An anaesthetist has been given a 190-year prison sentence after injecting bupivacaine, adrenaline and other drugs to IV saline bags, resulting in cardiac emergencies and another doctor’s death.

After injecting the bags with the drugs, prosecutors said Dr Raynaldo Riviera Ortiz Jr would then place them in a warming bin and wait for the bags to be used in surgeries performed by his colleagues, knowing their patients would experience dangerous complications.

In addition to at least nine cardiac emergencies, Dr Ortiz’s actions led to the death of another anaesthetist who had taken an IV bag home to treat herself for dehydration. 

His motivation remains unclear.