"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. His case is receiving renewed attention in the media. 1-Christopher Duntsch and then girlfriend, Wendy Young. Dr. Henderson thought the operation on Mary Efurd was so botched that Christopher Duntsch had to be an imposter. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. Dr. Death: La verdadera historia detrs de la nueva serie sobre el ex 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. Victim of Real-Life 'Dr. Death' Believes There Are Others - Yahoo! One of the early investors in DiscGenics, Rand Page, said Duntsch would be mixing a vodka orange juice during their morning meetings. As a young neurosurgeon in Texas, Duntsch killed . Marshall Muse was scheduled to have a disc removed in his back. The Terrifying True Story Behind Peacock's Dr. Death - E! Online Now, one of the several complaints against the . by Saul Elbein. 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. However, Mayfield still woke up with paralysis on occasion. DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch has been sentenced to life in prison for a series of botched spinal surgeries, reports CBS . Lee Passmore was thirty-seven and worked as a field agent for the Collin County medical examiner. To top it all off, he was operating on the wrong portion of her back. "If he wasn't doing research, he was out with Jerry Summers, partying," Morgan said in her deposition. Kirby was shocked; he called the owner of University General and warned him that Duntsch would hurt someone, and the hospital would be over. [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". He was left with only one vocal cord, permanent damage to his esophagus, and partial paralysis on his left side. Premiering Thursday on . 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. It was completely unnecessary, didn't relieve her pain, and only set her up for another needed surgery. Left: Christopher Duntsch in surgery, Right: Christopher Duntschs mugshot. He had complex regional pain syndrome, a rare type of chronic pain that caused his skin to blister and peel off. Out of his 38 surgeries, only three had no complications. According to D Magazine, Duntsch did so well in medical school that he was allowed to join the prestigiousAlpha Omega Medical Honor Society. Henderson then cleaned out bone fragments and discovered that one of Efurd's nerve roots was gone entirely. Plano's Baylor hospital faces hard questions after claims against 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. On top of this, he misspelled both Kukekov and Ignatova's names. 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. When he called Duntsch's office, he was told it would "go away." The lead investigator on the case later revealed that she wanted Duntsch's license suspended while the ten-month probe was underway, but board attorneys were not willing to go along. Although he wasn't a talented athlete, he trained for hours on his own and made it as a linebacker on his high school football team at Evangelical Christian School in Memphis. 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. In 2005, partway through the six-year program, he became the director of the tissue bank. Yet, in April 2012, he returned to work just four months after surgery. He graduated from a top-tier medical school, was running research labs, and completed a residency program for neurosurgery. 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. Young let him buy her an appletini, and they felt a connection; eventually, she went home with Duntsch. Base compensation was $600,000 a year for two years, beginning on June 14, 2011. While there, he damaged patient Jeff Cheney's spinal cord, leaving him without feeling on the right side of his body. Before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board, he was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 . 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. In 2006, Duntsch teamed up with two Russian stem cell scientists: Valery Kukekov and Tatyana Ignatova. A few days later, he took the test and passed. The hospital initiated another peer review, but Duntsch resigned rather than face certain termination. I am sorry in advance that this blog post is so long. Just one day after his suspension had ended, Duntsch operated on Kellie Martin. Joshua Jackson Is Game, but 'Dr. Death' Lacks Insight: TV - Variety Dr. Rimlawi called Baylor Plano and advised them against continuing a relationship with Christopher Duntsch, but this fell to deaf ears. In his first surgery after his suspension lifted, he nicked the vertebral artery of Kellie Martin, a 55-year-old Garland woman. Duntsch, 40 at that time, bought an appletini for Young, 27, and they started their relationship. During his short tenure, he spent little time in the operating room. Baylor Plano again ordered Duntsch to take a drug test. Efurd eventually gained back some control and mobility, but she now uses a wheelchair and suffers chronic pain. 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. The nursing staff put down towels to soak it up. 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. Chahadeh was worried about his facility and getting sued by Duntsch; he said to Dr. Kirby that they had already given him privileges. Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971) is a former American neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death for gross malpractice resulting in the maiming of several patients' spines and two deaths while working at hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.. Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before his license was revoked by the . Dr. Death: The Long & Bloody Road to Justice for Dallas' Deadly Doctor Here's All That Has Happened to the Real Christopher Duntsch A - Yahoo! The case highlights the risks of allowing a troubled physician to move to another hospital . [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. Then, on July 24, 2012, he operated on Floella Brown. The two went back to Duntsch's home and danced under a disco ball he had in his office. Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. This meant Summers could still feel pain, but was unable to move from the neck down. Dr. Death season one review: a true crime podcast is even scarier - Vox [4], Early in his tenure at Baylor Plano, Duntsch made a poor impression on his fellow surgeons. Updated Dec 9, 2022 at 3:25pm. [15], Duntsch joined Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano (now Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Plano) as a minimally invasive spine surgeon with a salary of $600,000 per year, plus bonuses. The show starsJoshua Jackson,Grace Gummer, AnnaSophia Robb,Christian SlaterandAlec Baldwin. 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 then brought on board at the Dallas Medical Center where he continued his carnage. Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. She also said that he kept a pile of cocaine on his dresser in his home office. If Baylor Plano or Dallas Medical had reported him to the Texas Medical Board or the National Practitioner Databank, hiring personnel would have been notified something was wrong. [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. Nicknamed "Dr. Death," the story of Duntsch's egregious medical crimes and the healthcare system that failed so many by allowing him to practice received the podcast treatment in 2018 from Wondery, the team behind "Dirty John.". Dallas Magazine states that Duntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. 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 . Dr. Robert Henderson was brought in on July 28, 2012, to perform a revision surgery on Efurd. But police say an email Duntsch wrote in 2011 points to his mind-set in the months before he "intentionally, knowingly and . According to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a neurosurgery resident does about 1,000 operations during training. Duntsch also removed so much bone and muscle tissue from Summers' neck that his head was no longer secure on his body. July 19, 2021. He then prescribed Muse so much Percocet that a pharmacist refused to fill the prescription. Every victim deserves to have their story told, and unfortunately, Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death, has 33. Board chairman Irwin Zeitzler later said that complications in neurosurgery were more common than most think. Philip Mayfield, one of Christopher Duntschs patients, who was paralyzed after his surgery. Martin would become Duntschs first casualty when she bled out in intensive care unit after her relatively common procedure. The day after Mary Efurd's surgery, she awoke in excruciating pain and could not turn over or wiggle her toes. As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email written by Christopher Duntsch. Duntschs career started off bright. He was sent to a program for impaired physicians when he returned but was allowed to finish his residency. 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. He is very caring and took the time to help me understand my pain issues. "[20][4] Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. Death'? Duntsch lasted about three months at MISI. Duntsch, once a neurosurgeon, is the focal point of the new streaming Peacock docuseries "Dr. Death." D Magazine gave him the nickname in its reporting in 2016. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! During surgery, he cut a major vessel in her spinal cord.