A Dallas anaesthesiologist, with a history of disciplinary actions against him, has been arrested on charges of injecting nerve-blocking agents and other drugs into bags of intravenous fluids at the surgical centre where he works, which not only caused cardiac emergencies for several patients but also the death of a co-worker.
Dr Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr was arrested on 14 September after allegations that he had tampered with a product “causing death and intentional drug adulteration”, according to a statement from the US Attorney’s office. If convicted, he could face life behind bars.
Ortiz (59) has remained in the Dallas County jail, without bail, reports AP News.
According to the complaint, a 55-year-old female co-worker had experienced a medical emergency and died on 21 June immediately after treating herself for dehydration with an IV bag of what she thought was saline. An autopsy found that she died from a lethal dose of bupivacaine, a nerve-blocking drug that is rarely abused but is frequently used when an anaesthetic is given.
On 24 August, an 18-year-old male patient experienced a cardiac emergency during routine sinus surgery, was intubated and transferred to an intensive care unit. Chemical analysis of the fluid from a saline bag used during his surgery revealed the presence of bupivacaine, the stimulant epinephrine and the topical anaesthetic lidocaine, drugs that could have caused his sudden symptoms, prosecutors said.
The centre’s staff concluded that the incidents suggested a pattern of intentional adulteration of IV bags and went on to identify 10 additional unexpected cardiac emergencies that occurred during otherwise unremarkable surgeries between May and August – an exceptionally high rate of complications over such a short period, they said.
The incidents started two days after Ortiz was notified of a disciplinary inquiry of an incident during which he allegedly “deviated from the standard of care” during an anaesthesia procedure when a patient experienced a medical emergency. Ortiz expressed concern to other physicians over the disciplinary action and complained the centre was trying to “crucify” him.
The complaint alleges that all of the incidents took place while Ortiz performed services at the facility, but none happened while he was on leave.
In one instance captured in the surveillance video, he was seen walking quickly from an operating room to an IV bag warmer, placing a bag inside, visually scanning the empty hallway and walking quickly away. An hour later, 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.
On another occasion recorded on video, Ortiz was seen leaving his operating room with an IV bag concealed in what appeared to be a paper folder. He then swopped the bag with another from the warmer and walked away. Roughly half an hour later, another patient had a cardiac emergency during surgery after a bag from the warmer was used during her procedure.
AP News article – Doc accused of injecting drugs into IV bags, causing death (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
How the ‘perfect family doctor’ got away with over 250 murders
US nurse faces murder charge after unauthorised injection for war veteran
UK patient dies after procedure by octogenarian doctor who lied about age
US nurse faces death penalty for allegedly injecting air into patients’ arteries