of patients who were often at their most vulnerable, lying unconscious on the operating table," Simonton added.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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