Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch first met in 2011 at a Beauty Shop bar in Memphis. Who is Christopher Duntsch and what did he do? | The US Sun Moving made sense for both of them. [47] A follow-up docuseries, Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story, was later released on Peacock on July 29, 2021, featuring interviews with some of Duntsch's patients and colleagues, as well as with Henderson, Kirby and Shughart. Every victim deserves to have their story told, and unfortunately, Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death, has 33. Kissinger also noticed that Duntsch had pinpoint pupils and hardly seemed to blink. Over the course of 18-months, the nefarious ex-surgeon performed a spree of botched . To stop the bleeding, he packed the space with so much anticoagulant foam that it constricted Summers' spine. How the 'Dr. Death' TV show takes 'a deeper dive' than the popular podcast Your trust is important to us. [4], After 13 days of trial, the jury needed only four hours to convict him for the maiming of Efurd. Christopher Duntsch | True Crime Buzz | Oxygen Official Site However, it wouldnt be long until Duntschs seemingly perfect career began to unravel. 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.. Written by Patrick Macmanus, the show will only be available exclusively on Peacock. Who Were The Victims Of Dr. Christopher Duntsch? | True Crime Buzz "Something was wrong," Dr. Rimlawi said, "whether it be impairment from drugs, alcohol, mental illness, or a combination of all three." Christopher Duntsch - AKA Dr. Death - spent 18 months as a practicing surgeon at multiple Texas hospitals until he had his license revoked in 2013. One screw was jabbed directly into her spinal canal and had skewered the nerves that control one leg and the bladder. 12 Unnerving Facts About Dr. Death Christopher Duntsch - Ranker She bled to death . Duntsch lasted about three months at MISI. Death'? 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. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. After his license was revoked,Duntsch fled from Texas. 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.". Dr. Christopher D. Duntsch, Inactive - Plano, TX - RateMDs He will be up for parole in 2045, when he is 74 years old. The suit alleged that Baylor Plano made an average net profit of $65,000 on every spinal surgery performed by Duntsch. As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email written by Christopher Duntsch. During a deposition, Megan Krane recalled Duntsch eating a paper blotter of LSD and taking prescription painkillers on his birthday. In February 2012, he went under the knife for an elective spinal fusion surgery. She came in to have two vertebrae fused, but when she woke up she experienced severe pain and couldnt stand. However, by the time he met Young, Duntsch was over $500,000 in debt. Homesick, Duntsch left Colorado after a year and transferred to Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis. On November 7, 2011, Dr. Duntsch was scheduled to perform his first surgery at Baylor Plano on Kenneth Fennell for his back pain. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary, and his mother, Susan, was a schoolteacher. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. 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. 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. [16] In 2021, he was profiled on CNBC's American Greed. Officers took him to a nearby psychiatric hospital. The appalling actions of the rogue surgeon and their repercussions on his unsuspecting patients were . For instance, he came to work wearing the same tattered scrubs for three days in a row. Where is Kim Morgan Now? Hoyle called the surgery sloppy enough to cancel the remaining four operations he had scheduled with Duntsch and vowed never to work with him again. When Duntsch finally returned on Monday, he was fired. 1-Christopher Duntsch and then girlfriend, Wendy Young. [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. He graduated from a top-tier medical school, was running research labs, and completed a residency program for neurosurgery. Christopher Duntsch's Emails Are Threatening and Bewildering - Yahoo Glidewell is still in constant pain and has undergone more than 50 procedures to correct the damage left by Duntsch. 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. Duntsch continued operating despite clear signs that Martin was losing massive amounts of blood. [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. She says she even filed a temporary protective order against him in April 2012, after he showed up banging on her window at 2 am. ", "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. Christopher Duntsch - Wikipedia 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. He later appealed his case, but lost when his conviction was upheld 2-1 in the Fifth District Court of Appeals . Promising Beginnings. If Baylor Plano or Dallas Medical had reported him to the Texas Medical Board or the National Practitioner Databank, hiring personnel would have been notified something was wrong. Baylor Plano again ordered Duntsch to take a drug test. According to court documents, surgeons at the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute soon grew suspicious of Duntsch. Veteran vascular surgeon Randall Kirby recalled that Duntsch frequently boasted about his abilities despite being so new to the area. 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. [13] In 2010, Duntsch moved to Dallas. Plans start at $4.99/month. He said, "Randy, you were right. The criminal conviction of Christopher Duntsch, MD, PhD, holds important lessons for risk managers. They have two sons. [7], While in Memphis, Duntsch began a long-term relationship with Wendy Renee Young. Dr. Death, read about how reckless surgeon Robert Liston killed his patient and two bystanders. 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. Dr. Death in surgery. No diagnostic imaging studies were ordered, and no reasonable explanation was offered for his condition. The series follows two other surgeons, along with . However, things soon went south. The Peacock originalDr Deathis based on atrue story. Dr. Death in surgery. Dr. Death was fired before the end of his first week for the damage hed inflicted on Brown and Efurd. ", "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? [9] Duntsch completed his undergraduate degree in 1995, then continued on to an ambitious MDPhD program. Despite his colleagues being [] His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. In 2017, Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of maiming one of his patients. Dr. Duntsch assured Muse that the pain was normal and prescribed him, strong pain killers, causing him to spiral into an addiction. [18] Despite this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the lucrative salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his mounting financial problems. 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." You'd like to think . [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. Jeff Glidewell Today: Where Is Dr. Death's Last Patient Now? - Heavy.com 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. He wanted to become a doctor, and not just any doctor - a neurosurgeon, operating on injured backs and necks. At one point, an assisting surgeon named Dr. Hoyle observed Duntsch performing such alarming and erratic behavior; he grabbed his hands and pleaded with him to stop. The True Story Of Christopher Duntsch, The Killer Surgeon Known As Dr. 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. Duntsch is a former Dallas neurosurgeon who, through . 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. During surgery, Duntsch damaged Summers' vertebral artery causing it to bleed uncontrollably. When Henderson opened the freshly made incisions on her, he was appalled. However, during training for neurosurgery he followed a research path and did fewer operations than most trainees. [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. Mayfield was taken to a different hospital and told his spinal cord had already been deformed, and the damage was irreversible. But based on documents gathered by the DA, when Duntsch finished his residency, he had operated fewer than 100 times. At one point, he was only able to eat small bites of food at one time. Duntsch also removed so much bone and muscle tissue from Summers' neck that his head was no longer secure on his body. In a long running series of complaints, a Texas doctor has been found guilty of a felony in one medical malpractice case. Dubbed "Dr. Death," the case gained national attention, revealing The day after Mary Efurd's surgery, she awoke in excruciating pain and could not turn over or wiggle her toes. How could Dr. Christopher Duntsch practice medicine for as long as he did without being stopped? Of those 38, 31 were leftparalyzed or seriously injured and two of them died from surgical complications. The hospital initiated another peer review, but Duntsch resigned rather than face certain termination. His sophomore year, he made it as one of the few walk-on players. [48], In 2019, Duntsch was the focus of the premiere episode of License to Kill, Oxygen's series on criminal medical professionals. In March, the following spring, police were called to a bank in Northeast Dallas after a man with blood on his hands and face was seen beating on the doors. Young said that Morgan visited often. Duntsch, 40 at that time, bought an appletini for Young, 27, and they started their relationship. 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. 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. He was left with pain so debilitating he could not work any longer and now spends most of his days at home. 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. Dr. Christopher Duntsch became the subject of a Peacock original series for all the wrong reasons. ", You know in the beginning he talked about marriage. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. He claimed he was the best in Dallas. He hoped to play football, but his multiple transfers revoked his eligibility. "Christopher Duntsch, Texas Medical Board license number N8183, is an impaired physician, a sociopath, and must be stopped from practicing medicine." Robin Glidewell also sent a letter . The explanation was enough to satisfy Muse. Anatomy of a Tragedy. Dr. Duntsch said to Cheney, "I don't know why you're this way. There are a lot of explanations proposed for why the real-life subject of Peacock's "Dr. Death" limited series, neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch (played by Joshua Jackson), maimed and . So, Summers used the only thing he had left, his voice, to scream and yell, even telling the nurses that he and Duntsch had done an eight ball of cocaine the night before his surgery. Fennell is in constant pain, and it took several months of rehabilitation before he could begin to walk with a cane. [9] Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of oversight by the hospitals. This was the time when Dr. Christopher Duntsch started to turn into Dr. Death. 7 chilling thoughts of jailed neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch "If he wasn't doing research, he was out with Jerry Summers, partying," Morgan said in her deposition. He is currently appealing this sentence. Dr Deathis a new limited series about the rise and fall of Duntsch. Jerry Summers Was 'Dr. Death's' Best Friend. Duntsch suggested drilling a hole in Brown's head to relieve the pressure, but was refused permission. Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. After a fall in her kitchen, Martin experienced chronic back pain and sought out surgery to alleviate it. It stars Joshua Jackson as Duntsch, Alec Baldwin as Robert Henderson, Christian Slater as Randall Kirby and AnnaSophia Robb as Michelle Shughart. For 33 patients of Texas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, it was a reality. Dallas-based surgeon Christopher Duntsch was also the subject of a Wondery podcast titled "Dr. Death." (Dallas County Jail) The indictment accused Duntsch of wide-ranging malpractice, including . DiscGenics says its mission is toimprove the lives of those suffering from the debilitating effects of degenerative diseases of the spine. Dr. Frederick Boop, chief of neurosurgery at the hospital where Duntsch was completing his residency, said that university officials asked Duntsch to take a drug test. Was Wendy Renee Young Dr. Death's Wife? - Heavy.com August 28, 2013, 2:01 . Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. Through it all, Duntsch was able to lure patient after patient under his knife was his extreme confidence. [4] [19], Despite both of his surgeries at Dallas Medical Center going catastrophically awry, hospital officials did not report him to the NPDB. [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. Dr. Hassan Chahadeh, the owner, said when Duntsch had applied for privileges, his record was clean. Around 2006 and 2007, Duntsch began to become unhinged. The Terrifying True Story Behind Peacock's Dr. Death - E! Online A disc in his lower spine had blown out, and the pieces had to be picked out of the space above. Christopher Duntsch wrote that he was ready to become a "cold blooded killer". Young had family in Dallas and decided she would go with him if he picked that city. CHRISTOPHER Duntsch, is infamously known as Dr Death for gross malpractice. Dr. Death: The Long & Bloody Road to Justice for Dallas' Deadly Doctor [19][16] Kirby claimed that it looked as if Duntsch had tried to decapitate Glidewell and contended that such a botched surgery "has not happened in the United States of America" before. Christopher Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison in February 2017 for his heinous acts. 5 of Dallas County (opinion)", "Texas Court of Appeals Affirms Conviction of 'Dr. Before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board, he was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 . 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. Just weeks after permanently maiming Morguloff, Dr. Duntsch operated on his lifelong friend and roommate, Jerry Summers. [6], Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. As he lay there in agony, Duntsch was nowhere to be found. Nicknamed "Dr. Death," the story of Duntsch's egregious medical crimes and the healthcare system that failed so many by allowing him to practice received the podcast treatment in 2018 from Wondery, the team behind "Dirty John.". She bled so much that blood was saturating the blue draping around her body and dripping onto the floor. Officers said he was driving on the left side of the road with two flat tires. "[20][4] Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. Marshall Muse was scheduled to have a disc removed in his back. During his tenure at Baylor Plano, Kimberly Morgan assisted in every surgery with Duntsch. For the last three days, jurors listened to testimony in the . Pic credit: Dallas County Sheriff's Office. Convinced that he was a clear and present danger to the public, they urged the Dallas County district attorney's office to pursue criminal charges. [36][11][9] For the same reason, prosecutors opted to try Duntsch for Efurd's maiming first. 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." Unfortunately, when Fennell woke up from surgery, he was paralyzed from the waist down. Kenneth Fennell, the first patient Duntsch operated on at Baylor Plano, was left with chronic pain after Duntsch operated on the wrong part of his back. He's serving a life sentence for gross malpractice that resulted in two direct fatalities and the maiming of more than 30 neurosurgery patients, as told by Laura Beil, the journalist who hosts the Dr. Death podcast, on which the eponymous show is based. Though he appealed his conviction in 2018, it was denied. Why do Slipknot wear masks and what do they look like without? Dr. But he yearned to play linebacker for a Division 1 team and set his sights on the Colorado State Rams. Around this time, Christopher Duntsch's behavior became noticeably erratic. Duntsch stuffed a surgical sponge in Glidewell's throat to stanch the bleeding. Philip is one of more than 30 people maimed by Dr. Christopher Duntsch, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media. Duntsch had his surgical rights temporarily suspended after his botched surgery on Summers and his first patient back was 55-year-old Kellie Martin. It was. Now, a podcast called Dr. Death is breaking down the deranged surgeons criminal acts and shows how drug abuse and blinding overconfidence led to big trouble for the patients who found themselvesunderneath the spiraling doctors knife. He was arrested for DUI in Denver, taken for a psychiatric evaluation in Dallas during one of his visits to see his children, and was arrested in Dallas for shoplifting.
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