Duntsch maintains that the practice didnt meet the promises it agreed to, and that it still owes him money. "Dr. Death," which was shot earlier this year in the Albuquerque area and debuted July 15 on the Peacock streaming service, is the story of Christopher Duntsch, who is now serving a life sentence . By this time his wife and he had separated and he also filed for bankruptcy. When Duntsch tried to reposition it, he stripped a screw; the cage wasnt going anywhere. Dr. Death is now also going to be a TV show with Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin playing main roles. He wanted to ask them questions. But upon seeing that name, he took it to his boss, Dr. William Rohr. One such recommendation came from the surgeon under whom Duntsch completed his residency, Dr. Frederick Boop. The door opened and Young found Duntsch, who had earned the moniker Dr. The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education has strict rules about residency programs. Talking to the Dallas Morning News in 2014, Duntsch said he provided the test and was clean. It might be Baylor, it might be somebody down in Austin, it might be somebody somewhere, but its the only way you can get your voice out there. According to court documents, Rimlawi soon grew suspicious of Duntsch. Death: The Undoctored Story, available to stream now. Over the course of 18-months, the nefarious ex-surgeon performed a spree of botched. 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. Maybe thats how they do it in Tennessee, but according to my training, thats not how they do it here. 33 of his surgeries went horribly wrong. At The University of Tennessee, his supervisors were also investors in Duntsch's company, Discgenics. Preston was born in September 2014 while she was living with her sister in Garland, Texas. She woke up with severe pain and couldnt stand. 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. According to him, Duntsch had a "great work ethic" and no areas of weakness. It took the Texas Medical Board one whole year to investigate and finally revoke Duntsch's license. He wanted to find who Duntsch trained under, who his supervisors were. That said; the 12 jurors did what the Texas Medical Board should have done. "You don't know this yet, but you will never walk again. Kane dated Summers for a year. Duntsch moved to Colorado to live with his parents, while Young stayed behind in Dallas with the couple's son. This despite the drug problems as well as incomplete residency training. 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 had only been in the Dallas area for a few months. And, seeing as how the hospital was asking specifically about that training, Foley said he didnt feel comfortable expressing concern about what hed heard was happening in Dallas. A grand jury returned five indictments of aggravated assault and one of harming an elderly person. GQ calls it the scariest podcast of 2019. He thought surgery might give him some relief, eliminate the need for drugs, solve both problems at once. While the school refused to verify or deny his claims, he wasn't in any of the yearbooks of that time. . 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 work ethic, character, and ability to get along with others were beyond reproach, Robertson wrote. At Health Grades Duntsch had 4.3 out of 5 stars, "above [the] national average." One of the early investors in Duntsch's company Discgenics was Dr. Rand Page. Summers died a few months ago, in February 2021, after getting an infection connected to the botched surgery from Duntsch that left him a quadriplegic. Eddie Redmayne dans le rle de Charlie Cullen et Jessica Chastain dans le rle d'Amy St. Jude refuted this by saying there was no such program there at that time. It was something that made us all nervous, but we never had any proof, Boop said in the phone call. Duntsch suspected that this had something to do with his vodka bottle and neurostimulants. It said he was $1 million in debt. Currently, Discgenics has no mention of Duntsch at all, his history with the company, or that he's the massive elephant in the room. In the deposition, she states that Duntsch snorted cocaine from a handy pile he kept on a dresser at his home. In emails, he alleges that he was at the center of a vast conspiracy to bilk money from the hospitals where he practiced. He kept her on after splitting from Rimlawi and Won. She passedfromblood loss in the ICU. He was the first surgeon to do so, but not the last. When he finally came to the hospital, he busied himself with another patient, also on the DA's list, Mary Efurd. Duntsch harmed many of his patients, including his childhood friend Jerry Summers. Theres no blank here for that.. That was the same month the two started having sex. Finally, in July 2015, the Dallas County District Attorneys Office followed through. Thus, his license was revoked for good on December 6, 2013. Morgan didnt follow Duntsch after Baylor Plano. Some hospitals may be reluctant toreport doctors who have allegedly caused bodily harm topatients. 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 reality, he makes everything so, so much worse. Christopher Duntschs case is perhaps unique to the justice systemits incredibly rare for a surgeon to be indicted, much less convicted, for the care he or she provided. He may have figured, at first, that he was protected. Duntsch placed a surgical cage where the disc was, to widen the opening around the nerve roots and relieve the pressure that was causing Passmores pain. The other survivors suffered damage, disability,and excruciating pain. Like, he wasnt scared. In a statement, the hospital said it cooperated with the Texas Medical Board when asked, and did not file its own complaint because it was aware someone else already had. He went back to the sourcethe University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He ran two labs, is listed as one of three inventors on a successful patent, raised millions of dollars in grant funding, and once gave a tour to the governor of Tennessee as he explained the stem cell research occurring at the university. He had a room upstairs in the Plano house. 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. We need to talk about this, Hoyle said, locking eyes with him. In September, according to police reports . The deal required Duntsch to gain privileges at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. 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. Based on Wondery's viral podcast of the same name, Stan's Dr. Death follows the sinister true story of former American neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch, who became known as 'Dr. Death' after he left a trail of maimed patients across various hospitals in Texas. His fellow neurosurgeons found him to be fast-talking and cocksure, a bit of a loner. 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. Joshua Jackson stars as Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a twisted neurosurgeon who goes on a malpractice rampage in the halls of the hospitals that are inattentive and neglectful enough to employ him . Dr. Death might not have cared about being a surgeon, just the prestige that came with it. There Duntsch secured a job as a minimally invasive spine surgeon at. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. Then he also took prescription painkillers and ate a paper blotter of LSD. The 51-year-old recently starred in the USA true crime series, Dirty John, opposite Connie Britton. Hes jailed on a $600,000 bond, and his trial is set for January 31, 2017. In the two years he practiced as a spine surgeon across four Dallas institutions, Duntsch operated on 37 people. She suffered a massive posterior circulation stroke and was transferred to UT Southwestern Medical Center. Christopher Duntsch's medical license was suspended by the State Board after heavy lobbying from his former colleagues and wounded patients on June 26, 2013. In April 2015, he was arrested for stealing $887.30 in Walmart merchandise: five pairs of sunglasses, five watches, two pairs of shoes, four ties, two briefcases, a wallet, cologne, necklaces, a walkie-talkie. The Dallas County DA, along with fighting against these very laws, was also running out of time. He wrote grants and secured more than $3 million in funding. He stayed in New York while everyone. It wasnt until lawsuits were filed that the alleged drug use became public. Prodigal Son actress Molly Griggs takes on the role of Wendy Young, who was Duntsch's girlfriend and is the mother of his kids. Meanwhile, Duntsch was struggling financially and started racking up a series of strange arrests. Wendy Young knew her ex-boyfriend Christopher Duntschs medical career was unraveling, but she wasnt prepared for what she said was his bizarre behavior that coincided with his fall from grace as a surgeon. The next year, in 2006, Duntsch became more money-minded. 1. His father was a missionary and physical therapist and his mother was a school teacher. Henderson actually checked if Duntsch was a real doctor with The University of Tennessee, appalled at the damage to Efurd's spine. There are some who believe that he never wanted to be in the ORat all. I have taken one selfie in my lifeon a dare. During a deposition with Passmores lawyer, attorney James Girards, a woman named Megan Kane recalls Duntsch eating a paper blotter of LSD and taking prescription painkillers on his birthday in either 2006 or 2007. The operation continued. That's when he moved to Colorado to live with his parents. Later, he filed for bankruptcy and moved in with his parents in Colorado. He thought about how all that might have been stolen from him in a matter of hours. He said Youngwho by now had given birth to their son, Aidenwas just his secretary and friend. Duntsch had a comfortable upbringing. According to ProPublica, Duntsch's residency and fellowship records show less than 100 surgeries. His father, Donald, was a missionary and a physical therapist. No autopsy was done (at the familys request) but it is well-documented that the stroke was due to a left vertebral artery injury due to Dr. Duntschs horrendous surgical technique, wrote surgeon Randall Kirby in a letter to the Texas Medical Board. To become a neurosurgeon, one typically has to complete over 1000 surgeries in residency, but somehow, reporter Laura Beil discovered that Duntsch only completed 100. He says that surgery happened earlier in the week, and that it was he who called Rimlawi and asked him to check on the patient. The new true crime show, which comes out Thursday, tells the story of promising-turned-disgraced surgeon, Dr. Christopher Duntsch (played by Jackson), who was accused of maiming and killing his more than two dozed patients. Young puts Morgan there, too, although Morgan denied it in her deposition. He cant run or swim with his children. I thought it was pretty amazing that he was even able to go to work the next day, she said in the deposition. He kind of let himself into my apartment by climbing up my balcony, she said. But Passmore is one of the lucky ones. By this time, Summers, the childhood friend, had come to live with Duntsch, too. His license gone, Duntsch went off the rails. Hell tell you as much. Christopher Duntsch was just a regular guy who became Dr. Death after he decided to be a neurosurgeon. Jerry Summers, Duntsch's childhood friend, is now a quadriplegic. According to the prosecutors, TMB had many complaints on file. Dallas County Jail/AP, Duntsch filed for bankruptcy and was arrested in Denver for driving under the influence on Jan. 10, 2014, according to, 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, Duntsch is now living out his life behind bars, but Young told CNBC's, starring Joshua Jackson, Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater. 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. He told her he had been attacked by an investigator for the attorneys representing his patients, but that was never corroborated. A neurosurgeon reviewing the case for the court found an errant screw had not only opened Brown's arterybut blocked it, and that Duntsch hadmisdiagnosed Brown, operating on the wrong area entirely. Texas tort reform laws cap the amount that patients can sue physicians for malpractice at $250,000. Robot, True Romance, Very Bad Things, and Robot Chicken. Neurosurgeon Duntsch Found Guilty, Faces Life in Prison, In Duntschs Assault Trial, Questions About His Role After Patient Deaths, In Second Day of Testimony, Doctor Calls Neurosurgeon Duntschs Outcomes Catastrophic. Jurors convicted Duntsch Tuesday of injury to an elderly person in the botched July 2012 surgery that put Mary Efurd in a wheelchair. At morning meetings, Page would see Duntsch mixing a vodka orange. If that weren't enough, Page once happened across a drawer at Duntsch's house. He always had a plan, always had a pitch, always had a way to fix you. In July 2015, he was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury on six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (his hands and surgical tools). She had clinical experience and often spent time with Duntsch when he was conducting research. Not a single doctor, surgeon, staff, or the pathologist of the autopsy every [sic] stated that I surgically caused vascular injury, he wrote. (And if you want to dive even deeper into the story, you can also watch the scripted drama "Dr. Death" on Peacock, starring Joshua Jackson, Alec Baldwin, and Christian Slater.). The hospital called Rimlawi when it couldnt reach his colleague. In 2005, partway through the six-year program,he became the director of the tissue bank. Patrick Clerkin, a longtime friend, stopped at the doorway with his two kids as well as Passmores 7- and 9-year-old girls. Duntsch contends the patient was just trying to get painkillers. It was the invention of me and my wife, because we made all primary experiments. He was ultimately convicted of injuring an elderly person in connection with Mary Efurds case and was sentenced to life behind bars. And this was 10 months before Duntsch's last surgery. The real question is:Can this TV show bring about a change in medical law, or how hospitals treat their patients and doctors? The original patent still holds, and hopefully, Discgenics would be able to break out of the Dr. Death shadow todo some real anti-cancer work instead. He also discovered a way to produce stem cells from intervertebral discs in cultures outside the body. But Duntsch soldiered on. On average, a neurosurgeon generates more revenue for a hospital than all other specialties but invasive cardiology and orthopedic surgery. Wendy Renee Young says she met Duntsch in 2011 at the Beauty Shopin Memphis, a bar and restaurant that borrowed its shtick from its past life as a curl-and-dye shop owned by Elvis Presleys ex-wife. Duntsch did his surgical residency at The University of Tennessee. Their suffering becomes yours. Duntsch then joined Dallas Medical Center. He hadnt seen it with his own eyes. But for his victims, the judgment was a big relief. To fellow surgeon Mark Hoyle, he said, "Everybody's doing it wrong. In 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty. Methods for the treatment of degenerative disc disease Patent number: 11168305 She arrived brain-dead. How old was Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things season 1? Finally, it was the Texas Medical Board (TMB) that acted too late, too little. July 15, 2021 Scott McDermott/Peacock Peacock's new crime drama Dr. Death dramatizes the true story of Christopher Duntsch, a former Dallas-based neurosurgeon who was sentenced to life in. The hospital saved face and avoided any lawsuits. I am beginning to think the police are the only ones intellectually and physically capable of getting to the bottom of this matter, he wrote. The hospitals didnt do their due diligence until it was too late, and those who couldve spoken up didnt. At University General Hospital, Kirby had been granted emergency privileges to operate on a Duntsch patient named Jeffery Glidewell. She describes investigators with binoculars camped out on their street in a white van, trying to see into their home. By November, he had surgical privileges to operate on patients. Soon though, red flags began to pop up. When the Texas Medical Board revoked his license, Duntsch's reign of surgical terror had run its course. But as the ultimate betrayal, some doctors violate this code of conduct in the worst possible ways. Something was wrong, one lawsuit alleges, whether it be impairment from drugs, alcohol, mental illness, or a combination of all three. His first and only surgery with Minimally Invasive Spine Institute was on a Thursday at Baylor Plano. The doctor in the strange case is now 50 years old. And who will Dr. Death be? Around that same time, Duntschs behavior was becoming erratic. Hoyle called the whole surgery sloppy, enough so that he canceled the remaining three or four operations he had scheduled with Duntsch and vowed never to work with him again. Dr Christopher Duntsch is accused of causing agony to countless patients or worse during the three years he practiced medicine in Dallas. In real life, after helping the ADA Michelle Shughart send Duntsch to jail, Dr Henderson continues to practice medicine in Texas. He told Morgan that Young, who was pregnant at the time with their first son, was his close friend and secretary. With such goings-on, Duntsch got himself kicked out of his own company. Plus, she was struggling financially. But before he left, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiners office. Peacock's new grisly drama tells the real-life story of Dallas-area neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, who killed or maimed more than 30 patients in the 2010s. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. In a long running series of complaints, a Texas doctor has been found guilty of a felony in one medical malpractice case. There was Floella Brown, whose sliced vertebral artery triggered the stroke that killed her at Dallas Medical Center. Duntsch's initial presentation bowled him over. But the media definitely played its part sending Dr. Death where he rightfully belongs, life in prison. He says Fennells surgery went so well that he agreed to be in a commercial for Baylor Plano. I think he built up this idea in his head of who he was and what he was going to do with his life and now all of that has disappeared and wasnt coming back, I think he finds himself in a state where hes struggling to figure out, who am I now? Shughart said in the series. Duntsch has maimed or killed. Hoyle, the surgeon who exposed the incision in Passmore, had also filed a complaint with the board. Duntschs legal woes were only just beginning. And yet, the names of the latter are incorrect and misspelled. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. I am 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.. Passmore was allowed to resign and still access his long-term disability insurance, which he says hed paid into for more than 10 years. She was also present for Summers operation. The disc was pressing on a nerve, which caused the pain. Kirby reported having direct knowledge of seven patients that Dr. This is accomplished by: Establishing quality . During Brown's surgery, Duntsch pierced her vertebral artery. According to an arrest report obtained by the outlet, he had been driving on two flat fires and had two empty bottles of Mikes Hard Lemonade in the vehicle. Seven more doctors voiced complaints before TMB finally canceled Dr. Death's license. Passmore also learned about Kenneth Fennell, a 68-year-old who alleged in a lawsuit that, during a November procedure, Duntsch operated on the wrong body part. I thought he was either really, really good, or hes just really, really arrogant and thought he was good, Hoyle says now. Martin was a 55-year-old woman who had lived with back pain for nearly a year after a fall in her kitchen. Philip is one of more than 30 people maimed by Dr. Christopher Duntsch, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media. Many ofDuntsch's patient-turned-victims filed malpractice suits, according to Dallas News. For Duntsch, the path into medicine was unconventional and, perhaps, a reflection of his tendency to fixate on unlikely goals. At the time, Young was giving birth to their second boy. What turned Dr. Christopher Duntsch into Dr. Death? He later told Duntsch to his face that he was dangerous. Baylor calls the allegations against it extremely frustrating and difficult and reiterates that Duntsch came with references from multiple sources who worked with him in his residency and fellowship training programs., To put these misleading allegations into fair context, Baylor Plano is part of a hospital system that has made substantial investments over several decades to continuously enhance the quality of care we provide our patients, and we have gained many recognitions for these processes. His dad is a physical therapist. However, in the Peacock series, the couple is parents to only one child. He works out, he reads, he studies the Bible. Duntsch began cheating on. Her body was in the Collin County Medical Examiners office in March 2012. He has taken Baylor Plano to court to change the Texas law requiring patients to prove that a hospital intended to harm them when it granted privileges to someone who was unsafe. I'm the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state." Young elaborated in a 2016 D Magazine story on Duntschs troubled career that Duntsch told her his attacker had been an investigator hired by an attorney representing his angry patients, but that account was never verified. In February 2017, Duntsch, 50, was convicted of a first-degree felony for intentionally injuring an elderly victim. But hed make troubling, bizarre pronouncements, like Everybodys doing it wrong. All Duntsch got was a slap on the wrist while his blood-soaked foray into the OR continued. She had family in Dallas and decided shed go with him if he chose that city. 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. It was pouring out of the epidural blood vessels and pooling in the disc space. 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 . It was sent on a Friday at 4 am. Philip Mayfield experienced back pain and chronic conditions related to his longtime career driving tractor-trailers. Copyright 2023, D Magazine Partners, Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Where is Christopher Duntsch now? Passmore is still fighting. She says she never saw him drunk or high or suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Duntsch was described asa precocious boy and a bright student. If he could do 50Shades of Grey and some scandalous modeling, playing a menacing Dr. Death should be a piece of cake, right? I cried when they said life imprisonment, Young said of the verdict. Christopher Duntsch, Known As Dr. Death, Maimed His Patients Through Routine Back Surgery. And yet nearly all who met him said they liked him immediately. Later, attorneys would sit on the stairwell of her Skillman Street apartment. And yet the actual tragedy is that someone could have stopped it. We discovered it.. 53, and Andre Agassi, 52, are proud parents as they . Again, he never revealed what went wrong to the other staff. According to ProPublica, Boop was aware of a complaint Duntsch used drugs before seeing patients. DR Death, Peacocks new limited series starring Joshua Jackson, is based on a true story, and we have your look at photos comparing the cast with their real-life counterparts. Don tried to convince the jury that his son cared for his patients. It still feels as if his feet are asleep. The real question is:Why couldn't anyone stop him in time? This could be path-breaking in the future ofcancer treatment andDr. Duntsch sniffed out the opportunity right away. 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.. And you are one of the lucky ones." He was shocked at the CT scan: the spinal fusion hardware sat in her soft tissue. 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. Now keep in mind, Morgan herself was at the wrong end of some of these suits. On April 9, 2013, Mayfield underwent surgery performed by Duntsch to remove a troublesome disk from his spine. Yet they let him resign and passed the bill along for someone else to pay. He was later sentenced to 120 days in jail for the attempted theft, according to court documents obtained by Oxygen.com. After graduating as a physician with above-average grades, he had his whole life ahead of him. Brown had a massive stroke overnight that left her in a vegetative state, and her family chose to remove life support days later. On paper, the 40-year-old man who arrived in Dallas in the summer of 2011 was a completely different Christopher Duntsch than the one who was introduced to the public after more than a dozen allegations of severely botched surgeries. Dr. Christopher Duntsch, better known as Doctor Death, is serving a life sentence at a Texas prison today. Saul Elbein writes in the Texas Observer that Dr. Hendersonsent him a recording of his complaint to the Texas Medical Board. 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. There is no way to communicate what happened there, without a 20-page document of disclosures and events and responsible parties, Duntsch once wrote of Brown and Efurd. Hoyles job was to cut Passmore open and sew him up, and on December 30, 2011, he made a small incision just above the 36-year-olds groin and moved the blood vessels and organs out of the way, allowing Duntsch clear access to the lower spine to remove a herniated disc.