Due to these legal hurdles and costly lawyer fees on the plaintiff's part, few hospitals end up having to pay out after facing a malpractice lawsuit. Mary Efurd: While Brown was dying, Duntsch was operating on Mary Efurd, a 71-year-old anxious to return to her treadmill after surgery to relieve her back pain. They created a method for culturing the stem cells of intervertebral discs outside of the body. Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and . B. Ellis Unit outside Huntsville. He recommended fusing two of her vertebrae and the insertion of "hardware" in her spinal area. Duntsch arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes after Efurd's surgery had been scheduled. He then packed it with too much of a substance intended to stop the bleeding. Dr. Henderson thought the operation on Mary Efurd was so botched that Christopher Duntsch had to be an imposter. Dr. Robert Henderson was brought in on July 28, 2012, to perform a revision surgery on Efurd. 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 . During surgery, he cut a major vessel in her spinal cord. Written by Patrick Macmanus, the show will only be available exclusively on Peacock. 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. Death', "Texas Jury Imposes Life Sentence on Neurosurgeon", "The Making and Breaking of Dr. "Christopher Duntsch" (Dr. Death)", "Season 14 of CNBC's 'American Greed' Premieres Monday, January 18 at 10PM", Dr. Death: The Texas Surgeon Who Paralyzed his Patients, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Duntsch&oldid=1139253982. The Peacock originalDr Deathis based on atrue story. He ran two labs, gained experience writing grants, and earned more than $3 million in funding for research projects. Their fling was confined to his office at Baylor Plano, and Morgan said in her deposition that he frequently drank vodka and did medical research for hours. [13] In 2010, Duntsch moved to Dallas. The show starsJoshua Jackson,Grace Gummer, AnnaSophia Robb,Christian SlaterandAlec Baldwin. Plans start at $4.99/month. 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. She also said that he kept a pile of cocaine on his dresser in his home office. Legacy Surgery Center in Frisco (now Frisco Ambulatory Surgery Center). Texas law states that hospitals are liable for damages caused by doctors in their facilities only if the plaintiff can prove that the hospital acted with "malice"that is, the hospital knew of the extreme risk and ignored itin credentialing a doctor. [48], In 2019, Duntsch was the focus of the premiere episode of License to Kill, Oxygen's series on criminal medical professionals. 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. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. Former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch is one of the most infamous doctors ever brought to trial in a criminal case, and with good reason. The patient was Mary Efurd coming in for a second operation. Henderson then cleaned out bone fragments and discovered that one of Efurd's nerve roots was gone entirely. In November 2011, he was hooked on the prescription opiates that numbed the pain in his lower back. Thankfully, this ended up being Dr. Christopher Duntsch's last operation. In effect, plaintiffs have to prove a tough case without access to the necessary hospital records. Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. When Martin awoke from anesthesia, she was screaming and clawing at her legs which had become patchy and full of purple streaks and spots. In 2014, he developed syringomyelia, a painful condition that causes fluid-filled cysts on the spinal cord. 3-Jeff Glidewell, another victim of Duntsch's. 4-Michelle Shugart, the woman who brought this all to fruition . As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email written by Christopher Duntsch. Advertisements. Dr. Death, read about how reckless surgeon Robert Liston killed his patient and two bystanders. Premiering Thursday on . Finally, Dr. Kirby received a call from Hassan Chahadeh. Kane also recalled a cocaine- and LSD-fueled night of partying between her, her ex-boyfriend, and Duntsch where, after the end of their all-night party, she saw Duntsch put on his lab coat and go to work. The series peers into the torturous crimes of . [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. In 2010, he completed the MDPhD and neurosurgery residency programs at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center,[3] and subsequently completed a spine fellowship program at the Semmes-Murphey Clinic in Memphis. A deranged surgeon runs amok, maiming and killing multiple patients, unhindered by a medical community sworn to police itself. 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. (The Associated Press) A Texas neurosurgeon branded a "sociopath" by his colleagues could be facing 99 years in prison over multiple charges of intentionally botching . Immediately, he started yelling and cussing at me, saying, 'How dare you? In his deposition, Summers admitted he made up the pre-surgery cocaine binge because he felt Duntsch had abandoned him, as both his doctor and his friend. Page opened a desk drawer and saw a mirror with a pile of cocaine and a rolled-up dollar bill on top. [29] Texas Attorney General and current Governor 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. 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. She came in to have two vertebrae fused, but when she woke up she experienced severe pain and couldnt stand. [30], Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move elsewhere and still theoretically get a medical license. As a result, Summers lost almost 1,200 mL of blood. No diagnostic imaging studies were ordered, and no reasonable explanation was offered for his condition. I am sorry in advance that this blog post is so long. The board called in veteran neurosurgeon Martin Lazar to review the case. Why do Slipknot wear masks and what do they look like without? Part of the problem was being able to prove that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. The appalling actions of the rogue surgeon and their repercussions on his unsuspecting patients were . Duntsch's trial has been called a precedent-setting case, as it's the first time that a physician has been convicted on criminal charges for actions in the course of their medical work and malpractice involving botched surgery. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. He remained there for several months before being allowed to return to the residency. The day that Brown suffered her stroke, Duntsch operated again. Christopher was raised along with his three younger siblings in a wealthy suburb in Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Anatomy of a Tragedy. [7] He likened what he found when he opened Efurd up to the results of a child playing with Tinkertoys or an erector set. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. 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. Peacock's Dr. Death is a chilling dramatization of the real-life story of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch. He later recalled that he read about Martin's death on the day before the surgery, but Duntsch cursed him out when he called to ask about it. They didn't have enough evidence to stop him because he hadn't done anything wrong yet. "I called Dr. Duntsch up, and I said, 'I saw this online.' Left: WFAA-TV, Right: D MagazineLeft: Christopher Duntsch in surgery, Right: Christopher Duntschs mugshot. Everything went perfect in there." 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. Finally, the board permanently revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. February 22, 2017. ", You know in the beginning he talked about marriage. 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 . among the top 12 percent of medical school graduates in his class named to the elite Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Morguloff sought a second opinion on his excruciating pain from Dr. Michael Desaloms. When he arrived, Nurse Kyle Kissinger spotted a hole in Duntsch's scrubs. Passmore had a herniated disc in his lower spine pressing on a nerve causing him pain. Dr. Christopher Duntsch became the subject of a Peacock original series for all the wrong reasons. After interviewing dozens of Duntsch's patients and their survivors, prosecutors concluded that Duntsch's acts were indeed criminal, and nothing short of imprisonment would prevent him from practicing medicine again. February 21, 2017 / 5:45 AM / CBS News. It involves the case of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a spinal neurosurgeon who left a trail of dead and permanently disabled . 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. By this time, however, Brown was brain dead. [9] Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of oversight by the hospitals. An anesthesiologist and Dr. Anson Fulton, who assisted with the surgery, warned Duntsch about the blood loss, and he continued to ignore them and operate. South Hampton Community Hospital in Dallas (now University General Hospital). Kirby arrived and transferred Glidewell to a top-tier hospital to perform an emergency operation to remove the sponge. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. [18] He damaged patient Philip Mayfield's spinal cord, drilling into it and leaving him partially paralyzed from the neck down. Even worse, some of the patients never got the chance to wake up. ", "Doctor Guilty of Felony Medical Malpractice", "Disciplinary actions against doctors have plunged during the pandemic, but that doesn't mean they are behaving", "An Update on Dr. Death Victim Philip Mayfield", "Jeff Glidewell Today: Where Is Dr. Death's Last Patient Now? Christopher Duntsch is confirmed to have injured 31 patients and killed two . He was a forty-five-year-old man with typical back problems. [9][16], As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email in which Duntsch boasted 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 suit alleged that Baylor Plano made an average net profit of $65,000 on every spinal surgery performed by Duntsch. 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. Duntsch received his undergraduate degree from the University of Memphis and stayed in town to receive an M.D. [23][19][24], While operating on Efurd, Duntsch severed one of her nerve roots during spinal fusion surgery while operating on the wrong portion of her back, twisted a screw into another nerve, left screw holes on the opposite side of her spine, failed to remove the disc he was supposed to remove, and left surgical hardware in her muscle tissue so loose that it moved when touched. Duntsch continued operating despite clear signs that Martin was losing massive amounts of blood. The night before his surgery, he read online about Kellie Martin's death just months earlier. [16] In 2021, he was profiled on CNBC's American Greed. However, he sewed up Glidewell with the sponge still in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. One day, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiner's office. His CV also conveyed he earned a Ph.D. in microbiology from St. Jude Children's Research Hospitals, graduating summa cum laude. August 28, 2013, 2:01 . Every victim deserves to have their story told, and unfortunately, Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death, has 33. [4], Early in his tenure at Baylor Plano, Duntsch made a poor impression on his fellow surgeons. He did his surgical residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, spending five years studying neurosurgery and a year studying general surgery. [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]. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. Dr. Mark Hoyle, a surgeon who worked with Duntsch during one of his botched procedures, told D Magazine that he would make extremely arrogant announcements such as: Everybody is doing it wrong. The case highlights the risks of allowing a troubled physician to move to another hospital . Through it all, Duntsch was able to lure patient after patient under his knife was his extreme confidence. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. In September 2012, Jeff Cheney went to Duntsch to relieve the pain that had moved from his shoulder down to his arm. Duntsch severed his vertebral nerve, his vocal cords, cut a hole in his esophagus, sliced through an artery, and mistook part of his neck muscle as a tumor. Dr. Duntsch said to Cheney, "I don't know why you're this way. Despite all of this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. He might have been fired from the Institute but was still a surgeon at Baylor Plano. I dont know if hes there to harm me or what his true intentions were, Wendy Young said of the harrowing alleged encounter with Christopher Duntsch. [38] Shughart countered that the 2011 email, sent after his first surgeries went wrong, proved that Duntsch knew his actions were intentional. "[3] A neurosurgery expert for Duntsch's defense team himself said, "The conditions which created Dr.Duntsch still exist, thereby making it possible for another to come along. Young had family in Dallas and decided she would go with him if he picked that city. Homesick, Duntsch left Colorado after a year and transferred to Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis. He later appealed his case, but lost when his conviction was upheld 2-1 in the Fifth District Court of Appeals . Henderson sent Duntsch's picture to the University of Tennessee to determine whether he had a degree from that institution and received confirmation that Duntsch was not a fraud. He was brilliant. Trusty was never told she was participating in an infomercial and believed Duntsch had been selected as the top neurosurgeon in Dallas and was participating in a video about the award. After interviewing dozens of Duntsch's patients and their survivors, prosecutors concluded that Duntsch's actions were indeed criminal, and nothing short of imprisonment would prevent him from practicing medicine again. But police say an email Duntsch wrote in 2011 points to his mind-set in the months before he "intentionally, knowingly and . Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971)[1] is a former American neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death[2] for gross malpractice resulting in the maiming of several patients' spines and two deaths while working at hospitals in the DallasFort Worth metroplex. 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. However, Mayfield still woke up with paralysis on occasion. He has taken Baylor Plano to court over changing the Texas law requiring patients to prove that a hospital intended to harm them when it granted privileges to someone unsafe. Death'? Before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board, he was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 . [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. He realized he'd seen that hole for three straight days Duntsch hadn't changed his scrubs all week. Dr Deathis a new limited series about the rise and fall of Duntsch. I thought he was either really, really good, or hes just really, really arrogant and thought he was good, Hoyle said. Dr. Hassan Chahadeh, the owner, said when Duntsch had applied for privileges, his record was clean. He refused to acknowledge anything was wrong, hindering the, This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 04:48. Death,' Dallas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch", "Texas neurosurgeon nicknamed 'Dr. Next week marks the five-year anniversary of Texas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch being sentenced to life in prison. [9] He was suspected of being under the influence of cocaine while operating during his fourth year of residency training, and was sent to a program for impaired physicians. Lee Passmore was thirty-seven and worked as a field agent for the Collin County medical examiner. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary. Unfortunately, it's all too real. When he called Duntsch's office, he was told it would "go away." In 2005, partway through the six-year program, he became the director of the tissue bank. This case was filed in Dallas County District Courts, Dallas County Civil District Courts located in Dallas, Texas. Philip is one of more than 30 people maimed by Dr. Christopher Duntsch, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media. During a deposition, Megan Krane recalled Duntsch eating a paper blotter of LSD and taking prescription painkillers on his birthday. 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. And its all because of one surgeon named Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. They also believed that the 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. However, things soon went south. Baylor Plano allowed Duntsch to continue operating despite the documented issues with Kenneth Fennell, Mary Efurd, Lee Passmore, and Barry Morguloff's surgeries. Christopher Duntsch. While there, he damaged patient Jeff Cheney's spinal cord, leaving him without feeling on the right side of his body. However, during training for neurosurgery he followed a research path and did fewer operations than most trainees. Shughart argued that Duntsch should have known he would 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. He added that many board members found it hard to believe that a trained surgeon could be as incompetent as Duntsch appeared to be.[9]. Then came the fax, and he saw Duntsch's name next to Kellie Martin's. Although she didn't think much of it and assumed Morgan was helping with research. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. [7], Henderson later recalled wondering if Duntsch was an impostor; he could not believe that a real surgeon would botch Efurd's surgery so badly. [4][5] In 2017, he was convicted of maiming one of his patients and sentenced to life imprisonment. "Dr. Duntsch is one great man." ", "Plano's Baylor hospital faces hard questions after claims against former neurosurgeon", "Barry Morguloff's suit against the Baylor Health Care System", "Was Wendy Renee Young Dr. Death's Wife? Passmore can't feel his feet; his chest shakes, his right-hand jitters, he can't run or swim with his kids, he struggles with incontinence, and he has nerve pain that fires through his back. Joshua Jackson went to the dark side to play Dr. Christopher Duntsch, who's serving a life sentence for maiming a woman during surgery, in the new Peacock series Dr. Death. She was dancing at a strip club in Memphis, and Duntsch's issues with his business, DiscGenics, grew more severe. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. He didn't wear underwear. [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. He had complex regional pain syndrome, a rare type of chronic pain that caused his skin to blister and peel off. Death. Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971) is a former American neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death for gross malpractice resulting in the maiming of several patients' spines and two deaths while working at hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.. Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before his license was revoked by the . The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. 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. At the time, hospitals were not required to report doctors who only had temporary privileges. The lead investigator on the case later revealed that she wanted Duntsch's license suspended while the ten-month probe was underway, but board attorneys were not willing to go along. To see the rest of Dr. Christopher Duntsch's murder and maiming spree, and the fight to stop him, you'll need to purchase Peacock premium. Lee Passmore's screams poured out from the ICU and down the hallway. Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move and theoretically get a medical license in another state. The Texas Medical Board would later conclude that Brown died of excessive blood loss and a stroke, according to The Texas Observer . On April 9, 2013, Phillip Mayfield was scheduled to have a simple 45-minute operation to alleviate his back pain.