The Texas Medical Board suspended Dr. Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr., 59, on Friday. The suspension is effective immediately and will remain in effect until further action is taken by the board. Ortiz, an anesthesiologist, is part of an ongoing criminal investigation into serious heart complications suffered by a patient at Baylor Scott & White Surgery North Dallas and the death of Dr. Melanie Kaspar, 55, another anesthesiologist at the facility. Authorities were called the evening of June 21 to Caspar’s Lakewood home, where rescuers were unable to revive her. According to a police incident report, Kaspar’s husband said she was not feeling well and had given herself an IV, then complained of severe pain about half an hour later before collapsing. Caspar used an IV bag from the facility, the board said. Although she was initially thought to have died of a heart attack, the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that her cause of death was the toxic effects of bupivacaine, a local anesthetic. In a suspension report, the Texas Medical Board wrote that Ortiz was seen on surveillance footage placing IV bags in a warmer outside operating room. Patients suffered cardiac complications after using these bags, the board wrote. In one case, an 18-year-old man suffered severe respiratory distress during surgery to repair the diaphragm. Laboratory testing of the IV bags from the warmer showed they had been tampered with and were not labeled to indicate they contained bupivacaine. Tests on the contents of a bag given to an otherwise healthy patient who suffered a “serious heart attack” during surgery revealed similar drugs that should not have been in the bag, the panel found. “Such drugs could and would be fatal when administered unknowingly and intravenously,” the board wrote. The board learned of Caspar’s death on Sept. 2, and federal authorities were contacted Thursday about the criminal investigation. There is an “imminent danger to the public health, safety or welfare” if Ortiz continues to practice medicine, the board wrote. Ortiz has previously been disciplined by the state medical board. In 2018, he was reprimanded for not reporting his arrest on animal cruelty charges. He was disciplined this August for a 2020 procedure in which he administered anesthesia and the patient required CPR. His punishment included monitoring the other doctor’s practice, additional training and a $3,000 fine. Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot confirmed a criminal investigation is underway, but law enforcement has not released additional information. Baylor Scott & White Surgery North Dallas is temporarily closed. Baylor Scott & White said recent patients are being contacted and patients with questions can call 214-818-2794.
