On Friday, FOX 4 reported that a North Texas anesthesiologist has had his license suspended by the Texas Medical Board and is under criminal investigation, after authorities looked into a string of cardiac incidents at his procedures, including one death, and uncovered footage showing him appearing to tamper with intravenous fluid bags.
"Anesthesiologist Dr. Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz, Jr. has been suspended from practicing medicine until further notice," said the report. "Dr. Ortiz was a part of an ongoing criminal investigation following serious cardiac complications and one patient's death connected with Ortiz's presence at the Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas facility from May through September 2022, according to the Board."
"The medical board says Ortiz was seen on surveillance footage depositing single IV bags into a warmer in the hall outside operating rooms. Investigators found when he put a bag in the warmer, a patient would suffer serious complications shortly after," said the report. "On June 21, 2022, a fellow physician from the Surgicare facility took one of the IV bags home with her when she was sick to rehydrate. When she inserted the IV at home she almost immediately had a heart attack and died."
"Inspection of the IV bags found tiny holes in the plastic wrap around the bags. Tests on the bags found they contained the local anesthetic bupivacaine, but were not labeled as such, according to the board," said the report. "Tests were also run on the remaining contents from an IV bag given to an otherwise healthy patient who had a heart attack during a routine surgery. The tests indicated the IV fluid contained drugs that could and would be fatal when given intravenously, according to the board."
According to the Texas Medical Board, Ortiz's medical practice was a "continuing threat to public welfare."
This comes after another report of a Missouri doctor who injected patients with unapproved overseas osteoarthritis medications while billing insurers for the real drugs — and pocketing the difference to support a lavish lifestyle including fancy cars and a "castle-like" mansion.
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