A Texas anesthesiologist who injected medications into patients’ IV bags, causing many cardiac problems and at least one death, will be imprisoned for the rest of his life.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Raynaldo Ortiz Jr., 61, was sentenced on Wednesday to the maximum penalty of 190 years in federal prison.
DOJ spokesperson Dooley wrote on X that George W. Bush appointment Chief Judge David C. Godbey of the Northern District of Texas described his conduct as “almost murderous.”
“A victim’s son told the court during the hearing that his 10-year-old no longer trusts doctors because a doctor tried to kill Pops,” Dooley added. Another father shared on social media how horrified he was to see Dr. Ortiz’s dead fish staring at him on security footage.
Ortiz was found guilty in April of five charges of purposeful drug adulteration, one act of tampering with a consumer product, and four counts of tampering with consumer products that resulted in serious bodily injury.
When Ortiz was found guilty, U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton stated in a statement that although Dr. Ortiz dressed himself in the white coat of a healer, he really caused agony rather than alleviating it. He put together ticking time bombs and then waited for the medical time bombs to detonate one by one, releasing poisonous concoctions into the veins of patients who were frequently lying unconscious on the operating table and at their most vulnerable. The patients testified in front of us. It was evident in that courtroom how traumatized, scared, and hurt they were.
According to local NBC affiliate KXAS, his defense lawyer, John Nicholson, contended that prosecutors chose to focus on the most practical individual rather of looking into other medical personnel who handled IV bags.
Authorities reported that many patients experienced cardiac crises during routine medical procedures at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas in 2022.
A month or so after the mysterious crises began, the facility’s anesthesiologist passed away while using an IV bag to treat her own dehydration.
In August of that year, an 18-year-old sinus surgery patient developed symptoms of pulmonary edema, cardiac dysfunction, and elevated blood pressure. The patient had to be taken to the intensive care unit in serious condition, which sparked suspicions about tainted IV bags, according to the prosecution.
When the fluid from the teen’s IV bag was tested, the likely cause was a medication cocktail consisting of the anesthetic lidocaine, the stimulant epinephrine, and the nerve-blocking substance bupivacaine.
Additionally, authorities discovered a puncture in the bag and discovered that Ortiz had secretly injected the medicines into the bags, placed them in a warming bin, and waited for his colleagues to utilize them in surgeries. Surveillance footage, according to the prosecution, showed him frequently taking IV bags out of the warming bin and putting them back in right before they were taken into operation rooms where patients had problems. According to investigators, the footage also showed him combining medicine vials and observing as first responders carted victims away.
In their trial testimony, doctors described their bewilderment when their patients’ blood pressure spiked after new IV bags were hung. In critical care units, patients recalled waking up intubated, disoriented, in agony, and terrified for their life.
According to the prosecution, Ortiz was upset about disciplinary issues he had been dealing with, such as the potential loss of his medical license due to a purported medical error in one of his procedures. Law&Crimere reported that Ortiz had also been arrested on charges of shooting a pet dog and abusing women, citing documents from the Texas Medical Board.
According to KXAS, he also owes the IRS millions of dollars.
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