DALLAS — A 60-year-old North Texas anesthesiologist accused of poisoning IV bags with drugs appeared in Dallas federal court Tuesday morning at a hearing to go over the logistics of his trial, which is set to begin Monday.
Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz, who has been held in federal custody since his arrest in the fall of 2022, was dressed in an orange jumpsuit as he was escorted into the courtroom before Chief U.S. District Judge David Godbey.
Earlier this month, Ortiz's defense lawyers accused prosecutors of not turning over a forensic report that showed a latent fingerprint found on an IV bag seized in the case did not match Ortiz. Prosecutors said they turned the report over when they discovered it.
Godbey said the report was turned over late, "and I don't like that," but it had been produced before trial and he found that there's "no harm," denying a defense motion for sanctions against the government for violating rules obligating them to turn over evidence that might benefit a defendant.
Ortiz faces up to life in prison if convicted of federal charges accusing him of poisoning IV bags with various pharmaceutical drugs during the summer of 2022 at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas.
Prosecutors said a fellow anesthesiologist died at home after receiving one of the tainted bags, and 11 other patients had severe cardiac events after receiving fluids from other bags.
Ortiz has pleaded not guilty. In a phone interview with WFAA from jail in late 2022, Ortiz said he has done nothing wrong.
“All that stuff that they said was a lie,” Ortiz told WFAA.
At Tuesday's hearing, prosecutors said jurors would hear excerpts of that interview, which was recorded by jail officials.
Jurors will also see hospital surveillance video purporting to show Ortiz removing drugs from an anesthesia supply cabinet. Investigators also have other videos of Ortiz allegedly placing IV bags in “warmers” outside surgical suites just before bags used in those surgeries supposedly caused critical cardiac events.
Prosecutors said that the alleged poisonings began after Ortiz became upset that Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas administrators had launched an investigation earlier in 2022 alleging he failed to act when a patient stopped breathing during surgery. At the time, Ortiz was under investigation for another similar incident at Baylor’s North Garland surgery center, for which he was later disciplined by the Texas Medical Board.
The former director of surgery at Dallas Regional Medical Center in Mesquite, where Ortiz once worked, testified in November 2022 that Ortiz had previously been written up more than 30 times for issues but was able to keep his job. The nature or seriousness of the “incident reports” against Ortiz weren’t detailed in court.
In a statement after Ortiz's arrest in 2022, Baylor told WFAA the company is "committed to delivering safe, high-quality care, and there is nothing more important than the well-being of those we serve.”
Up to 65 potential jurors will report to the Earle Cabell federal courthouse in Dallas Monday for jury selection. Opening statements will begin either that afternoon or Tuesday morning, the judge said.
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