Dallas doctor convicted of tampering with IV bags linked to co-worker’s death and other emergencies

DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas anesthesiologist was convicted Friday of injecting a nerve-blocking agent and other drugs into bags of intravenous fluid at a surgical center where he worked, leading to the death of a colleague and caused cardiac emergencies in several patients. federal prosecutors said.

A jury found Raynaldo Riviera Ortiz Jr., 60, guilty of four counts of tampering with a consumer product resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of tampering with a consumer product and five counts of intentional adulteration of a drug, prosecutors said. No sentencing date has yet been set for Ortiz, who faces up to 190 years in prison.

“Dr. Ortiz put on the white coat of a healer, but instead of healing pain, he inflicted it,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton for the Northern District of Texas in a video statement .

Prosecutors said evidence presented at trial showed that numerous patients at Surgicare North Dallas suffered cardiac emergencies during routine medical procedures performed by various doctors between May 2022 and August 2022. During that time, an anesthesiologist who had worked at the facility earlier in the day died while being treated for dehydration using an IV bag.

Prosecutors said Ortiz, who was arrested in September 2022, surreptitiously placed the contaminated IV bags in a heated trash can at the facility and waited for them to be used in his co-workers’ surgeries.

Evidence presented at trial showed that at the time of the emergency, Ortiz was facing disciplinary action for an alleged medical error made during one of his own surgeries, prosecutors said.