Dallas doctor sentenced to 190 years in prison for tampering with IV bags
A Dallas anesthesiologist who was convicted of tampering with IV bags has been sentenced this Wednesday to 190 years in prison.
In April, Raynaldo Ortiz was found guilty of tampering with IV bags by injecting them with Bupivacaine, an anesthetic drug. Jurors said they were left with no doubt of his guilt and convicted Ortiz on all 10 counts against him. Sentencing was set to begin on July 22, then was pushed back to Sept. 16 and again on Sept. 18.
A total of 10 patients were rushed to nearby emergency rooms after problems during their procedures. Additionally, Dr. Melanie Kaspar died after bringing a tainted IV bag home to treat her dehydration. Ortiz was only charged in four of the cases, but all of the alleged incidents were included in the judge's sentencing decision.
Ortiz was not in the courtroom, having waived his right to sit in Wednesday's sentencing hearing. He chose to sit in another room in the courthouse, out of sight of the victims and their families.
Victim impact statements
Seven people gave victim impact statements at the hearing.
The first was a letter that was read aloud from patient Jimmy Eller. He said the two years since Ortiz poisoned him had been the worst of his life, "my world was turned upside down."
He said the medical emergency caused by the tainted IV bag has led to long-term complications, heart problems, kidney stones, depression and a loss of independence that has impacted his relationships. "Now I feel stuck in this body, a prisoner in my home," he said.
Patient Kelly Pfeiffer gave the next impact statement. She was immediately emotional and cried as she began speaking about "being poisoned by Dr. Ortiz." She called the experience terrifying and traumatic and asked the judge to impose a sentence lengthy enough to ensure "we are his last victims."
The father of Jack Adlerstein then spoke, detailing the terror he and his wife went through watching their 18-year-old son struggle to survive. He said the fact that Ortiz premeditated and planned the poisonings was "mind-boggling." He asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence.
The next person to speak was Juan Martinez, a patient who had a cardiac emergency. A native Spanish speaker, he said through a translator that when he was discharged he was "not the same person, that the ordeal turned off his life." He also spoke of wanting to see Ortiz face-to-face at the sentencing, saying that was the only reason he came today. He seemed upset that Ortiz was not in the room.
Nelly Naylor, the first person to experience a cardiac crisis, also spoke. She said that she no longer trusts the medical community and that she suffers from anxiety.
"I feel Ortiz had no remorse or regret, he did not stop until he was stopped by others," she said. Naylor also asked for the longest sentence possible.
Next was a man named Ryan, who said his father was poisoned by Ortiz. Ryan said that his 10-year-old son, the patient's grandson, does not trust doctors anymore. He testified that at one point, his son told him "a doctor tried to kill Pop."
The last to speak was Melanie Kaspar's husband, John, who watched his wife die from the drugs that were unknowingly in her IV bag. John Kaspar said he thought about asking to play the 911 call he made when his wife was dying because he didn't think that Ortiz had heard firsthand the pain he caused.
Kaspar said he would be forever haunted by his wife's eyes, which were open and lifeless as she waited for the ambulance to arrive. "Grief consumed me more than I thought possible," he said. Kaspar also commented on Ortiz saying, "he should be sitting here listening to this, but he's a coward. He killed my wife. Not with malice, but with sheer calculation."
After all of the statements, Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey told the victims "you were heard." He also spoke at length about the concept of preparation, pointing out that Ortiz did not poison all the bags at once, but over time.
"He saw what happened and that he wasn't suspected, and so he did it again and again and again. " Godbey said that he considers Ortiz responsible for all of the cases, including those he was not indicted on, for the purpose of sentencing. He handed down the maximum allowed under federal guidelines: 2,280 months or 190 years.
The charges against Ortiz
Just over two years ago, Ortiz was arrested in connection to the tampered IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare Center in North Dallas. His anesthesiologist license was suspended and the center was forced to close its doors.
Ortiz was seen on surveillance footage in the surgical center depositing single IV bags into the warmer in the hall outside the operating rooms and "shortly thereafter a patient would suffer a serious complication."
Lab tests on IV bags taken from the same warmer found "visible tiny holes in the plastic wrap around the bags." The tests also revealed those bags contained Bupivacaine, a local anesthetic used to numb specific areas of the body, but were not labeled as such.
Melanie Kaspar, also an anesthesiologist and Ortiz's coworker, got sick in June 2022. Her husband said she brought an IV bag home to rehydrate. Minutes after inserting the needle, Kaspar suffered a fatal heart attack.
Test results showed Kaspar was poisoned with Bupivacaine.