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. [4][49], Last edited on 14 February 2023, at 04:48, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Plano, Texas District and County Attorneys Association, "Dr. Duntsch defense expert: "The only way this happens is the entire system fails the patients", "Plano Doctor Suspended After Two Patient Deaths", "Former Neurosurgeon Faces Life In Prison After Guilty Verdict", "What Was Dr. Christopher Duntsch's Background And Why Were People So Impressed With The Man Later Known As 'Dr. Duntsch is a former neurosurgeon born in 1971 in Montana . Duntsch told Mayfield's wife it went well, but she instantly knew something was wrong as she walked into his room. B. Ellis Unit outside Huntsville. Jerry Summers believed that his best friend Christopher Duntsch was a talented neurosurgeon who would cure his chronic neck pain. His CV also conveyed he earned a Ph.D. in microbiology from St. Jude Children's Research Hospitals, graduating summa cum laude. During his tenure at Baylor Plano, Kimberly Morgan assisted in every surgery with Duntsch. Over objections from Duntsch's lawyers, prosecutors called many of Duntsch's other patients to the stand to prove that his actions were intentional. Those words continue to haunt her, and she's tormented by the knowledge that her endorsement caused others to select Duntsch themselves. Morgan says they spent a lot of time in clubs. One of the patients who suffered disastrous consequences was Jerry Summers, the boyfriend of Megan Kane and a friend of Christopher Duntsch. During his short tenure, he spent little time in the operating room. Even if a plaintiff wins the maximum award, after you pay your lawyer and your experts and go through, potentially, years of trial, not much is left. 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 . (Dallas County Jail via AP) Gift Article. He did his surgical residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, spending five years studying neurosurgery and a year studying general surgery. From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx His first and only surgery with MISI was on a Thursday in September 2011 at Baylor Plano. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the lucrative salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his mounting financial problems. In 2017, Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of maiming one of his patients. They talked about marriage quickly, and they moved in together within three months. He was left with only one vocal cord, permanent damage to his esophagus, and partial paralysis on his left side. He died in 2021 of an infection related to complications from Duntsch's operation. Now, his time at the university . Christopher Duntsch is currently imprisoned at the O.B. [4][5] In 2017, he was convicted of maiming one of his patients and sentenced to life imprisonment. [16] In 2021, he was profiled on CNBC's American Greed. He said even a person with the most basic sense of human anatomy would know they were operating in the wrong area. ", You know in the beginning he talked about marriage. However, he ignored them and proceeded with his scheduled surgery on Efurd. But soon his patients started to experience complications, and the system failed to protect them. Your trust is important to us. The Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. Peacock's Dr. Death is a chilling dramatization of the real-life story of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch. Duntsch approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. 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. Facebook Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch. The series follows two other surgeons, along with . Jerry Summers, who grew up with Christopher Duntsch in Tennessee, was left a quadriplegic after agreeing to let "Dr. Death" operate on his neck. Chahadeh was worried about his facility and getting sued by Duntsch; he said to Dr. Kirby that they had already given him privileges. A spill of more than 500,000-gallons of crude oil from the Keystone Pipeline in December in Kansas was caused by a combination of a faulty weld and "bending stress fatigue" on the pipe, the . He called Duntsch's fellowship supervisor in Memphis and the supervisor of Duntsch's residency; it was then that he learned about the incident that led him to be referred to the impaired physician program. But when he awoke and was experiencing extreme pain, Dr. Duntsch said that surgery had been a success and there had been no complications. Passmore says if he settles, he is allowing the hospital to continue to get away with their negligence. [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. The story of Dr. Death, Christopher Duntsch, feels like something out of a movie or book. However, Mayfield still woke up with paralysis on occasion. He refused to acknowledge anything was wrong, hindering the, This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 04:48. [35], The last charge was for the maiming and paralyzing of Efurd. Christopher Duntsch - AKA Dr. Death - spent 18 months as a practicing surgeon at multiple Texas hospitals until he had his license revoked in 2013. The appalling actions of the rogue surgeon and their repercussions on his unsuspecting patients were . 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 . Trusty would later find out there was no award and it had just been a paid advertisement. However, during training for neurosurgery he followed a research path and did fewer operations than most trainees. Lazar was scathingly critical of Duntsch's work. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Duntsch operated and flew out to Las Vegas without securing a call physician. [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. After the operation, Brown woke up and seemed fine, but early the following day; she lost consciousness. His father was a missionary and physical therapist and his mother was a school teacher. He was then brought on board at the Dallas Medical Center where he continued his carnage. He thought it was odd that Duntsch wasn't working at Baylor Plano anymore, so he called his insurance company, who stated Christopher Duntsch was in good standing. He called Duntsch's fellowship supervisor in Memphis, as well as the supervisor of Duntsch's residency; it was then that he learned about the incident that led him to be referred to the impaired physician program. He was left with pain so debilitating he could not work any longer and now spends most of his days at home. Now, one of the several complaints against the . He declared bankruptcy after listing debts of over $1 million. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary. 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. DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch has been sentenced to life in prison for a series of botched spinal surgeries, reports CBS . Why do Slipknot wear masks and what do they look like without? To top it all off, he was operating on the wrong portion of her back. He then prescribed Muse so much Percocet that a pharmacist refused to fill the prescription. However, St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital. He realized he'd seen that hole for three straight days Duntsch hadn't changed his scrubs all week. Duntsch had come highly recommended to Fennell and wooed him with boasts that he'd soon be head of Baylor Medical Center's entire neurosurgery department. It was completely unnecessary, didn't relieve her pain, and only set her up for another needed surgery. Dr. Hassan Chahadeh, the owner, said when Duntsch had applied for privileges, his record was clean. The hospital initiated another peer review, but Duntsch resigned rather than face certain termination. However, the surgery had to be moved to November 14 because Duntsch had failed to order the appropriate surgical hardware and equipment. In July 2015, a grand jury indicted Dr. Death on five counts of aggravated assault and one count of harming an elderly person, his patient Mary Efurd, according to Rolling Stone. ", "Surgeon who wrote of becoming killer is denied bail reduction", "Elderly couple attends court hoping for justice in Duntsch case", "Who Were The Victims Of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, Who Earned The Ominous Nickname 'Dr. 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. Despite his colleagues being [] Christopher Duntsch, known as "Dr. Death" tried to explain himself in rambling emails, but he only made things worse for his criminal case. 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. Out of his 38 surgeries, only three had no complications. 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. [9] Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of oversight by the hospitals. He was put on probation for three weeks and told to stick to relatively minor procedures when he returned. [14] He persuaded Young to come with him; Young agreed, since she had grown up in the Dallas area. He remained there for several months before being allowed to return to the residency. Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of hospital oversight. Muse spiraled into opioid addiction that cost him his wife and his job. I left with him and believed in him and then, you know, he just kind of fell apart.. Wendy Renee Young was romantically involved with Texas physician Christopher Duntsch, who became known as "Dr . Summers had a credit card in his name connected to Duntsch's account and would drive him around, balance his checkbooks, and pick up his dry cleaning. Christopher Duntsch was nicknamed Dr. Death due to the injuries he caused his patients. Duntsch focused on his research for a while but was recruited from Memphis to join the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute in North Dallas in the summer of 2011. Her husband could not hold himself up; he had no support of his own and could barely speak. 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. Around 2006 and 2007, Duntsch began to become unhinged. Unfortunately, when Fennell woke up from surgery, he was paralyzed from the waist down. 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. In February 2012, he went under the knife for an elective spinal fusion surgery. Dr. Death in surgery. His girlfriend, Wendy Young, had a second son in September 2014. He claimed he was the best in Dallas. The criminal conviction of Christopher Duntsch, MD, PhD, holds important lessons for risk managers. Dr. Henderson thought the operation on Mary Efurd was so botched that Christopher Duntsch had to be an imposter. 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. Duntsch arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes after Efurd's surgery had been scheduled. 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. He then packed it with too much of a substance intended to stop the bleeding. He was a forty-five-year-old man with typical back problems. He wrote grants and secured more than $3 million in funding. 0:05. How could Dr. Christopher Duntsch practice medicine for as long as he did without being stopped? His case is receiving renewed attention in the media. But police say an email Duntsch wrote in 2011 points to his mind-set in the months before he "intentionally, knowingly and . When Morgan asked Duntsch about the woman in his house, he said she was just his secretary and friend. Where is Kim Morgan Now? He recommended fusing two of her vertebrae and the insertion of "hardware" in her spinal area. After undergoing physical rehabilitation, Mayfield was able to walk with a cane but continued to experience paralysis on the right side of his body and in his left arm. After a breath test, Duntsch was arrested for DUI and sent to a detox facility. But, he can only walk 30 feet at a time and cannot stand for more than a few minutes. [19], In July 2015, approximately a year and a half after his license was revoked, Duntsch was arrested in Dallas and charged with six felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, and one count of injury to an elderly person. He is not eligible for parole until 2045; he will be 74 years old by then. Im the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state.. After this look at Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. That's why it really shined down to me," Kissinger said in an interview. Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. Christopher Duntsch ended up at Millsaps College in Mississippi to play football and was offered financial aid. The hospital called Rimlawi when it couldn't reach his colleague. When other doctors discovered the sponge, Duntsch refused to return to help remove it. As a young neurosurgeon in Texas, Duntsch killed . "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. 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. [44] The Dallas County district attorney's office called it "a historic case with respect to prosecuting a doctor who had done wrong during surgery. 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]. 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. Fennell is in constant pain, and it took several months of rehabilitation before he could begin to walk with a cane. When he woke, he could not move anything on the right side of his body. Leaving on April 20, 2012, with a lawyer-negotiated letter saying, "All areas of concern with regard to Christopher D. Duntsch have been closed. The day that Brown suffered her stroke, Duntsch operated again. [4], Early in his tenure at Baylor Plano, Duntsch made a poor impression on his fellow surgeons. Passmore had a herniated disc in his lower spine pressing on a nerve causing him pain. 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. In his first surgery after his suspension lifted, he nicked the vertebral artery of Kellie Martin, a 55-year-old Garland woman. South Hampton Community Hospital in Dallas (now University General Hospital). Duntsch stuffed a surgical sponge in Glidewell's throat to stanch the bleeding. A CT scan would later reveal that Efurds nerve root had been amputated, there were several screw holes nowhere near where they were supposed to be, and one screw had been lodged in another nerve root. Passmore focused on recovery and getting back to work in the months following his surgery. 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 . "[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. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. Due to the debilitating pain, Fennell later had a second operation by Duntsch to relieve it, and was left significantly paralyzed in his legs. 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. 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. Many readers may recognize the name Christopher Duntsch, a doctor who allegedly was negligent in his practice for years before finally being stripped of his medical license. He thought surgery might give him some relief and stop his need for drugs. He was tragically mistaken. 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. The case status is Disposed - Other Disposed. Dr. Duntsch came from a good family and showed considerable potential at medical school. [30], Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move elsewhere and still theoretically get a medical license. A deranged surgeon runs amok, maiming and killing multiple patients, unhindered by a medical community sworn to police itself. The Peacock originalDr Deathis based on atrue story. Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch first met in 2011 at a Beauty Shop bar in Memphis. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. This time on 53-year-old Mary Efurd. Left: Christopher Duntsch in surgery, Right: Christopher Duntschs mugshot. A Texas neurosurgeon accused of intentionally botching multiple spinal surgeries, resulting in the death of two . When Duntsch finally returned on Monday, he was fired. [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. 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. Christopher Duntsch was a neurosurgeon who radiated confidence. [7] He lasted for less than a week before administrators pulled his privileges after the death of a patient, Floella Brown, and the maiming of another, Mary Efurd. Veteran vascular surgeon Randall Kirby recalled that Duntsch frequently boasted about his abilities despite being so new to the area. In September 2012, Jeff Cheney went to Duntsch to relieve the pain that had moved from his shoulder down to his arm. He is currently appealing this sentence. [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]. Duntsch told his friends and family that Passmore would be fine in a day or two and to not worry about it. [40][41] On May 8, 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused Duntschs petition for discretionary review. This case was filed in Dallas County District Courts, Dallas County Civil District Courts located in Dallas, Texas. [42] The four hospitals that employed Duntsch have ongoing civil cases against him. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. He might have been fired from the Institute but was still a surgeon at Baylor Plano. Dr. Duntsch assured Muse that the pain was normal and prescribed him, strong pain killers, causing him to spiral into an addiction. Advertisements. Summers remained quadriplegic for the rest of his life. It was then that Christopher decided to switch his career to medicine. among the top 12 percent of medical school graduates in his class named to the elite Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He was held in the Dallas County jail for almost two years until the case went to trial in 2017. Promising Beginnings. When Henderson opened the freshly made incisions on her, he was appalled. On top of this, he misspelled both Kukekov and Ignatova's names. MISI representatives stated he would brag about his capabilities and be critical of the work of other surgeons. Efurd was left paralyzed. So as Duntsch operated on Efurd, he quarreled with Kissinger and his supervisors, insisting on a craniotomy for Brown. The patient was Mary Efurd coming in for a second operation. 0:57. As he lay there in agony, Duntsch was nowhere to be found. Base compensation was $600,000 a year for two years, beginning on June 14, 2011. 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. 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 . It told the unfortunately true story of Doctor Christopher Duntsch, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison for maiming an elderly patient.
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