Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz was sentenced to a maximum of 190 years in prison after being convicted of injecting dangerous drugs into patient IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas, where he worked. The nerve-blocking agents he added to the IV bags resulted in at least 12 cardiac complications and the death of his colleague.
Ortiz was charged in September 2022 and convicted in April after a jury convicted him in an eight-day trial 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. Sentencing Chief U.S. District Judge David Godbey called Ortiz’s actions “tantamount to attempted murder.”
“This disgraced doctor acted no better than an armed assailant spraying bullets indiscriminately into a crowd. Dr. Ortiz tampered with random IV bags, apparently unconcerned with who he hurt. But he wielded an invisible weapon, a cocktail of heart-stopping drugs, concealed inside an IV bag designed to help patients heal,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton.
In May and August 2022, several patients at Surgicare North Dallas experienced cardiac events after routine medical procedures performed by physicians at the facility. Later that summer, another anesthesiologist who works at Surigcare North Dallas died after treating herself for dehydration using an IV bag. Physicians at the facility began to suspect tainted IV bags after an 18-year-old patient ended up in the intensive care unit in critical condition during a routine sinus energy.
A lab analysis of the IV bag found bupivacaine (a nerve-blocking agent), epinephrine (a stimulant), and lidocaine (an anesthetic) were likely to have caused the boy’s very high blood pressure, cardiac dysfunction, and pulmonary edema. The analysis also revealed a hole in the shell that protected the IV bag.
The trial revealed that Ortiz injected the bags with these and similar substances and placed them in warming bins at the facilities for his colleagues’ surgeries. Surveillance video shown during the trial showed Ortiz removing and replacing IV bags from the warming bins before patients experienced complications. Another video showed Ortiz mixing vials of medication and watching as emergency responders remove victims.
Ortiz faced disciplinary action for an alleged medical mistake made during one of his surgeries, and he faced losing his medical license. Ortiz had an extensive disciplinary history with the Texas Medical Board; his former partner filed a restraining order against him, and he spent time 29 days in jail for shooting a neighbor’s dog with a pellet gun. Despite his criminal history and previous board discipline, he found work prescribing at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas, which is partially owned by physicians.
According to testimony from an FDA agent who investigated the incident, Ortiz “terrified” “virtually all” of his colleagues interviewed by federal investigators. Jeremy Johnson, surgery director at the Baylor Scott & White facility where Ortiz worked, testified in the hearing that Ortiz was “very aggressive” and described a time he needed to call hospital security after Ortiz “got into my face” when Johnson asked him to wear a mask in a restricted area. Johnson also said that Ortiz was rough with patients while they were intubated when he became frustrated. Johnson testified that he believed Ortiz may retaliate because of his testimony and said he feared for himself, his family, and everyone he works with because “he might come shoot us,” he said.
Investigators found that Ortiz was making $84,000 per month through his anesthesiologist consulting practice and received $3.2 million in disbursements over three years. Even though Ortiz’s medical license had been suspended for a medical mistake made in a previous surgery, his DEA registration was still active, meaning he was still able to prescribe medications.
At trial, doctors testified to the confusion they felt when their patients’ blood pressure shot up, and all noted emergencies shortly after new IV bags were hung. Patients testified to waking up intubated, in pain, and in fear for their lives in intensive care units at different medical facilities.
The sentencing hearing heard from one son of a victim who told the Court that his 10-year-old son doesn’t trust doctors, because “a doctor tried to kill Pops.” Another victim’s father said he was horrified to see Ortiz’s “dead fish stare” as victims were wheeled out of the facility. Others testified to permanent negative impact.
Dr. John Kaspar, whose wife died after treating herself with a tainted bag, said his wife’s “lifeless eyes” would stay with him. She was “my life,” “the strongest woman” he’d ever met, he said.
“The defendant betrayed the trust of patients by tampering with critical medical supplies, and the result was death and serious bodily injury,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of these offenses and should make clear that the Department will work tirelessly to investigate and prosecute anyone who endangers patients by tampering with drugs.”
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