Henderson sent Duntsch's picture to the University of Tennessee to determine whether he actually had a degree from that institution and received confirmation that Duntsch, in fact, did. The Peacock originalDr Deathis based on atrue story. Kirby was shocked; he called the owner of University General and warned him that Duntsch would hurt someone, and the hospital would be over. Why Did Dr. Death Do It? 'Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story' Explains Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and . That same month, the two began an affair. Fennell is in constant pain, and it took several months of rehabilitation before he could begin to walk with a cane. Efurd eventually gained back some control and mobility, but she now uses a wheelchair and suffers chronic pain. She said she thought that he was going to make millions, Kimberly Morgan's friend once said her attraction to Christopher Duntsch. [16] In 2021, he was profiled on CNBC's American Greed. By the end of the week, administrators told Duntsch he would no longer be operating 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. 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. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? - The US Sun Duntsch suggested drilling a hole in Brown's head to relieve the pressure, but was refused permission. 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. Christopher Duntsch: A Review of Clinicide - Walsh Medical Media Summers remained quadriplegic for the rest of his life. 0:05. Board chairman Irwin Zeitzler later said that complications in neurosurgery were more common than most think. [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. However, during training for neurosurgery he followed a research path and did fewer operations than most trainees. Christopher Duntsch was just a regular guy who became Dr. Death after he decided to be a neurosurgeon. 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Duntsch, aka Dr Death, was sentenced to life in prison in 2017, Dr Death - Trailer for the Peacock series based on the true story of Christopher Duntsch. Getty Dr. Duntsch, aka "Dr. Death", operated on his last patient in 2013, before he was arrested. (The Associated Press) A Texas neurosurgeon branded a "sociopath" by his colleagues could be facing 99 years in prison over multiple charges of intentionally botching . The Texas Medical Board would later conclude that Brown died of excessive blood loss and a stroke, according to The Texas Observer . He might have been fired from the Institute but was still a surgeon at Baylor Plano. 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. 0:57. He is currently appealing this sentence. Lee Passmore was thirty-seven and worked as a field agent for the Collin County medical examiner. "If he wasn't doing research, he was out with Jerry Summers, partying," Morgan said in her deposition. As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email written by Christopher Duntsch. 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. 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. Thankfully, this ended up being Dr. Christopher Duntsch's last operation. Plans start at $4.99/month. Wendy Young knew her ex-boyfriend Christopher Duntsch's medical career was unraveling, but she wasn't prepared for what she said was his bizarre behavior that coincided with his fall from grace as a surgeon.. Even worse, some of the patients never got the chance to wake up. 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. 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. During a deposition, Megan Krane recalled Duntsch eating a paper blotter of LSD and taking prescription painkillers on his birthday. [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. Kirby arrived and transferred Glidewell to a top-tier hospital to perform an emergency operation to remove the sponge. Podcast de Dr Death: La verdadera historia de Christopher Duntsch que Duntsch is a serial maimer and killer. The board called in veteran neurosurgeon Martin Lazar to review the case. 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. Former neurosurgeon sentenced for purposely maiming patients It told the unfortunately true story of Doctor Christopher Duntsch, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison for maiming an elderly patient. He wanted to become a doctor, and not just any doctor - a neurosurgeon, operating on injured backs and necks. Death' found guilty of maiming woman during surgery", "Former neurosurgeon sentenced for purposely maiming patients", "Doctor convicted of botched surgery gets life in prison", "Christopher Daniel Duntsch v. The State of Texas Appeal from Criminal District Court No. WFAA-TVChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. She was moved to the ICU and died due to blood loss. Death,' Dallas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch", "Texas neurosurgeon nicknamed 'Dr. Caroline is a writer and Florida-transplant currently living in New York City. 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. Christopher Duntsch is confirmed to have injured 31 patients and killed two . Board chairman Irwin Zeitzler later said that complications in neurosurgery were more common than most laymen believe, and it took until June 2013 to find the "pattern of patient injury" required to justify suspending Duntsch's license. Death. However, things soon went south. Did Christopher Duntsch Have Any Successful Surgeries? Dr. Death in surgery. Before he was "Dr. Death" on Wondery's hit 2018 podcast, disgraced former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was a student at Colorado State University. 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. In a long running series of complaints, a Texas doctor has been found guilty of a felony in one medical malpractice case. [27], While attempting to remove degenerated discs in Marshall "Tex" Muse's back, Duntsch left surgical hardware floating between the spine and muscle tissue. It was. When he woke, he could not move anything on the right side of his body. Glidewell was left with only one vocal cord, permanent damage to his esophagus and partial paralysis on his left side. 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. Unfortunately, when Morguloff woke up, he began to experience continuous pain, paresthesia, and loss of sensation in his left leg. He's serving a life sentence for gross malpractice that resulted in two direct fatalities and the maiming of more than 30 neurosurgery patients, as told by Laura Beil, the journalist who hosts the Dr. Death podcast, on which the eponymous show is based. He graduated from a top-tier medical school, was running research labs, and completed a residency program for neurosurgery. Dr. Death executive producer explains how Christopher Duntsch could We've had a catastrophic event here. Duntschs career started off bright. According to court documents, surgeons at the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute soon grew suspicious of Duntsch. Jodi Smith. Duntsch moved into a five-bedroom house not far from the hospital. [4], Upon applying for work, he looked extremely qualified on paper: he had spent a total of fifteen years in training (medical school, residency and fellowship), and his curriculum vitae was twelve single-spaced pages. Death.. Chahadeh was worried about his facility and getting sued by Duntsch; he said to Dr. Kirby that they had already given him privileges. Baylor wanted Duntsch operating quickly and often so they could be reimbursed for the monies they had advanced to him. "He said the patient died from having an allergic reaction to the anesthesia." In October 2011, she registered articles of incorporation to form Duntsch's practice, the Texas Neurosurgical Institute. 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. Over this period, Duntsch performed back surgeries that left his patients in a worse condition, paralyzed, or deceased. [12], Initially, Duntsch focused heavily on the PhD half of his degree. "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. 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 . July 19, 2021. However, on January 6, 2012, a week after the surgery, Dr. Duntsch performed another operation on Passmore. At one point, he was only able to eat small bites of food at one time. i feel much better now ! Out of his 38 surgeries, only three had no complications. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Young had family in Dallas and decided she would go with him if he picked that city. Duntsch continued operating despite clear signs that Martin was losing massive amounts of blood. Victim statements reveal more gruesome details of botched surgeries - WFAA [3], Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board. [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 Duntsch a.k.a. On November 7, 2011, Dr. Duntsch was scheduled to perform his first surgery at Baylor Plano on Kenneth Fennell for his back pain. Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. He did his surgical residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, spending five years studying neurosurgery and a year studying general surgery. Dallas Magazine states that Duntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. Once, he stopped by to pick up some paperwork. 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.". With Brown still in the ICU, Duntsch took another patient into surgery that morning. When Henderson saw the imaging from Duntsch's surgery, he was certain that there would be legal action, and had the salvage surgery recorded. 11:15 PM on Mar 1, 2014 CST. He was held in the Dallas County jail for almost two years until the case went to trial in 2017. The two went back to Duntsch's home and danced under a disco ball he had in his office. From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. The charismatic neurosurgeon was actually a successful researcher before he starting killing people in the operating . [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. 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. [29] Texas Attorney General and current Governor Greg Abbott filed a motion to intervene in the suits to defend Baylor Plano, citing the Texas legislature's 2003 statute that placed a medical malpractice cap of $250,000 and removed the term "gross negligence" from the definition of legal malice. Just weeks after permanently maiming Morguloff, Dr. Duntsch operated on his lifelong friend and roommate, Jerry Summers. After several more months of botched surgeries, Duntsch finally lost his surgical privileges altogether in June 2013 after two physicians complained to the Texas Medical Board. Victim of Real-Life 'Dr. Death' Believes There Are Others - Yahoo! As those watching the show know, Christopher was dubbed "Dr. Death" in D Magazine . Duntsch's next stop was at Dallas Medical Center. But soon his patients started to experience complications, and the system failed to protect them. 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 - Wikipedia Over objections from Duntsch's lawyers, prosecutors called many of Duntsch's other patients to the stand to prove that his actions were intentional. 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. However, St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital. The explanation was enough to satisfy Muse. The nursing staff put down towels to soak it up. Duntsch had come highly recommended to Fennell and wooed him with boasts that he'd soon be head of Baylor Medical Center's entire neurosurgery department. He moved in with his parents in Colorado and filed for bankruptcy, claiming around one million dollars in debt. Where is Kim Morgan Now? The indictments were made four months before the statute of limitations ran out. Where Is Christopher Duntsch's Wife Wendy Renee Young Now? Cheney recalled wondering why a neurosurgeon with such outstanding credentials would be operating at a lower-tiered hospital on the way to his surgery. 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. This time on 53-year-old Mary Efurd. There were two names on the top page: Kellie Martin and Christopher Duntsch. He stalled at first, telling administrators he got lost on the way to the lab. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary. Christopher Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison in February 2017 for his heinous acts. Who is Christopher Duntsch and what did he do? | The US Sun Christopher Duntsch - AKA Dr. Death - spent 18 months as a practicing surgeon at multiple Texas hospitals until he had his license revoked in 2013. Dr. Duntsch assured Muse that the pain was normal and prescribed him, strong pain killers, causing him to spiral into an addiction. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of . His CV also conveyed he earned a Ph.D. in microbiology from St. Jude Children's Research Hospitals, graduating summa cum laude. However, Baylor did not fire him; instead, he was allowed to resign. By this time, Jerry Summers, his childhood friend, had moved from Tennessee to live with Duntsch. The Dallas district attorney's office subpoenaed every hospital on Duntsch's CV for records of his surgeries. Dr. Rimlawi called Baylor Plano and advised them against continuing a relationship with Christopher Duntsch, but this fell to deaf ears. Dr. Randall Kirby, a general and vascular surgeon, assisted with Morguloff. Christopher Duntsch is currently imprisoned at the O.B.