Texas doctor sentenced to federal prison for poisoning IV bags

DALLAS — A Dallas doctor convicted of poisoning IV bags, resulting in several patients’ medical emergencies and the death of a fellow anesthesiologist, has been sentenced to 190 years in federal prison.

Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz was sentenced Wednesday in Dallas. It was the maximum amount of prison time he faced in the case.

In April, he was found guilty on all 10 counts in his federal trial. A jury had deliberated across two days before deciding to convict Ortiz, a former anesthesiologist at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas.

Ortiz was indicted in the case in September 2022.

Prosecutors alleged the tainted IV bags resulted in several patients’ medical emergencies and the death of a fellow anesthesiologist, Melanie Kaspar, who took an IV bag home to hydrate herself. The trial included testimony from the anesthesiologist’s widower and some of Ortiz’s alleged victims.

Dr. Bobbie Jean Sweitzer, who testified as a witness in Ortiz’s defense, presented alternative explanations for what may have caused the patients’ medical episodes. Specifically, she testified that she believed doctors administered medicine to patients incorrectly in several of the cases and several patients had pre-existing conditions that could have contributed to the medical episodes.

Jurors Penny Rotenberry and Madison Lee told WFAA in April they were never close to an acquittal but spent two days deliberating and reviewing evidence carefully to be sure.

“We did our best job and that’s why it took us so long to go through and make sure we could do what we did to give him a fair trial but at the end of the day we were all on the same page,” Lee said.

In a video statement after the conviction, U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton said, “Dr. Ortiz cloaked himself in the white coat of a healer, but instead of curing pain, he inflicted it.”