Law&Crime Sidebar - Texas Doctor Tainted IV Bags Dubbed ‘Poison Bombs’

Episode Date: April 17, 2024

A federal jury convicted Raylando Ortiz, Jr of tampering with IV bags at a Texas surgery center. Prosecutors say Ortiz, who had recently been disciplined, wanted to sabotage his coworkers. Ortiz’s suspicious behavior was caught on surveillance cameras multiple times and led to 11 patients suffering cardiac emergencies. In a sick twist, Ortiz’s actions also caused the death of a fellow anesthesiologist. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks down the unique case with Texas attorney Nicole DeBorde.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Dr. Ortiz cloaked himself in the white coat of a healer, but instead of curing pain, he inflicted it. A doctor is convicted of intentionally tampering with IV bags full of medicine, and it's apparently all caught on tape. We'll discuss this unique case with Texas attorney, Nicole DeBoard. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Here's one for you. A Texas doctor whose whole job is to help people, ease their pain, save their lives. He was convicted of injecting dangerous drugs into IV bags leading to multiple

cardiac emergencies and even killing a fellow doctor. I'm talking about Reinaldo, Riviera, Ortiz Jr., charged in September of 2023 with tampering with bags at a surgical center in Dallas. He was an anesthesiologist, you know, one of the people present during surgeries to make sure a patient is unconscious and perhaps even more importantly that they wake up. Well, according to prosecutors, Ortiz was apparently upset over a disciplinary action that was taken against him at Surgicare North Dallas because of a mistake he made in one of his own surgeries. So he apparently wanted to mess up the surgeries of his colleagues as well. And though

Ortiz was charged in 2023, the crimes date back to 2022 between May and August. That is when Ortiz was caught on camera, filling syringes with drugs, messing around with IV bags at the surgery center. Multiple pieces of surveillance video were introduced during the course of this trial. In fact, in one, Ortiz can be seen taking IV bags from a warming bin, then replacing them soon after. Those bags were then carried into operating rooms, and the patients that the IV saline was given to suffered sudden cardiac emergencies. We're going to take a look at some of these other video clips, so Ortiz is seen taking a vial out of a cabinet and an IV bag out of the warmer. In another one, Ortiz walks down the hall, opens the warmer, looks inside, shuts it again, Possibly checking to see if the ones he tampered with were still in there.

Videos also showed Ortiz mixing up vials of medication and even watching as victims were wheeled out of the operating room by emergency responders. Here's the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leah Simenton, talking a little bit more about this case. Dr. Ortiz assembled ticking time bombs using medicines intended to help patients not hurt them. then he sat in wait as those medical bombs went off one by one toxic cocktails flowing into the veins of patients who were often at their most vulnerable lying unconscious on the operating table now around one month after these patients started having these sudden emergencies another anesthesiologist who worked at surgical care was apparently suffering from dehydration so she took home an IV bag to help her recover I'm

talking about 55-year-old Dr. Melanie Casper. Well, she died at home in front of her husband, said that she was writhing on the floor in pain. Then in August of 2022, an 18-year-old was having just a routine sinus surgery when all of a sudden he had to be rushed to the intensive care unit. Doctors started to get suspicious that something was wrong with the IVs, so a lab analyzed the fluid from the bag that was used during that 18-year-old's procedure, and they found multiple drugs that had no business being in there, including,

Epinephrine, lydocane, as well as a nerve blocking agent, the mixture would have caused the boy's reaction. The lab also documented a puncture in the bag, and in all, an investigation uncovered that 11 patients had major and potentially devastating reactions during surgery because of these tainted IV bags. And when an investigation got rolling in September of 2022, the Texas Medical Board was notified and held an emergency meeting, suspending Ortiz's medical license. In its order, the board said, quote, respondent's continued practice of medicine poses a continuing threat to public welfare. Then the criminal complaint charged Ortiz with tampering with a consumer product causing death and intentional drug adulteration.

And during that trial, the jury saw those surveillance videos I mentioned. They heard testimony from patients and fellow doctors and they listened to experts explain why it would never be necessary for an anesthesiologist to be handling medicines and IV bags the way Ortiz did. As for the defense, they tried to say Ortiz was a scapegoat, that the hospital didn't really do a thorough investigation and just decided to blame him. They also had a medical expert who testified that the patients could have had other conditions that caused them to go into cardiac arrest. And possibly one of the best defenses that Ortiz had was that only one fingerprint was apparently found in an IV bag and it wasn't Ortiz's. But despite that, after eight days of trial in federal court, Ortiz was found guilty. A jury convicted him of four-count.

of tampering with consumer products resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of tampering with a consumer product, and five counts of intentional adulteration of a drug. A sentencing hearing is planned for July, where Ortiz faces up to get this, 190 years in prison for his crimes. I want to bring on right now Texas criminal defense attorney and trial attorney, Nicole to board to talk about this, but also to talk about the fact that we dug a little bit deeper into Ortiz's past, and we found some very disturbing information. We will get to that in a minute. Nicole, so good to see you. Thanks for coming here on Sidebar. Overall reaction to this.

You know, really, it's such a shocking crime. It is just so sad. Obviously, this anesthesiologist, who's now being convicted, didn't even have a particular target in mind. But the people that ultimately were severely injured and then even died really had no personal connection to him whatsoever. The crimes are indeed horrific, and I think that he stands to really receive the bulk of that potential sentence. What's so scary is he's in that position of trust. We don't even think about the idea that our medical professionals could be deliberately harming us. And that actually made me wonder, when I first heard the case, were you surprised he was in charge? And I don't, I didn't see that he was originally charged with

this and was drop, but I didn't see it at all. But were you surprised he wasn't charged with manslaughter or that he was in charge with attempted murder? It is surprising. And it may have been a case that the state just did not feel comfortable investigating or feel comfortable that they had the information to connect the death or the serious injury to the activity by this anesthesiologist. Or it may have just been that they had an agreement with the federal government that the feds would take the lead and do the work on the case. Right, right, because those would be state charges there. Why do you think the feds decided to take it?

Well, it sounds like from what they presented, and certainly the jury agreed that they had enough evidence to move forward and get a conviction based on what they found. So, you know, these are serious, serious consequences people were facing. And as you've already mentioned, a position where they should have been able to trust the facility and their doctors. And probably easier to make the conviction on the federal front and with such serious charges, if you're looking to send them away for the rest of his life, whether it's attempted murder on a state charge or manslaughter a state charge.

You can go federal and it's maybe a more streamlined case and you could potentially get him sent to prison for the rest of his life. Why not go the federal route? The defense, though, is interesting. I mentioned it a little bit. We've covered cases before here on law and crime where we've had medical professionals

who've been charged with crimes and said that they're responsible for the deaths of patients. And we've seen acquittals. The fact that the defense here did not work, why do you think it didn't work? It just sounded like there was too much evidence. that these crimes were so disconnected or the people that had injury were so disconnected,

except for one thing, and that is this particular anesthesiologist having access to the bags of fluid that ultimately were used in their surgeries. So I think it was really just that key point that was potentially overwhelming. And that surveillance video, my gosh, did he not realize? And I wondered, you know, certain videos when he's opening the door, if he's trying to block himself or trying to, did he know where the cameras were? But it really didn't work out too well for him. And thank goodness that he is no longer in a position to do this to anyone else.

My gosh. And thank goodness it was caught so soon. I mean, there were a number of people affected and I wish it was caught sooner. But imagine if this happened for years and it went under the radar. What is he looking at in terms of an actual prison sentence? He could get up to 190 months based on the crimes that he. he was convicted of instead of in federal court. Well, excuse me, 190 years. And so, you know, the way that federal sentences work is, is that the sentences are rigged down into months. But in this

case, it adds up to potentially 190 years for the types of crimes that he was convicted of by this jury. Do you think he would get that high? Do you think, but here's my bottom line. Is he going to spend the rest of his life in prison? I think likely. As I understand it, he's around 60 years old. These crimes, you know, are stackable, which means. that the judge can look at them and say we think that these sentences should be served consecutively. So he stands to face quite a lot of time. Hey, everybody.

So one of my favorite things about being a host here on law and crime is how passionate our audiences. You guys, you don't just sit back and watch. No, you engage, you leave comments, you give us feedback, you make your opinions known. Can't tell you how much we appreciate that and value that. And one of the most popular opinions that we have seen is how much you love our police interrogations.

And I have to agree because they are so unpredictable. They let you see firsthand how detectives uncover the truth behind a crime, the strategies they use, what suspects defendants say. It is so important at trials. Can't tell you enough. Well, I am excited to tell you that we here at Long Crime, we have heard you loud and clear. And we have launched a whole new YouTube channel dedicated only to interrogation videos.

It is aptly named Law and Crime Interrogate. And it is your new destination for all of the most gripping and unique interrogations on the internet. We're talking the moments when killers crack, false confessions, the most elaborate cover-up schemes that still seem to fail. You can check it out. Go subscribe. Let us know what you think. Click the link in the description to step inside the interrogation room on law and crime interrogations. Nicole, I want you to stick around because I want to give everybody a little bit of background on this guy.

And I want you to give me your reaction to this. And maybe more importantly, why, as far as far as. as I could see, there was no lawsuits initiated? I'll explain. So we mentioned that the tampering started happening after Ortiz was disciplined, remember? Well, according to documentation from the Texas Medical Board, in November of 2020, Ortiz was performing anesthesia on a patient during surgery when he, quote, failed to meet the standard of care. The patient needed CPR, had to be moved to an acute care setting to get further treatment. But not only that, the medical board panel says that Ortiz didn't recognize the patient's oxygen levels and the need for ventilation and that he failed

to document these critical events. And then under the mitigating factors section in the paperwork, the order states, quote, respondent was the subject of hospital medical staff investigation due to the same incident. The investigation was never completed and no final findings were made because respondent relinquished his privilege prior to any hearing on the matter. Respondent was denied a fair hearing by the hospital, which then resulted in respondent's resignation. from the hospital. It also notes that Ortiz submitted evidence that he says shows he met the standard of care and that no deficiencies in his care are responsible for the patient's outcome. But as part of the medical board's order handed down in 2022, Ortiz's anesthesia practice

was required to be monitored by another physician for four monitoring cycles. He was also required to notify any medical centers, hospitals, surgery centers, or any other place he worked about that order. And that order was signed by Raynaldo Ortiz, Jr., M.D., on August 17, 2022, and not long after that, the first problems with IV bags at surgery care started to emerge. Well, in Ortiz's files with the Texas Medical Board, we also found out that Ortiz was reprimanded back in 2018 for failing to notify hospitals that he had been convicted of a crime.

Yes, that led him to having his license temporarily suspended. What I'm talking about is that in 2016, a Texas jury found Ortiz guilty of cruelty to non-lifestock animals. Ortiz apparently shot his female neighbor's pet dog in retaliation for this woman reportedly helping his girlfriend at the time escape from him and testify against him at a protective order hearing. Now, fortunately, that dog lived, but what a scary, horrific situation we're talking about. Ortiz was sentenced 25 days confinement in jail, but it's our understanding that he was actually remanded to two years community service and that he had to pay a $4,000 fine.

and he also had to pay the dog's vet bills and had to participate in an anger management program. He was prohibited from owning or carrying weapons. Ortiz and his lawyers filed an appeal, but the appeals court upheld his conviction. But that's not all. No, according to those filings, Ortiz was arrested in 1995 for assault causing bodily injury to a spouse.

She divorced him and the two settled for an undisclosed amount of money. 2005, another female partner filed for an emergency protective order against Ortiz, alleging he assaulted her. Then in 2014, Ortiz was arrested for assault involving domestic violence against the third woman. She filed for an emergency protective order a month later. In an affidavit, one of these women claimed that Ortiz had been abusive for years. Quote, he has threatened to kill me before, even told me how he would do it, including cutting my finger off to get the ring.

He said the only thing stopping him from killing me was he would go to jail. Ortiz was supposed to report all of this to the medical centers where he worked, but apparently he did not. The medical executive committee at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in Garland suspended Ortiz's clinical privileges for 14 days for failing to report those criminal charges. And according to the Texas Medical Board, the conviction, as well as a documented history of violence against women, violates several board rules so they were entitled to take action. the board's order called for a public reprimand of Ortiz, which was done in these documents, he would also be required to pay an administrative penalty of $2,000. Nicole, I'm exhausted from going through that whole history. And my gosh, it seems to me, you know, as far as I can tell, is it that we asked you why

we haven't seen any kind of lawsuits against these medical centers for keeping this guy in their employ, but as soon as they found out, they took action, right? but are you disturbed by this? I mean, a history going back for years? It's beyond disturbing. I mean, here's an individual who's not allowed to possess a weapon, but they're allowed to have access to the medication that will either save or not save the person's life who is undergoing surgery and have unfettered access to it at the clinic.

Even after he was notified and the clinic presumably should have been aware that he had to be supervised during his role as an anesthesiologist, who clearly was not. He had access to those IV bags repeatedly while somebody could not see exactly what it was he was doing, and then they were used on patients who suffered. And as far as I can tell, and please, any of our viewers, listeners, correct me if I'm wrong, I didn't see any lawsuits. I didn't see any pending litigation as a result of this. I could imagine you could go forward with a lawsuit.

It's negligent hiring, right? why do you think we don't see any lawsuits here it's a good question i mean theoretically it sounds like there may be a very small window of time and this and it may not be so the time may be passed but there are statutes of limitations where a person can make you know make a move to to file a lawsuit and we are getting frightfully close if not past that that deadline so i suppose it could still happen but it is quite shocking that there have not been civil actions it's also possible that there was some sort of a confidential resolution to these matters that we just don't know about. And let me ask you this. I'm kind of putting you on the spot. If you don't have the

answer, totally fine. It seems to me that in light of all this, and yes, he wasn't convicted of everything that I mentioned. There were charges. There were protective orders put in place. And correct me if I'm wrong, if I'm being too harsh. Does it not feel that the punishment he received from these different medical boards was not sufficient? Does it seem to you that perhaps they could have permanently revoked his license, made sure he was never in a position to be in the medical community, the medical industry? Or is that too extreme, given what the charges were and what his criminal history was? You know, it's really hard to say, you know, I hate to go back and second guess a board over something that may be disconnected from the person's job, right?

I mean, and certainly in this instance, it turns out that it was a terrible red flag. And these are things that at a minimum, the facility should have been supervising as required by the board's ruling. They were not doing so, or this would never have occurred. You know, that said, hindsight is 20-20. It seems that perhaps he should not have been there, obviously. But, you know, it's hard to second guess what a board has access to when they're making a decision about a person's livelihood and ability to continue to do what they do for a living in their trade. Yeah. And look, I'm not advocating for litigation. I'm not saying the board. did anything wrong. I just, uh, it's a shame he was put in that position and did this to so many

people, including causing the death of one innocent woman. But look, we'll see what happens. If the judge will throw the book at Ortiz during the sentencing, but Nicole, thank you so much for coming on. Really appreciate your insight, as always. Thanks for having me. Take care. That's all we have for you here on sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.