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. February 22, 2017. 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 Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. Shughart argued that Duntsch should have known he would 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. He is a graduate of Evangelical Christian School in the Cordova suburb of Memphis, where he starred in football.[7]. Summers asked Duntsch to fix his chronic neck pain from a high school football injury that had gotten worse after a car accident. [30], Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move elsewhere and still theoretically get a medical license. Dallas Magazine states that Duntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. He Was Also His Victim. Dr. Duntsch said to Cheney, "I don't know why you're this way. Duntschs career started off bright. [4], Early in his tenure at Baylor Plano, Duntsch made a poor impression on his fellow surgeons. When Henderson opened the freshly made incisions on her, he was appalled. [38], Duntsch is housed at the O. During this time, he ran two successful labs and raised millions of dollars in grant funding. A Surgeon So Bad It Was Criminal ProPublica 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 approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. Dr. Hassan Chahadeh, the owner, said when Duntsch had applied for privileges, his record was clean. He called Duntsch's fellowship supervisor in Memphis, as well as 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. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! No show's ever made you as terrified of doctors as 'Dr. Death' will The Real Story Behind the Dr. Death Podcast - Christopher Duntsch Just weeks after permanently maiming Morguloff, Dr. Duntsch operated on his lifelong friend and roommate, Jerry Summers. The first screening came back diluted with tap water, but a second, taken a few days later, came back clean. He recommended fusing two of her vertebrae and the insertion of "hardware" in her spinal area. That's why it really shined down to me," Kissinger said in an interview. Dr. Phil airs on weekdays. 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. Leaving on April 20, 2012, with a lawyer-negotiated letter saying, "All areas of concern with regard to Christopher D. Duntsch have been closed. Dr. Death season one review: a true crime podcast is even scarier - Vox DiscGenics says its mission is toimprove the lives of those suffering from the debilitating effects of degenerative diseases of the spine. The hospital called Rimlawi when it couldn't reach his colleague. It stars Joshua Jackson as Duntsch, Alec Baldwin as Robert Henderson, Christian Slater as Randall Kirby and AnnaSophia Robb as Michelle Shughart. [4] In an article for The Texas Prosecutor, the journal of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, Shughart and the other members of the trial team recalled that their superiors were initially skeptical when they presented the case, but eventually found themselves in "overwhelming disbelief" that a surgeon could do what Duntsch was accused of doing. However, it wouldnt be long until Duntschs seemingly perfect career began to unravel. To avoid the costs of fighting and possibly losing a wrongful termination suit, hospital officials reached a deal with Duntsch's lawyers in which Duntsch was allowed to resign in return for Baylor Plano issuing a letter stating that there were no issues with him. He refused to abort the surgery even after a trauma surgeon colleague and an anesthesiologist warned him about the blood loss. Christopher Duntsch is currently imprisoned at the O.B. By this time, Duntsch was almost penniless, and the judge had to appoint a lawyer for him. [47] A follow-up docuseries, Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story, was later released on Peacock on July 29, 2021, featuring interviews with some of Duntsch's patients and colleagues, as well as with Henderson, Kirby and Shughart. Dr. Death: The Long & Bloody Road to Justice for Dallas' Deadly Doctor Duntsch severed his vertebral nerve, his vocal cords, cut a hole in his esophagus, sliced through an artery, and mistook part of his neck muscle as a tumor. 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. 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. 11:15 PM on Mar 1, 2014 CST. Anatomy of a Tragedy: The Story Behind 'Sociopath Surgeon' Christopher 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. 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. During his tenure at Baylor Plano, Kimberly Morgan assisted in every surgery with Duntsch. Dhruv Trivedi. Duntsch earned his undergraduate degree in 1995 and enrolled at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Duntsch did not respond to messages from the hospital for a few hours, then the next day scheduled an elective surgery on Efurd rather than care for Brown. Despite his colleagues being [] He remained there for several months before being allowed to return to the residency. 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. Morguloff had become addicted to the pain killers being prescribed to him by this time. Updated Dec 9, 2022 at 3:25pm. He declared bankruptcy after listing debts of over $1 million. B. Ellis Unit outside Huntsville. She had suffered from lower back pain for years and was referred to Duntsch by her pain management doctor. Christopher Duntsch Texas True Crime Blog By this time, Jerry Summers, his childhood friend, had moved from Tennessee to live with Duntsch. I thought he was either really, really good, or hes just really, really arrogant and thought he was good, Hoyle said. The board called in veteran neurosurgeon Martin Lazar to review the case. Duntsch recommended fusing Morguloff's L5-S1 vertebrae, and the surgery was scheduled for January 11, 2012. [14] He persuaded Young to come with him; Young agreed, since she had grown up in the Dallas area. His name appeared on several papers and patents, and he took part in a number of biotech startups. He is very caring and took the time to help me understand my pain issues. It was then that Christopher decided to switch his career to medicine. However, Baylor did not fire him; instead, he was allowed to resign. 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. 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. In 2014, he developed syringomyelia, a painful condition that causes fluid-filled cysts on the spinal cord. Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. She was left with just one vocal cord. At one point, he was only able to eat small bites of food at one time. The last charge was for the maiming and paralyzing of Efurd. Texas man recalls losing his wife to 'Dr. Death' in shocking doc: 'My Neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was nicknamed Dr Death: Evil Lives During his surgery, Duntsch didnt installed the necessary hardware to Muses spine and instead had left it floating between the spine and muscle tissue. 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. "I called Dr. Duntsch up, and I said, 'I saw this online.' 1-Christopher Duntsch and then girlfriend, Wendy Young. [8] Duntsch returned home to attend Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). But when he awoke and was experiencing extreme pain, Dr. Duntsch said that surgery had been a success and there had been no complications. 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. Muse spiraled into opioid addiction that cost him his wife and his job. Dr. Fulton never worked with Duntsch again. Board chairman Irwin Zeitzler later said that complications in neurosurgery were more common than most think. 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 . Of those 38, 31 were leftparalyzed or seriously injured and two of them died from surgical complications. You'd like to think . While there, he damaged patient Jeff Cheney's spinal cord, leaving him without feeling on the right side of his body. Ghostbar, Dragonfly at Hotel Zaza. Death'? [16][24] Henderson described Duntsch's surgery as an "assault", and concluded that Efurd would have been bedridden had the salvage surgery not been performed. 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 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. 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. When Morgan asked Duntsch about the woman in his house, he said she was just his secretary and friend. He was a forty-five-year-old man with typical back problems. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? Duntsch initially attended Millsaps College to play Division III college football, and later transferred to Division I Colorado State University. 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." Why Did Dr. Death Do It? 'Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story' Explains On April 9, 2013, Phillip Mayfield was scheduled to have a simple 45-minute operation to alleviate his back pain. It involves the case of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a spinal neurosurgeon who left a trail of dead and permanently disabled . 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. Jurors convicted Duntsch Tuesday of injury to an elderly person in the botched July 2012 surgery that put Mary Efurd in a wheelchair. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. 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. This meant Summers could still feel pain, but was unable to move from the neck down. ", "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. [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. It was. By the end of the week, administrators told Duntsch he would no longer be operating at Dallas Medical Center. Dr. Death: La verdadera historia detrs de la nueva serie sobre el ex He hoped to play football, but his multiple transfers revoked his eligibility. Duntsch stuffed Glidewell's throat with a surgical sponge to attempt to stop the bleeding. Efurd was left paralyzed. The series follows two other surgeons, along with . The suit alleged that Baylor Plano made an average net profit of $65,000 on every spinal surgery performed by Duntsch. (Dallas County Jail via AP) Gift Article. He didn't contact a lawyer, although he struggled with the decision. Summers remained quadriplegic for the rest of his life. He graduated from a top-tier medical school, was running research labs, and completed a residency program for neurosurgery. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the lucrative salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his mounting financial problems. 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. 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. Duntsch lasted about three months at MISI. Duntsch continued operating despite clear signs that Martin was losing massive amounts of blood. The bad doctor: A health care worker doing harm - Plano Magazine His sophomore year, he made it as one of the few walk-on players. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. is a beautiful and populous city located in Montana U.S. . From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx The day after Mary Efurd's surgery, she awoke in excruciating pain and could not turn over or wiggle her toes. DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch has been sentenced to life in prison for a series of botched spinal surgeries, reports CBS . When he arrived, Nurse Kyle Kissinger spotted a hole in Duntsch's scrubs. In addition, a ligament in his leg was severed, and a screw was stripped and lodged into a nerve bundle. He will be up for parole in 2045, when he is 74 years old. [40][41] On May 8, 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused Duntschs petition for discretionary review. Part of the problem was being able to prove that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? - The US Sun How could Dr. Christopher Duntsch practice medicine for as long as he did without being stopped? Is Christopher Duntsch In Jail? Arrest And Charges Details Duntsch, 40 at that time, bought an appletini for Young, 27, and they started their relationship. The Texas Medical Board would later conclude that Brown died of excessive blood loss and a stroke, according to The Texas Observer . Advertisements. Randall 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." Unfortunately, when Fennell woke up from surgery, he was paralyzed from the waist down. Kirby warned him again that it was only a matter of time. [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". However, he sewed up Glidewell with the sponge still in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. Dallas-based surgeon Christopher Duntsch was also the subject of a Wondery podcast titled "Dr. Death." (Dallas County Jail) The indictment accused Duntsch of wide-ranging malpractice, including . The pressure was building inside her brain. 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. After a breath test, Duntsch was arrested for DUI and sent to a detox facility. Dr Deathis a new limited series about the rise and fall of Duntsch. 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. Peacock's Dr. Death is a chilling dramatization of the real-life story of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch. [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. However, he closed Glidewell with the sponge in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. His girlfriend, Wendy Young, had a second son in September 2014. He had complex regional pain syndrome, a rare type of chronic pain that caused his skin to blister and peel off. Death.. and Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee Health Center. To stop the bleeding, he packed the space with so much anticoagulant foam that it constricted Summers' spine. August 28, 2013, 2:01 . His very first operation at the hospital would once again turn deadly. The nursing staff put down towels to soak it up. Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. As those watching the show know, Christopher was dubbed "Dr. Death" in D Magazine . When he woke, he could not move anything on the right side of his body. 0:05. Duntsch is at the O. However, St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital. Over the course of two years, Christopher Duntsch operated on 38 patients in the Dallas area. 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 . At the time of their meeting, Young was working as a dancer in a strip club. "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. Patient paralyzed by Dr. Death 'guarantees' there are other surgeons They met with an assistant DA but got little traction. Before going to medical school, Duntsch wanted to be a pro-football player. Over this period, Duntsch performed back surgeries that left his patients in a worse condition, paralyzed, or deceased. In November 2011, he was hooked on the prescription opiates that numbed the pain in his lower back. Death. "Dr. Duntsch is one great man." Christopher Duntsch, known as "Dr. Death" tried to explain himself in rambling emails, but he only made things worse for his criminal case. 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. Baylor wanted Duntsch operating quickly and often so they could be reimbursed for the monies they had advanced to him. [4], Longtime spine surgeon Robert Henderson performed the salvage surgery on Efurd. [7], While in Memphis, Duntsch began a long-term relationship with Wendy Renee Young. Promising Beginnings. To top it all off, he was operating on the wrong portion of her back. 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. Christopher Duntsch was just a regular guy who became Dr. Death after he decided to be a neurosurgeon. Before working with him, Dr. Hoyle said that he didnt know how to feel about his fellow surgeon. He ran two labs, gained experience writing grants, and earned more than $3 million in funding for research projects. 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. Finally, the board permanently revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. 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. Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and . 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. Boop said that Duntsch spent his final year as an attending physician and could not operate independently. Despite this refusal, Duntsch was allowed to finish his residency. But he yearned to play linebacker for a Division 1 team and set his sights on the Colorado State Rams. However, on January 6, 2012, a week after the surgery, Dr. Duntsch performed another operation on Passmore. [4], After 13 days of trial, the jury needed only four hours to convict him for the maiming of Efurd. The story of Dr. Death, Christopher Duntsch, feels like something out of a movie or book. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! A patient who was left barely able to walk and in constant pain after undergoing two botched surgeries at the hands of killer neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch says he 'guarantees' there are other . His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. Henderson then cleaned out bone fragments and discovered that one of Efurd's nerve roots was gone entirely. ", "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. Learn more. No one came out and spoke with Kellie Martin's family or informed them of her condition during this time. After his license was revoked,Duntsch fled from Texas. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. 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. [9] Duntsch completed his undergraduate degree in 1995, then continued on to an ambitious MDPhD program. In a long running series of complaints, a Texas doctor has been found guilty of a felony in one medical malpractice case. One of the patients who suffered disastrous consequences was Jerry Summers, the boyfriend of Megan Kane and a friend of Christopher Duntsch.

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