Surveillance footage of Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz Jr. appears to show the Dallas anesthesiologist planting allegedly tainted IV bags that had been doped with a mixture of drugs designed to cause patients to suffer medical emergencies.
During a preliminary detention hearing on Monday, government prosecutors entered the security recordings into evidence, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The first video, provided to The Dallas Express by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, shows Ortiz walking down the hall on August 4 to the IV bag warmer, looking around over his shoulder, and then hurriedly placing an IV bag into the device.
On August 19, Ortiz is again videoed walking towards the warmer with an IV bag apparently tucked under a folder. He then appears to deposit that bag in the warmer while taking another out before proceeding down the hall.
After both videoed instances, a patient suffered a potentially life-threatening medical emergency, potentially caused by the injection of the fluids from contaminated IV bags. In several cases, the bags in question were found to have a cocktail of bupivacaine, epinephrine, and lidocaine injected into them.
The prosecution documented at least 12 times that a patient had a similar medical emergency since May 2022. Ortiz learned of a disciplinary investigation being conducted into him regarding potential medical misconduct during that time, and the government suggests that the doped IV bags were a retaliatory scheme against the facility.
Lawyer John de la Garza alleged at the hearing that Ortiz was “nothing short of a medical terrorist.”
The Dallas Express broke the connection between Ortiz and the Baylor Scott & White facility on September 2. The coverage was seemingly mentioned by the Texas Medical Board when they suspended Ortiz’s license on September 9.
Two videos submitted into evidence by government prosecutors show Dallas anesthesiologist Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz planted allegedly tainted IV bags that are suspected to have caused medical emergencies.