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. He didn't contact a lawyer, although he struggled with the decision. A Texas jury found Christopher Duntsch guilty Feb. 14 of maiming patients who had turned to him for surgery to resolve debilitating injuries. [30], Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move elsewhere and still theoretically get a medical license. 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." The two went back to Duntsch's home and danced under a disco ball he had in his office. Dr. Death in surgery. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. By the end of the week, administrators told Duntsch he would no longer be operating at Dallas Medical Center. According to his lawyers, Duntsch had not realized how poorly he had performed as a surgeon until he heard the prosecution experts tell the jury about his many blunders on the operating table. Despite several warnings from his colleagues that he was not doing the surgery correctly and was attempting to put screws into muscle rather than bone, Duntsch persisted. [4], Longtime spine surgeon Robert Henderson performed the salvage surgery on Efurd. The criminal conviction of Christopher Duntsch, MD, PhD, holds important lessons for risk managers. [7][28][16], 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. It was completely unnecessary, didn't relieve her pain, and only set her up for another needed surgery. [8] Duntsch returned home to attend Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. Who Is Christopher Duntsch, The Man Nicknamed 'Dr. Death' Who Injured Morguloff sought a second opinion on his excruciating pain from Dr. Michael Desaloms. During his surgery, Duntsch didnt installed the necessary hardware to Muses spine and instead had left it floating between the spine and muscle tissue. Prosecutors put a high priority on that charge, as it provided the widest sentencing range, with Duntsch facing up to life in prison if convicted. Facebook Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch. Having exhausted his football eligibility, Duntsch decided to switch to a career in medicine. He performed only one surgery with the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute. He refused to abort the surgery even after a trauma surgeon colleague and an anesthesiologist warned him about the blood loss. Marshall Muse was scheduled to have a disc removed in his back. Morguloff had become addicted to the pain killers being prescribed to him by this time. [16] Kirby also recalled that Duntsch's skills in the operating room left much to be desired; as Kirby put it, "he could not wield a scalpel".[4]. 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. [27], While attempting to remove degenerated discs in Marshall "Tex" Muse's back, Duntsch left surgical hardware floating between the spine and muscle tissue. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. [4][5] In 2017, he was convicted of maiming one of his patients and sentenced to life imprisonment. Dr. 7 chilling thoughts of jailed neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch [9] Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of oversight by the hospitals. On 06/26/2013 MARY EFURD filed a Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice lawsuit against CHRISTOPHER D DUNTSCH, MD. Even though he lived in Colorado, he returned to Dallas to see his two sons. Brown was left in a coma for hours before Duntsch finally acquiesced to her transfer. [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. Now, a podcast called Dr. Death is breaking down the deranged surgeon's criminal acts and shows how drug abuse and blinding overconfidence led to big trouble for the patients who found themselves underneath the spiraling doctor's knife.. When Henderson opened the freshly made incisions on her, he was appalled. Mayfield also suffered from random fainting spells that happen every few weeks. However, on January 6, 2012, a week after the surgery, Dr. Duntsch performed another operation on Passmore. According to D Magazine, a doctor at the hospital where Duntsch worked said that Duntsch had been sent to an impaired physician program after he refused to take a drug test. Around this time, Christopher Duntsch's behavior became noticeably erratic. His pain management specialist advised against an operation but referred him to a neurosurgeon named Christopher Duntsch. When he arrived, Nurse Kyle Kissinger spotted a hole in Duntsch's scrubs. Page opened a desk drawer and saw a mirror with a pile of cocaine and a rolled-up dollar bill on top. 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. Pic credit: Dallas County Sheriff's Office. He was smart. 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." Baylor Plano again ordered Duntsch to take a drug test. Christopher Duntsch is confirmed to have injured 31 patients and killed two . Death' found guilty of maiming woman during surgery", "Former neurosurgeon sentenced for purposely maiming patients", "Doctor convicted of botched surgery gets life in prison", "Christopher Daniel Duntsch v. The State of Texas Appeal from Criminal District Court No. 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. Duntsch suggested drilling a hole in Brown's head to relieve the pressure, but was refused permission. Dr. Christopher D. Duntsch, Inactive - Plano, TX - RateMDs Yet, in April 2012, he returned to work just four months after surgery. This is the True Story of 'Dr Death' Christopher Duntsch Over the span of a few years, he managed to maim and injure over 30 patients, with two more dying during and shortly after undergoing surgery with him. According to Megan Kane, an ex-girlfriend of one of Duntschs friends, she saw him eat a paper blotter of LSD and take prescription painkillers on his birthday. He said, "Randy, you were right. It's hard to find a lawyer willing to jump through these hoops no matter how negligent the doctor was, because Texas limits non-economic damages in most cases to $250,000 per doctor. They also believed that charge would be easy to prove in court; Duntsch had been told repeatedly that he was not placing the hardware in the correct position and fluoroscopy images from Efurd's surgery proved this. [10][7], Duntsch completed his residency having participated in fewer than 100 surgeries. There were two names on the top page: Kellie Martin and Christopher Duntsch. The day that Brown suffered her stroke, Duntsch operated again. [19][25][7] She later recalled waking up feeling "excruciating pain", a "ten-plus" on a scale of 1 to 10. Duntsch stuffed Glidewell's throat with a surgical sponge to attempt to stop the bleeding. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? Unfortunately, it's all too real. Duntsch was suspected of having used cocaine the night before the operation. No one can pay to remove ratings. After his license was revoked,Duntsch fled from Texas. Even worse, some of the patients never got the chance to wake up. When Duntsch finally returned on Monday, he was fired. 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 . Duntsch is at the O. Ellis Unit prison in Huntsville, Texas. As the trial team put it, the "scary pattern" of Duntsch's actions became apparent to the others in the office, leading the DA to give the green light to take the case to a grand jury. Dr. Death in surgery. Duntsch had removed part of his femoral nerve. Did Christopher Duntsch have a wife and kids? During his short tenure, he spent little time in the operating room. Dhruv Trivedi. Officers said he was driving on the left side of the road with two flat tires. When Martin awoke from anesthesia, she was screaming and clawing at her legs which had become patchy and full of purple streaks and spots. But when he awoke and was experiencing extreme pain, Dr. Duntsch said that surgery had been a success and there had been no complications. Why Did Dr. Death Do It? 'Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story' Explains Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch first met in 2011 at a Beauty Shop bar in Memphis. [4] [19], Despite both of his surgeries at Dallas Medical Center going catastrophically awry, hospital officials did not report him to the NPDB. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his vast financial issues. He will be up for parole in 2045, when he is 74 years old. 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." When Jerry Summers woke up, he couldn't move his arms or legs. Jerry Summers Was 'Dr. Death's' Best Friend. D MagazineChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. In December 2012, Jacqueline Troy was left barely able to speak above a whisper after Duntsch cut her vocal cords and one of her arteries. 'Dr Death' Stars Share Why They Think Christopher Duntsch - TheWrap [11] Several of his friends recalled him going to work after a night of doing drugs, with one of them saying he would never allow Duntsch to operate on him. 0:57. Vaccinated people who catch Covid are reporting unique symptoms - the 4 signs to watch for, Man, 34, charged with murder after woman, 63, killed in house fire as family vow 'you'll never be forgotten', Six dead after private jet crashes and explodes in fireball between two houses sparking forest blaze near golf course. To stop the bleeding, he packed the space with so much anticoagulant foam that it constricted Summers' spine. She was moved to the ICU and died due to blood loss. [40][41] On May 8, 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused Duntschs petition for discretionary review. Evil Lives Here: Shadows Of Death is investigating the numerous crimes of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, who was nicknamed Dr. Death after causing pain, suffering, and even death to multiple patients over the course of two years. "Based on a hit podcast and inspired by the terrifying true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a young and charismatic star in the Texas medical community," Peacock explains about the series. The surgery was supposed to take less than 45 minutes and ultimately lasted over four hours. His case is receiving renewed attention in the media. 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. [4] Duntsch also claimed to have graduated magna cum laude from St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital with a doctorate in microbiology a program that the hospital did not offer at the time he allegedly attended. Over this period, Duntsch performed back surgeries that left his patients in a worse condition, paralyzed, or deceased. The board called in veteran neurosurgeon Martin Lazar to review the case. Licensed to kill: lawsuit seeks to overturn Texas hospital shield law 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. [38][39] On December 10, 2018, the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed Duntsch's conviction by a 21 split decision. As a young neurosurgeon in Texas, Duntsch killed . 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. Mayfield died of COVID in February 2021; according to his wife, he had been vulnerable to the virus due to complications caused by Duntsch's botched surgery. 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. A disc in his lower spine had blown out, and the pieces had to be picked out of the space above. Gaps in medical, legal systems may allow other 'Dr. Deaths' to practice Neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was nicknamed Dr Death: Evil Lives According to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a neurosurgery resident does about 1,000 operations during training. 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. Here's All That Has Happened to the Real Christopher Duntsch A - Yahoo! Updated Dec 9, 2022 at 3:25pm. Victim of Real-Life 'Dr. Death' Believes There Are Others - Yahoo! Dallas Magazine states that Duntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. 'Sociopath' neurosurgeon accused of botching operations 0:05. Duntsch's next patient was Jeff Glidewell. Dr. Death: Disgraced surgeon at center of podcast, show has CSU roots 5 of Dallas County (opinion)", "Texas Court of Appeals Affirms Conviction of 'Dr. The series follows two other surgeons, along with . [16][24] Henderson described Duntsch's surgery as an "assault", and concluded that Efurd would have been bedridden had the salvage surgery not been performed. Christopher Duntsch: A Review of Clinicide - Walsh Medical Media Peacock's Dr. Death is a chilling dramatization of the real-life story of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch. Death'? 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. Despite his colleagues being [] Ratings for Dr. Christopher D. Duntsch, Inactive. However, he ignored them and proceeded with his scheduled surgery on Efurd. Veteran vascular surgeon Randall Kirby recalled that Duntsch frequently boasted about his abilities despite being so new to the area. [7], Shughart argued that Duntsch should have known he was likely to 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. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. The patient was Mary Efurd coming in for a second operation. One day, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiner's office. Dr. Hassan Chahadeh, the owner, said when Duntsch had applied for privileges, his record was clean. 1-Christopher Duntsch and then girlfriend, Wendy Young. When he woke, he could not move anything on the right side of his body. Troy was sedated for weeks and forced to eat through a feeding tube because food was getting into her lungs. [12], Initially, Duntsch focused heavily on the PhD half of his degree. Duntsch moved to Denver, Colorado, and went into a downward spiral. He then prescribed Muse so much Percocet that a pharmacist refused to fill the prescription. The Texas Medical Board would later conclude that Brown died of excessive blood loss and a stroke, according to The Texas Observer . 'Dr. Death': Who Is Kim Morgan, and What Happened to Her? Finally, the board permanently revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. Duntsch is a serial maimer and killer. The staff told Duntsch that Brown, his patient from the day before, was in critical condition. After this look at Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. He claimed he was the best in Dallas. All the while, the operating room staff questioned whether Duntsch was putting hardware into Efurd in the right places and noticed he kept drilling and removing screws. At the time, Duntsch was looking for operating prospects in Dallas, San Diego, and New York. [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. He also reported shooting pains throughout his body. South Hampton Community Hospital in Dallas (now University General Hospital). Duntsch told Mayfield's wife it went well, but she instantly knew something was wrong as she walked into his room. Then, on December 6, 2011, he operated on seventy-four-year-old Mary Efurd. Out of his 38 surgeries, only three had no complications. Duntsch arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes after Efurd's surgery had been scheduled. Duntsch is a former Dallas neurosurgeon who, through . He refused to acknowledge anything was wrong, hindering the, This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 04:48. Over the course of two years, Christopher Duntsch operated on 38 patients in the Dallas area. Plano's 'Doctor Death': The Christopher Duntsch case - YouTube ", "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. Berry Morguloff was Dr. Duntsch's next unsuspecting victim. They have two sons. During surgery, Duntsch operated on the wrong part of Fennell's back. When Henderson saw the imaging from Duntsch's surgery, he was certain that there would be legal action, and had the salvage surgery recorded. The story of Dr. Death, Christopher Duntsch, feels like something out of a movie or book. At the time, hospitals were not required to report doctors who only had temporary privileges. 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.". Dr. Death: The Long & Bloody Road to Justice for Dallas' Deadly Doctor Duntsch pierced and blocked her vertebral artery with a misplaced screw and refused to stop despite the massive blood loss. Duntsch also appears in no yearbooks during the time in which he says he earned his Ph.D. [46], Dr. Death, a TV mini-series based on the podcast, began streaming on Peacock on July 15, 2021. 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. Passmore had a herniated disc in his lower spine pressing on a nerve causing him pain. Troy was left barely able to speak above a whisper, had to be sedated for weeks and had to be fed through a feeding tube for some time as food was getting into her lungs. Duntsch recommended fusing Morguloff's L5-S1 vertebrae, and the surgery was scheduled for January 11, 2012. A Texas neurosurgeon accused of intentionally botching multiple spinal surgeries, resulting in the death of two . While Kirby was repairing Troy, he uncovered that Duntsch had pinned her esophagus under a plate near her spine and poked holes in her trachea. However, the surgery had to be moved to November 14 because Duntsch had failed to order the appropriate surgical hardware and equipment. Just one day after his suspension had ended, Duntsch operated on Kellie Martin. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. It stars Joshua Jackson as Duntsch, Alec Baldwin as Robert Henderson, Christian Slater as Randall Kirby and AnnaSophia Robb as Michelle Shughart. Dr Deathis a new limited series about the rise and fall of Duntsch. During surgery, Duntsch damaged Summers' vertebral artery causing it to bleed uncontrollably. 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. In 2006, Duntsch teamed up with two Russian stem cell scientists: Valery Kukekov and Tatyana Ignatova. Christopher was raised along with his three younger siblings in a wealthy suburb in Memphis, Tennessee. Texas Attorney General 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. And its all because of one surgeon named Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. However, it wouldnt be long until Duntschs seemingly perfect career began to unravel. Could you take care of it?" Then, on July 24, 2012, he operated on Floella Brown. Glidewell is still in constant pain and has undergone more than 50 procedures to correct the damage left by Duntsch. Duntsch filed a patent for the technology, and he listed himself as one of the inventors even though he had not discovered it. Duntsch did not respond to messages from the hospital for a few hours, then the next day scheduled an elective surgery on Efurd rather than care for Brown. On May 24, 2011, Christopher Duntsch signed a physician services agreement with Rimlawi and Won's Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) in Dallas. "Dr. Duntsch is one great man." The Peacock limited series, based on the Wondery podcast, covers the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch (played by Joshua Jackson ), whose surgical career ruined the lives of numerous people . They met with an assistant DA but got little traction. Soon afterward, he severely maimed Jeff Glidewell after mistaking part of his neck muscle for a tumor during a routine cervical fusion, severing one of his vocal cords, cutting a hole in his esophagus and slicing an artery. When he called Duntsch's office, he was told it would "go away." Wendy Young had just given birth to their son and lived there with him. [9], In March 2014, three former patients of Duntsch's Mary Efurd, Kenneth Fennel, and Lee Passmore filed separate federal lawsuits against Baylor Plano, alleging the hospital allowed Duntsch to perform surgeries despite knowing that he was a dangerous physician. As Burke says in "Dr. Death," "No matter what happens, no matter what somebody does to you or the people you love, all you're gonna get is $250,000. Henderson sent Duntsch's picture to the University of Tennessee to determine whether he actually had a degree from that institution and received confirmation that Duntsch, in fact, did. Soon after starting Efurd's surgery, Duntsch turned to Kissinger and told him he would be performing a craniotomy on Floella Brown. Before the surgery, Kirby related that Duntsch said he was the best spine surgeon in Dallas and the only spine surgeon trained in minimally invasive spine surgery. Christopher Duntsch was a neurosurgeon who radiated confidence. In 2005, about a third of the way through his residency, department chairman Dr. Jon Robertson appointed Duntsch program director of the school's tissue bank. From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx [4] Mayfield died of COVID-19 in February 2021; according to his wife, he had been vulnerable to the virus due to complications caused by Duntsch's botched surgeries. The Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. By this time, Duntsch was almost penniless, and the judge had to appoint a lawyer for him. Glidewell was reportedly still suffering the ill effects of Duntsch's operation years later and has undergone more than 50 procedures to correct the damage. On April 9, 2013, Phillip Mayfield was scheduled to have a simple 45-minute operation to alleviate his back pain. Dr. Christopher Duntsch became the subject of a Peacock original series for all the wrong reasons. He hoped to play football, but his multiple transfers revoked his eligibility. In the end, Floella Brown never regained consciousness because Duntsch refused to transfer her to another doctor in time, and her family had to remove her from life support. She also said they snorted cocaine from a small pile he kept on a dresser in his home office. [13] In 2010, Duntsch moved to Dallas. He is a graduate of Evangelical Christian School in the Cordova suburb of Memphis, where he starred in football.[7]. Those words continue to haunt her, and she's tormented by the knowledge that her endorsement caused others to select Duntsch themselves. Texas man recalls losing his wife to 'Dr. Death' in shocking doc: 'My Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. But, he can only walk 30 feet at a time and cannot stand for more than a few minutes. Texas neurosurgeon nicknamed 'Dr. Death' found guilty of maiming woman He declared bankruptcy after listing debts of over $1 million. Kirby was shocked; he called the owner of University General and warned him that Duntsch would hurt someone, and the hospital would be over. 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 . She suffered a stroke as a result. Christopher Duntsch | True Crime Buzz | Oxygen Official Site Before going to medical school, Duntsch wanted to be a pro-football player. 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. [16] In 2021, he was profiled on CNBC's American Greed. In February 2012, he went under the knife for an elective spinal fusion surgery. The day after Mary Efurd's surgery, she awoke in excruciating pain and could not turn over or wiggle her toes. Next week marks the five-year anniversary of Texas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch being sentenced to life in prison. He earned his M.D. Lazar was scathingly critical of Duntsch's work. Cheney recalled wondering why a neurosurgeon with such outstanding credentials would be operating at a lower-tiered hospital on the way to his surgery.