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He claimed he was the best in Dallas. Duntsch recommended fusing Morguloff's L5-S1 vertebrae, and the surgery was scheduled for January 11, 2012. The hospital hired him and granted him temporary surgical privileges until his reference checks were completed. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. 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 top it all off, he was operating on the wrong portion of her back. 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. 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. South Hampton Community Hospital in Dallas (now University General Hospital). 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. [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. Muse woke up in considerable pain, but Duntsch convinced him it was normal. Caroline is a writer and Florida-transplant currently living in New York City. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. In September 2012, Jeff Cheney went to Duntsch to relieve the pain that had moved from his shoulder down to his arm. No one came out and spoke with Kellie Martin's family or informed them of her condition during this time. However, by the time he met Young, Duntsch was over $500,000 in debt. Duntsch moved to Denver, Colorado, and went into a downward spiral. Facebook Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch. [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. One of the patients who suffered disastrous consequences was Jerry Summers, the boyfriend of Megan Kane and a friend of Christopher Duntsch. Dr. Phil airs on weekdays. It was then that Christopher decided to switch his career to medicine. "Based on a hit podcast and inspired by the terrifying true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a young and charismatic star in the Texas medical community," Peacock explains about the series. The staff told Duntsch that Brown, his patient from the day before, was in critical condition. Through it all, Duntsch was able to lure patient after patient under his knife was his extreme confidence. My surgery was 3 months ago but i noticed difference right away. Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. Anatomy of a Tragedy. among the top 12 percent of medical school graduates in his class named to the elite Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Christopher Duntsch is confirmed to have injured 31 patients and killed two . While Kirby was repairing Troy, he uncovered that Duntsch had pinned her esophagus under a plate near her spine and poked holes in her trachea. Baylor wanted Duntsch operating quickly and often so they could be reimbursed for the monies they had advanced to him. Homesick, Duntsch left Colorado after a year and transferred to Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis. He was nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death for malpractice resulting in the maiming of several patients and killing two of them while working at hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. In 2014, he developed syringomyelia, a painful condition that causes fluid-filled cysts on the spinal cord. Christopher was raised along with his three younger siblings in a wealthy suburb in Memphis, Tennessee. Duntsch had also installed hardware into her muscle, not her bone, so loose that it moved when you touched it. While they were in the lab working, Duntsch went to work raising money for a company he called DiscGenics. The two soon began dating and moving in together within three months. Where is Kim Morgan Now? Due to these legal hurdles and costly lawyer fees on the plaintiff's part, few hospitals end up having to pay out after facing a malpractice lawsuit. He was tragically mistaken. A few days later, he took the test and passed. 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. Journalists must draw attention to the failures in the U.S. medical and legal systems that allowed Christopher Duntsch, the subject of journalist Laura Beil's well-regarded "Dr. Death" podcast series, to injure dozens of patients, members of an expert panel said at the "10 years after 'Dr. Death': Are patients any safer from bad doctors?" panel at Health Journalism 2022 in Austin. Duntsch is at the O. [27], While attempting to remove degenerated discs in Marshall "Tex" Muse's back, Duntsch left surgical hardware floating between the spine and muscle tissue. Then, on July 24, 2012, he operated on Floella Brown. He was left with only one vocal cord, permanent damage to his esophagus, and partial paralysis on his left side. His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. When Kirby learned the details, he immediately asked the doctor who referred the case to him about the surgeon: "Is it a guy named Christopher Duntsch?" "[45], Wondery Media launched a ten-episode podcast series named Dr. Death, focusing on Duntsch. He was brilliant. [38], Duntsch is housed at the O. 0:05. As he lay there in agony, Duntsch was nowhere to be found. 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. He will be up for parole in 2045, when he is 74 years old. 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. Pic credit: Dallas County Sheriff's Office. Duntsch filed a patent for the technology, and he listed himself as one of the inventors even though he had not discovered it. "It's a miracle," she said in the infomercial later promoted on his website. [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. Death. She also said that he kept a pile of cocaine on his dresser in his home office. How could Dr. Christopher Duntsch practice medicine for as long as he did without being stopped? 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. His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. 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 . Duntsch, who had been listed as the founder, president & chief science officer, was being sued by the former chief operating officer and was dismissed from his roles and seat on the board. This time on 53-year-old Mary Efurd. Duntsch received his undergraduate degree from the University of Memphis and stayed in town to receive an M.D. He stalled at first, telling administrators he got lost on the way to the lab. 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. Duntsch also appears in no yearbooks during the time in which he says he earned his Ph.D. Dallas Magazine states that Duntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. During surgery, Duntsch damaged Summers' vertebral artery causing it to bleed uncontrollably. The Peacock originalDr Deathis based on atrue story. The hospital called Rimlawi when it couldn't reach his colleague. 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. Dr. Frederick Boop, chief of neurosurgery at the hospital where Duntsch was completing his residency, said that university officials asked Duntsch to take a drug test. Finally, the board permanently revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. In 2005, partway through the six-year program, he became the director of the tissue bank. 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. [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. [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. Nevertheless, it took until June 2013 to find the "pattern of patient injury" required to justify suspending Duntsch's license, despite receiving complaints dating back to 2011. [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, the surgery had to be moved to November 14 because Duntsch had failed to order the appropriate surgical hardware and equipment. Ghostbar, Dragonfly at Hotel Zaza. [38] Shughart countered that the 2011 email, sent after his first surgeries went wrong, proved that Duntsch knew his actions were intentional. Cheney recalled wondering why a neurosurgeon with such outstanding credentials would be operating at a lower-tiered hospital on the way to his surgery. i feel much better now ! He was wearing the shirt of his black scrubs, and it was covered in blood. is a beautiful and populous city located in Montana U.S. . After intense rehab and his determination, eventually, he was able to use a walker and cane to mobilize himself. Watch the trailer for Dr . They created a method for culturing the stem cells of intervertebral discs outside of the body. August 28, 2013, 2:01 . Duntsch arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes after Efurd's surgery had been scheduled. Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. However, St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital. [18] Despite this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. 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. 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. [36] On February 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison. There were two names on the top page: Kellie Martin and Christopher Duntsch. [19] Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. Christopher Duntsch. [9][10], Duntsch had severed Brown's vertebral artery, and refused to abort despite the massive blood loss. Yet, in April 2012, he returned to work just four months after surgery. Philip Mayfield, one of Christopher Duntschs patients, who was paralyzed after his surgery. [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]. 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. You'd like to think . Dr. Christopher Duntsch appeared to havean impressive resume, but left a trail ofpain and devastation for those who trusted him with their health. Officers said he was driving on the left side of the road with two flat tires. In April 2015, Duntsch was arrested again for shoplifting $887 worth of merchandise from a Dallas Walmart. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. We've had a catastrophic event here. D Magazine gave him the nickname in . Kirby warned him again that it was only a matter of time. Troy was sedated for weeks and forced to eat through a feeding tube because food was getting into her lungs. He later told Glidewell that it was clear Duntsch had tried to kill him. Before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board, he was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 . She bled to death . Jerry Summers Was 'Dr. Death's' Best Friend. Prince Charming, Im gonna change your life, Wendy Young said of the promising start to her romance with Christopher Duntsch. The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. 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. Christopher Duntsch was just a regular guy who became Dr. Death after he decided to be a neurosurgeon. 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. She also said they snorted cocaine from a small pile he kept on a dresser in his home office. His older son had been born back when he was at Baylor Plano. Duntsch is a former Dallas neurosurgeon who, through . Glidewell was left with only one vocal cord, permanent damage to his esophagus and partial paralysis on his left side. But police say an email Duntsch wrote in 2011 points to his mind-set in the months before he "intentionally, knowingly and . Duntsch is a serial maimer and killer. In February 2012, he went under the knife for an elective spinal fusion surgery. 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. They have two sons. He decided to turn to neurosurgery, which can be a lucrative field. The Texas Medical Board would later conclude that Brown died of excessive blood loss and a stroke, according to The Texas Observer . But based on documents gathered by the DA, when Duntsch finished his residency, he had operated fewer than 100 times. and Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee Health Center. Morgan didn't follow Duntsch after he left, however. 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. Martin would become Duntschs first casualty when she bled out in intensive care unit after her relatively common procedure. By the end of the week, administrators told Duntsch he would no longer be operating at Dallas Medical Center. Morguloff sought a second opinion on his excruciating pain from Dr. Michael Desaloms. One day, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiner's office. [31][16] The inquiry went nowhere until 2015, when the statute of limitations on any potential charges was due to run out. Dr. Death was fired before the end of his first week for the damage hed inflicted on Brown and Efurd. For the last three days, jurors listened to testimony in the . Henderson then cleaned out bone fragments and discovered that one of Efurd's nerve roots was gone entirely. He didn't wear underwear. Every victim deserves to have their story told, and unfortunately, Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death, has 33. Chris Dozois, a fellow linebacker with the Rams, recalled Duntsch struggling, even with basic drills, but begging to run them over and over until he got it right. His CV also conveyed he earned a Ph.D. in microbiology from St. Jude Children's Research Hospitals, graduating summa cum laude. He was held in the Dallas County jail for almost two years until the case went to trial in 2017. During his short tenure, he spent little time in the operating room. Unfortunately, it's all too real. 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. D MagazineChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. He Was Also His Victim. Board chairman Irwin Zeitzler later said that complications in neurosurgery were more common than most think. An investigator by trade and nature, Passmore started digging into Dr. Christopher Duntsch. Dr. Mark Hoyle, a surgeon who worked with Duntsch during one of his botched procedures, told D Magazine that he would make extremely arrogant announcements such as: Everybody is doing it wrong. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. Lee Passmore's screams poured out from the ICU and down the hallway. Written by Patrick Macmanus, the show will only be available exclusively on Peacock. The hospital initiated another peer review, but Duntsch resigned rather than face certain termination. After his license was revoked,Duntsch fled from Texas. He wanted to become a doctor, and not just any doctor - a neurosurgeon, operating on injured backs and necks. When he called Duntsch's office, he was told it would "go away." She bled so much that blood was saturating the blue draping around her body and dripping onto the floor. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. However, on January 6, 2012, a week after the surgery, Dr. Duntsch performed another operation on Passmore. Robert Lowes. She was 27, and he was 40. It was. 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. Philip is one of more than 30 people maimed by Dr. Christopher Duntsch, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media. He had a bedroom upstairs in their Plano house. Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of hospital oversight. Wendy Young had just given birth to their son and lived there with him. 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. Updated Dec 9, 2022 at 3:25pm. Finally, Dr. Kirby received a call from Hassan Chahadeh. Following his blunders, Duntsch resigned from Baylor Plano in April 2012 before they could fire him. 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. The two went back to Duntsch's home and danced under a disco ball he had in his office. He avoided it and disappeared for several days. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. Henderson sent Duntsch's picture to the University of Tennessee to determine whether he had a degree from that institution and received confirmation that Duntsch was not a fraud. by Saul Elbein. Unfortunately, when Morguloff woke up, he began to experience continuous pain, paresthesia, and loss of sensation in his left leg. However, red flags surfaced early on, as nurses wondered if Duntsch was under the influence of drugs while on duty. [7] While operating on Jacqueline Troy, Duntsch cut one of her vocal cords and an artery and also damaged her trachea. However, he closed Glidewell with the sponge in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. 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. Legacy Surgery Center in Frisco (now Frisco Ambulatory Surgery Center). 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. Summers remained quadriplegic for the rest of his life. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? "As his victims pile up, two fellow physicians and Dallas prosecutor Michelle Shughart set out to stop him.". 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. Glidewell is still in constant pain and has undergone more than 50 procedures to correct the damage left by Duntsch. Before working with him, Dr. Hoyle said that he didnt know how to feel about his fellow surgeon. His name appeared on several papers and patents, and he took part in a number of biotech startups. The series follows two other surgeons, along with . executive producer explains how Christopher Duntsch could have avoided prison. The charismatic neurosurgeon was actually a successful researcher before he starting killing people in the operating . From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx Duntsch approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. [9] Duntsch completed his undergraduate degree in 1995, then continued on to an ambitious MDPhD program. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his vast financial issues. Dr. [38][39] On December 10, 2018, the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed Duntsch's conviction by a 21 split decision. Lee Passmore is still fighting. He realized he'd seen that hole for three straight days Duntsch hadn't changed his scrubs all week. 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, known as "Dr. Death" tried to explain himself in rambling emails, but he only made things worse for his criminal case. He was smart. He was a forty-five-year-old man with typical back problems. 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. At the time, hospitals were not required to report doctors who only had temporary privileges. 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. Christopher Duntsch Early Life Story, Family Background and Education. "If he wasn't doing research, he was out with Jerry Summers, partying," Morgan said in her deposition. Dubbed "Dr. Death," the case gained national attention, revealing [19], In July 2015, approximately a year and a half after his license was revoked, Duntsch was arrested in Dallas and charged with six felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, and one count of injury to an elderly person. Passmore focused on recovery and getting back to work in the months following his surgery. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. Brown was left in a coma for hours before Duntsch finally acquiesced to her transfer. [44] The Dallas County district attorney's office called it "a historic case with respect to prosecuting a doctor who had done wrong during surgery. [4], After 13 days of trial, the jury needed only four hours to convict him for the maiming of Efurd. [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. 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. Young let him buy her an appletini, and they felt a connection; eventually, she went home with Duntsch. "Something was wrong," Dr. Rimlawi said, "whether it be impairment from drugs, alcohol, mental illness, or a combination of all three." Now, his time at the university . 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 . My experience with this doctor has been great.