(PatrioticPost.com)- The Texas Medical Board suspended the license of a Dallas anesthesiologist following an examination into deaths and injuries brought on by “compromised” IV bags.
The Board said on Friday that Dr. Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr. is the subject of a federal investigation into allegations that he tampered with IV bags at Baylor Surgicare North Dallas.
Reports state that Dr. Ortiz was seen on surveillance footage warming up IV bags.
According to NBC DFW, the patient would sustain catastrophic injuries shortly after he placed an IV bag in a warmer.
Late in June, a different physician employed by the same clinic carrying a tainted IV bag home passed away after suffering a “serious cardiac episode.”
“[Dr. Melanie Casper] took an IV home and gave herself fluids because she felt dehydrated, but she passed away. Minutes afterward, she experienced heart failure, according to a source with firsthand knowledge of the inquiry.
Following the discovery of the manipulated IV bags and Dr. Ortiz’s license suspension, the surgery facility closed last week.
No criminal charges have been brought against Dr. Ortiz yet.
Ortiz, an anesthesiologist, had his license suspended immediately, a week after the facility was forced to close due to the “compromised” IV bags.
The Texas Medical Board has suspended Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz’s license because he “poses a continuous threat to the public welfare,” the board said late Friday.
The directive stated that shortly after he placed an IV bag in the warmer, a patient would experience serious complications.”
At the operation center, tests on IV bags revealed “tiny holes” in the bags’ plastic wrap and the presence of the anesthetic bupivacaine, which is used to alleviate localized pain.
The medical board stated in its order that such medications “may and would be lethal when supplied accidentally and intravenously.”
The ruling stated that on June 21, a different medical professional who worked at the institution took a tampered” IV bag home with her when she fell ill and almost immediately had a major cardiac episode and died.
According to the Dallas County Medical Examiner, Melanie Kaspar’s death, the doctor who brought home tainted IV bags, was caused by accidental bupivacaine intoxication, as reported by NBC 5 last week.
John, her husband, said on Friday that his wife Mel was an incredible person. She was beloved by all of her coworkers, colleagues, and patients.
“To watch her die in such a tragic manner is something I will have to live with forever. She was a beautiful woman.”
