The doctor charged with tainting IV bags at a North Dallas surgery center was appointed a public defender Friday to represent him during his initial appearance before a federal magistrate.
Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz’s hands were cuffed and shackled to his waist, and he wore dark shorts, a collared shirt and sandals – apparently the same clothes he was wearing when he was arrested in Plano on Wednesday.
Ortiz, an anesthesiologist, spoke softly and said, “Yes, your honor,” when asked if he understood the charges against him.
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Ortiz is charged with putting drugs into IV bags at the Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas where he worked. Ten patients suffered cardiac emergencies as a result, prosecutors said, and a fellow doctor, Melanie Kaspar, died.
Kaspar, who also was an anesthesiologist, wasn’t feeling well and took an IV bag home to rehydrate herself, said her husband John Kaspar.
An autopsy found Kaspar died of a toxic level of bupivacaine.
John Kaspar attended Friday’s court hearing and spoke for the first time about the case to reporters.
“It’s just been a difficult summer,” he said, choking up. “It’s a lot to take in.”
He called his wife a “quality anesthesiologist.”
“To see the accusations against another anesthesiologist is terrible,” he said. “It’s hard to comprehend.”
Kaspar said he was home with his wife in June when she injected herself with IV fluids because she felt ill and dehydrated.
"I was a first-hand witness to her demise and it was the most agonizing thing I've ever seen in my entire life," he said. "So I have that to struggle with for a long time."
At first, he said, everyone believed she died of a heart attack.
"I grappled with the fact she had a heart attack because she was a very healthy woman," Kaspar said.
An autopsy later found she died from toxic levels of bupivacaine, which prosecutors say was the drug that Ortiz slipped into IV bags at the surgery center.
A detention hearing was set for Monday at 10 a.m. Prosecutors said they would seek to have him detained pending trial.
