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. Dr. Death might not have cared about being a surgeon, just the prestige that came with it. Its accessible only to hospitals, and facilities are federally mandated to report their delinquents. He also needed his legs. "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 . After his arrest, he still had those loving parents. She says she never saw him drunk or high or suffering from withdrawal symptoms. She was dancing at a strip club then, and Duntschs business problems were growing more severe. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Methods for the treatment of degenerative disc disease Patent number: 11168305 Jamie Dornan was originally attached to play Christopher in the beginning. 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. In July 2015, indictments came through. The two broke up in 2014, at which time Wendy was pregnant with their second child. In addition, he began to experience random fainting episodes andcomplex regional pain syndrome, a rare nervous system disorder causing skin blistersthat then slough off, as well as chronic pain and skin sensitivity. Surprisingly, his superiors at The University of Tennessee also gave him glowing reviews. Their suffering becomes yours. She also never reported Duntsch up the ladder. But before he left, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiners office. Thus, his license was revoked for good on December 6, 2013. The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education has strict rules about residency programs. If he wasnt doing research, he was out with Jerry Summers, partying, Morgan said in the deposition. He kept a handle of Stoli under his desk and said it was because he used to work with Russians. It is during this period that Duntschs carefully built faade began showing its first cracks. This could be path-breaking in the future ofcancer treatment andDr. Duntsch sniffed out the opportunity right away. This would be the first and last time Hoyle worked next to Duntsch. Wendy Renee Young met Duntsch at a bar in Memphis. 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. On average, a neurosurgeon generates more revenue for a hospital than all other specialties but invasive cardiology and orthopedic surgery. She arrived brain-dead. It was pouring out of the epidural blood vessels and pooling in the disc space. For Duntsch, the path into medicine was unconventional and, perhaps, a reflection of his tendency to fixate on unlikely goals. Days after Duntsch returned, he was fired. 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,. However, in the Peacock series, the couple is parents to only one child. It got to be too much. So the hospitals he worked for knew of his carelessness and sociopathic behavior in the OR. Lee Passmore cant feel his feet. This was the time when Dr. Christopher Duntsch started to turn intoDr. Death. He met Duntsch that day in the physician lounge at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, where the operation occurred. 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. Duntschdestroyed the lives of numerous patients who were seeking relief from back problems. His CV proclaims that he earned a doctorate in microbiology from the prestigious St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, graduating summa cum laude. And who will Dr. Death be? The 51-year-old recently starred in the USA true crime series, Dirty John, opposite Connie Britton. When Mary Efurd could no longer walk, Dallas Medical Center called in Dr. Henderson to salvage the botched surgery. He struggles with incontinence. Attorney James Girards was representing Lee Passmore, one of Duntsch's victims and reached out to her. Duntsch moved to Colorado to live with his parents, while Young stayed behind in Dallas with the couples son. 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. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. According to a police report obtained by The Texas Observer, Duntsch was captured on camera trying to steal $887 worth of merchandise, including pants, briefcases, cologne, watches and sun glasses. He couldnt help it. While the school refused to verify or deny his claims, he wasn't in any of the yearbooks of that time. Many shake and tremble, some have unimaginable pain. 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 . The 43-year-old new dad, who welcomed his first child with wife Jodie Turner-Smith last year, brought his WB experience to portray the charming aspect of the surgeon, as the other characters often call him on the show. Duntsch maintains that the practice didnt meet the promises it agreed to, and that it still owes him money. Duntsch was taken to jail for what Young referred to as a time out but his erratic behavior wouldnt end there. In it,was a mirror with cocaine and a rolled-up dollar bill on top. Duntsch is now living out his life behind bars, but Young told CNBC'sAmerican Greed earlier this year that the former neurosurgeon still regularly talks with his two young sons. 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.. And yet the actual tragedy is that someone could have stopped it. Soon, when Duntsch was requesting privileges at Baylor Plano, Robertson sent a letter to the hospital verifying Duntschs training. Sort of. Unequivocally, testified an expert witness, a neurosurgeon should stop practicing after incurring multiple patient deaths and severe outcomes. (Neither responded to requests for comment for this story.) Hed found a few months that were not accounted for in Duntschs educational history. We moved in together within three months, and then I became pregnant.. Lawsuits can cost hospitals millions of dollars and lost credibility, making it easier just tofire the offending doctor. There was Floella Brown, whose sliced vertebral artery triggered the stroke that killed her at Dallas Medical Center. 33 of his surgeries went horribly wrong. "Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story" and the scripted series "Dr. Death," starring Joshua Jackson, Alec Baldwin and Christian Slaterare both available to stream on Peacock now. But thats all. Last week, she had her third child, this one with her new partner. He was the eldest of four. He stayed local for medical school, enrolling the next year at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. The evidence said otherwise. Her body was in the Collin County Medical Examiners office in March 2012. After his license was revoked from the Texas Medical Board, Young and Duntsch were evicted from their home. According to ProPublica, Boop was aware of a complaint Duntsch used drugs before seeing patients. Dallas most important news stories of the week, delivered to your inbox each Sunday. Theres no blank here for that.. The couple had two children together. 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. 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. I dont want my name out there. Somebody knocks back and I am like Who in the f---is in my house, Young recalled in the four-part Peacock docuseries, (And if you want to dive even deeper into the story, you can also watch the scripted drama, on Peacock, starring Joshua Jackson, Alec Baldwin, and Christian Slater. Likely due to Duntsch'sattemptto staunch the blood loss, Brown suffered a buildup of pressure in her brain. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! According to court documents, Rimlawi soon grew suspicious of Duntsch. To fellow surgeon Mark Hoyle, he said, "Everybody's doing it wrong. 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. It was a revision of a patient whom he originally operated on at Baylor Plano. We talked about marriage pretty quickly. If a person died in the fourth-floor apartment of a complex in Collin County, Passmore was the one who hiked up those four flights with somewhere around 20 pounds of gear on his back and got that body back down. Its hard to find good conversation with a random person, Young says. But for his victims, the judgment was a big relief. She was a National . When Duntsch tried to reposition it, he stripped a screw; the cage wasnt going anywhere. Unfortunately, Martin and Brown were not alive to tell their tale. That July, Duntsch was firing off panicked emails to his business partners at 4 am on a Monday morning: My reputation has been ruined, he wrote. Digging into Christopher Duntsch's personal and professional life, Dr. Death paints a detailed portrait of a possible sociopath. It's thrilling if uncomfortable to listen. Also present, according to Kane, was Jerry Summers, the childhood friend who would later wake up a quadriplegic after a Duntsch operation. Out of his 38 surgeries, only three had no complications. He didnt contact a lawyer, although he wrestled with the decision. Not a single doctor, surgeon, staff, or the pathologist of the autopsy every [sic] stated that I surgically caused vascular injury, he wrote. Now, one of the several complaints against the . Prosecutors used testimony from patients and the doctors who corrected their surgeries to argue that Duntsch's outcomes were more than mere medical error. According to Young, there was even a ransom note for her and her two children written in blood. Henderson was brought in to operate two days later. The procedure was routine and involved removing bone tissue in the spine to alleviate pressure on afflicted nerves. Patrick Clerkin, a longtime friend, stopped at the doorway with his two kids as well as Passmores 7- and 9-year-old girls. The hospitals didnt do their due diligence until it was too late, and those who couldve spoken up didnt. Duntsch, again, maintains this wasnt true. Christopher Duntsch, 44, faces up to life in prison if convicted. In the two years he practiced as a spine surgeon across four Dallas institutions, Duntsch operated on 37 people. Dr Christopher Duntsch is accused of causing agony to countless patients or worse during the three years he practiced medicine in Dallas. They dont want to go participate in any extraneous activities, and he was totally fine going to work.. He told her he had been attacked by an investigator for the attorneys representing his patients, but that was never corroborated. Passmore later discovered that, less than a week after his second surgery, Duntsch had operated on 45-year-old Barry Morguloff. Duntsch allegedly arrivedat the hospital three hours after the surgery wasplanned to start and began the procedure. Meanwhile, Brown went brain dead and passed away. Through his career, reports of him doing rounds under the influence were commonplace. His emails were crazy, Van Wey recalled in the docuseries. Those are the words that Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a Dallas neurosurgeon, wrote to his girlfriend in 2011 in the midst of a two-year period that left 33 of his 38 patients maimed, wounded or. He says Fennells surgery went so well that he agreed to be in a commercial for Baylor Plano. In March 2012, Duntsch performed alaminectomy on Kellie Martin to reduce her back pain after afallat home. He wasn't concerned about the drugs in his system while he did his rounds. Copyright 2023, D Magazine Partners, Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Philip is one of more than 30 people maimed by Dr. Christopher Duntsch, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media. Unlike a TV series where you get to see the character,a podcast is darker. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. Creating cells from a culture would eliminate the need for human extraction; there was huge potential upside. He seemed really distraught and I was scared, she said of the father of her two children. 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. Philip Mayfield experienced back pain and chronic conditions related to his longtime career driving tractor-trailers. Investigations took patients and attorneys back to where Duntsch had had such a promising beginningin Memphis, at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where he earned both an M.D. His investors took him to court. During Brown's surgery, Duntsch pierced her vertebral artery. The evidence said otherwise. The world at large may have never heard of Dr. Death but for Laura Beil. How old was Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things season 1? 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. She didnt think much of it at first. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 28, 2021 Martin was his first patient back, and it was the last operation he performed at that hospital. But as Duntsch worked, Hoyle looked over and saw blood and not much else. 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. Around that same time, Duntschs behavior was becoming erratic. What made him cause damage, trauma and even death to his patients? A few weeks later I took my first son to visit him for Christmas and then I became pregnant, Young said. Suite 2100 He, too, had an injury to his left vertebral artery, and the incision was far from where it shouldve been and had begun to leak pus. Next week marks the five-year anniversary of Texas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch being sentenced to life in prison. But its the only way to get anybody to listen. I dont know if hes there to harm me or what his true intentions were, she said in the docuseries. He is a graduate of Evangelical Christian School in the Cordova suburb of Memphis, where he starred in football. Life After "Death": Lethal Surgeon Sentenced to PrisonWATCH NEXT: Attorney who represented Dr. Duntsch's patients discusses her cases (3 of 5) https://youtu.. It was clear to anyone whos not a complete idiot that they were a thing, he says. Take the case of Dr. Death, aka Dr. Christopher Duntsch. 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. His fellow neurosurgeons found him to be fast-talking and cocksure, a bit of a loner. Jackson stars as Christopher Duntsch, the titular nicknamed neurosurgeon, in Peacock's limited series based on the Wondery podcast of the same name (and of course the real-life former doctor's. In her deposition, Morgan said Baylor Plano President Jerri Garison called both of them to her office and told them what Summers had said. Christopher Duntsch, once a supremely confident neurosurgeon with a solid rsum and a wealth of potential, fled town in disgrace last year under a scalding cascade . Beil is a journalist who has specialized in science and medical writing for 20 years, and lives in the Dallas area where much of Christopher Duntsch's story takes place. Like Summers, Floella Browns vertebral artery was damaged, causing massive bleeding. Other doctors had to perform surgery to save his life. He was a phenomenal partner right up until the pandemic hit and we got shut down. He also vibrateshis chest shakes, his right hand jitters. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Base compensation was $600,000 a year for two years, beginning on June 14, 2011. Hoyle stepped in front of Duntsch to block his way. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. One surgeon described these as never events. They shouldnt ever happen in someones entire career. Duntsch's initial presentation bowled him over. The eight-part series tells the harrowing true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch who, across two years, injured 32 of his 38 patients. Summers declined an interview in Memphis and would not answer questions on the phone. In April 2012, just over four months removed from that initial surgery, Passmore returned to work. He has a job inside the prison. Around this time, Drs. Hes jailed on a $600,000 bond, and his trial is set for January 31, 2017. According to the prosecutors, TMB had many complaints on file. Kane dated Summers for a year. What turned Dr. Christopher Duntsch into Dr. Death? I knocked on my door. This very friend would later end up a quadriplegic under Duntsch's weapon of a scalpel. Portrayed in the Peacock miniseries, "Dr. Death," the Dallas spinal surgeon is responsible for helping stop Dr. Christopher Duntsch, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 after leaving . Morgan was present in the operating room during Passmores surgery. Yet, instead of saving lives and using his knowledge for good, the opposite happened. 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. Henderson actually checked if Duntsch was a real doctor with The University of Tennessee, appalled at the damage to Efurd's spine. But that isn't the scariest part. That's when he moved to Colorado to live with his parents. That said; the 12 jurors did what the Texas Medical Board should have done. The Dallas County DA, along with fighting against these very laws, was also running out of time. I cried when they said life imprisonment, Young said of the verdict. As these cases became public record, rumors circulated of late-night partying leading into early-morning rounds, and whispers of drug and alcohol abuse became shouts. The thing is, if you dont push this, with everybody else settling, theyre getting away with it again., 750 North St.Paul St. On April 9, 2013, Mayfield underwent surgery performed by Duntsch to remove a troublesome disk from his spine. It still feels as if his feet are asleep. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Duntsch, Kukekov, and Ignatova are listed as its inventors. Armed with Baylors declaration that it never amended his privileges, Duntsch found work in four months. Neurosurgeon residents need to complete 1,000 surgeries as training requirements. And scary as it may seem, it's only when we listen to podcasts like these, do we realize the reality of medical horror stories. He wanted to ask them questions. Or was Duntsch just good at hiding his true self? The arrest report said he was driving on two flat tires. 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. The real question isn't why Dr. Duntsch did what he did. [7] Due to his actions, Brown suffered a stroke that night, but Duntsch didn't responded to hospital pages. It was sent on a Friday at 4 am. Ghostbar, Dragonfly at Hotel Zaza. Dr. The Texas DA chose six patients to make their case to the jury: Lee Passmore, Barry Morguloff, Jerry Summers, Kellie Martin, Floella Brown, and Mary Efurd. He didnt not want to. The operation continued. Duntsch had allegedly tried to steal the pair of pants by changing into the new pair in a Wal-Mart dressing room and placing his own pants into the shopping cart. He kept her on after splitting from Rimlawi and Won. 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. What made this well-recommended neurosurgeon harm his patients and himself? Prosecutors argued that the disgraced doctor had used his scalpel and hands as weapons to seriously injure or kill his patients. And this was 10 months before Duntsch's last surgery. His license gone, Duntsch went off the rails. 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. Martin paid with her lifebecause her doctor was too proud to say he screwed up. His father was a missionary and physical therapist and his mother was a school teacher. The full story of Duntsch's actions can be read in Matt Goodman's D Magazine feature from 2016, when the magazine first coined him "Dr. Death.". Duntsch declined a jailhouse interview, but he has called the allegations preposterous. Christopher Duntsch has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. A few months after the shoplifting arrest, Duntsch was charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault and injuring an elderly person for the damage he did on the operating table. In September 2014, after he and Young had separated, Duntsch was arrested for jumping the fence of Youngs sisters Garland home and attempting to take their child, Aiden. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. Talking to the Dallas Morning News in 2014, Duntsch said he provided the test and was clean. Its less than a millimeter from the spinal canal. ( Source : instagram ) Young is also the mother of another child with her new boyfriend. Finally, it was the Texas Medical Board (TMB) that acted too late, too little. He later told Duntsch to his face that he was dangerous. Like, he wasnt scared. At first, Passmore didnt think much about the way Duntsch and his assistant, Kimberly Morgan, interacted. Over the course of 18-months, the nefarious ex-surgeon performed a spree of botched. Duntsch landed in jail on a $600,000 bond and waited for the trial to begin. I thought he was either really, really good, or hes just really, really arrogant and thought he was good, Hoyle says now. He promises to take all pain and suffering away. 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. 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. You dont get to walk away from two or three years of medical training, in the middle of an internship or a residency, get to take time off and be slotted directly in the position you left in with no questions asked. There's so much news out there, headlines can slip through the cracks. The University of Tennessee refused to comment on grounds of confidentiality, but neurosurgeon Dr. Frederick Boop, under whom Duntsch completed his residency, knew. He had a room upstairs in the Plano house. The company, Discgenics, is still going, and still holds the patents, listingDuntsch, Ignatova, and Kukekov as the inventors. Young said Duntschfollowed her and told her he could explain the bizarre scene. A string of arrests for DWI, shoplifting, and more followed. Lopez answers Henderson's frustrationin a somber tone, sayingthat while you may know a doctor is bad, gathering evidence takes time. He thought surgery might give him some relief, eliminate the need for drugs, solve both problems at once. Jackson stars as Christopher Duntsch, the titular nicknamed neurosurgeon, in Peacock's limited series based on the Wondery podcast of the same name (and of course the real-life former doctor's . Anton Floquet/NBCUniversal, I knocked on my door. 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. After this late-night party,Duntsch went to work the next morning. St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital at that time. Duntsch also received 40 percent of all revenue he generated beyond $800,000 each year. I thought it was pretty amazing that he was even able to go to work the next day, she said in the deposition. Duntsch calls thisand most other claimsnonsense. 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.
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