Ortiz was suspended by the Texas Medical Board after the board decided continued observe of medication posed “a continuing threat to public welfare.”
DALLAS — Dr. Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz, an anesthesiologist in North Texas, is dealing with accusations that he tampered with a number of IV bags at a Dallas surgical heart, inflicting severe medical issues for a number of sufferers and a dying earlier this 12 months.
Ortiz was suspended by the Texas Medical Board in early September after the board decided continued observe of medication posed “a continuing threat to public welfare.”
Accusations of tampering
According to investigators, Ortiz had informed a colleague he felt hospital supervisors have been attempting to “crucify” him over an alleged medical mistake shortly earlier than he allegedly injected nerve blocking brokers and different medicine into affected person IV bags on the Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas, situated at 12230 Coit Road.
A legal criticism unsealed on Sept. 15 mentioned Ortiz’s alleged tampering induced the dying of fellow anesthesiologist Dr. Melanie Kaspar, 55, and induced as many as 11 different cardiac emergencies in different sufferers.
Hospital officers say they turned conscious of the contaminated IV bags on Aug. 24 and “paused all operations” and notified “the appropriate local and federal authorities.”
Kaspar’s dying in June had initially been tied to a coronary heart assault, however the newest post-mortem and toxicology check outcomes launched on Aug. 24 mentioned she had died from an overdose of bupivacaine, a drug used to numb sufferers in surgical procedure.
In every occasion the place sufferers had cardiac emergencies, the criticism mentioned medics have been in a position to stabilize the sufferers solely via the use of emergency measures and most of the incidents occurred throughout longer surgical procedures that used multiple IV bag.
Investigators mentioned issues occurred in surgical procedures the place Ortiz was not the anesthesiologist.
Surveillance video from the middle’s working room hallway allegedly confirmed Ortiz inserting IV bags right into a stainless-steel bag hotter shortly earlier than different medical doctors’ sufferers skilled cardiac emergencies, the criticism mentioned.
“There appears to be a likely correlation between Ortiz coming under scrutiny for medical errors and the adverse events affecting other anesthesiologists’ patients,” the criticism said.
Previous disciplinary actions in opposition to Ortiz
Ortiz had been twice disciplined by the Texas Medical Board. Once was for failing to report a conviction for capturing a neighbor’s canine in Collin County and once more for not administering life-saving measures to a affected person in misery on the North Garland Surgery Center, which resulted in Ortiz shedding medical privileges at that facility.
A 3rd disciplinary inquiry is detailed in a legal criticism, stating that on May 19, 2022, one of Ortiz’s sufferers at Surgicare North Dallas stopped respiratory throughout a routine process, the criticism states. According to a overview by the power, Ortiz failed “to maintain the patient’s airway,” which was just like the 2020 incident in Garland, the criticism states.
What occurs subsequent?
During a detention listening to on Monday, Ortiz was ordered to stay in detention. An investigator on the listening to known as Ortiz a “medical terrorist.”
He has not entered a plea and was granted a request for a court-appointed public defender.
Ortiz, 59, might face life in jail if convicted on federal fees of tampering with a client product inflicting dying and intentional drug adulteration.
If anybody has any extra information concerning the scenario, or had any antagonistic reactions throughout surgical procedure, WFAA would love you to electronic mail us at [email protected].
story by The Texas Tribune Source link
