A Texas doctor who allegedly injected poison into IV bags, leading to the death of one doctor and heart problems in 11 patients, has been caught on surveillance footage tampering with the bags.
Anesthesiologist Raynaldo Ortiz Jr., 59, was arrested Sept. 15 and charged with tampering with a consumer product that resulted in death or serious injury, and intentionally falsifying a drug, knowing it would likely cause an adverse health reaction, among other charges. .
Video shows Ortiz entering an empty hallway and moving toward a refrigerator used to heat up a saline solution.
He passes the refrigerator, before returning to let in an IV bag.
During this process, Ortiz is shown scanning the room.
The bag it contained was later given to a 56-year-old woman undergoing cosmetic surgery, who then developed heart complications and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Raynaldo Ortiz Jr, 59, has been charged with tampering with IV bags at Surgicare North Dallas, which led to Dr. Melanie Kaspar, 55, and heart problems in 11 others
Pictured: Ortiz enters an empty hallway and goes to a refrigerator used to heat a saline solution
Pictured: Ortiz holds an IV bag as he walks past the fridge, then turns around
Pictured: Ortiz scans the hallway before deciding to put the bag in the fridge
Pictured: The IV bag shown in Ortiz’s hand was later administered to a 56-year-old woman, who then suffered a heart attack
Ortiz was previously examined by the hospital after former patients experienced complications during routine surgeries
A second clip follows Ortiz as he places a saline bag hidden under a folder in his arm in the fridge.
That bag was then given to a 54-year-old woman, who also had a heart condition.
Ortiz was arrested after the Dallas Police Department investigated the death of Dr. Melanie Kaspar, 55, an anesthesiologist at Surgicare North Dallas, who died of cardiac arrest after using an IV bag she took from work to rehydrate.
A subsequent toxicology report found that her body contained the same drugs in the IV bags Ortiz was handling.
While the surveillance footage was played during a court hearing, federal prosecutors labeled Ortiz a “medical terrorist.” Fox news.
Spilled IV bag incidents began after facility administrators launched an investigation into Ortiz after an anesthesiologist stopped breathing during a routine procedure.
Ortiz was reportedly distraught over the probe and found the hospital was trying to “crucify” him, according to court documents.
Two days after the study began, patients began to develop unexplained heart defects.
A second clip shows Ortiz (middle hallway, masked) approaching the fridge again, this time with a bag hidden under folders in his arm
That bag was then administered to another patient, who also had a heart failure
Ortiz is charged with tampering with a consumer product that will result in death or serious injury and faces life in prison or the death penalty
The Texas Medical Board suspended his license a week before Ortiz’s arrest, citing Ortiz’s “continued medicine poses a continuing threat to the public good.”
The board previously reprimanded Ortiz after shooting a neighbor’s dog in 2018, claiming Ortiz had a “history of violence against women.”
Ortiz was found guilty of animal cruelty and spent 29 days in jail in 2016 for shooting the dog after the neighbor helped Ortiz’s then-girlfriend obtain a protective warrant against him after a domestic violence incident.
The “history of violence against women” refers to a 1999 arrest for alleged assault on a husband and a 2005 protective warrant against him by another girlfriend.
The Texas Medical Board suspended his license a week before Ortiz was arrested, calling Ortiz a “continuing threat to the public good”
Ortiz is linked with at least a dozen patients and one doctor who suffered as a result of tampered with IV bags
A test of the fluid in the IV bags found that the contents contained epinephrine or the hormone adrenaline, as well as bupivacaine and lidocaine, which caused his “heart to beat uncontrollably and his blood pressure to rise to about 200/150.”
The hospital’s investigation said the incidents involving Kaspar and other patients “probably were not isolated and likely part of a pattern of deliberate falsification of IV bags used for procedures.”
The staff “determined that as of late May 2022, there have been about ten other suspected incidents in which patients experienced unexpected cardiovascular complications during otherwise unremarkable surgeries.”
‘Other cardiovascular incidents with suspected compromised IV bags occurred on or about July 7, 15 and 18; and August 1, 4, 9 and 19,” court documents say.
It was also noted how Ortiz was on vacation between July 23 and 28, there were no problems, but after his return, the heart incidents suddenly increased again.
Kaspar (left), 55, brought an IV bag from work to rehydrate
Kaspar (right) is described as a ‘loving’ person who has always lived to the fullest
“She was a very compassionate anesthesiologist and collaborator,” a former colleague wrote
An obituary for Kaspar described her as a “loving” person who has always lived to the fullest.
“No words can adequately capture Mel. She was a whirling dervish and didn’t do anything half-measure,” the obituary read.
“Melanie was a woman of integrity and honor. She was sincere and unabashedly herself. She had a style all her own.’
Numerous testimonials on another obituary described her as a dedicated and caring physician who always knew how to put patients at ease.
‘She was a very compassionate anesthesiologist and collaborator,’ wrote a former colleague, ‘She loved her job and touched so many lives during her time in the operating room.
If found guilty, Ortiz faces a life sentence with the possibility of the death penalty.