[14] He persuaded Young to come with him; Young agreed, since she had grown up in the Dallas area. 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. Those words continue to haunt her, and she's tormented by the knowledge that her endorsement caused others to select Duntsch themselves. [9] Texas Medical Board Revocation Order. Thankfully, this ended up being Dr. Christopher Duntsch's last operation. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. Christopher Duntsch wrote that he was ready to become a "cold blooded killer". Once, he stopped by to pick up some paperwork. Peacock's new grisly drama tells the real-life story of Dallas-area neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, who killed or maimed more than 30 patients in the 2010s. This was the time when Dr. Christopher Duntsch started to turn into Dr. Death. Your trust is important to us. Before working with him, Dr. Hoyle said that he didnt know how to feel about his fellow surgeon. Her husband could not hold himself up; he had no support of his own and could barely speak. They have two sons. [9], 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. He might have been fired from the Institute but was still a surgeon at Baylor Plano. D Magazine gave him the nickname in . He ran two labs, gained experience writing grants, and earned more than $3 million in funding for research projects. [7] While operating on Jacqueline Troy, Duntsch cut one of her vocal cords and an artery and also damaged her trachea. Efurd was left paralyzed. among the top 12 percent of medical school graduates in his class named to the elite Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. She suffered a stroke as a result. There are many sick people in the world, but Duntsch takes the cake for me. Did Christopher Duntsch have a wife and kids? But when he awoke and was experiencing extreme pain, Dr. Duntsch said that surgery had been a success and there had been no complications. Wendy Young had just given birth to their son and lived there with him. [18] He damaged patient Philip Mayfield's spinal cord, drilling into it and leaving him partially paralyzed from the neck down. One of the patients who suffered disastrous consequences was Jerry Summers, the boyfriend of Megan Kane and a friend of Christopher Duntsch. "As his victims pile up, two fellow physicians and Dallas prosecutor Michelle Shughart set out to stop him.". Mayfield was taken to a different hospital and told his spinal cord had already been deformed, and the damage was irreversible. 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. Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. Even if a plaintiff wins the maximum award, after you pay your lawyer and your experts and go through, potentially, years of trial, not much is left. He didn't wear underwear. When Henderson opened the freshly made incisions on her, he was appalled. 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.". The criminal conviction of Christopher Duntsch, MD, PhD, holds important lessons for risk managers. Duntsch moved to Denver, Colorado, and went into a downward spiral. Peacock's Dr. Death is a chilling dramatization of the real-life story of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch. Summers had a credit card in his name connected to Duntsch's account and would drive him around, balance his checkbooks, and pick up his dry cleaning. However, the surgery had to be moved to November 14 because Duntsch had failed to order the appropriate surgical hardware and equipment. D MagazineChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. In February 2012, he went under the knife for an elective spinal fusion surgery. "I called Dr. Duntsch up, and I said, 'I saw this online.' The first screening came back diluted with tap water, but a second, taken a few days later, came back clean. Duntsch also removed so much bone and muscle tissue from Summers' neck that his head was no longer secure on his body. Mary Efurd: While Brown was dying, Duntsch was operating on Mary Efurd, a 71-year-old anxious to return to her treadmill after surgery to relieve her back pain. 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. Passmore focused on recovery and getting back to work in the months following his surgery. It involves the case of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a spinal neurosurgeon who left a trail of dead and permanently disabled . After this look at Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. Moving made sense for both of them. Finally, Dr. Kirby received a call from Hassan Chahadeh. [11] Several of his friends recalled him going to work after a night of doing drugs, with one of them saying he would never allow Duntsch to operate on him. Evil Lives Here: Shadows Of Death is investigating the numerous crimes of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, who was nicknamed Dr. Death after causing pain, suffering, and even death to multiple patients over the course of two years. The charismatic neurosurgeon was actually a successful researcher before he starting killing people in the operating . According to court documents, surgeons at the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute soon grew suspicious of Duntsch. Could you take care of it?" "[4] The Texas Medical Board revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. Hoyle called the surgery sloppy enough to cancel the remaining four operations he had scheduled with Duntsch and vowed never to work with him again. Soon after starting Efurd's surgery, Duntsch turned to Kissinger and told him he would be performing a craniotomy on Floella Brown. "[32][9] ADA Michelle Shughart, who led the prosecution of Duntsch, later recalled that Henderson, Kirby, and Lazar contacted her demanding to testify against Duntsch; according to Shughart, doctors almost never testify against each other. 5 of Dallas County (opinion)", "Texas Court of Appeals Affirms Conviction of 'Dr. During his short tenure, he spent little time in the operating room. Passmore had a herniated disc in his lower spine pressing on a nerve causing him pain. Dr. Duntsch said to Cheney, "I don't know why you're this way. According to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a neurosurgery resident does about 1,000 operations during training. Officers said he was driving on the left side of the road with two flat tires. He was brilliant. "[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. Dr Deathis a new limited series about the rise and fall of Duntsch. 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. While they were in the lab working, Duntsch went to work raising money for a company he called DiscGenics. Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Policy | Compact with Texans | Website Linking Policy; Please contact Pre-Licensure, Registration and Consumer Services at . Passmore told D Magazine during an interview that he is uncomfortable receiving any attention but knows he must do so if anyone is going to listen. Morguloff sought a second opinion on his excruciating pain from Dr. Michael Desaloms. But he yearned to play linebacker for a Division 1 team and set his sights on the Colorado State Rams. 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.". [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. At one point, he was only able to eat small bites of food at one time. This case was filed in Dallas County District Courts, Dallas County Civil District Courts located in Dallas, Texas. Passmore met with Dr. Duntsch and was impressed by his confidence; he would fix him. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? He decided to turn to neurosurgery, which can be a lucrative field. He stalled at first, telling administrators he got lost on the way to the lab. 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. [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. "It's on the butt cheek of his scrubs. Duntsch filed a patent for the technology, and he listed himself as one of the inventors even though he had not discovered it. The story of Dr. Death, Christopher Duntsch, feels like something out of a movie or book. Duntsch had also installed hardware into her muscle, not her bone, so loose that it moved when you touched it. However, it wasn't clear how much training Duntsch received. In 2010, he completed the MDPhD and neurosurgery residency programs at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center,[3] and subsequently completed a spine fellowship program at the Semmes-Murphey Clinic in Memphis. They also believed that 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. Duntsch stuffed Glidewell's throat with a surgical sponge to attempt to stop the bleeding. Berry Morguloff was Dr. Duntsch's next unsuspecting victim. (Dallas County Jail via AP) Gift Article. She also said that he kept a pile of cocaine on his dresser in his home office. Officers took him to a nearby psychiatric hospital. The board called in veteran neurosurgeon Martin Lazar to review the case. 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. Troy was left barely able to speak above a whisper, had to be sedated for weeks and had to be fed through a feeding tube for some time as food was getting into her lungs. Over the course of 18-months, the nefarious ex-surgeon performed a spree of botched . Everything went perfect in there." Death.. In December 2012, Jacqueline Troy was left barely able to speak above a whisper after Duntsch cut her vocal cords and one of her arteries. He wanted to become a doctor, and not just any doctor - a neurosurgeon, operating on injured backs and necks. The night before his surgery, he read online about Kellie Martin's death just months earlier. Im the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state.. 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. 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 . 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." He was a forty-five-year-old man with typical back problems. Duntsch arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes after Efurd's surgery had been scheduled. Immediately, he started yelling and cussing at me, saying, 'How dare you? The True Story Of Christopher Duntsch, The Killer Surgeon Known As Dr. He was held in the Dallas County jail for almost two years until the case went to trial in 2017. Young let him buy her an appletini, and they felt a connection; eventually, she went home with Duntsch. Muse spiraled into opioid addiction that cost him his wife and his job. Watch the trailer for Dr . Advertisement. They met with an assistant DA but got little traction. He recommended fusing two of her vertebrae and the insertion of "hardware" in her spinal area. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. Marshall Muse was scheduled to have a disc removed in his back. As the trial team put it, the "scary pattern" of Duntsch's actions became apparent to the others in the office, leading the DA to give the green light to take the case to a grand jury. Duntsch approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. A disc in his lower spine had blown out, and the pieces had to be picked out of the space above. Efurd eventually gained back some control and mobility, but she now uses a wheelchair and suffers chronic pain. Summers remained quadriplegic for the rest of his life. 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. Christopher Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison in February 2017 for his heinous acts. 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. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. When he woke up, he was a quadriplegic with incomplete paralysis. Premiering Thursday on . 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. Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. Death,' Dallas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch", "Texas neurosurgeon nicknamed 'Dr. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. Young had family in Dallas and decided she would go with him if he picked that city. Cheney recalled wondering why a neurosurgeon with such outstanding credentials would be operating at a lower-tiered hospital on the way to his surgery. Famously known by the Family name Christopher Daniel Duntsch, is a great neurosurgeon and convicted criminal for malpractice.He was born on April 3, 1971, in Montana. He is very caring and took the time to help me understand my pain issues. Duntsch, once a neurosurgeon, is the focal point of the new streaming Peacock docuseries "Dr. Death." D Magazine gave him the nickname in its reporting in 2016. 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. 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. He was put on probation for three weeks and told to stick to relatively minor procedures when he returned. Duntsch is a former Dallas neurosurgeon who, through . Duntsch stuffed a surgical sponge in Glidewell's throat to stanch the bleeding. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. February 21, 2017 / 5:45 AM / CBS News. No one came out and spoke with Kellie Martin's family or informed them of her condition during this time. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! He is a graduate of Evangelical Christian School in the Cordova suburb of Memphis, where he starred in football.[7]. Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. 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. Those are the words that Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a Dallas neurosurgeon, wrote to his girlfriend in 2011 in the midst of a two-year period that left 33 of his 38 patients maimed, wounded or . From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx 11:15 PM on Mar 1, 2014 CST. 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. It was completely unnecessary, didn't relieve her pain, and only set her up for another needed surgery. Death'? To top it all off, he was operating on the wrong portion of her back. Former teammates later said that, while Duntsch trained hard, he lacked talent at the game. But soon his patients started to experience complications, and the system failed to protect them. Glidewell is still in constant pain and has undergone more than 50 procedures to correct the damage left by Duntsch. The Dallas district attorney's office subpoenaed every hospital on Duntsch's CV for records of his surgeries. The indictments were made four months before the statute of limitations ran out. As a result of the 2017 trial, Duntsch was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. His older son had been born back when he was at Baylor Plano. 1-Christopher Duntsch and then girlfriend, Wendy Young. Before going to medical school, Duntsch wanted to be a pro-football player. 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. As he lay there in agony, Duntsch was nowhere to be found. [35], The last charge was for the maiming and paralyzing of Efurd. He is not eligible for parole until 2045; he will be 74 years old by then. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of . He was a genius. 'Hot TikTok doc' urges young people to get jabbed - warning of dangers of long Covid, Daughter, 39, guilty of stabbing mum to death before setting house on fire and dumping her dismembered body in river, Pregnant beautician loses baby after savage beating by monster husband who kidnapped her amid divorce row, Shocking moment man is crushed to death by an enraged elephant after crowd taunts herd of jumbos. "If he wasn't doing research, he was out with Jerry Summers, partying," Morgan said in her deposition. Ellis Unit prison in Huntsville, Texas. In September 2012, Jeff Cheney went to Duntsch to relieve the pain that had moved from his shoulder down to his arm. 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. It told the unfortunately true story of Doctor Christopher Duntsch, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison for maiming an elderly patient. By this time, however, Brown was brain dead. But, she never reported Duntsch up the ladder or told anyone about the horrors she witnessed in the operating room. Robert Lowes. They talked about marriage quickly, and they moved in together within three months. Ghostbar, Dragonfly at Hotel Zaza. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. On May 24, 2011, Christopher Duntsch signed a physician services agreement with Rimlawi and Won's Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) in Dallas. He said, "Randy, you were right. B. Ellis Unit outside Huntsville. [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". His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. The appalling actions of the rogue surgeon and their repercussions on his unsuspecting patients were . Over the course of two years, Christopher Duntsch operated on 38 patients in the Dallas area. The series is set to premiere on July 12 and will feature a star-studded cast. 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. He knew this couldn't have been a one-time mistake. At the time, Duntsch was looking for operating prospects in Dallas, San Diego, and New York. The case highlights the risks of allowing a troubled physician to move to another hospital . Dr. Christopher Duntsch became the subject of a Peacock original series for all the wrong reasons. Jerry Summers, who grew up with Christopher Duntsch in Tennessee, was left a quadriplegic after agreeing to let "Dr. Death" operate on his neck. Troy was sedated for weeks and forced to eat through a feeding tube because food was getting into her lungs. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. However, things soon went south. Duntsch had removed part of his femoral nerve. ", "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. ", "Surgeon who wrote of becoming killer is denied bail reduction", "Elderly couple attends court hoping for justice in Duntsch case", "Who Were The Victims Of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, Who Earned The Ominous Nickname 'Dr. However, Baylor did not fire him; instead, he was allowed to resign. At the time, hospitals were not required to report doctors who only had temporary privileges. 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. During this time, he ran two successful labs and raised millions of dollars in grant funding. Dr. Duntsch came from a good family and showed considerable potential at medical school. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. Caroline is a writer and Florida-transplant currently living in New York City. ", You know in the beginning he talked about marriage. [4], Longtime spine surgeon Robert Henderson performed the salvage surgery on Efurd. The first season of Dr. Death, which launched in 2018 and ran for seven episodes, examined the life and horrific crimes of Christopher Duntsch. His CV also conveyed he earned a Ph.D. in microbiology from St. Jude Children's Research Hospitals, graduating summa cum laude. When Morgan asked Duntsch about the woman in his house, he said she was just his secretary and friend. MISI representatives stated he would brag about his capabilities and be critical of the work of other surgeons. The staff told Duntsch that Brown, his patient from the day before, was in critical condition. [19], In July 2015, approximately a year and a half after his license was revoked, Duntsch was arrested in Dallas and charged with six felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, and one count of injury to an elderly person. How could Dr. Christopher Duntsch practice medicine for as long as he did without being stopped? Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano (now Baylor Scott and White Medical Center - Plano). [38], Duntsch is housed at the O. During surgery, Duntsch damaged Summers' vertebral artery causing it to bleed uncontrollably. Duntsch told Mayfield's wife it went well, but she instantly knew something was wrong as she walked into his room.
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