Texas medical professional arrested on federal charges in colleague’s tainted IV dying

Federal agents arrested a Texas anesthesiologist accused of tampering with IV bags that led to a colleague’s death and sparked a collection of terrifying running room emergencies, officials claimed Thursday.

Dr. Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr. was arrested in Plano on Wednesday and billed with tampering with a client products and deliberately adulterating prescription drugs, offenses that could guide to existence powering bars, federal prosecutors stated.

Ortiz experienced been suspended in the wake of an ongoing criminal investigation linked to the June 21 dying of Dr. Melanie Kasper, 55, in accordance to the order of non permanent suspension the Texas Clinical Board issued Friday.

She died after applying an IV bag she experienced from the clinic where she and Ortiz labored. Kasper experienced taken the bag “home with her when she was ill, to rehydrate,” the suspension get said.

An autopsy exposed she was the target of "a deadly dose of bupivacaine," federal authorities stated.

On or about Aug. 24, an 18-year-outdated male affected individual "expert a cardiac crisis throughout a scheduled operation" as the teenager experienced to be "intubated and transferred to a local ICU," federal authorities said in a statement.

A saline IV bag utilised in that teen patient's technique showed the existence of the stimulant epinephrine, bupivacaine and lidocaine.

There have been 10 other "extra unexpected cardiac emergencies" at the center between May possibly and August of this 12 months and none of the incidents transpired all through any of Ortiz's surgical procedures, officials mentioned.

In one particular of all those difficulties, surveillance movie allegedly confirmed Ortiz "going for walks promptly from an running home to the bag warmer, placing a solitary IV bag inside, visually scanning the empty hallway, and speedily walking away," authorities stated.

Then an hour afterwards, a "56-yr-aged female experienced a cardiac emergency through a scheduled beauty surgical procedures immediately after a bag from the warmer was utilised in the course of her technique," federal officers stated.

Though authorities didn't explicitly checklist a motive for the alleged crimes, a complain explained "Dr. Ortiz experienced a history of disciplinary steps towards him, expressed problem to other doctors more than disciplinary motion at the facility, and complained the center was hoping to 'crucify' him," in accordance to a Division of Justice assertion.

It was not straight away crystal clear Thursday afternoon if Ortiz had employed a defense attorney or been assigned counsel to speak on his behalf.