DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – A Dallas anesthesiologist who allegedly injected nerve blocking agents and other drugs into patient IV bags at a local surgery center – resulting in at least one death and multiple cardiac emergencies – was arrested Wednesday on federal criminal charges, according to Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 59-year-old Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr. was charged via criminal complaint with tampering with a consumer product causing death and intentional drug adulteration. He was arrested in Plano on Wednesday and will make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Toliver in Dallas on Friday at 10 a.m.
“The safety of the nation’s pharmaceutical supply is critically important,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton. “The Department will continue to vigorously prosecute this case consistent with the evidence gathered by our law enforcement partners.”
According the criminal complaint, on June 21, a 55-year-old female coworker of Dr. Ortiz, identified in court documents as M.K., 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, and lidocaine, drugs that could have caused the patient’s sudden symptoms.
According to the complaint, surgical center personnel concluded that the incidents involving M.K. and J.A. suggested a pattern of intentional adulteration of IV bags used at the surgical center. They identified 10 additional unexpected cardiac emergencies that occurred during otherwise unremarkable surgeries between May and August 2022, which the complaint alleges is an exceptionally high rate of complications over such a short period of time. In each of those cases – which investigators believe occurred on or around May 26 and 27; June 27; July 7, 15 and 18; and Aug. 1, 4, 9 and 19 – medical personnel were able to stabilize the patient only through use of emergency measures.
Most of the incidents occurred during longer surgeries that used more than one IV bag, including one or more bags retrieved mid-surgery from a stainless steel bag warmer. The complaint alleges that none of the cardiac incidents occurred during Dr. Ortiz’s surgeries, and that they began just two days after Dr. Oritz was notified of a disciplinary inquiry stemming from an incident during which he allegedly “deviated from the standard of care” during an anesthesia procedure when a patient experienced a medical emergency.
The complaint alleges that all of the incidents occurred around the time Dr. Ortiz performed services at the facility, and no incidents occurred while Dr. Ortiz was on vacation. The complaint further alleges that Dr. Ortiz, who had a history of disciplinary actions against him, expressed concern to other physicians over the disciplinary action at the facility and complained the center was trying to “crucify” him. A nurse who worked on one of Dr. Ortiz’s surgeries allegedly told law enforcement that Dr. Ortiz refused to use an IV bag she retrieved from the warmer, physically waving the bag off. Surveillance video from the center’s operating room hallway allegedly showed Dr. Ortiz placing IV bags into the stainless-steel bag warmer shortly before other doctors’ patients experienced cardiac emergencies. The complaint alleges that in one instance captured in the surveillance video, agents observed Dr. Ortiz walk quickly from an operating room to the bag warmer, place a single IV bag inside, visually scan the empty hallway, and quickly walk away. Just over an hour later, according to the complaint, 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 complaint alleges that in another instance, agents observed Dr. Ortiz exit his operating room carrying an IV bag concealed in what appeared to be a paper folder, swap the bag with another bag from the warmer, and walk away. Roughly half an hour later, a 54-year-old woman suffered a cardiac emergency during a scheduled cosmetic surgery after a bag from the warmer was used during her procedure.
If convicted, Ortiz faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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