Duntsch was Board Certified to do brain and spinal surgery. That statement is blatantly untrue and the ABNS has written to the Oxygen network and its parent companies to demand a correction. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. How many people did Christopher Duntsch kill? She said he was a very long talker and he would call his dad up and have these like two-hour conversations with him. 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=1149133921, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Texas, University of Tennessee Health Science Center alumni, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. This suggests that Summers had come to terms with Duntsch and had moved past any ill feelings he may have held against him. How Do You Get Rid Of Hiccups In 5 Seconds. Their suffering becomes yours. Most doctors would pull themselves out of the field after a few botched surgeries because of the guilt they have to carry after permanently hurting someone. Why was Dr Duntsch so bad? I really wish I knew she said. Then he also took prescription painkillers and ate a paper blotter of LSD. [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. During his trial, it was revealed that Dr. Duntsch had disregarded safety protocols and deviated from accepted surgical practices when operating on Summers, leading to his tragic outcome. Why Did Dr. Death Do It? 'Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story' Explains Welcome to H-O-M-E.org, your one stop shop for all the best in entertainment, movies, music, celebrities, health, lifestyle, sports, technology and education. He showed a complete lack of knowledge regarding anatomy and medical procedures, making numerous mistakes along the way that should have been avoided. He also reported shooting pains throughout his body. The good-looking but eerie Jamie Dornan. Your email address will not be published. Duntsch stuffed a surgical sponge in Glidewell's throat to stanch the bleeding. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Mary Efurd was one of these victims; she underwent surgery to treat her back pain in July 2012 but instead suffered an irreparable spinal cord injury that left her permanently paralyzed from the neck down. 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. [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. 33 of his 37 surgeries were botched, with two dead and 31 injured for life. When Henderson saw the imaging from Duntsch's surgery, he was certain that there would be legal action, and had the salvage surgery recorded. I think it was a mixture of both intent and ineptitude, Robb explained. A husband and wife pair of Russian stem cell scientists, Valery Kukekov and Tatyana Ignatova entered the picture. In February 2021, he passed away from an infection connected to a cervical fusion surgery that he underwent one decade prior. Out July 15, Dr. Death introduces viewers to Christopher Duntsch, a real-life Texas-based surgeon who in 2017 was sentenced to life in prison after maiming and even killing almost all of the. 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. His license gone, Duntsch went off the rails. [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. 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. Take the case of Dr. Death, aka Dr. Christopher Duntsch. [38][39] On December 10, 2018, the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed Duntsch's conviction by a 21 split decision. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. [48], In 2019, Duntsch was the focus of the premiere episode of License to Kill, Oxygen's series on criminal medical professionals. [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". After hearing about the shocking death, vascular surgeon Dr. Randall Kirby (portrayed in the series by Christian Slater) reported Duntsch to the Texas Medical Board. At Baylor Regional Medical Center, during a simple laminectomy, Duntsch slashed one of Martin's major arteries butrefused to admit his mistake. 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. And yet, the names of the latter are incorrect and misspelled. ", "Plano's Baylor hospital faces hard questions after claims against former neurosurgeon", "Barry Morguloff's suit against the Baylor Health Care System", "Was Wendy Renee Young Dr. Death's Wife? By this time his wife and he had separated and he also filed for bankruptcy. Duntsch arrived in Texas with no shortage of confidence, often boasting to his colleagues that he would be the greatest minimally invasive spinalsurgeon in Dallas. Death.). [40][41] On May 8, 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused Duntschs petition for discretionary review. Dr. Death is now also going to be a TV show with Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin playing main roles. In it, he is yelling at Maria Lopez, the medical board investigator assigned to Duntsch's case in January 2013, demanding to know why he was still practicing. Dr. Henderson (Alec Baldwin), Dr. Kirby (Christian Slater) and the nurse Josh Baker, played by Hubert Point-Du Jour, these are the professionals who are speaking up. From the top of his class to life in prison: things did not go as he planned. ), As Dr. This May Be the Most Horrifying Surgery Story You've Ever Heard According to the prosecutors, TMB had many complaints on file. They had discovered stem cells in human brain tumors. Death showrunner Patrick McManus told Oxygen.com's Stephanie Gomulka, the series exploresthe complexities of representing Duntsch as a conventional antagonist, saying, "Christopher Duntschis unlike most villainsthat inhabit the true crime space. Probably not, Robb added. [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. The Real Story Behind the Dr. Death Podcast - Christopher Duntsch Death: The Undoctored Story' about the real story of the doctor who maimed and killed multiple patients. The Dallas County DA, along with fighting against these very laws, was also running out of time. Death, was a neurosurgeon from Dallas, Texas who had a promising career in medicine until it took a disastrous turn. The evidence collected by the DA's office by subpoenaing every hospital on his CVshows Duntsch completes a fraction of these. [9][16], As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email in which Duntsch boasted 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. Prosecutors put a high priority on that charge, as it provided the widest sentencing range, with Duntsch facing up to life in prison if convicted. Christopher Duntsch - Wikipedia 'Dr. Death' Surgeon Killed or Maimed 33 of His Patients - People He said, "What I am being is what I am, one of kind, a mother f****r stone cold killer that can buy or own or steal or ruin or build whatever he wants.". With Ignatova and Kukekov in tow, he filed patents under a company he founded. She was deposed over Skype since, at the time, she was stationed with the Air Force in the Middle East. [42] The four hospitals that employed Duntsch have ongoing civil cases against him. I think some of them he probably did intentionally. The attorneys claimed she knew about the drugs and his drug-addled OR trips but did nothing to stop them. Did Dr Death have any successful surgeries? - Short-Fact Lopez answers Henderson's frustrationin a somber tone, sayingthat while you may know a doctor is bad, gathering evidence takes time. You can also watch all eight episodes of Dr. Death without ads through its third tier Premium Plus plan, which costs $9.99/month. Don tried to convince the jury that his son cared for his patients. The statute of limitations made them base their case on only six victims. Duntsch will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the lucrative salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his mounting financial problems. In it,was a mirror with cocaine and a rolled-up dollar bill on top. Seven more doctors voiced complaints before TMB finally canceled Dr. Death's license. After graduating as a physician with above-average grades, he had his whole life ahead of him. Again, he never revealed what went wrong to the other staff. After learning thatDuntsch had continued to botch procedures at other facilities, Kirby packaged up a review of five of his cases and sent a desperate plea to the medical board. We are here to help you make your home a better place by providing you with the latest information and trends from around the world. Dr. The company, Discgenics, is still going, and still holds the patents, listingDuntsch, Ignatova, and Kukekov as the inventors. To say that this e-mail proved that Duntsch was notfit to be a doctor would be completely correct. Some of those who went under Duntschs knife were left paralyzed, two died from surgical complications and others were left in agonizing chronic pain. There are multiple seasons of poor oversight and hospitals who dont necessarily want to deal with the consequences. Baylor Medical Center-Plano began a formal peer review into the surgery and Duntsch took a leave of absence, but after he passed a drug test and an outside reviewer determined he did not have any drug or psychological issues, his surgery privileges were reinstated. And what stops another physicianfrom turning into the next Dr. Death? Only three of Duntsch's surgeries were performed with no complications. 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. Death,' Dallas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch", "Texas neurosurgeon nicknamed 'Dr. [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]. Now keep in mind, Morgan herself was at the wrong end of some of these suits. This despite the drug problems as well as incomplete residency training. While the school refused to verify or deny his claims, he wasn't in any of the yearbooks of that time. He harmed the very people who trusted him. Dr. Death - Series Premiere Discussion : r/television - Reddit Part of the problem was being able to prove that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. Dr. Christopher Duntsch seemed to be a successful neurosurgeon in the Dallas area. There are 31 people left alive today, irreparably damaged by Dr. Death's grievous malpractices. Duntsch wrote that he accepted he was a cold-blooded killer. The hospital also instructed Duntsch to only perform minor procedures, but his next surgery had an even more catastrophic outcome. How much money did Christopher Duntsch make? And when this podcast tells you all the gory details, you become that patient. Death Based On A True Story, His resume is about 12 pages long, so he looks really good on paper, exactly the kind of doctor that youd be looking for, Michelle Shughart, assistant district attorney in Dallas County told, (And if you want to dive even deeper into the story, you can also watch the new docuseries, on Peacock, which features interviews with numerous people intimately involved in the case. [36] On February 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison. Was he intentionally harming people, or was he just that inadequate of a doctor? 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. Not only did he harm his patients, but he kept trying to practice. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. He later recalled that he read about Martin's death on the day before the surgery, but Duntsch cursed him out when he called to ask about it. Or at least a morally upright one. Now, we're learning more about the true story of this horrific tale with Peacock's Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story. Adams, Michael Kirk, Jack Kirk, and Michael Swan, as well as the press nickname Dr. Death, is an American physician and an admitted serial killer. He promises to take all pain and suffering away. He wasn't concerned about the drugs in his system while he did his rounds. "[45], Wondery Media launched a ten-episode podcast series named Dr. Death, focusing on Duntsch. The fault also lies with the Texas law. The majority of neurosurgery residents participate in over 1,000 surgeries throughout their residency period. Death viewers. Passmore says the space above a disc in his lower spine had been blown out in the first surgery, and Duntsch returned to . All Rights Reserved. As Dr. Dubrow made clear in a 2015 interview with Allure, he and his partner in crime dont work for free on Botched, particularly as it takes up so much of their time. Duntsch's license was finally revoked in June 2013, after he had killed two patients and maimed 31 others. And there were plenty of other signs as well. Preston and Aiden are both in their twenties now, and have been featured in interviews about their fathers crimes. The Incredible Genetic Trait Childbearing Hips. Death'? Back in 2018, the Dr. Death podcast took the world by storm when we learned about the killer doctor, Christopher Duntsch. They go, We met the funniest, funniest doctor in Newport Beach,' the newlywed surgeon once shared. It stars Joshua Jackson as Duntsch, and it will also feature Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin.. Death showrunner Patrick McManus told, It was as if he knew everything to do, Henderson, (played by Alec Baldwin in the Peacock series) told. Anatomy of a Tragedy - The Texas Observer After a lengthy investigation by the Texas Medical Board and the Dallas County District Attorneys Office, Dr. Duntsch was arrested on August 19th, 2015 and charged with five counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. A string of arrests for DWI, shoplifting, and more followed. [8] Duntsch returned home to attend Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). The Right Way to Mix Acids and Water: Always Add Acid to Water! Why did Dr. Death do it? They have two sons. Duntsch graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine and completed a residency program in neurosurgery. And not just any doctor a neurosurgeon, operating on injured backs and necks. Sadly, being moral and good aren't therequisites schools need to let someone become a doctor. But hospital after hospital passed the buck. It would be very easy and for people to just plop Black Hat on him and call it a day and sleep well at night thinking that he was an aberration.". Saul Elbein writes in the Texas Observer that Dr. Hendersonsent him a recording of his complaint to the Texas Medical Board. Philip Mayfield, one of Christopher Duntsch's patients, who was paralyzed after his surgery. He attempted to fuse together vertebrae in his neck, but the surgery went drastically wrong and left Summers a quadriplegic. Death: The Undoctored Story launches July 29. Christopher Duntsch had two children: Preston and Aiden. But with that terrifying track record, how was he able to continue to operate? He remained there for several months before being allowed to return to the residency. A Surgeon So Bad It Was Criminal ProPublica During his residency program for neurosurgery, he completed fewer than 100 surgeries despite the expected 1,000 operations for a typical resident. What made this well-recommended neurosurgeon harm his patients and himself? Jerrys death is particularly tragic as it is linked to the surgeon from the podcast series Dr Death. It was as if he knew everything to do, Henderson, (played by Alec Baldwin in the Peacock series) toldProPublica, and then hed done virtually everything wrong.. [4] [19], Despite both of his surgeries at Dallas Medical Center going catastrophically awry, hospital officials did not report him to the NPDB. His very first operation at the hospital would once again turn deadly. The Texas Medical Board must stop this sociopath Duntsch immediately or he will continue to maim and kill innocent patients, Kirby wrote in the letter. The Peacock TV series Dr. IMDb [7], While in Memphis, Duntsch began a long-term relationship with Wendy Renee Young. ", "Doctor Guilty of Felony Medical Malpractice", "Disciplinary actions against doctors have plunged during the pandemic, but that doesn't mean they are behaving", "An Update on Dr. Death Victim Philip Mayfield", "Jeff Glidewell Today: Where Is Dr. Death's Last Patient Now? [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. What happened to Christopher Duntsch? You'd think that a surgeon who was this bad would have some mud spattered on him on the internet. Additionally, the broken disco ball and the damaged bumper on his car suggest that Dr. Duntsch was not overly concerned with following standards of professionalism, which may explain why he neglected to wear any undergarments beneath his scrubs. (And if you want to dive even deeper into the story, you can also watch the new docuseries "Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story" on Peacock, which features interviews with numerous people intimately involved in the case.). He has also worked as a radio reporter and holds a degree from Moody College of Communication. A veteran investigative reporter in the medical field, her voice enthralls. His best friend Jerry Summers (played by Dominic Burgess) was left a. In a 2018 Reddit AMA, one user asked her, In your opinion, was Duntsch really a cold-blooded killer like he wrote in his email, or was he a poorly and undertrained drugged-up neurosurgeon with an ego the size of Tennessee?. [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. You can get access to the first three episodes of Dr. Death with Peacocks free tier. When the Texas Medical Board revoked his license, Duntsch's reign of surgical terror had run its course. Death are streaming now. By this time, however, Brown was brain dead. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE, How Dr Death Star Joshua Jackson Learned to Perform Spectacularly Bad Surgery, Why Dr Death Showrunner Used Dual Timelines to Unravel Duntschs Occams Razor Email. However, red flags surfaced early on, as nurses wondered if Duntsch was under the influence of drugs while on duty. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. 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 . The suit alleged that Baylor Plano made an average net profit of $65,000 on every spinal surgery performed by Duntsch. The story of Duntsch is featured in a new Peacock show titled Dr. Death, unleashing the terrifying reality. Due to the debilitating pain, Fennell later had a second operation by Duntsch to relieve it, and was left significantly paralyzed in his legs. Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971)[1] is a former American neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death[2] for gross malpractice resulting in the maiming of several patients' spines and two deaths while working at hospitals in the DallasFort Worth metroplex. Where Is Christopher Duntsch Now After His Appearance on 'Dr. Phil'? The University of Tennessee refused to comment on grounds of confidentiality, but neurosurgeon Dr. Frederick Boop, under whom Duntsch completed his residency, knew. Dr Duntsch participated in fewer than 100 surgeries during his residency, which is significantly less than the number of surgeries typically performed by neurosurgery residents. For instance, he upbraided him for missing the signs that Martin was bleeding out, saying that, "You can't not know [that] and be a neurosurgeon. To fellow surgeon Mark Hoyle, he said, "Everybody's doing it wrong. But was he just an inadequate addict? In 2017, Duntsch was found guilty of gross negligence and sentenced to life in prison without parole. For the DA though she proved to be a good witness. And she saw how he was manipulative and sort of narcissistic. No, Jerry Summers, who was Christophers childhood friend, is no longer alive. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Toby Shook, a Dallas defense attorney, gave a statement toDallas Magazine:"I cannot recall a physician being indicted for aggravated assault for acts committed during surgery. Glidewell was left with only one vocal cord, permanent damage to his esophagus and partial paralysis on his left side. Ignatova believes this to be deliberate. Whats The Difference Between Dutch And French Braids? 'Dr. Death' clings to the wrong part of a true story - Mic Duntsch ended up slicing her vertebral artery, stopping blood and oxygen flow to her brain. Slater plays Dr. Randall Kirby while Baldwin is Dr. Robert Henderson. But Robb thinks this unknown factor is what makes this story so interesting to Dr. But little did his patients know, 33 of his 37 prior patients suffered almost unheard-of complications from his surgeries (think permanent nerve damage, paralysis, and DEATH).

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