The conviction of a Dallas anesthesiologist was handed down on Friday. According to federal prosecutors, the anesthesiologist was found guilty of injecting a nerve-blocking agent and other medications into bags of intravenous fluid at a surgical center where he worked.
This action resulted in the death of a coworker and caused cardiac problems for other patients of the facility.
According to the prosecution, Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr., who is sixty years old, was found guilty by a jury of five charges of intentional adulteration of a drug, four counts of tampering with consumer products that resulted in serious bodily injury, and one act of tampering with a consumer product.
Ortiz, who faces a possible sentence of up to 190 years in jail, has not yet been assigned a date for his sentencing.
Leigha Simonton, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, made the following comment in a video statement: "Dr. Ortiz cloaked himself in the white coat of a healer, but instead of curing pain, he inflicted it."
At trial, prosecutors stated many Surgicare North Dallas patients had cardiac crises during regular medical procedures by multiple doctors between May and August 2022. Anesthesiologist who had worked at the facility earlier that day died while using an IV bag for dehydration.
Momofuku's chili crunch made headlines, but Lao Gan Ma was in fridges earlier. Ortiz, arrested in September 2022, was accused of secretly placing the poisoned IV bags in a warming container at the facility and waiting for his coworkers to utilize them.
Prosecutors say Ortiz was under investigation for a surgical error at the time of the emergency.
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