Feds Reveal Possible Motive of Texas Doc Accused of Putting ‘Heart-Stopping Drugs’ in IV Drips
A Texas doctor accused of injecting drugs into IV bags—leading to the death of a colleague and medical emergencies in as many as a dozen patients—may have tampered with them because he was unhappy his surgery center was investigating him, authorities say.
Police arrested Dr. Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr. on Wednesday, almost a week after the Texas Medical Board suspended his license and said his “continued practice of medicine poses a continuing threat to the public welfare.” Investigators say Ortiz’s contamination of his surgery center’s intravenous fluids killed 55-year-old coworker Melanie Kaspar, who used an IV bag to rehydrate herself and died almost immediately afterward; lab results later determined the IV bag contained a lethal dose of the anesthetic bupivacaine.
Now an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint suggests a possible motive for Ortiz’s alleged crimes: In May, he was confronted with a disciplinary inquiry against him after a patient stopped breathing under his care during a routine procedure.