Muse woke up in considerable pain, but Duntsch convinced him it was normal. Jodi Smith. The Dr. Death true story reveals that neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch injured 33 out of 38 patients that he saw over a span of less than two years. 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. The next year, in 2006, Duntsch became more money-minded. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Most doctors would pull themselves out of the field after a few botched surgeries because of the guilt they have to carry after permanently hurting someone. Duntsch did his surgical residency at The University of Tennessee. [2][4][19][7], Duntsch moved to Dallas Medical Center in Farmers Branch, where he was granted temporary privileges until hospital officials could obtain his records from Baylor Plano. Two of his patients died as the direct result of his actions in the operating room. What made this well-recommended neurosurgeon harm his patients and himself? ", "Assault trial begins for Dallas surgeon who once wrote of becoming 'cold blooded killer', "The State of Texas vs. Christopher Daniel Dunstch", "Life Sentence Upheld on Appeal For Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death", "What you need to know about 'Dr. The story of Duntsch is featured in a new Peacock show titled Dr. Death, unleashing the terrifying reality. His next patient, Floella Brown was 63. This May Be the Most Horrifying Surgery Story You've Ever Heard In 2012, Summers underwent spinal surgery performed by Dr. Duntsch in an effort to improve his neck and arm pain. A veteran investigative reporter in the medical field, her voice enthralls. Soon though, red flags began to pop up. Death, Surgery Records. YOU'VE REACHED YOUR MONTHLY ARTICLE LIMIT. Death Series, Dr. 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. "Dr. Death," a new series streaming now on Peacock, peels back the facade Duntsch created and exposesthe mercurial and dangerous man beneath. His childhood was seemingly great. I mean, he had some surgeries, he had a handful of surgeries that went fine. Duntsch went on to work at the Legacy Surgery Center of Frisco and University General Hospital Dallas. No, Jerry Summers, who was Christophers childhood friend, is no longer alive. Dr. Another patient, 74-year-old Mary Efurd, wokeup from her procedurescreaming in pain and couldnt bear weight on her legs after her surgery. Death, [Wonderys podcast on which the Peacock series is based]. I really wish I knew she said. While applying to Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, TX, Duntsch also provided Dr. Jon Robertson as a reference. Duntsch was granted temporary surgical privileges at Dallas Medical Center, while hospital officials waited for his medical records to arrive from his former post. Duntsch also received 40 percent of all revenue he generated beyond $800,000 each year. And when this podcast tells you all the gory details, you become that patient. Van Wey also told American Greed that in the state of Texas, hospitals face greater risks of receiving a lawsuit from someone unfairly reported to the physicians data bank than they do from a patient themselves, making officials leerier of reporting claims. How Do You Get Rid Of Hiccups In 5 Seconds. According to Dallas Magazine, a woman named Megan Kane remembered how Duntsch partied with her onhis birthday. However, he closed Glidewell with the sponge in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. Duntsch arrived in Texas with no shortage of confidence, often boasting to his colleagues that he would be the greatest minimally invasive spinalsurgeon in Dallas. The series, starring Joshua Jackson asDuntsch, examines that question and finds a deadly combination of mismanagement and a lack of centralized authority in the medical community. And you are one of the lucky ones." Typically, neurosurgery residents participate in over 1,000 surgeries in the course of their residency. He was held in the Dallas County jail for almost two years until the case went to trial in 2017. This led to another 20 patients suffering. My take on it is, for him, it was hubris, Jackson told TheWrap. Christopher Duntsch was allowed to perform more than 30 botched surgeries in DFW over the course of two years before finally having his license revoked. [18] He damaged patient Philip Mayfield's spinal cord, drilling into it and leaving him partially paralyzed from the neck down. "[20][4] Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. Dr. Death might not have cared about being a surgeon, just the prestige that came with it. What made him cause damage, trauma and even death to his patients? 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. However, by the time he met Young, Duntsch was over $500,000 in debt. Duntsch could have turned it into something good and meaningful. His resume is about 12 pages long, so he looks really good on paper, exactly the kind of doctor that youd be looking for, Michelle Shughart, assistant district attorney in Dallas County told CNBC's American Greed earlier this year in an episode chronicling Duntschs briefand deadlycareer in Texas. Some never went to trial and had out-of-court settlements. How much money did Christopher Duntsch make? And not just Dallas County, I don't recall hearing about it anywhere." By this time, however, Brown was brain dead. My take on it is, for him, it was hubris, Jackson mused. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. But even that database is limited. I have one last thing to remind the Texas Medical Boardyour mission is to protect the publicDr. 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. With Ignatova and Kukekov in tow, he filed patents under a company he founded. Having exhausted his football eligibility, Duntsch decided to switch to a career in medicine. For instance, he upbraided him for missing the signs that Martin was bleeding out, saying that, "You can't not know [that] and be a neurosurgeon. Yet they let him resign and passed the bill along for someone else to pay. Several of Duntsch's surgeries at Baylor Plano resulted in severely maimed patients: Baylor Plano officials found that Duntsch failed to meet their standards of care and permanently revoked his surgical privileges. The surgery had left him unable to move his arms and legs, making him a quadriplegic. Dr Duntsch botched 35 of the 38 surgeries he performed from 2011 to 2013 before his medical license was revoked. Why Did Dr. Death Do It? 'Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story' Explains Becker's Hospital Review covered the 13 worst physicians of 2017, as named by Medscape. Duntsch landed in jail on a $600,000 bond and waited for the trial to begin. 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. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. He said, "What I am being is what I am, one of kind, a mother f****r stone cold killer that can buy or own or steal or ruin or build whatever he wants.". Let's delve into what made him tick, and how the medical community failed the victims of Dr. Christopher Daniel Duntsch. IMDb "Dr. Death" is about Christopher Duntsch, an accredited but incompetent Dallas neurosurgeon, whose wrongdoing was close to butchery. [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. 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. At the time, Kane was dating Jerry Summer, a childhood friend of Duntsch. Only three of Duntsch's surgeries were performed with no complications. Duntsch continued operating despite clear signs that Martin was losing massive amounts of blood. [9][10], Duntsch had severed Brown's vertebral artery, and refused to abort despite the massive blood loss. To fellow surgeon Mark Hoyle, he said, "Everybody's doing it wrong. And so I think, backed into the corner of his whole life falling apart, he was even more certain of his brilliance at the end than he was at the beginning., I think it was a mixture of both intent and ineptitude, the actress told TheWrap. Christopher Duntsch, also known as "Dr. Death," was a neurosurgeon from Dallas, Texas who had a promising career in medicine until it took a disastrous turn. His best friend Jerry Summers (played by Dominic Burgess) was left a. It was as if he knew everything to do, Henderson, (played by Alec Baldwin in the Peacock series) toldProPublica, and then hed done virtually everything wrong.. The hospital saved face and avoided any lawsuits. There's so much news out there, headlines can slip through the cracks. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. I think everybody in the OR became pretty concerned because Dr. Duntsch was pulling a lot of muscle tissue out of Jerrys neck and there was just a lot of bleeding, Shughart, (portrayed in the series byAnnaSophia Robb), said of the surgery. They had discovered stem cells in human brain tumors. In 2017, he was convicted on five counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and sentenced to life in prison. At any given moment in doing the reporting, I had a different answer. [9] Texas Medical Board Revocation Order. "[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. No such thing. 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. 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. [13] In 2010, Duntsch moved to Dallas. All Duntsch got was a slap on the wrist while his blood-soaked foray into the OR continued. Like Boop, Dr. Robertson also gave Duntsch a great review. Duntsch initially attended Millsaps College to play Division III college football, and later transferred to Division I Colorado State University. So the more it became untrue that Duntsch was a good surgeon and it was so obvious and evident from everything that was going on in his life, the more he had to believe over and above everybody else. I think it was a mixture of both intent and ineptitude, Robb explained. Now, we're learning more about the true story of this horrific tale with Peacock's Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story. In the case of Dr. Out July 15, Dr. Death introduces viewers to Christopher Duntsch, a real-life Texas-based surgeon who in 2017 was sentenced to life in prison after maiming and even killing almost all of the nearly 40 patients he operated on between 2011 and 2013. During his residency program for neurosurgery, he completed fewer than 100 surgeries despite the expected 1,000 operations for a typical resident. The COO had accused Duntsch of violating his fiduciary duty to the company and of misappropriating funds. Duntsch jumped from hospital to hospital, none of which reported his botched procedures to a national database of physicians designed to protect against such instances. Kane came into the picture as a deposition witness. Then he also took prescription painkillers and ate a paper blotter of LSD. His investors took him to court. Probably not, Robb added. [8] Duntsch returned home to attend Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). It is an unfortunate reminder that even highly educated medical professionals are prone to human error when it comes to practicing medicine. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. In fact, he went on to work at two more hospitals. Christopher Duntsch was just a regular guy who became Dr. Death after he decided to be a neurosurgeon. The difference between Season 6 and the other seasons is it took me more than one surgery on several of the patients to get them fixed. Seven more doctors voiced complaints before TMB finally canceled Dr. Death's license.