Texas anesthesiologist arrested for allegedly tampering with IVs, one of which may have caused the death of fellow doctor

Texas anesthesiologist arrested for allegedly tampering with IVs, one of which may have caused the death of fellow doctor



An anesthesiologist in Plano, Texas, has been arrested after several IV bags containing inappropriate drugs have supposedly been traced to him. Prosecutors allege that one of these bags caused the death of a fellow doctor, and another caused serious complications for at least one other patient.

Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr., 59, has been arrested after security footage indicated that, on several occasions, he had tampered with IV bags, which may have caused some of the emergency incidents that arose during otherwise routine surgeries at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare Center throughout the summer.

According to Fox News, Ortiz had been under investigation by the FBI after he was allegedly seen on security cameras placing IV bags into a warmer. The bags were then used during subsequent procedures in which serious complications unexpectedly arose.

Officials investigated the bags and determined that they contained "visible tiny holes in the plastic wrap." They also discovered the presence of bupivacaine, a numbing agent often injected into the spinal cord during surgery to alleviate pain but which can be fatal if injected directly into a vein.

Authorities suspect that such was the case for one of Ortiz's colleagues. On June 21, Dr. Melanie Kaspar, 55, a co-worker at Baylor Scott & White, took a saline bag home to help her rehydrate following an illness. However, almost immediately after she inserted the IV into her vein, she went into severe cardiac distress and died.

Another young man, 18, identified in the filing only as J.A., also had a serious complication develop during a minor sinus surgery on August 24. J.A. had to be intubated and transferred to intensive care. Tests of the saline solution in one the patient's IV bags revealed the presence of bupivacaine, epinephrine, and lidocaine, none of which should have been there, but which could have caused the symptoms.

J.A.'s current condition is unknown.

After the J.A. incident, Baylor Scott & White temporarily suspended its operations, and the Texas Medical Board then suspended Ortiz's medical license on September 9. As the surgical center also experienced an usually high complication rate this summer, investigators are now considering whether those cases can be connected back to Ortiz.

Though none of the complications occurred during any of Ortiz's surgeries, the complaint notes that none of them occurred while he was on vacation either. They all occurred around the time that Ortiz was in the facility or shortly thereafter. The incidents also reportedly began shortly after Ortiz was subjected to a disciplinary inquiry for deviating "from the standard of care."

There have been other charges leveled against him as well. Since 1999, at least three women have accused him of domestic violence, and he was convicted of an unspecified crime after he shot a neighbor's dog in 2015. The dog ultimately survived.

Now, Ortiz has been charged with tampering with a consumer product causing death and intentional drug adulteration. He is expected to appear in federal court on Friday. He faces life in prison if convicted.


Nurse charged with murder after she injected 97-year-old man with 'something special' when he became agitated: Report

Nurse charged with murder after she injected 97-year-old man with 'something special' when he became agitated: Report



A nurse working in Lexington, Kentucky, has been formally charged with murder after reports state that she committed "intentional medical maltreatment" against an elderly patient who had become agitated.

James Morris, a 97-year-old WWII and Korean veteran, had been admitted to Baptist Health Hospital earlier this year after "a slip and fall injury," says a report from the state Board of Nursing. At some point during his stay, he had become agitated, and nurse Eyvette Hunter, 52, reportedly requested that he be given medication to calm him down. Her request was denied by both a doctor and a nurse practitioner, according to WKYT-TV.

Despite the refusals, Hunter was later allegedly spotted on April 30 injecting contents from a syringe either directly into Morris or into Morris's IV. When asked twice what she had administered to Morris, Hunter allegedly replied that it was "something special."

Reports claim that she gave him a dose of lorazepam, an anti-anxiety medication, which may have been intended for another patient. Lorazepam works by slowing brain activity.

Within a half-hour after the injection, Morris became sedated and began having difficulty breathing. When other medical care professionals attempted to assist him, they discovered that his oxygen saturation equipment had been turned off, presumably to silence its alarm.

The medical team managed to improve Morris's oxygen levels, but he had developed pneumonia from either some food or medicine he'd ingested. He then entered hospice, where he died two days later on May 5.

The report from the Board of Nursing claims that Hunter admitted to administering lorazepam to Morris without permission and that Morris died as "a direct result" of Hunter's actions.

"Despite the rapidly declining condition of the patient, [Hunter] never called for rapid response nor acted with any sense of urgency," the Board of Nursing stated.

Following a police investigation into the incident, Hunter was indicted for murder on Monday and taken into custody on Tuesday. She is currently being held at Fayette County Detention Center. Her bond has been set at $100,000.

The Kentucky Board of Nursing suspended her license after she was indicted. Baptist Health terminated her on April 30, though the hospital stated that she had no complaints lodged against her until her alleged treatment of Morris.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Hunter was a traveling nurse who also worked at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, which likewise terminated her following her indictment. Until Monday, she had been a licensed and registered nurse in Kentucky since 2018. Before that, she had been a licensed LPN, beginning in 2007. The Herald-Leader claims Hunter had also been licensed as a nurse in other states, but which states and when she had been licensed remain unclear.