Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. Young had family in Dallas and decided she would go with him if he picked that city. He wrote grants and secured more than $3 million in funding. In his deposition, Summers admitted he made up the pre-surgery cocaine binge because he felt Duntsch had abandoned him, as both his doctor and his friend. Finally, Dr. Kirby received a call from Hassan Chahadeh. "[45], Wondery Media launched a ten-episode podcast series named Dr. Death, focusing on Duntsch. After intense rehab and his determination, eventually, he was able to use a walker and cane to mobilize himself. August 28, 2013, 2:01 . In 2005, partway through the six-year program, he became the director of the tissue bank. Anatomy of a Tragedy. Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of hospital oversight. Dr. Christopher Duntsch became the subject of a Peacock original series for all the wrong reasons. Duntsch continued to medicate Morguloff with prescription pain killers and ignored the change in his condition. Dr. Death was fired before the end of his first week for the damage hed inflicted on Brown and Efurd. At the time, hospitals were not required to report doctors who only had temporary privileges. Dr. Death in surgery. "After building a flourishing neurosurgery practice, everything suddenly changes when patients entering Dr. Duntsch's operating room for complex but routine spinal surgeries start leaving permanently disabled or dead. Christopher Duntsch is currently imprisoned at the O.B. They created a method for culturing the stem cells of intervertebral discs outside of the body. After a breath test, Duntsch was arrested for DUI and sent to a detox facility. However, by the time he met Young, Duntsch was over $500,000 in debt. He was then brought on board at the Dallas Medical Center where he continued his carnage. ", "Assault trial begins for Dallas surgeon who once wrote of becoming 'cold blooded killer', "The State of Texas vs. Christopher Daniel Dunstch", "Life Sentence Upheld on Appeal For Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death", "What you need to know about 'Dr. On 06/26/2013 MARY EFURD filed a Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice lawsuit against CHRISTOPHER D DUNTSCH, MD. The Peacock originalDr Deathis based on atrue story. Could you take care of it?" Veteran vascular surgeon Randall Kirby recalled that Duntsch frequently boasted about his abilities despite being so new to the area. [35], The last charge was for the maiming and paralyzing of Efurd. The explanation was enough to satisfy Muse. From 2011 to 2013, dozens of patients in the Dallas area woke up after their surgeries with horrible pain, numbness and, paralysis. [7] He likened what he found when he opened Efurd up to the results of a child playing with Tinkertoys or an erector set. Jerry Summers, who grew up with Christopher Duntsch in Tennessee, was left a quadriplegic after agreeing to let "Dr. Death" operate on his neck. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. Page opened a desk drawer and saw a mirror with a pile of cocaine and a rolled-up dollar bill on top. During surgery, Duntsch operated on the wrong part of Fennell's back. Kirby was shocked; he called the owner of University General and warned him that Duntsch would hurt someone, and the hospital would be over. 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 . [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. He didn't contact a lawyer, although he struggled with the decision. Your trust is important to us. She also said they snorted cocaine from a small pile he kept on a dresser in his home office. He was arrested for DUI in Denver, taken for a psychiatric evaluation in Dallas during one of his visits to see his children, and was arrested in Dallas for shoplifting. [19] Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. Getty Dr. Duntsch, aka "Dr. Death", operated on his last patient in 2013, before he was arrested. [38] Shughart countered that the 2011 email, sent after his first surgeries went wrong, proved that Duntsch knew his actions were intentional. He remained there for several months before being allowed to return to the residency. He recommended fusing two of her vertebrae and the insertion of "hardware" in her spinal area. i feel much better now ! Martin would become Duntschs first casualty when she bled out in intensive care unit after her relatively common procedure. They met with an assistant DA but got little traction. Then, on December 6, 2011, he operated on seventy-four-year-old Mary Efurd. Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move and theoretically get a medical license in another state. According to Megan Kane, an ex-girlfriend of one of Duntschs friends, she saw him eat a paper blotter of LSD and take prescription painkillers on his birthday. 1-Christopher Duntsch and then girlfriend, Wendy Young. Written by Patrick Macmanus, the show will only be available exclusively on Peacock. [44] The Dallas County district attorney's office called it "a historic case with respect to prosecuting a doctor who had done wrong during surgery. One of the early investors in DiscGenics, Rand Page, said Duntsch would be mixing a vodka orange juice during their morning meetings. The day after Mary Efurd's surgery, she awoke in excruciating pain and could not turn over or wiggle her toes. By the end of the week, administrators told Duntsch he would no longer be operating at Dallas Medical Center. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. Nicknamed "Dr. Death," the story of Duntsch's egregious medical crimes and the healthcare system that failed so many by allowing him to practice received the podcast treatment in 2018 from Wondery, the team behind "Dirty John.". In September 2012, Jeff Cheney went to Duntsch to relieve the pain that had moved from his shoulder down to his arm. 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. [15], Duntsch joined Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano (now Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Plano) as a minimally invasive spine surgeon with a salary of $600,000 per year, plus bonuses. In July 2015, Duntsch was arrested in Dallas and charged with six felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of aggravated assault causing severe bodily injury, and one count of injury to an elderly person. Trusty would later find out there was no award and it had just been a paid advertisement. They have two sons. Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and Christopher was determined to follow in those footsteps. [4], After 13 days of trial, the jury needed only four hours to convict him for the maiming of Efurd. We've had a catastrophic event here. [36] On February 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison. [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. 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. WFAA-TVChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. When other doctors discovered the sponge, Duntsch refused to return to help remove it. Advertisement. Chahadeh was worried about his facility and getting sued by Duntsch; he said to Dr. Kirby that they had already given him privileges. At the time of their meeting, Young was working as a dancer in a strip club. Dr. Fulton never worked with Duntsch again. His first and only surgery with MISI was on a Thursday in September 2011 at Baylor Plano. [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. 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. Dr. Rimlawi called Baylor Plano and advised them against continuing a relationship with Christopher Duntsch, but this fell to deaf ears. Mr. As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email written by Christopher Duntsch. It stars Joshua Jackson as Duntsch, Alec Baldwin as Robert Henderson, Christian Slater as Randall Kirby and AnnaSophia Robb as Michelle Shughart. The show starsJoshua Jackson,Grace Gummer, AnnaSophia Robb,Christian SlaterandAlec Baldwin. Duntsch filed a patent for the technology, and he listed himself as one of the inventors even though he had not discovered it. Wendy Young had just given birth to their son and lived there with him. [33][34] The indictments were made four months before the statute of limitations were to run out. 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, 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. Over objections from Duntsch's lawyers, prosecutors called many of Duntsch's other patients to the stand to prove that his actions were intentional. The television series Dr. Death based on the incident, began streaming on Peacock in July 2021. In a long running series of complaints, a Texas doctor has been found guilty of a felony in one medical malpractice case. [2][4][19][7], Duntsch moved to Dallas Medical Center in Farmers Branch, where he was granted temporary privileges until hospital officials could obtain his records from Baylor Plano. In November 2011, he was hooked on the prescription opiates that numbed the pain in his lower back. [37][4], Over objections from Duntsch's lawyers, prosecutors called many of Duntsch's other patients to the stand in order to prove that his actions were intentional. 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. On December 30, 2011, Duntsch operated on Lee Passmore. Over the span of a few years, he managed to maim and injure over 30 patients, with two more dying during and shortly after undergoing surgery with him. 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. The Dallas district attorney's office subpoenaed every hospital on Duntsch's CV for records of his surgeries. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. At the time, Duntsch was looking for operating prospects in Dallas, San Diego, and New York. Duntsch's trial has been called a precedent-setting case, as it's the first time that a physician has been convicted on criminal charges for actions in the course of their medical work and malpractice involving botched surgery. Glidewell is still in constant pain and has undergone more than 50 procedures to correct the damage left by Duntsch. Vaccinated people who catch Covid are reporting unique symptoms - the 4 signs to watch for, Man, 34, charged with murder after woman, 63, killed in house fire as family vow 'you'll never be forgotten', Six dead after private jet crashes and explodes in fireball between two houses sparking forest blaze near golf course. After the operation, Brown woke up and seemed fine, but early the following day; she lost consciousness. Jerry Summers believed that his best friend Christopher Duntsch was a talented neurosurgeon who would cure his chronic neck pain. [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. [8] Duntsch returned home to attend Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). Through it all, Duntsch was able to lure patient after patient under his knife was his extreme confidence. Over this period, Duntsch performed back surgeries that left his patients in a worse condition, paralyzed, or deceased. She was left with just one vocal cord. 2-Dr.Randall Kirby, a hero. Despite this refusal, Duntsch was allowed to finish his residency. When Henderson saw the imaging from Duntsch's surgery, he was certain that there would be legal action, and had the salvage surgery recorded. He was told he would never be able to walk again. In July 2015, a grand jury indicted Dr. Death on five counts of aggravated assault and one count of harming an elderly person, his patient Mary Efurd, according to Rolling Stone. Not only was he not qualified for and held no privileges to perform brain surgery, but Dallas Medical did not have the proper equipment or personnel for such an operation. [19][25][7] She later recalled waking up feeling "excruciating pain", a "ten-plus" on a scale of 1 to 10. Before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board, he was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 . The indictments were made four months before the statute of limitations ran out. 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. The former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was finally brought to justice after injuring and maiming over 30 of his patients during surgery and allegedly causing the deaths of two more. At the time, Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before the Texas Medical Board revoked his license. To become a neurosurgeon, one typically has to complete over 1000 surgeries in residency, but somehow, reporter Laura Beil discovered that Duntsch only completed 100. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the lucrative salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his mounting financial problems. Soon after starting Efurd's surgery, Duntsch turned to Kissinger and told him he would be performing a craniotomy on Floella Brown. Out of his 38 surgeries, only three had no complications. Jeff Glidewell came across Dr. Christopher Duntsch in 2013 while searching for a neurosurgeon . His older son had been born back when he was at Baylor Plano. Passmore had a herniated disc in his lower spine pressing on a nerve causing him pain. Duntsch was fired after he performed a surgery and immediately left for Las Vegas, leaving no one to look after his patient. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? Three holes had been poked into Efurd's spinal column where Duntsch had tried and failed to insert screws. Duntsch suggested drilling a hole in Brown's head to relieve the pressure, but was refused permission. Duntsch's next stop was at Dallas Medical Center. [9] He was suspected of being under the influence of cocaine while operating during his fourth year of residency training, and was sent to a program for impaired physicians. 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. One day, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiner's office. Around 2006 and 2007, Duntsch began to become unhinged. But, he can only walk 30 feet at a time and cannot stand for more than a few minutes. [4] Duntsch also claimed to have graduated magna cum laude from St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital with a doctorate in microbiology a program that the hospital did not offer at the time he allegedly attended. No one can pay to remove ratings. In effect, plaintiffs have to prove a tough case without access to the necessary hospital records. But, she never reported Duntsch up the ladder or told anyone about the horrors she witnessed in the operating room. Dr. Mark Hoyle, a surgeon who worked with Duntsch during one of his botched procedures, told D Magazine that he would make extremely arrogant announcements such as: Everybody is doing it wrong. They also believed that the charge would be easy to prove in court; Duntsch had been told repeatedly that he was not placing the hardware in the correct position, and fluoroscopy images from Efurd's surgery proved this. By this time, Duntsch was almost penniless, and the judge had to appoint a lawyer for him. Christopher Duntsch Early Life Story, Family Background and Education. One of the patients who suffered disastrous consequences was Jerry Summers, the boyfriend of Megan Kane and a friend of Christopher Duntsch. Moving made sense for both of them. Duntsch told Mayfield's wife it went well, but she instantly knew something was wrong as she walked into his room. If Baylor Plano or Dallas Medical had reported him to the Texas Medical Board or the National Practitioner Databank, hiring personnel would have been notified something was wrong. Dr. Duntsch came from a good family and showed considerable potential at medical school. He is currently appealing this sentence. A few days later, he took the test and passed. He was smart. His father was a missionary and physical therapist and his mother was a school teacher. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. Christopher Duntsch - AKA Dr. Death - spent 18 months as a practicing surgeon at multiple Texas hospitals until he had his license revoked in 2013. 0:05. Prince Charming, Im gonna change your life, Wendy Young said of the promising start to her romance with Christopher Duntsch. Peacock's Dr. Death is a chilling dramatization of the real-life story of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch. The staff told Duntsch that Brown, his patient from the day before, was in critical condition. 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. This was the time when Dr. Christopher Duntsch started to turn into Dr. Death. The surgery was scheduled for December 30, 2011. In addition, a neurosurgeon hired to review Brown's case found that Dr. Duntsch had misdiagnosed the source of her pain and was operating in the wrong place. Young said that Morgan visited often. Jerry Summers, who grew up with Christopher Duntsch in Tennessee, was left a quadriplegic after agreeing to let "Dr. Death" operate on his neck. [4], Early in his tenure at Baylor Plano, Duntsch made a poor impression on his fellow surgeons. He was put on probation for three weeks and told to stick to relatively minor procedures when he returned. On November 7, 2011, Dr. Duntsch was scheduled to perform his first surgery at Baylor Plano on Kenneth Fennell for his back pain. An MRI revealed that multiple bone fragments in his spinal canal were compressing and adhering to his S1 nerve and that Duntsch had installed the hardware incorrectly. Around this time, Christopher Duntsch's behavior became noticeably erratic. Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. 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. He added that many board members found it hard to believe that a trained surgeon could be as incompetent as Duntsch appeared to be.[9]. Left: Christopher Duntsch in surgery, Right: Christopher Duntschs mugshot. "Christopher Duntsch, Texas Medical Board license number N8183, is an impaired physician, a sociopath, and must be stopped from practicing medicine." Robin Glidewell also sent a letter . Those words continue to haunt her, and she's tormented by the knowledge that her endorsement caused others to select Duntsch themselves. Several people who were in the operating room for Efurd's surgery suspected that Duntsch might have been intoxicated, recalling that his pupils were dilated. And its all because of one surgeon named Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. Watch the trailer for Dr . When other doctors discovered the sponge, Duntsch refused to return to help remove it. After this look at Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. But soon his patients started to experience complications, and the system failed to protect them. Dhruv Trivedi. During surgery, he cut a major vessel in her spinal cord. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! I dont know if hes there to harm me or what his true intentions were, Wendy Young said of the harrowing alleged encounter with Christopher Duntsch. His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. At the time, Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before the Texas Medical Board revoked his license. He did his surgical residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, spending five years studying neurosurgery and a year studying general surgery. Though he appealed his conviction in 2018, it was denied. To stop the bleeding, he packed the space with so much anticoagulant foam that it constricted Summers' spine. The Legislature not only puts the burden of proof on the plaintiff instead of the defendant in medical malpractice cases, but it also allows hospitals to keep information about doctors confidential. During a deposition, Megan Krane recalled Duntsch eating a paper blotter of LSD and taking prescription painkillers on his birthday. She had suffered from lower back pain for years and was referred to Duntsch by her pain management doctor. "Dr. Death" is based on the chart-topping podcast of the same name that, in turn, is based on the horrifying true story of Christopher Duntsch. He then packed it with too much of a substance intended to stop the bleeding. [48], In 2019, Duntsch was the focus of the premiere episode of License to Kill, Oxygen's series on criminal medical professionals. [31][16] The inquiry went nowhere until 2015, when the statute of limitations on any potential charges was due to run out. "He said the patient died from having an allergic reaction to the anesthesia." Dr. Duntsch said to Cheney, "I don't know why you're this way. The series follows two other surgeons, along with . He declared bankruptcy after listing debts of over $1 million. Summers remained quadriplegic for the rest of his life. Film & TV 'Dr. Death' Condemns Christopher Duntsch, but the Real Culprit Is Texas's Broken Health-Care System I helped break the story on the convicted surgeon, but Peacock's dramatized . The case highlights the risks of allowing a troubled physician to move to another hospital . He didn't wear underwear. It was then that Christopher decided to switch his career to medicine. Morguloff sought a second opinion on his excruciating pain from Dr. Michael Desaloms. How could Dr. Christopher Duntsch practice medicine for as long as he did without being stopped? He was a genius. On May 24, 2011, Christopher Duntsch signed a physician services agreement with Rimlawi and Won's Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) in Dallas. Morguloff had become addicted to the pain killers being prescribed to him by this time. Caroline is a writer and Florida-transplant currently living in New York City. "[4] The Texas Medical Board revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. [26][4], After leaving Dallas Medical Center, Duntsch received privileges at South Hampton Community Hospital in Dallas and also took a job at an outpatient clinic named Legacy Surgery Center (now Frisco Ambulatory Surgery Center) in Frisco. Despite several warnings from his colleagues that he was not doing the surgery correctly and was attempting to put screws into muscle rather than bone, Duntsch persisted. But based on documents gathered by the DA, when Duntsch finished his residency, he had operated fewer than 100 times. During his short tenure, he spent little time in the operating room. As a young neurosurgeon in Texas, Duntsch killed . The databank was established in 1990 and tracks malpractice payouts and adverse actions against doctors, such as being fired, banned from Medicare, handed a lengthy suspension, or having their license suspended or revoked. [12], Initially, Duntsch focused heavily on the PhD half of his degree. Yet, in April 2012, he returned to work just four months after surgery. The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. Then check out the horrifying story of Simon Bramhall, a surgeon who admitted to burning his initials into patients livers. On April 9, 2013, Phillip Mayfield was scheduled to have a simple 45-minute operation to alleviate his back pain. In addition, a ligament in his leg was severed, and a screw was stripped and lodged into a nerve bundle. With Brown still in the ICU, Duntsch took another patient into surgery that morning. Duntsch was suspected of having used cocaine the night before the operation. Soon afterward, he severely maimed Jeff Glidewell after mistaking part of his neck muscle for a tumor during a routine cervical fusion, severing one of his vocal cords, cutting a hole in his esophagus and slicing an artery. 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. For the last three days, jurors listened to testimony in the . When he arrived, Nurse Kyle Kissinger spotted a hole in Duntsch's scrubs. Over the course of 18-months, the nefarious ex-surgeon performed a spree of botched . [27], While attempting to remove degenerated discs in Marshall "Tex" Muse's back, Duntsch left surgical hardware floating between the spine and muscle tissue. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. Wendy Renee Young was romantically involved with Texas physician Christopher Duntsch, who became known as "Dr . The deal required Duntsch to attain privileges at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano. Over the course of two years, Christopher Duntsch operated on 38 patients in the Dallas area. among the top 12 percent of medical school graduates in his class named to the elite Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. 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. This time on 53-year-old Mary Efurd. A deranged surgeon runs amok, maiming and killing multiple patients, unhindered by a medical community sworn to police itself.