The indictments were made four months before the statute of limitations ran out. Dr. Duntsch assured Muse that the pain was normal and prescribed him, strong pain killers, causing him to spiral into an addiction. After undergoing physical rehabilitation, Mayfield was able to walk with a cane but continued to experience paralysis on the right side of his body and in his left arm. Officers said he was driving on the left side of the road with two flat tires. Dallas Magazine states that Duntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. 0:05. Christopher Duntsch - AKA Dr. Death - spent 18 months as a practicing surgeon at multiple Texas hospitals until he had his license revoked in 2013. To avoid the costs of fighting and possibly losing a wrongful termination suit, hospital officials reached a deal with Duntsch's lawyers in which Duntsch was allowed to resign in return for Baylor Plano issuing a letter stating that there were no issues with him. Duntsch continued operating despite clear signs that Martin was losing massive amounts of blood. Duntsch had removed part of his femoral nerve. After interviewing dozens of Duntsch's patients and their survivors, prosecutors concluded that Duntsch's actions were indeed criminal, and nothing short of imprisonment would prevent him from practicing medicine again. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. Duntsch was suspected of having used cocaine the night before the operation. On 06/26/2013 MARY EFURD filed a Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice lawsuit against CHRISTOPHER D DUNTSCH, MD. Watch the trailer for Dr . He has taken Baylor Plano to court over changing the Texas law requiring patients to prove that a hospital intended to harm them when it granted privileges to someone unsafe. Passmore met with Dr. Duntsch and was impressed by his confidence; he would fix him. Dr. Duntsch said to Cheney, "I don't know why you're this way. Once, he stopped by to pick up some paperwork. She says she even filed a temporary protective order against him in April 2012, after he showed up banging on her window at 2 am. Convinced that he was a clear and present danger to the public, they urged the Dallas County district attorney's office to pursue criminal charges. [7][28][16], Kirby wrote a detailed complaint to the Texas Medical Board, calling Duntsch a "sociopath" who was "a clear and present danger to the citizens of Texas. On November 7, 2011, Dr. Duntsch was scheduled to perform his first surgery at Baylor Plano on Kenneth Fennell for his back pain. He stalled at first, telling administrators he got lost on the way to the lab. Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move and theoretically get a medical license in another state. Christopher Duntsch was a neurosurgeon who radiated confidence. Inside The Death Of Chris Benoit, The Professional Wrestler Who Killed His Family And Then Himself, Archaeologists Just Uncovered A Massive Roman Phallic Carving In Spain And It Might Be The Biggest Ever Found, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Dr. Rimlawi called Baylor Plano and advised them against continuing a relationship with Christopher Duntsch, but this fell to deaf ears. The day that Brown suffered her stroke, Duntsch operated again. "He said the patient died from having an allergic reaction to the anesthesia." Morguloff had become addicted to the pain killers being prescribed to him by this time. He might have been fired from the Institute but was still a surgeon at Baylor Plano. But he yearned to play linebacker for a Division 1 team and set his sights on the Colorado State Rams. [36] On February 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary. Despite this refusal, Duntsch was allowed to finish his residency. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. He is not eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74 years old. This meant Summers could still feel pain, but was unable to move from the neck down. Christopher Duntsch wrote that he was ready to become a "cold blooded killer". Trusty was never told she was participating in an infomercial and believed Duntsch had been selected as the top neurosurgeon in Dallas and was participating in a video about the award. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. However, red flags surfaced early on, as nurses wondered if Duntsch was under the influence of drugs while on duty. After interviewing dozens of Duntsch's patients and their survivors, prosecutors concluded that Duntsch's acts were indeed criminal, and nothing short of imprisonment would prevent him from practicing medicine again. He was left with only one vocal cord, permanent damage to his esophagus, and partial paralysis on his left side. Before going to medical school, Duntsch wanted to be a pro-football player. Christopher Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison in February 2017 for his heinous acts. Their fling was confined to his office at Baylor Plano, and Morgan said in her deposition that he frequently drank vodka and did medical research for hours. D MagazineChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. A patient who was left barely able to walk and in constant pain after undergoing two botched surgeries at the hands of killer neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch says he 'guarantees' there are other . Journalists must draw attention to the failures in the U.S. medical and legal systems that allowed Christopher Duntsch, the subject of journalist Laura Beil's well-regarded "Dr. Death" podcast series, to injure dozens of patients, members of an expert panel said at the "10 years after 'Dr. Death': Are patients any safer from bad doctors?" panel at Health Journalism 2022 in Austin. Dr. Frederick Boop, chief of neurosurgery at the hospital where Duntsch was completing his residency, said that university officials asked Duntsch to take a drug test. Fennell required months of rehabilitation to be able to walk with a cane, and was left unable to walk for more than 30 feet or stand for more than a few minutes without having to sit down again. [18] Despite this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. When other doctors discovered the sponge, Duntsch refused to return to help remove it. [12], Initially, Duntsch focused heavily on the PhD half of his degree. The board called in veteran neurosurgeon Martin Lazar to review the case. Christopher Duntsch. [7], While in Memphis, Duntsch began a long-term relationship with Wendy Renee Young. [7], Henderson later recalled wondering if Duntsch was an impostor; he could not believe that a real surgeon would botch Efurd's surgery so badly. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. [4][5] In 2017, he was convicted of maiming one of his patients and sentenced to life imprisonment. But soon his patients started to experience complications, and the system failed to protect them. Duntsch is a former Dallas neurosurgeon who, through . It was then that Christopher decided to switch his career to medicine. Muse woke up in considerable pain, but Duntsch convinced him it was normal. Duntsch is a former neurosurgeon born in 1971 in Montana . Death. They have two sons. Cheney recalled wondering why a neurosurgeon with such outstanding credentials would be operating at a lower-tiered hospital on the way to his surgery. He is not eligible for parole until 2045; he will be 74 years old by then. The case highlights the risks of allowing a troubled physician to move to another hospital . After a breath test, Duntsch was arrested for DUI and sent to a detox facility. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a motion to intervene in the suits to defend Baylor Plano, citing the Texas legislature's 2003 statute that placed a medical malpractice cap of $250,000, and removed the term "gross negligence" from the definition of legal malice. Duntsch severed his vertebral nerve, his vocal cords, cut a hole in his esophagus, sliced through an artery, and mistook part of his neck muscle as a tumor. A neurosurgeon in Dallas, Texas, who once described himself as a "stone cold killer" was sentenced to life in prison on February 20 for maiming a woman named Mary . Despite all of this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. She also said they snorted cocaine from a small pile he kept on a dresser in his home office. Floella Brown went under Dr. Deaths knife in July 2012 and shortly after her surgery, she suffered a massive stroke caused by Duntsch slicing her vertebral artery during surgery. Dr. Death in surgery. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? Thankfully, this ended up being Dr. Christopher Duntsch's last operation. His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. He called Duntsch's fellowship supervisor in Memphis and the supervisor of Duntsch's residency; it was then that he learned about the incident that led him to be referred to the impaired physician program. They created a method for culturing the stem cells of intervertebral discs outside of the body. As a result of the 2017 trial, Duntsch was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Efurd eventually gained back some control and mobility, but she now uses a wheelchair and suffers chronic pain. Mayfield also suffered from random fainting spells that happen every few weeks. "[38], The director of neurosurgery at UT Southwestern, Carlos Bagley, testifying for the defense, said that "the only way this happens is that the entire system fails the patients. Although he wasn't a talented athlete, he trained for hours on his own and made it as a linebacker on his high school football team at Evangelical Christian School in Memphis. ", You know in the beginning he talked about marriage. In 2005, about a third of the way through his residency, department chairman Dr. Jon Robertson appointed Duntsch program director of the school's tissue bank. One screw was jabbed directly into her spinal canal and had skewered the nerves that control one leg and the bladder. On April 9, 2013, Phillip Mayfield was scheduled to have a simple 45-minute operation to alleviate his back pain. Joshua Jackson went to the dark side to play Dr. Christopher Duntsch, who's serving a life sentence for maiming a woman during surgery, in the new Peacock series Dr. Death. There are many sick people in the world, but Duntsch takes the cake for me. [9][24][19][7] After several days, Kirby was brought in to repair the damage and later described what he found after opening Glidewell back up as the work of a "crazed maniac". Christopher Duntsch, the onetime Dallas neurosurgeon whose butcher-like techniques killed two patients and permanently injured more, feels made to exist at the center of a work of fiction; perhaps, According to D Magazine, a doctor at the hospital where Duntsch worked said that Duntsch had been sent to an impaired physician program after he refused to take a drug test. Jerry Summers believed that his best friend Christopher Duntsch was a talented neurosurgeon who would cure his chronic neck pain. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Martin would become Duntschs first casualty when she bled out in intensive care unit after her relatively common procedure. He was brilliant. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. When Henderson opened the freshly made incisions on her, he was appalled. Mayfield died of COVID in February 2021; according to his wife, he had been vulnerable to the virus due to complications caused by Duntsch's botched surgery. The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. [9][16], As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email in which Duntsch boasted that he was " ready to leave the love and kindness and goodness and patience that I mix with everything else that I am and become a cold-blooded killer. Immediately, he started yelling and cussing at me, saying, 'How dare you? Now, a podcast called Dr. Death is breaking down the deranged surgeons criminal acts and shows how drug abuse and blinding overconfidence led to big trouble for the patients who found themselvesunderneath the spiraling doctors knife. He later recalled that he read about Martin's death on the day before the surgery, but Duntsch cursed him out when he called to ask about it. It stars Joshua Jackson as Duntsch, Alec Baldwin as Robert Henderson, Christian Slater as Randall Kirby and AnnaSophia Robb as Michelle Shughart. She came in to have two vertebrae fused, but when she woke up she experienced severe pain and couldnt stand. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the lucrative salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his mounting financial problems. Young had family in Dallas and decided she would go with him if he picked that city. The appalling actions of the rogue surgeon and their repercussions on his unsuspecting patients were . The director of neurosurgery at UT Southwestern, Carlos Bagley, testifying for the defense, said that "the only way this happens is that the entire system fails the patients." However, Mayfield still woke up with paralysis on occasion. Of those 38, 31 were leftparalyzed or seriously injured and two of them died from surgical complications. Had Duntsch been fired, Baylor Plano would have been required to report him to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), which is intended to flag problematic physicians. Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971)[1] is a former American neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death[2] for gross malpractice resulting in the maiming of several patients' spines and two deaths while working at hospitals in the DallasFort Worth metroplex. In March 2014, three former patients of Duntsch's Mary Efurd, Kenneth Fennel, and Lee Passmore filed separate federal lawsuits against Baylor Plano, alleging the hospital allowed Duntsch to perform surgeries despite knowing that he was a dangerous physician. [36][11][9] For the same reason, prosecutors opted to try Duntsch for Efurd's maiming first. And its all because of one surgeon named Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. Getty Dr. Duntsch, aka "Dr. Death", operated on his last patient in 2013, before he was arrested. Duntsch also appears in no yearbooks during the time in which he says he earned his Ph.D. [7] He lasted for less than a week before administrators pulled his privileges after the death of a patient, Floella Brown, and the maiming of another, Mary Efurd. DiscGenics says its mission is toimprove the lives of those suffering from the debilitating effects of degenerative diseases of the spine. Kenneth Fennell, the first patient Duntsch operated on at Baylor Plano, was left with chronic pain after Duntsch operated on the wrong part of his back. No diagnostic imaging studies were ordered, and no reasonable explanation was offered for his condition. Caroline is a writer and Florida-transplant currently living in New York City. The Judge overseeing this case is GINSBERG, CARL. Now, his time at the university . Barry Morguloff, the owner of a pool service company, was left with bone fragments in his spinal canal after Duntsch tried to pull a damaged, Jerry Summers, a longtime friend of Duntsch's, came to Plano to have, Kellie Martin was undergoing a routine back operation when Duntsch cut through her spinal cord and severed an artery. He was then brought on board at the Dallas Medical Center where he continued his carnage. Nevertheless, it took until June 2013 to find the "pattern of patient injury" required to justify suspending Duntsch's license, despite receiving complaints dating back to 2011. Before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board, he was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 . He Was Also His Victim. The suit alleged that Baylor Plano made an average net profit of $65,000 on every spinal surgery performed by Duntsch. Kirby arrived and transferred Glidewell to a top-tier hospital to perform an emergency operation to remove the sponge. among the top 12 percent of medical school graduates in his class named to the elite Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. She witnessed Duntsch put on his lab coat and make his rounds the following morning as if nothing had happened. The hospital initiated another peer review, but Duntsch resigned rather than face certain termination. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his vast financial issues. Lee Passmore was thirty-seven and worked as a field agent for the Collin County medical examiner. [31][16] The inquiry went nowhere until 2015, when the statute of limitations on any potential charges was due to run out. Premiering Thursday on . Plans start at $4.99/month. She was 27, and he was 40. Could you take care of it?" [30], Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move elsewhere and still theoretically get a medical license. Christopher Duntsch ended up at Millsaps College in Mississippi to play football and was offered financial aid. According to D Magazine, Duntsch did so well in medical school that he was allowed to join the prestigiousAlpha Omega Medical Honor Society. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Dr. Henderson thought the operation on Mary Efurd was so botched that Christopher Duntsch had to be an imposter. In one particularly disturbing episode, in March 2015, she said she arrived home to her front door had been locked with a deadbolt from the inside. Duntsch did not respond to messages from the hospital for a few hours, then the next day scheduled an elective surgery on Efurd rather than care for Brown. She bled to death . The surgery was scheduled for December 30, 2011. Shughart argued that Duntsch should have known he would hurt others unless he changed his approach and that his failure to learn from his past mistakes demonstrated that his maiming of Efurd was intentional. Even though he lived in Colorado, he returned to Dallas to see his two sons. On December 30, 2011, Duntsch operated on Lee Passmore. Several of Duntsch's surgeries at Baylor Plano resulted in severely maimed patients: Baylor Plano officials found that Duntsch failed to meet their standards of care and permanently revoked his surgical privileges. He realized he'd seen that hole for three straight days Duntsch hadn't changed his scrubs all week. She suffered a stroke as a result. Dr Death, un nuevo programa que llegar a Peacock el jueves (15 de julio), se basa en la historia de la vida real de Christopher Duntsch, un ex neurocirujano que era, como dijo un famoso titular de ProPublica, "tan malo que era criminal".. Joshua Jackson interpreta a Duntsch, que ahora tiene 50 aos y cumple cadena perpetua despus de ser condenado en 2017 por mutilar a uno de sus . Death'? Unfortunately, when Morguloff woke up, he began to experience continuous pain, paresthesia, and loss of sensation in his left leg. After his license was revoked,Duntsch fled from Texas. Soon after starting Efurd's surgery, Duntsch turned to Kissinger and told him he would be performing a craniotomy on Floella Brown. After 13 days of trial, the jury needed only four hours to convict him for the maiming of Efurd, and on February 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison. Duntsch boasted to his assistant and mistress, Kimberly Morgan, that he was " ready to leave the love and kindness and goodness and patience that I mix with everything else that I am and become a cold-blooded killer." No one came out and spoke with Kellie Martin's family or informed them of her condition during this time. "[3] A neurosurgery expert for Duntsch's defense team himself said, "The conditions which created Dr.Duntsch still exist, thereby making it possible for another to come along. She was dancing at a strip club in Memphis, and Duntsch's issues with his business, DiscGenics, grew more severe. Facebook Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch. Your trust is important to us. Dr. Robert Henderson was brought in on July 28, 2012, to perform a revision surgery on Efurd. The surgery was supposed to take less than 45 minutes and ultimately lasted over four hours. Morgan says they spent a lot of time in clubs. Advertisement. Kane also recalled a cocaine- and LSD-fueled night of partying between her, her ex-boyfriend, and Duntsch where, after the end of their all-night party, she saw Duntsch put on his lab coat and go to work. MISI representatives stated he would brag about his capabilities and be critical of the work of other surgeons. Duntsch had also installed hardware into her muscle, not her bone, so loose that it moved when you touched it. Morgan didn't follow Duntsch after he left, however. Duntschs career started off bright. "[20][4] Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. Glidewell was reportedly still suffering the ill effects of Duntsch's operation years later and has undergone more than 50 procedures to correct the damage. Dr. Death (2021 TV series) Dr. Death is an American crime drama miniseries created by Patrick Macmanus, based on the podcast of the same name, focusing on the titular Christopher Duntsch, a neurosurgeon who became infamous for permanently mutilating his patients, killing two of them. Written by Patrick Macmanus, the show will only be available exclusively on Peacock. He graduated from a top-tier medical school, was running research labs, and completed a residency program for neurosurgery. He then prescribed Muse so much Percocet that a pharmacist refused to fill the prescription. Jerry Summers Was 'Dr. Death's' Best Friend. Brown was left in a coma for hours before Duntsch finally acquiesced to her transfer. Philip is one of more than 30 people maimed by Dr. Christopher Duntsch, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media. In 2014, he developed syringomyelia, a painful condition that causes fluid-filled cysts on the spinal cord. The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. His very first operation at the hospital would once again turn deadly. A Texas neurosurgeon accused of intentionally botching multiple spinal surgeries, resulting in the death of two . Despite his colleagues being [] [16][24] Henderson described Duntsch's surgery as an "assault", and concluded that Efurd would have been bedridden had the salvage surgery not been performed. It was Duntsch, babbling about his family being in danger. After several more months of botched surgeries, Duntsch finally lost his surgical privileges altogether in June 2013 after two physicians complained to the Texas Medical Board. Efurd was left paralyzed. "Something was wrong," Dr. Rimlawi said, "whether it be impairment from drugs, alcohol, mental illness, or a combination of all three." When he arrived, Nurse Kyle Kissinger spotted a hole in Duntsch's scrubs. Baylor suspended Duntsch, pictured, for a month. In April 2015, Duntsch was arrested again for shoplifting $887 worth of merchandise from a Dallas Walmart. Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971) is a former American neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death for gross malpractice resulting in the maiming of several patients' spines and two deaths while working at hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.. Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before his license was revoked by the . Prosecutors put a high priority on that charge, as it provided the widest sentencing range, with Duntsch facing up to life in prison if convicted. He is a graduate of Evangelical Christian School in the Cordova suburb of Memphis, where he starred in football.[7]. In October 2011, she registered articles of incorporation to form Duntsch's practice, the Texas Neurosurgical Institute. Many readers may recognize the name Christopher Duntsch, a doctor who allegedly was negligent in his practice for years before finally being stripped of his medical license. This case was filed in Dallas County District Courts, Dallas County Civil District Courts located in Dallas, Texas. Part of the problem was being able to prove that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. The lead investigator on the case later revealed that she wanted Duntsch's license suspended while the ten-month probe was underway, but board attorneys were not willing to go along. Finally, the board permanently revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. In March, the following spring, police were called to a bank in Northeast Dallas after a man with blood on his hands and face was seen beating on the doors. To top it all off, he was operating on the wrong portion of her back. Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. As he lay there in agony, Duntsch was nowhere to be found. At one point, he was only able to eat small bites of food at one time. According to his lawyers, Duntsch had not realized how poorly he had performed as a surgeon until he heard the prosecution experts tell the jury about his many blunders on the operating table. In November 2011, he was hooked on the prescription opiates that numbed the pain in his lower back. Duntsch arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes after Efurd's surgery had been scheduled. [9][10], Duntsch had severed Brown's vertebral artery, and refused to abort despite the massive blood loss. Duntsch approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. He said, "Randy, you were right. The operation should have taken less than ninety minutes; it ultimately lasted four and a half hours. Death.. July 19, 2021. So, Summers used the only thing he had left, his voice, to scream and yell, even telling the nurses that he and Duntsch had done an eight ball of cocaine the night before his surgery. Mr. He wanted to become a doctor, and not just any doctor - a neurosurgeon, operating on injured backs and necks. Over this period, Duntsch performed back surgeries that left his patients in a worse condition, paralyzed, or deceased. Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. I can't believe that you're accusing me of killing someone,'" Muse recounted. Due to the debilitating pain, Fennell later had a second operation by Duntsch to relieve it, and was left significantly paralyzed in his legs. The Peacock limited series, based on the Wondery podcast, covers the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch (played by Joshua Jackson ), whose surgical career ruined the lives of numerous people . Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. [9] Duntsch completed his undergraduate degree in 1995, then continued on to an ambitious MDPhD program. By this time, Duntsch was almost penniless, and the judge had to appoint a lawyer for him. [18] He damaged patient Philip Mayfield's spinal cord, drilling into it and leaving him partially paralyzed from the neck down. A neurosurgery expert for Duntsch's defense team himself said, "The conditions which created Dr. Duntsch still exist, thereby making it possible for another to come along.".
Pisthetaerus Pronunciation,
Great Plains Grain Drills,
What Does The Name Amari Mean For A Boy,
Hardest Genius Square Combination,
Articles C
