I thought he was either really, really good, or hes just really, really arrogant and thought he was good, Hoyle says now. Duntsch was also arrested for driving under the influence while staying with his parents in Colorado and found himself in handcuffs another time in April of 2015 after he was arrested for stealing $887.30 in Walmart merchandise, according to the D Magazine. Dallas surgeon Randall Kirby says his former colleague, Dr. Christopher Duntsch, managed to commit crimes so heinous that patients everywhere are still struck by fear when they hear about the case . Duntsch landed in jail on a $600,000 bond and waited for the trial to begin. Jerry Summers, Duntsch's childhood friend, is now a quadriplegic. 2022-10-28 16:00:03 - Paris/France. In March 2012, Duntsch performed alaminectomy on Kellie Martin to reduce her back pain after afallat home. It took the Texas Medical Board one whole year to investigate and finally revoke Duntsch's license. You'd think that a surgeon who was this bad would have some mud spattered on him on the internet. I have taken one selfie in my lifeon a dare. He stayed in New York while everyone. Wendy has reportedly been keeping a low-profile life since ending her relationship with Duntsch and since he went to prison. But he was apprehended trying to leave the store. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. Before he cheated, before he lied. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Joshua Jackson as Christopher Duntsch in "Dr. Death." (Peacock/Scott McDermott/Peacock) The real Duntsch, a Texas-based surgeon, maimed or killed 33 of 38 surgical patients between 2011 and . In the deposition, she states that Duntsch snorted cocaine from a handy pile he kept on a dresser at his home. Wendy Renee Young met Duntsch at a bar in Memphis. At Baylor Regional Medical Center,after botched surgeries and complaints from fellow doctors, Duntsch resigned. I dont have feeling in my feet, and I will slip and fall off that damn ladder, he says today. She also says they snorted cocaine from a small pile that he kept on a dresser in his home office. The monster in the white coat is all too real. Duntsch says he was so distraught by Browns outcome that he placed a screw in Efurd 3 millimeters away from where it shouldve been, damaging a nerve root. Duntsch, Kukekov, and Ignatova are listed as its inventors. Dont worry about it, he repeated. He also discovered a way to produce stem cells from intervertebral discs in cultures outside the body. You, my child, are the only one between me and the other side, he wrote. Robb is known for her roles as Bethany Hamilton in Soul Surfer, Lacey in The Act, and Violet Beauregarde in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In an article in Texas Observer,author SaulElbein says that one of the doctors he spoke to likened Duntsch to Hannibal Lecter three times in eight minutes. He discovered a significant esophageal injury that belabored Glidewells breathing and found a sponge that had been left in the soft tissue of his neck. In the two years he practiced as a spine surgeon across four Dallas institutions, Duntsch operated on 37 people. In reality, he makes everything so, so much worse. This way, no one recognizes them as the inventors. There was Duntschs childhood friend, Jerry Summers, who woke up from a procedure unable to move his arms and legs. Preston was born in September 2014 while she was living with her sister in Garland, Texas. Like Dr Henderson, Dr Kirby is still a practicing doctor in real life. To say that this e-mail proved that Duntsch was notfit to be a doctor would be completely correct. The disc was pressing on a nerve, which caused the pain. He broke into her home a second time in the incident where he was covered in blood and also allegedly began harassing personal injury attorney Kay Van Wey, who represented many of his former patients, in a series of rambling emails. But Dr. William Rohr did editorialize in his conclusion: The collection of blood was most likely the result of a therapeutic misadventure. Duntsch blames the death on an allergy to fentanyl, a powerful narcotic often used in intubation. Dr. Christopher Duntsch, better known as Doctor Death, is serving a life sentence at a Texas prison today. The evidence collected by the DA's office by subpoenaing every hospital on his CVshows Duntsch completes a fraction of these. There were multiple screw holes nowhere near where they were supposed to be, and a screw had been lodged in another nerve root near the bottom of the spine. We ended up getting into this really big fight, and he slapped me and threw a remote and hit me with the remotes and he was yelling profanities very loud where everyone could hear and saying prostitute and whore, she said, adding he also started calling her mother names. In one particularly disturbing episode, in March 2015, she said she arrived home to her front door had been locked with a deadbolt from the inside. He gained experience writing grants, and earned more than $3 million in local, state, and federal funding for research projects where he served as principal or co-principal investigator. Ultimately, on that case, he ended up getting 12 months (of) probation and a small fine, Michelle Shughart, assistant district attorney in Dallas County, told Dr Death: The Undoctored Story.. What isscarierare the 12 names that follow his. The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education has strict rules about residency programs. I'd call him a sociopath." By the time the Dallas County district attorney's office got involved and brought criminal charges against. Im the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state. Thats according to Dr. Mark Hoyle, who was the general surgeon during Passmores surgery. Wendy Renee Young is the mother of three children. He told Morgan that Young, who was pregnant at the time with their first son, was his close friend and secretary. Facebook Dr. Christopher Duntsch on his first day as a neurosurgeon. According to ProPublica, Duntsch's residency and fellowship records show less than 100 surgeries. Seven more doctors voiced complaints before TMB finally canceled Dr. Death's license. But Morguloffs suit describes him being in excruciating pain and telling nurses that his pain was a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. He wasnt paranoid. She woke up with severe pain and couldnt stand. The evidence said otherwise. Finally, in July 2015, the Dallas County District Attorneys Office followed through. Though Christopher Duntsch moved to Dallas with girlfriend Wendy Young, he soon hired nurse practioner Kimberly Morgan as his assistant and began a romantic relationship with her. In real life, after helping the ADA Michelle Shughart send Duntsch to jail, Dr Henderson continues to practice medicine in Texas. Year: 2004-2018 Starring: Michael Peterson Genre: Docuseries Rating: TV-MA Seasons: 1 (14 episodes) Director: Jean-Xavier de Lestrade Trailer: Watch here This doesn . He didnt not want to. This was the time when Dr. Christopher Duntsch started to turn intoDr. Death. Life After "Death": Lethal Surgeon Sentenced to PrisonWATCH NEXT: Attorney who represented Dr. Duntsch's patients discusses her cases (3 of 5) https://youtu.. We discovered it.. The hospital saved face and avoided any lawsuits. Through his career, reports of him doing rounds under the influence were commonplace. Duntschs legal woes were only just beginning. She told D Magazine they named the boys Aiden and Preston. And so shes here, in a Christian coffee shop tucked into a corner of the town square of Springtown, west of Fort Worth, where she lives with her new boyfriends parents. But the media definitely played its part sending Dr. Death where he rightfully belongs, life in prison. But it was growing increasingly clear that his opportunities were running out. There is no face to the monster you are hearing about, the one destroying lives. According to Duntsch's colleagueDr. Randall Kirby, Glidewell's procedure was so botched that"Duntsch was forcibly restrained from continuing the surgery by the [operating room] team.". Multiple lawsuits allege that Baylor did not report Duntsch to the National Practitioner Data Bank, which was created by Congress to be a private clearinghouse of physicians who have been suspended or had their privileges revoked. Dallas most important news stories of the week, delivered to your inbox each Sunday. But Duntsch kept going, as if he were fishing in a pond at night, saying he was working by feel, not sight. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. Of that set, two died and 31 were paralyzed or seriously injured. He called Baylor Plano President Jerri Garison, who was clearly familiar with Duntsch and was just as clear about how little she could say on the matter: He no longer has privileges here, and I have to be very careful about what I say to you. Baylor said it was unable to provide its executives for interviews because of Passmores pending lawsuit. At this point, Im like freaking out, and I just, I leave.. Duntsch has a court date next month for the shoplifting case along with the unrelated matter of a criminal trespass complaint filed against him last fall. Dubbed angels of death, they leave a trail of damage andloss for many reasons: human fallibility, malaise, or malice. He thought surgery might give him some relief, eliminate the need for drugs, solve both problems at once. Joshua Jackson as Dr. Christopher Duntsch Asked if he had a chance to meet with Duntsch, who's now serving a life sentence for maiming Mary Efurd during what should have been routine surgery,. But then came that fax, and he saw Duntschs name next to Kellie Martins. But then he gave Passmore the card of a neurosurgeon named Christopher Duntsch. But she smiles softly as she talks about those early days with Duntsch, when they were still learning about each others lives. Duntsch grew up in a middle-class family. The first of these had been college football. According to an article by WFAA, Christopher Duntsch's father Don stated his son had called him, completely beside himself, when he botched several surgeries. From the top of his class to life in prison: things did not go as he planned. ( Source : instagram ) Young is also the mother of another child with her new boyfriend. This despite the drug problems as well as incomplete residency training. I was on the third story.. Sproles issued a letter to Duntsch that read: There have been no summary or administrative restrictions or suspensions of Dr. Duntschs Medical Staff membership or clinical privileges during the time he has practiced at Baylor Reg. Prodigal Son actress Molly Griggs takes on the role of Wendy Young, who was Duntsch's girlfriend and is the mother of his kids. Christopher Duntsch didn't. She was dancing at a strip club then, and Duntschs business problems were growing more severe. Martin, it turned out, had bled to death in the intensive care unit while undergoing a relatively common procedure known as a laminectomy, which involves removing spongy tissue between the discs to relieve pressure. She says his favorite saying was You can kiss my black ass while Im watching black-girl porn on my monitor. Which may help explain why she didnt report the three-page email he sent on December 9, 2011. The notorious neurosurgeon was forced to declare bankruptcy shortly after and moved back in with his parents in Colorado. Passmore says the space above a disc in his lower spine had been blown out in the first surgery, and Duntsch returned to pick out the pieces. Duntsch hired Morgan while he was still with the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute, and she began on August 29, 2011. He couldnt help it. At the time, Young was giving birth to their second boy. The real question isn't why Dr. Duntsch did what he did. Duntsch moved to Colorado to live with his parents, while Young stayed behind in Dallas with the couples son. Its hard to find good conversation with a random person, Young says. AnnaSophia Robb, 27, portrays Michelle Shughart, the assistant district attorney on Dr. Death's case. Armed with Baylors declaration that it never amended his privileges, Duntsch found work in four months. Ultimately, Duntsch'shorrific mistakes made during surgeryand alleged drug use caught up with him. Only time will tell story about Christopher Duntsch finally broke, discovered stem cells in human brain tumors, Duntsch, Ignatova, and Kukekov as the inventors, Neurosurgeon residents need to complete 1,000 surgeries, Page would see Duntsch mixing a vodka orange, At Health Grades Duntsch had 4.3 out of 5 stars, Dr. Robertson also gave Duntsch a great review, Attorney James Girards was representing Lee Passmore, one of the doctors he spoke to likened Duntsch to Hannibal Lecter, the school refused to verify or deny his claims, according to a report by the Dallas County prosecutors, According to the prosecutors, TMB had many complaints on file, irreparably damaged by Dr. Death's grievous malpractices, It took the Texas Medical Board one whole year to investigate, Henderson actually checked if Duntsch was a real doctor with The University of Tennessee, Hospitals are liable only if the plaintiff can prove that the hospital was also malicious, the same law also helps these very hospitals, For the DA though she proved to be a good witness, A string of arrests for DWI, shoplifting, and more followed, Becker's Hospital Review covered the 13 worst physicians of 2017, as named by Medscape, Dr. Death is now also going to be a TV show, Will it help patients protect their rights. By November, he had surgical privileges to operate on patients. St. Jude refuted this by saying there was no such program there at that time. According to Irving-based physician recruitment firm Merritt Hawkins, a single neurosurgeon produced his or her hospital an average revenue of $2.45 million in 2015. James Gunn has used the 'Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special' as a "trojan horse" to introduce some elements of the upcoming third film in the series.The 40-minute holiday special features Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis' (Pom Klementieff) bid to help Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) rediscover his love of the festive season, but the director admitted the one-off Disney+ feature He kind of let himself into my apartment by climbing up my balcony, she said. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. Don tried to convince the jury that his son cared for his patients. Duntschmade the incision in the wrong place before nicking a vertebral artery, confusing the muscles in Glidewell's neck for a tumor, cutting into his vocal cords, and removing a piece of hisesophagus. By 2011, Duntsch had been sued by Discgenics former chief operating officer, a high school pal who joined when it was founded. He said, Its not your case, its another case, and were looking into it. I trust that man wholly. But, he says, It all started coming together in my head that this isnt a one-time mistake.. Duntsch pleaded not guilty. Duntsch contends the patient was just trying to get painkillers. Strangely enough, Dr. Boop also mentioned, "I have not operated with Chris." But hed make troubling, bizarre pronouncements, like Everybodys doing it wrong. ), The door opened and Young found Duntsch, who had earned the moniker, The encounter was just one of a series of troubling incidents after Duntschwho, once referred to himself as a mixture of God, Einstein and the Antichrist, Photo: He hadnt seen it with his own eyes. Duntsch calls thisand most other claimsnonsense. I'm the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state." He rode the desk until he couldnt, when things in the county got too busy and all the examiners were required to take calls away from the office to cover the 200-odd scene visits. Duntschs reputation took another dive in April of 2015 when he was arrested for shoplifting at a local Walmart. Santa Clarita Diet's Dominic Burgess plays Jerry Summers, a former patient and best friend of Dr Death's. Prosecutors argued that the disgraced doctor had used his scalpel and hands as weapons to seriously injure or kill his patients. Young was 27 when they met; Duntsch was 40. Morgan was present in the operating room during Passmores surgery. She enlisted Duntsch to help fix it. He filed for bankruptcy in Denver, and wound up selling off the shares in Discgenics for a tenth of their value. The 31 people who survived Dr. Duntsch's scalpel face a struggle for the rest of their lives. He was so appalled at the results of the procedures that he faxed a photo of Duntsch to the University of Tennessee to see if the surgeon was an impostor. Henderson actually checked if Duntsch was a real doctor with The University of Tennessee, appalled at the damage to Efurd's spine. Talking to the Dallas Morning News in 2014, Duntsch said he provided the test and was clean. Kane came into the picture as a deposition witness. Did these doctors truly not see though Duntsch? Instead, he thought about all those years he spent working and educating himself, all those years of paying bills on time to keep his credit high, of saving money to support his family. Finally, it was the Texas Medical Board (TMB) that acted too late, too little. Copyright 2023, D Magazine Partners, Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. She, after being in Duntsch's OR, would never walk again. Whatever happened, he was gone from Minimally Invasive Spine Institutebut not from Baylor Plano. They eventually went back to his home, dancing to music under a disco ball he had in his office. One such recommendation came from the surgeon under whom Duntsch completed his residency, Dr. Frederick Boop. Currently, Discgenics has no mention of Duntsch at all, his history with the company, or that he's the massive elephant in the room. According to him, Duntsch had a "great work ethic" and no areas of weakness. The hospitals didnt do their due diligence until it was too late, and those who couldve spoken up didnt. Attorney James Girards was representing Lee Passmore, one of Duntsch's victims and reached out to her. And there were plenty of other signs as well. Unequivocally, testified an expert witness, a neurosurgeon should stop practicing after incurring multiple patient deaths and severe outcomes. Death after botching 33 of38 surgeries over a two-year span, inside the apartment covered in blood, holding her gun in one hand and a knife in the other, she said. Baldwin, 63, plays a more mature character to his onscreen partner Christian Slaters zany one, with the two pairing up in quest to end Dr Deaths medical career and bring him to justice. And yet nearly all who met him said they liked him immediately. His next patient, Floella Brown was 63. But Passmore is one of the lucky ones. In September, according to police reports . Who else is left? That venue is a civil or federal jury trial, and I would accept that if it gave the way forward to disclose, remedy, address what happened at DMC with these patients., Henderson, like Passmore, began his own investigation. After another disastrous outcome, this time at University General, Kirby and malpractice attorney Kay Van Wey decided to turn to the criminal justice system. Like Boop, Dr. Robertson also gave Duntsch a great review. Duntsch was told to take a drug test but disappeared instead. And this was 10 months before Duntsch's last surgery. 33 of his surgeries went horribly wrong. According to court documents, Rimlawi soon grew suspicious of Duntsch. If he could do 50Shades of Grey and some scandalous modeling, playing a menacing Dr. Death should be a piece of cake, right? But that isn't the scariest part. We talked about marriage pretty quickly. And not just Dallas CountyI dont recall hearing about it anywhere.. During this time, out of three procedures, one patient died and another was partially paralyzed. She had clinical experience and often spent time with Duntsch when he was conducting research. Young says hed been breaking into her apartment, and one day she came home to find him inside, covered in blood. According to his lawsuit, Morguloff wound up with searing pain in his back and left leg from bone fragments lodged in his spinal canal during the operation, which were only discovered eight months later when he sought a second opinion. [7] Then it just started to all unravel.. His emails were crazy, Van Wey recalled in the docuseries. Days after Duntsch returned, he was fired. That's when he moved to Colorado to live with his parents. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 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. The University of Tennessee refused to comment on grounds of confidentiality, but neurosurgeon Dr. Frederick Boop, under whom Duntsch completed his residency, knew. Many ofDuntsch's patient-turned-victims filed malpractice suits, according to Dallas News. Texas tort reform laws cap the amount that patients can sue physicians for malpractice at $250,000. Shes 33 now and doesnt live in Dallas anymore. (He also appears in no yearbooks from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center at the time in which he says he earned his Ph.D., and the school declined to verify his claims, citing afederal privacy law.) He recorded a conversation with Dr. Frederick Boop, who followed Robertson as the chairman of the department of neurosurgery. An "In Memoriam" tribute for him is shown at the end of the final episode of the Peacock series. He may have figured, at first, that he was protected. Duntsch declined a jailhouse interview, but he has called the allegations preposterous. Also present, according to Kane, was Jerry Summers, the childhood friend who would later wake up a quadriplegic after a Duntsch operation. Meanwhile, his patients kept suffering, and dying, in his OR. But Duntsch soldiered on. She was a National . But before he left, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiners office. Whatever Duntsch set out to be when he first donned that white coat, being a media sensation for all the wrong reasons may not have been his goal. The other, Discgenics, was more successful; it still owns the patent for the technology. Was this a way of keeping the University of Tennessee's ranking up? Christopher Duntsch was just a regular guy who became Dr. Death after he decided to be a neurosurgeon. He wrote grants and secured more than $3 million in funding. He also had a credit card in his name connected to Duntschs account and would drive him around, balance his checkbooks, pick up dry cleaning. The thing is, if you dont push this, with everybody else settling, theyre getting away with it again., 750 North St.Paul St. And, to successfully sue a hospital, they must prove that the facility acted with malicethat, in granting a physician privileges, it intended to harm the patient. His mother, Susan, taught school. Duntsch did his surgical residency at The University of Tennessee. Duntsch filed patents for each discovery, and two companies were soon created. This is notably weird, considering Christopher Duntsch trained underDr. Boop, so you'd assume that theyoperated together as part of the whole learning surgery process. He promises to take all pain and suffering away. Foley said Duntsch was satisfactory in his fellowship, that he saw no evidence of the things he was accused of in Dallas happening in Memphis. His dad is a physical therapist. The other survivors suffered damage, disability,and excruciating pain. A couple of months later, FloellaBrown came to Duntsch for a cervical fusion to alleviate her neck and shoulder pain. Today, Duntsch is serving a life imprisonment term in a Texas prison, and he's now the subject of an NBC Peacock netstreaming series featuring some big-name, A .
