Duntsch was fired after he performed a surgery and immediately left for Las Vegas, leaving no one to look after his patient. The Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. With Brown still in the ICU, Duntsch took another patient into surgery that morning. [18] He damaged patient Philip Mayfield's spinal cord, drilling into it and leaving him partially paralyzed from the neck down. From 2011 to 2013, dozens of patients in the Dallas area woke up after their surgeries with horrible pain, numbness and, paralysis. He felt that anyone with a basic knowledge of human anatomy would know that he was operating in the wrong area of Efurd's back. 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 . Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. ", "Greg Abbott Enters Fray in Lawsuits Involving "Sociopath" Doctor", "Abbott sides with Baylor hospital in neurosurgeon lawsuit", "Who Are Robert Henderson And Randall Kirby, The Surgeons Who Tried To Stop 'Dr. Duntsch moved into a five-bedroom house not far from the hospital. Despite all of this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. So as Duntsch operated on Efurd, he quarreled with Kissinger and his supervisors, insisting on a craniotomy for Brown. Was Wendy Renee Young Dr. Death's Wife? - Heavy.com [36][11][9] For the same reason, prosecutors opted to try Duntsch for Efurd's maiming first. [19] Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. It was Duntsch, babbling about his family being in danger. But soon his patients started to experience complications, and the system failed to protect them. An anesthesiologist and Dr. Anson Fulton, who assisted with the surgery, warned Duntsch about the blood loss, and he continued to ignore them and operate. "I called Dr. Duntsch up, and I said, 'I saw this online.' Duntsch approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. Chahadeh was worried about his facility and getting sued by Duntsch; he said to Dr. Kirby that they had already given him privileges. Duntsch stuffed a surgical sponge in Glidewell's throat to stanch the bleeding. [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. Duntsch arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes after Efurd's surgery had been scheduled. Troy was sedated for weeks and forced to eat through a feeding tube because food was getting into her lungs. As those watching the show know, Christopher was dubbed "Dr. Death" in D Magazine . The problem was that Dallas Medical Center did not perform those or even have the proper equipment to do them. B. Ellis Unit outside Huntsville. Then came the fax, and he saw Duntsch's name next to Kellie Martin's. MARY EFURD vs CHRISTOPHER D DUNTSCH, MDet al - UniCourt A few days later, he took the test and passed. Passmore says if he settles, he is allowing the hospital to continue to get away with their negligence. But when he awoke and was experiencing extreme pain, Dr. Duntsch said that surgery had been a success and there had been no complications. He is currently appealing this sentence. 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. Duntsch moved to Denver, Colorado, and went into a downward spiral. However, he sewed up Glidewell with the sponge still in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. D MagazineChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. He realized he'd seen that hole for three straight days Duntsch hadn't changed his scrubs all week. As a result, Summers lost almost 1,200 mL of blood. In 2005, partway through the six-year program, he became the director of the tissue bank. Dhruv Trivedi. Philip is one of more than 30 people maimed by Dr. Christopher Duntsch, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media. One of the early investors in DiscGenics, Rand Page, said Duntsch would be mixing a vodka orange juice during their morning meetings. Unfortunately, when Fennell woke up from surgery, he was paralyzed from the waist down. He was left with pain so debilitating he could not work any longer and now spends most of his days at home. In the end, Floella Brown never regained consciousness because Duntsch refused to transfer her to another doctor in time, and her family had to remove her from life support. Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and Christopher was determined to follow in those footsteps. He earned his M.D. Homesick, Duntsch left Colorado after a year and transferred to Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis. [42] The four hospitals that employed Duntsch have ongoing civil cases against him. Pic credit: Dallas County Sheriff's Office. Passmore can't feel his feet; his chest shakes, his right-hand jitters, he can't run or swim with his kids, he struggles with incontinence, and he has nerve pain that fires through his back. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. 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. The pressure was building inside her brain. Gaps in medical, legal systems may allow other 'Dr. Deaths' to practice Former neurosurgeon sentenced for purposely maiming patients The Untold Truth Of Dr. Death - Grunge.com Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. [7] He likened what he found when he opened Efurd up to the results of a child playing with Tinkertoys or an erector set. 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 said the patient died from having an allergic reaction to the anesthesia." On April 9, 2013, Phillip Mayfield was scheduled to have a simple 45-minute operation to alleviate his back pain. At one point, he was only able to eat small bites of food at one time. When Morgan asked Duntsch about the woman in his house, he said she was just his secretary and friend. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. Jerry Summers, who grew up with Christopher Duntsch in Tennessee, was left a quadriplegic after agreeing to let "Dr. Death" operate on his neck. Brown was left in a coma for hours before Duntsch finally acquiesced to her transfer. 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." 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. He didn't contact a lawyer, although he struggled with the decision. Summers remained quadriplegic for the rest of his life. Officers said he was driving on the left side of the road with two flat tires. The surgical disasters of neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch led to his jailing in 2017, setting a legal precedent. [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. Finally, Dr. Kirby received a call from Hassan Chahadeh. The appalling actions of the rogue surgeon and their repercussions on his unsuspecting patients were . He was put on probation for three weeks and told to stick to relatively minor procedures when he returned. ", "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. 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. Before going to medical school, Duntsch wanted to be a pro-football player. Due to the debilitating pain, Fennell later had a second operation by Duntsch to relieve it, and was left significantly paralyzed in his legs. 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. At one point, an assisting surgeon named Dr. Hoyle observed Duntsch performing such alarming and erratic behavior; he grabbed his hands and pleaded with him to stop. Duntsch is a serial maimer and killer. 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, To stop the bleeding, he packed the space with so much anticoagulant foam that it constricted Summers' spine. Plano's 'Doctor Death': The Christopher Duntsch case - YouTube Duntsch focused on his research for a while but was recruited from Memphis to join the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute in North Dallas in the summer of 2011. He then prescribed Muse so much Percocet that a pharmacist refused to fill the prescription. 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. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. [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. In September 2012, Jeff Cheney went to Duntsch to relieve the pain that had moved from his shoulder down to his arm. When he woke up, he was a quadriplegic with incomplete paralysis. An investigator by trade and nature, Passmore started digging into Dr. Christopher Duntsch. It was determined during the repair surgery that Dr. Duntsch had not even been operating on the correct part of Jeff Glidewell's spine. However, he closed Glidewell with the sponge in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. [14] He persuaded Young to come with him; Young agreed, since she had grown up in the Dallas area. When other doctors discovered the sponge, Duntsch refused to return to help remove it. 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. For instance, he came to work wearing the same tattered scrubs for three days in a row. The explanation was enough to satisfy Muse. In February 2012, he went under the knife for an elective spinal fusion surgery. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? - The US Sun Dr. Death in surgery. [19][16] Kirby claimed that it looked as if Duntsch had tried to decapitate Glidewell and contended that such a botched surgery "has not happened in the United States of America" before. "[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. "[4] The Texas Medical Board revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. Who Is Christopher Duntsch, The Man Nicknamed 'Dr. Death' Who Injured 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. 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.". Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move and theoretically get a medical license in another state. Mayfield also suffered from random fainting spells that happen every few weeks. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. [38] Shughart countered that the 2011 email, sent after his first surgeries went wrong, proved that Duntsch knew his actions were intentional. The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. Kirby warned him again that it was only a matter of time. During surgery, he cut a major vessel in her spinal cord. D Magazine gave him the nickname in . Lee Passmore's screams poured out from the ICU and down the hallway. In April 2015, Duntsch was arrested again for shoplifting $887 worth of merchandise from a Dallas Walmart. [4][5] In 2017, he was convicted of maiming one of his patients and sentenced to life imprisonment. A CT scan would later reveal that Efurds nerve root had been amputated, there were several screw holes nowhere near where they were supposed to be, and one screw had been lodged in another nerve root. 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. The surgery was scheduled for December 30, 2011. 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. On May 24, 2011, Christopher Duntsch signed a physician services agreement with Rimlawi and Won's Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) in Dallas. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. However, Mayfield still woke up with paralysis on occasion. 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. [16] Kirby also recalled that Duntsch's skills in the operating room left much to be desired; as Kirby put it, "he could not wield a scalpel".[4]. 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. Kirby arrived and transferred Glidewell to a top-tier hospital to perform an emergency operation to remove the sponge. Through it all, Duntsch was able to lure patient after patient under his knife was his extreme confidence. No one can pay to remove ratings. 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. 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. Although she didn't think much of it and assumed Morgan was helping with research. 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 was sent to a program for impaired physicians when he returned but was allowed to finish his residency. Typically, neurosurgery residents participate in over 1,000 surgeries in the course of their residency. Before he was "Dr. Death" on Wondery's hit 2018 podcast, disgraced former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was a student at Colorado State University. Ellis Unit prison in Huntsville, Texas. [6], Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. 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. Berry Morguloff was Dr. Duntsch's next unsuspecting victim. 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. Dr. Death season one review: a true crime podcast is even scarier - Vox Getty Dr. Duntsch, aka "Dr. Death", operated on his last patient in 2013, before he was arrested. As a result of the 2017 trial, Duntsch was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. [23][19][24], While operating on Efurd, Duntsch severed one of her nerve roots during spinal fusion surgery while operating on the wrong portion of her back, twisted a screw into another nerve, left screw holes on the opposite side of her spine, failed to remove the disc he was supposed to remove, and left surgical hardware in her muscle tissue so loose that it moved when touched. [35], The last charge was for the maiming and paralyzing of Efurd. Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch first met in 2011 at a Beauty Shop bar in Memphis. ", You know in the beginning he talked about marriage. [7] While operating on Jacqueline Troy, Duntsch cut one of her vocal cords and an artery and also damaged her trachea. 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. In 2006, Duntsch teamed up with two Russian stem cell scientists: Valery Kukekov and Tatyana Ignatova. After this look at Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. Once, he stopped by to pick up some paperwork. The television series Dr. Death based on the incident, began streaming on Peacock in July 2021. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. Duntsch told Mayfield's wife it went well, but she instantly knew something was wrong as she walked into his room. 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. [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. Duntsch received his undergraduate degree from the University of Memphis and stayed in town to receive an M.D. He was brilliant. February 22, 2017. Dr. Death: Disgraced surgeon at center of podcast, show has CSU roots Dr Deathis a new limited series about the rise and fall of Duntsch. Death'? In addition, a ligament in his leg was severed, and a screw was stripped and lodged into a nerve bundle. February 21, 2017 / 5:45 AM / CBS News. [18] Despite this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. Dr. Death in surgery. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary, and his mother, Susan, was a schoolteacher. In November 2011, he was hooked on the prescription opiates that numbed the pain in his lower back. When he woke, he could not move anything on the right side of his body. All the while, the operating room staff questioned whether Duntsch was putting hardware into Efurd in the right places and noticed he kept drilling and removing screws. Everything went perfect in there." In October 2011, she registered articles of incorporation to form Duntsch's practice, the Texas Neurosurgical Institute. Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Policy | Compact with Texans | Website Linking Policy; Please contact Pre-Licensure, Registration and Consumer Services at . Podcast de Dr Death: La verdadera historia de Christopher Duntsch que A disc in his lower spine had blown out, and the pieces had to be picked out of the space above. Christopher Duntsch was just a regular guy who became Dr. Death after he decided to be a neurosurgeon. 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. Before working with him, Dr. Hoyle said that he didnt know how to feel about his fellow surgeon. Premiering Thursday on . He was wearing the shirt of his black scrubs, and it was covered in blood. Over the course of 18-months, the nefarious ex-surgeon performed a spree of botched . Duntsch was suspected of having used cocaine the night before the operation. Young let him buy her an appletini, and they felt a connection; eventually, she went home with Duntsch. 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. [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. The day that Brown suffered her stroke, Duntsch operated again. By this time, however, Brown was brain dead. Christopher Duntsch ended up at Millsaps College in Mississippi to play football and was offered financial aid. He is not eligible for parole until 2045; he will be 74 years old by then. Duntsch is at the O. Despite this refusal, Duntsch was allowed to finish his residency. (Dallas County Jail via AP) Gift Article. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. [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. 2-Dr.Randall Kirby, a hero. However, by the time he met Young, Duntsch was over $500,000 in debt. Kissinger also noticed that Duntsch had pinpoint pupils and hardly seemed to blink. 'Sociopath' neurosurgeon accused of botching operations Duntsch initially attended Millsaps College to play Division III college football, and later transferred to Division I Colorado State University. Learn more. Anatomy of a Tragedy.
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