Prosecutors continue building their case against a Dallas doctor, accused of tampering with IV, leading to death and other medical emergencies. NBC 5’s Candace Sweat has more.
More powerful testimony Wednesday in the trial of a Dallas doctor accused of tampering with IV bags that resulted in one death and several cardiac emergencies.
On day three of federal court proceedings, jurors heard hours of testimony in the trial of former anesthesiologist Raynoldo Ortiz.
Ortiz is accused of tampering with IV bags resulting in several medical emergencies and one death.
One of the most compelling moments during the day was the moment John Kaspar took the stand. Kaspar is the widower of Dr. Melanie Kaspar, an anesthesiologist who died in 2022 after taking home an IV from the North Dallas facility where both she and Ortiz worked.
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Kaspar told the jury his wife hooked herself to the IV to rehydrate because she wasn't feeling well at the time. He said she called him screaming minutes later. He told the court he rushed to help and called 911, and said his wife collapsed soon after with the IV bag still connected to her arm.
Kaspar said he administered CPR until emergency crews arrived but Melanie Kaspar did not survive. Kaspar said he called the medical examiner's office weekly, eager for answers about his wife's death.
Nurse Brooke Buchanan took the stand Wednesday as well. Buchanan said she worked with Ortiz often as a circulating nurse. According to her testimony, she said she found it strange when she witnessed Ortiz retrieve his own IV bags in 2022.
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Buchanan recalled another procedure where a patient
On the part of the defense, the team attempted to cast doubt by pointing to underlying conditions and procedures that could have resulted in medical emergencies for some patients.
The defense pointed to a 19-year-old patient's preexisting high blood pressure. For another 18-year-old patient, the defense said she tested positive for COVID around the time of her procedure. And for a 64-year-old patient, the defense questioned whether the medication ephedrine caused a medical episode.
They also argue Ortiz is never seen on camera hooking the bags up to patients himself.
The clinic's former administrator, Ashley Burks, testified about installing security cameras around the medical complex after a few security incidents in May of 2022. The registered nurse told jurors they had been trying to figure out why so many patients had been experiencing emergencies, many needing to be transported to the hospital.
Burks was on the stand again Wednesday. The defense questioned Burks extensively about several emergency cases. The prosecution followed that line questioning by pointing out Burks was not an anesthesiologist, but had performed extensive root cause analyses (RCA) and found the cases perplexing.
During testimony, Burks said she began to analyze the frequency of cases and episodes of pulmonary edema in patients. She told jurors she would not expect to see the condition arise in patients six or seven times within a month.
Longtime anesthesiologist Dr. George Erdman also took the stand Wednesday. Erdman said he was on duty during the procedure for a 57-year-old Plano mother of three in August of 2022.
The woman testified Tuesday, telling the jury that her procedure was expected to be completed in a few hours. Instead, she spent several days in a hospital in the ICU.
Dr. Erdman said prior to the procedure, he determined the woman was a good candidate for anesthesia. He said IV bags were administered, and during the third bag the woman began having a medical episode.
Ortiz has pleaded not guilty to 10 federal charges related to tampering and altering IV bags.
This is a developing story.
