Texas anesthesiologist sentenced to 190 years in prison
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A Dallas anesthesiologist was sentenced to 190 years in prison for injecting drugs into IV bags, resulting in at least one death.
Raynaldo Ortiz was convicted in April of five counts of willful counterfeiting of a drug, four counts of tampering with consumer products resulting in serious injury and one count of tampering with consumer products. Leigha Simonton, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, likened Ortiz to a gunman who “indiscriminately sprayed bullets into the crowd” in a statement after the sentencing.
“But he used an invisible weapon, a breathtaking cocktail of drugs hidden in an IV bag designed to help patients recover,” Simonton said.
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He was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to a total of 2,280 months in prison, which the judge ordered to be served consecutively. Between May and August 2022, several patients at Baylor, Scott and White SurgiCare North Dallas experienced cardiac emergencies during routine procedures, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Meanwhile, Melanic Kaspar, an anesthesiologist working at the practice, died shortly after using an IV bag to treat herself for dehydration.
The IV bag, also known as an IV fluid bag, is used to store fluids during infusion therapies and intravenous administration. It usually consists of several elements, including a bag, a tube, a needle and other accessories.
