In November, Raynaldo Ortiz, MD, a Dallas-based anesthesiologist, was sentenced to 190 years in prison after being convicted of injecting nerve-blocking agents and other drugs into IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas.
Now, the family of a patient who allegedly experienced a near-fatal cardiac event following a routine procedure at the surgery center is suing Baxter International, the manufacturer of the IV bags and the largest producer of IV bags in the U.S., according to a May 25 report from CBS News.
The lawsuit claims the design of Baxter’s IV bags made it possible for Dr. Ortiz to tamper with them undetected. It alleges that the company already manufactures aftermarket solutions such as foil seals and tamper-evident caps, which could have either prevented or revealed the tampering. In a 2022 statement to CBS, the FDA confirmed that standard IV bags “do not normally contain tamper-proof or tamper-evident features.”
In August 2022, Dr. Ortiz tampered with five IV bags, contaminating them with bupivacaine, epinephrine and lidocaine before returning them to a warming bin for clinical use. As a result, four patients suffered cardiac emergencies during routine cosmetic procedures, and a fellow anesthesiologist died after using one of the compromised bags to self-treat dehydration at home.
The case is scheduled to go to trial in May 2026.
“As a matter of course, Baxter does not comment on pending litigation,” the company told CBS News. Becker’s has reached out to Baxter and will update this story if more information becomes available.
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