2-Dr.Randall Kirby, a hero. However, red flags surfaced early on, as nurses wondered if Duntsch was under the influence of drugs while on duty. During his surgery, Duntsch didnt installed the necessary hardware to Muses spine and instead had left it floating between the spine and muscle tissue. Dr. Duntsch came from a good family and showed considerable potential at medical school. He ran two labs, gained experience writing grants, and earned more than $3 million in funding for research projects. He is not eligible for parole until 2045; he will be 74 years old by then. 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. He didn't wear underwear. Dr. Rimlawi called Baylor Plano and advised them against continuing a relationship with Christopher Duntsch, but this fell to deaf ears. They talked about marriage quickly, and they moved in together within three months. They have two sons. D MagazineChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. She was 27, and he was 40. 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 day after Mary Efurd's surgery, she awoke in excruciating pain and could not turn over or wiggle her toes. 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. The series peers into the torturous crimes of . Baylor Plano again ordered Duntsch to take a drug test. Then came the fax, and he saw Duntsch's name next to Kellie Martin's. The surgery was supposed to take less than 45 minutes and ultimately lasted over four hours. [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. Finally, the board permanently revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. He avoided it and disappeared for several days. Jurors convicted Duntsch Tuesday of injury to an elderly person in the botched July 2012 surgery that put Mary Efurd in a wheelchair. Of those 38, 31 were leftparalyzed or seriously injured and two of them died from surgical complications. 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. On May 24, 2011, Christopher Duntsch signed a physician services agreement with Rimlawi and Won's Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) in Dallas. The deal required Duntsch to attain privileges at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano. She was moved to the ICU and died due to blood loss. He proved to be Duntsch's last surgery; University General pushed him out soon afterward. He is very caring and took the time to help me understand my pain issues. Duntsch pierced and blocked her vertebral artery with a misplaced screw and refused to stop despite the massive blood loss. In his first surgery after his suspension lifted, he nicked the vertebral artery of Kellie Martin, a 55-year-old Garland woman. Dr. Death, read about how reckless surgeon Robert Liston killed his patient and two bystanders. The patient was Mary Efurd coming in for a second operation. Berry Morguloff was Dr. Duntsch's next unsuspecting victim. 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. A deranged surgeon runs amok, maiming and killing multiple patients, unhindered by a medical community sworn to police itself. Through it all, Duntsch was able to lure patient after patient under his knife was his extreme confidence. In October 2011, she registered articles of incorporation to form Duntsch's practice, the Texas Neurosurgical Institute. He knew this couldn't have been a one-time mistake. Before he was "Dr. Death" on Wondery's hit 2018 podcast, disgraced former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was a student at Colorado State University. He thought surgery might give him some relief and stop his need for drugs. It told the unfortunately true story of Doctor Christopher Duntsch, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison for maiming an elderly patient. Officers took him to a nearby psychiatric hospital. Texas law states that hospitals are liable for damages caused by doctors in their facilities only if the plaintiff can prove that the hospital acted with "malice"that is, the hospital knew of the extreme risk and ignored itin credentialing a doctor. 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. She came in to have two vertebrae fused, but when she woke up she experienced severe pain and couldnt stand. He said even a person with the most basic sense of human anatomy would know they were operating in the wrong area. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. How could Dr. Christopher Duntsch practice medicine for as long as he did without being stopped? A spill of more than 500,000-gallons of crude oil from the Keystone Pipeline in December in Kansas was caused by a combination of a faulty weld and "bending stress fatigue" on the pipe, the . 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. [18] He damaged patient Philip Mayfield's spinal cord, drilling into it and leaving him partially paralyzed from the neck down. On November 7, 2011, Dr. Duntsch was scheduled to perform his first surgery at Baylor Plano on Kenneth Fennell for his back pain. A Texas jury found Christopher Duntsch guilty Feb. 14 of maiming patients who had turned to him for surgery to resolve debilitating injuries. 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. However, he sewed up Glidewell with the sponge still in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. Duntsch, 40 at that time, bought an appletini for Young, 27, and they started their relationship. He secured investments in Discgenics from local spine surgeons, including Dr. Robertson and Dr. Kevin Foley, a prominent Memphis neurosurgeon Duntsch spent a year training under as part of the surgery fellowship at the Semmes-Murphey Clinic. He is not eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74 years old. Lee Passmore was thirty-seven and worked as a field agent for the Collin County medical examiner. [7] He likened what he found when he opened Efurd up to the results of a child playing with Tinkertoys or an erector set. The first screening came back diluted with tap water, but a second, taken a few days later, came back clean. Once, he stopped by to pick up some paperwork. 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 surgical disasters of neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch led to his jailing in 2017, setting a legal precedent. Over the course of 18-months, the nefarious ex-surgeon performed a spree of botched . His first and only surgery with MISI was on a Thursday in September 2011 at Baylor Plano. His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. Although she didn't think much of it and assumed Morgan was helping with research. She was dancing at a strip club in Memphis, and Duntsch's issues with his business, DiscGenics, grew more severe. Assistant district attorney Michelle Shughart, who led the prosecution of Duntsch, later recalled that Henderson and Kirby reached out to her demanding to testify against Duntsch; according to Shughart, doctors rarely testify against each other. February 21, 2017 / 5:45 AM / CBS News. is a beautiful and populous city located in Montana U.S. . Duntsch continued to medicate Morguloff with prescription pain killers and ignored the change in his condition. Baylor officials took Summers' accusation seriously and ordered Duntsch to take a drug test. I thought he was either really, really good, or hes just really, really arrogant and thought he was good, Hoyle said. As a result, Summers lost almost 1,200 mL of blood. She also said that he kept a pile of cocaine on his dresser in his home office. [19] Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. Christopher Duntsch ended up at Millsaps College in Mississippi to play football and was offered financial aid. 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." His very first operation at the hospital would once again turn deadly. Duntsch suggested drilling a hole in Brown's head to relieve the pressure, but was refused permission. However, it wouldnt be long until Duntschs seemingly perfect career began to unravel. But, he can only walk 30 feet at a time and cannot stand for more than a few minutes. As those watching the show know, Christopher was dubbed "Dr. Death" in D Magazine . Morguloff sought a second opinion on his excruciating pain from Dr. Michael Desaloms. Watch the trailer for Dr . ", "Greg Abbott Enters Fray in Lawsuits Involving "Sociopath" Doctor", "Abbott sides with Baylor hospital in neurosurgeon lawsuit", "Who Are Robert Henderson And Randall Kirby, The Surgeons Who Tried To Stop 'Dr. [13] In 2010, Duntsch moved to Dallas. The show starsJoshua Jackson,Grace Gummer, AnnaSophia Robb,Christian SlaterandAlec Baldwin. [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] While operating on Jacqueline Troy, Duntsch cut one of her vocal cords and an artery and also damaged her trachea. He will be up for parole in 2045, when he is 74 years old. Morguloff had become addicted to the pain killers being prescribed to him by this time. He realized he'd seen that hole for three straight days Duntsch hadn't changed his scrubs all week. Written by Patrick Macmanus, the show will only be available exclusively on Peacock. At the time, Duntsch was looking for operating prospects in Dallas, San Diego, and New York. 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. [42] The four hospitals that employed Duntsch have ongoing civil cases against him. 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." Christopher Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison in February 2017 for his heinous acts. He was put on probation for three weeks and told to stick to relatively minor procedures when he returned. Wendy Renee Young was romantically involved with Texas physician Christopher Duntsch, who became known as "Dr . 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. In 2005, partway through the six-year program, he became the director of the tissue bank. She was transferred to a Dallas hospital after suffering from a severe infection, and Randal Kirby was asked to operate on her. Duntsch stuffed Glidewell's throat with a surgical sponge to attempt to stop the bleeding. Over objections from Duntsch's lawyers, prosecutors called many of Duntsch's other patients to the stand to prove that his actions were intentional. Jerry Summers Was 'Dr. Death's' Best Friend. During surgery, Duntsch damaged Summers' vertebral artery causing it to bleed uncontrollably. Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and Christopher was determined to follow in those footsteps. (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 . He decided to turn to neurosurgery, which can be a lucrative field. Fennell is in constant pain, and it took several months of rehabilitation before he could begin to walk with a cane. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. "[3] 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. However, St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital. The Judge overseeing this case is GINSBERG, CARL. 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. Fennell required months of rehabilitation to be able to walk with a cane, and was left unable to walk for more than 30 feet or stand for more than a few minutes without having to sit down again. At the time, hospitals were not required to report doctors who only had temporary privileges. 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 . [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. [37][4], Over objections from Duntsch's lawyers, prosecutors called many of Duntsch's other patients to the stand in order to prove that his actions were intentional. [36][11][9] For the same reason, prosecutors opted to try Duntsch for Efurd's maiming first. Duntsch stuffed a surgical sponge in Glidewell's throat to stanch the bleeding. Duntsch is a serial maimer and killer. Duntsch is at the O. As of this date, there have been no summary or administrative restrictions or suspension of Duntsch's medical staff membership or clinical privileges during the time he has practiced at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano.". He performed only one surgery with the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute. On 06/26/2013 MARY EFURD filed a Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice lawsuit against CHRISTOPHER D DUNTSCH, MD. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. Before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board, he was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 . 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. It was. 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 . Duntsch was fired after he performed a surgery and immediately left for Las Vegas, leaving no one to look after his patient. In January 2013, Kenneth Fennell was scheduled for another operation because he was still experiencing extreme pain in his back. He didn't contact a lawyer, although he struggled with the decision. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. He was a forty-five-year-old man with typical back problems. Then, on December 6, 2011, he operated on seventy-four-year-old Mary Efurd. But police say an email Duntsch wrote in 2011 points to his mind-set in the months before he "intentionally, knowingly and . [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. Henderson then cleaned out bone fragments and discovered that one of Efurd's nerve roots was gone entirely. 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. Jodi Smith. Christopher was raised along with his three younger siblings in a wealthy suburb in Memphis, Tennessee. The surgery was scheduled for December 30, 2011. In a long running series of complaints, a Texas doctor has been found guilty of a felony in one medical malpractice case. Dallas Magazine states that Duntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. He then packed it with too much of a substance intended to stop the bleeding. Advertisement. 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. Caroline is a writer and Florida-transplant currently living in New York City. Kane also recalled a cocaine- and LSD-fueled night of partying between her, her ex-boyfriend, and Duntsch where, after the end of their all-night party, she saw Duntsch put on his lab coat and go to work. Efurd eventually gained back some control and mobility, but she now uses a wheelchair and suffers chronic pain. His pain management specialist advised against an operation but referred him to a neurosurgeon named Christopher Duntsch. [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. At the time of their meeting, Young was working as a dancer in a strip club. He was left with pain so debilitating he could not work any longer and now spends most of his days at home. During this time, he ran two successful labs and raised millions of dollars in grant funding. Page opened a desk drawer and saw a mirror with a pile of cocaine and a rolled-up dollar bill on top. 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. February 22, 2017. Passmore focused on recovery and getting back to work in the months following his surgery. Then, on July 24, 2012, he operated on Floella Brown. Duntsch moved into a five-bedroom house not far from the hospital. In July 2015, Duntsch was arrested in Dallas and charged with six felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of aggravated assault causing severe bodily injury, and one count of injury to an elderly person. The staff told Duntsch that Brown, his patient from the day before, was in critical condition. Those words continue to haunt her, and she's tormented by the knowledge that her endorsement caused others to select Duntsch themselves. The indictments were made four months before the statute of limitations ran out. "Christopher Duntsch, Texas Medical Board license number N8183, is an impaired physician, a sociopath, and must be stopped from practicing medicine." Robin Glidewell also sent a letter . 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. 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?" Next week marks the five-year anniversary of Texas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch being sentenced to life in prison. Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and . Duntsch operated and flew out to Las Vegas without securing a call physician. Young said that Morgan visited often. It had come from Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. She said she thought that he was going to make millions, Kimberly Morgan's friend once said her attraction to Christopher Duntsch. Legacy Surgery Center in Frisco (now Frisco Ambulatory Surgery Center). Christopher Duntsch, once a supremely confident neurosurgeon with a solid rsum and a wealth of potential, fled town in disgrace last year under a scalding cascade . Mayfield was taken to a different hospital and told his spinal cord had already been deformed, and the damage was irreversible. Plans start at $4.99/month. 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 . During surgery, Duntsch operated on the wrong part of Fennell's back. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. Thankfully, this ended up being Dr. Christopher Duntsch's last operation. This meant Summers could still feel pain, but was unable to move from the neck down. Duntsch moved to Denver, Colorado, and went into a downward spiral. Duntsch is the first physician sentenced to life in prison for his actions while practicing medicine. ", You know in the beginning he talked about marriage. In September 2012, Jeff Cheney went to Duntsch to relieve the pain that had moved from his shoulder down to his arm. "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. Christopher Duntsch was nicknamed Dr. Death due to the injuries he caused his patients. 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 . Every victim deserves to have their story told, and unfortunately, Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death, has 33. To stop the bleeding, he packed the space with so much anticoagulant foam that it constricted Summers' spine. He felt that anyone with a basic knowledge of human anatomy would know that he was operating in the wrong area of Efurd's back. 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. Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch first met in 2011 at a Beauty Shop bar in Memphis. Before going to medical school, Duntsch wanted to be a pro-football player. Had Duntsch been fired, Baylor Plano would have been required to report him to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), which is intended to flag problematic physicians. Ellis Unit prison in Huntsville, Texas. The series follows two other surgeons, along with . During surgery, he cut a major vessel in her spinal cord. "[38], The director of neurosurgery at UT Southwestern, Carlos Bagley, testifying for the defense, said that "the only way this happens is that the entire system fails the patients. On December 30, 2011, Duntsch operated on Lee Passmore. Even though he lived in Colorado, he returned to Dallas to see his two sons. Duntsch approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. A disc in his lower spine had blown out, and the pieces had to be picked out of the space above. He graduated from a top-tier medical school, was running research labs, and completed a residency program for neurosurgery. Wendy Young had just given birth to their son and lived there with him. executive producer explains how Christopher Duntsch could have avoided prison. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. This time on 53-year-old Mary Efurd. He was sent to a program for impaired physicians when he returned but was allowed to finish his residency. 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. ", "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? [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". i feel much better now ! He moved in with his parents in Colorado and filed for bankruptcy, claiming around one million dollars in debt. Her husband could not hold himself up; he had no support of his own and could barely speak. The first season of Dr. Death, which launched in 2018 and ran for seven episodes, examined the life and horrific crimes of Christopher Duntsch. By the end of the week, administrators told Duntsch he would no longer be operating at Dallas Medical Center. He Was Also His Victim. During his short tenure, he spent little time in the operating room. She had suffered from lower back pain for years and was referred to Duntsch by her pain management doctor. A CT scan would later reveal that Efurds nerve root had been amputated, there were several screw holes nowhere near where they were supposed to be, and one screw had been lodged in another nerve root. A neurosurgeon in Dallas, Texas, who once described himself as a "stone cold killer" was sentenced to life in prison on February 20 for maiming a woman named Mary . When he began at MISI, Duntsch hired an assistant, Kimberly Morgan, and she started on August 29, 2011. Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano (now Baylor Scott and White Medical Center - Plano). WFAA-TVChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. He remained there for several months before being allowed to return to the residency. [14] He persuaded Young to come with him; Young agreed, since she had grown up in the Dallas area. It was determined during the repair surgery that Dr. Duntsch had not even been operating on the correct part of Jeff Glidewell's spine.

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