She was moved to the ICU and died due to blood loss. 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. Christopher Duntsch, once a supremely confident neurosurgeon with a solid rsum and a wealth of potential, fled town in disgrace last year under a scalding cascade . He was brilliant. The two went back to Duntsch's home and danced under a disco ball he had in his office. Dr. Death, read about how reckless surgeon Robert Liston killed his patient and two bystanders. Of those 38, 31 were leftparalyzed or seriously injured and two of them died from surgical complications. Duntsch is a former neurosurgeon born in 1971 in Montana . 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. Now, a podcast called Dr. Death is breaking down the deranged surgeon's criminal acts and shows how drug abuse and blinding overconfidence led to big trouble for the patients who found themselves underneath the spiraling doctor's knife.. 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. In 2006, Duntsch teamed up with two Russian stem cell scientists: Valery Kukekov and Tatyana Ignatova. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his vast financial issues. In February 2012, he went under the knife for an elective spinal fusion surgery. 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. There were two names on the top page: Kellie Martin and Christopher Duntsch. He graduated from a top-tier medical school, was running research labs, and completed a residency program for neurosurgery. He was put on probation for three weeks and told to stick to relatively minor procedures when he returned. Homesick, Duntsch left Colorado after a year and transferred to Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis. But soon his patients started to experience complications, and the system failed to protect them. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. 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. Duntsch initially attended Millsaps College to play Division III college football, and later transferred to Division I Colorado State University. In a long running series of complaints, a Texas doctor has been found guilty of a felony in one medical malpractice case. She had suffered from lower back pain for years and was referred to Duntsch by her pain management doctor. The Dallas district attorney's office subpoenaed every hospital on Duntsch's CV for records of his surgeries. The series peers into the torturous crimes of . Dr. Duntsch came from a good family and showed considerable potential at medical school. 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. "[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. ", "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. The series is set to premiere on July 12 and will feature a star-studded cast. Duntsch had also installed hardware into her muscle, not her bone, so loose that it moved when you touched it. He ran two labs, gained experience writing grants, and earned more than $3 million in funding for research projects. She came in to have two vertebrae fused, but when she woke up she experienced severe pain and couldnt stand. The first season of Dr. Death, which launched in 2018 and ran for seven episodes, examined the life and horrific crimes of Christopher Duntsch. Although she didn't think much of it and assumed Morgan was helping with research. It was. 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. Over the course of 18-months, the nefarious ex-surgeon performed a spree of botched . 0:05. The series follows two other surgeons, along with . In addition, a ligament in his leg was severed, and a screw was stripped and lodged into a nerve bundle. 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. "I called Dr. Duntsch up, and I said, 'I saw this online.' Baylor suspended Duntsch, pictured, for a month. In 2017, Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of maiming one of his patients. Muse spiraled into opioid addiction that cost him his wife and his job. 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. He later appealed his case, but lost when his conviction was upheld 2-1 in the Fifth District Court of Appeals . [38], Duntsch is housed at the O. Summers remained quadriplegic for the rest of his life. A Texas jury found Christopher Duntsch guilty Feb. 14 of maiming patients who had turned to him for surgery to resolve debilitating injuries. Kissinger also noticed that Duntsch had pinpoint pupils and hardly seemed to blink. Moving made sense for both of them. According to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a neurosurgery resident does about 1,000 operations during training. And its all because of one surgeon named Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. Christopher Duntsch Early Life Story, Family Background and Education. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary, and his mother, Susan, was a schoolteacher. 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. CHRISTOPHER Duntsch, is infamously known as Dr Death for gross malpractice. Then came the fax, and he saw Duntsch's name next to Kellie Martin's. During a deposition, Megan Krane recalled Duntsch eating a paper blotter of LSD and taking prescription painkillers on his birthday. At the time, hospitals were not required to report doctors who only had temporary privileges. "[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. Once, he stopped by to pick up some paperwork. Then, on December 6, 2011, he operated on seventy-four-year-old Mary Efurd. Advertisements. Duntsch lasted about three months at MISI. Brown was left in a coma for hours before Duntsch finally acquiesced to her transfer. and Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee Health Center. [4][49], Last edited on 14 February 2023, at 04:48, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Plano, Texas District and County Attorneys Association, "Dr. Duntsch defense expert: "The only way this happens is the entire system fails the patients", "Plano Doctor Suspended After Two Patient Deaths", "Former Neurosurgeon Faces Life In Prison After Guilty Verdict", "What Was Dr. Christopher Duntsch's Background And Why Were People So Impressed With The Man Later Known As 'Dr. He might have been fired from the Institute but was still a surgeon at Baylor Plano. Since Duntsch's departure was technically voluntary, Baylor Plano was under no obligation to report him to the Texas Medical Board or the National Practitioner Data Bank. Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of hospital oversight. In April 2015, Duntsch was arrested again for shoplifting $887 worth of merchandise from a Dallas Walmart. After a breath test, Duntsch was arrested for DUI and sent to a detox facility. [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 my opinion, we had a serial killer in our medical community, Dr. Randall Kirbysays of Christopher Duntsch in "Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story.". He is currently appealing this sentence. "It's a miracle," she said in the infomercial later promoted on his website. [7], Shughart argued that Duntsch should have known he was likely to 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. That same month, the two began an affair. But, he can only walk 30 feet at a time and cannot stand for more than a few minutes. They created a method for culturing the stem cells of intervertebral discs outside of the body. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. Duntsch also removed so much bone and muscle tissue from Summers' neck that his head was no longer secure on his body. Christopher Duntsch, known as "Dr. Death" tried to explain himself in rambling emails, but he only made things worse for his criminal case. DiscGenics says its mission is toimprove the lives of those suffering from the debilitating effects of degenerative diseases of the spine. Kirby arrived and transferred Glidewell to a top-tier hospital to perform an emergency operation to remove the sponge. Officers took him to a nearby psychiatric hospital. Could you take care of it?" He had complex regional pain syndrome, a rare type of chronic pain that caused his skin to blister and peel off. Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and . 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. 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. 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. A few days later, he took the test and passed. He was sent to a program for impaired physicians when he returned but was allowed to finish his residency. Before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board, he was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 . 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." 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 . The patient was Mary Efurd coming in for a second operation. Christopher Duntsch ended up at Millsaps College in Mississippi to play football and was offered financial aid. I thought he was either really, really good, or hes just really, really arrogant and thought he was good, Hoyle said. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. Dr. Death in surgery. Troy was sedated for weeks and forced to eat through a feeding tube because food was getting into her lungs. At one point, he was only able to eat small bites of food at one time. He refused to abort the surgery even after a trauma surgeon colleague and an anesthesiologist warned him about the blood loss. Finally, Dr. Kirby received a call from Hassan Chahadeh. [48], In 2019, Duntsch was the focus of the premiere episode of License to Kill, Oxygen's series on criminal medical professionals. "It's on the butt cheek of his scrubs. He wanted to become a doctor, and not just any doctor - a neurosurgeon, operating on injured backs and necks. Death', "Texas Jury Imposes Life Sentence on Neurosurgeon", "The Making and Breaking of Dr. "Christopher Duntsch" (Dr. Death)", "Season 14 of CNBC's 'American Greed' Premieres Monday, January 18 at 10PM", Dr. Death: The Texas Surgeon Who Paralyzed his Patients, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Duntsch&oldid=1139253982. The nursing staff put down towels to soak it up. Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch first met in 2011 at a Beauty Shop bar in Memphis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Duntsch, https://www.propublica.org/article/dr-death-christopher-duntsch-a-surgeon-so-bad-it-was-criminal, https://www.dmagazine.com/healthcare-business/2021/10/a-witness-to-dr-death-in-the-presence-of-a-sociopath/, https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2016/november/christopher-duntsch-dr-death/, https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/who-were-the-victims-of-dr-christopher-duntsch, https://www.dallasnews.com/news/investigations/2014/03/02/planos-baylor-hospital-faces-hard-questions-after-claims-against-former-neurosurgeon/, https://www.texasobserver.org/anatomy-tragedy/, https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2015/08/25/7-chilling-thoughts-of-jailed-neurosurgeon-christopher-duntsch/, https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/greg-abbott-enters-fray-in-lawsuits-involving-sociopath-doctor/, https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2017/02/a-jury-now-controls-the-fate-of-neurosurgeon-christopher-duntsch/, https://www.thedailybeast.com/victim-of-real-life-dr-death-believes-there-are-others-like-him-out-there?ref=scroll, https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/what-happened-to-discgenics-co-founded-by-dr-death-christopher-duntsch, https://www.texasobserver.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Morguloff-Complaint.pdf. 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. While they were in the lab working, Duntsch went to work raising money for a company he called DiscGenics. Death'? He was left with pain so debilitating he could not work any longer and now spends most of his days at home. 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. [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. Christopher Duntsch is confirmed to have injured 31 patients and killed two . "Dr. Duntsch is one great man." She witnessed Duntsch put on his lab coat and make his rounds the following morning as if nothing had happened. [13] In 2010, Duntsch moved to Dallas. She bled so much that blood was saturating the blue draping around her body and dripping onto the floor. He is very caring and took the time to help me understand my pain issues. He earned his M.D. 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. In 2014, he developed syringomyelia, a painful condition that causes fluid-filled cysts on the spinal cord. For instance, he came to work wearing the same tattered scrubs for three days in a row. His name appeared on several papers and patents, and he took part in a number of biotech startups. Duntsch was in a long-term relationship with Wendy Renee Young, after the pair met at a bar in Memphis when she was 27 and he was 40. [14] He persuaded Young to come with him; Young agreed, since she had grown up in the Dallas area. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. [9] Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of oversight by the hospitals. It told the unfortunately true story of Doctor Christopher Duntsch, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison for maiming an elderly patient. They didn't have enough evidence to stop him because he hadn't done anything wrong yet. A Texas neurosurgeon accused of intentionally botching multiple spinal surgeries, resulting in the death of two . As those watching the show know, Christopher was dubbed "Dr. Death" in D Magazine . 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. He thought it was odd that Duntsch wasn't working at Baylor Plano anymore, so he called his insurance company, who stated Christopher Duntsch was in good standing. [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. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. 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. In January 2013, Kenneth Fennell was scheduled for another operation because he was still experiencing extreme pain in his back. Did Christopher Duntsch have a wife and kids? 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. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary. ", "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. Lee Passmore's screams poured out from the ICU and down the hallway. In May 2013, Dr. Randall Kirby was invited to a dinner by University General Hospital to meet their new neurosurgeon, Dr. Duntsch. By the end of the week, administrators told Duntsch he would no longer be operating at Dallas Medical Center. Hospital officials were exasperated when Duntsch refused to delay Efurd's surgery, and asked him multiple times to care for Brown or transfer her out of his care. The day that Brown suffered her stroke, Duntsch operated again. 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. Baylor wanted Duntsch operating quickly and often so they could be reimbursed for the monies they had advanced to him. It was completely unnecessary, didn't relieve her pain, and only set her up for another needed surgery. Ghostbar, Dragonfly at Hotel Zaza. 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. [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". Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Policy | Compact with Texans | Website Linking Policy; Please contact Pre-Licensure, Registration and Consumer Services at . [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. [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. After the operation, Brown woke up and seemed fine, but early the following day; she lost consciousness. He knew this couldn't have been a one-time mistake. Trusty would later find out there was no award and it had just been a paid advertisement. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. 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. "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 . Efurd eventually gained back some control and mobility, but she now uses a wheelchair and suffers chronic pain. He thought surgery might give him some relief and stop his need for drugs. When he called Duntsch's office, he was told it would "go away." 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. With Brown still in the ICU, Duntsch took another patient into surgery that morning. [8] Duntsch returned home to attend Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). [4][5] In 2017, he was convicted of maiming one of his patients and sentenced to life imprisonment. As he lay there in agony, Duntsch was nowhere to be found. Then check out the horrifying story of Simon Bramhall, a surgeon who admitted to burning his initials into patients livers. Christopher Duntsch is a former neurosurgeon known by his nickname Dr. Death or Dr. D. The Montana native got his nickname for his malpractice while working at hospitals in Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. 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. 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. Even though he lived in Colorado, he returned to Dallas to see his two sons. Christopher Duntsch was just a regular guy who became Dr. Death after he decided to be a neurosurgeon. 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. Baylor Plano allowed Duntsch to continue operating despite the documented issues with Kenneth Fennell, Mary Efurd, Lee Passmore, and Barry Morguloff's surgeries. [38] Shughart countered that the 2011 email, sent after his first surgeries went wrong, proved that Duntsch knew his actions were intentional. Mayfield also suffered from random fainting spells that happen every few weeks. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. The Peacock originalDr Deathis based on atrue story. During his tenure at Baylor Plano, Kimberly Morgan assisted in every surgery with Duntsch. The hospital hired him and granted him temporary surgical privileges until his reference checks were completed. The case status is Disposed - Other Disposed. The operation should have taken less than ninety minutes; it ultimately lasted four and a half hours. Promising Beginnings. 3-Jeff Glidewell, another victim of Duntsch's. 4-Michelle Shugart, the woman who brought this all to fruition . His older son had been born back when he was at Baylor Plano. In September 2012, Jeff Cheney went to Duntsch to relieve the pain that had moved from his shoulder down to his arm. Christopher Duntsch - AKA Dr. Death - spent 18 months as a practicing surgeon at multiple Texas hospitals until he had his license revoked in 2013. Unfortunately, when Morguloff woke up, he began to experience continuous pain, paresthesia, and loss of sensation in his left leg. Jerry Summers believed that his best friend Christopher Duntsch was a talented neurosurgeon who would cure his chronic neck pain. He is not eligible for parole until 2045; he will be 74 years old by then. [7] He likened what he found when he opened Efurd up to the results of a child playing with Tinkertoys or an erector set. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of . 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.