Medical Board Suspends Surgicare Doctor Amid Investigation into Death, Injuries

A week after a North Dallas surgery center shut down after it discovered “compromised” IV bags, the license of an anesthesiologist who works there has been suspended effective immediately.

The Texas Medical Board announced late Friday it had suspended the license of Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz because he “poses a continuing threat to public welfare.”

Ortiz has not been named a suspect and hasn’t been charged with any crime.

But the medical board said it had “received information from federal law enforcement” that an ongoing investigation into “serious cardiac complications and one patient’s death” at Baylor Surgicare North Dallas on Coit Road involves Ortiz.

The suspension will remain in place until the board takes further action, according to a press release issued late Friday.

According to the order, Ortiz was seen on surveillance video at Surgicare depositing IV bags in a warmer outside the operating rooms.

“When he deposited an IV bag in the warmer, shortly thereafter a patient would suffer a serious complication,” the order said.

Tests on IV bags at the surgery center found “tiny holes” in the plastic wrap around the bags and that they contained bupivacaine, a drug used to treat localized pain.

“Such drugs could and would be fatal when administered unknowingly and intravenously,” the medical board said in its order.

On June 21, another doctor at the facility took a “tampered” IV bag home with her when she became ill and “almost immediately had a serious cardiac event and died,” the order said.

NBC 5 reported last week an autopsy of the doctor, Melanie Kaspar, concluded her death was caused by accidental bupivacaine toxicity, according to the Dallas County Medical Examiner.

"My wife Mel was an incredible person," her husband John said Friday. "She was beloved by her patients, peers, and everyone she worked with. To watch her die in such a tragic manner is something I will have to live with forever. She was a beautiful woman."

Baylor Scott & White issued a brief statement late Friday.

"The safety of those we serve remains our priority," it said. "We will continue to limit our comments as we support authorities in their investigation."

Ortiz could not be reached for comment.