christopher duntsch website
Left: Christopher Duntsch in surgery, Right: Christopher Duntschs mugshot. His pain management specialist advised against an operation but referred him to a neurosurgeon named Christopher Duntsch. But, she never reported Duntsch up the ladder or told anyone about the horrors she witnessed in the operating room. 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. [9], 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. In July 2015, Duntsch was arrested in Dallas and charged with six felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of aggravated assault causing severe bodily injury, and one count of injury to an elderly person. [43], The conviction of Duntsch has been called a precedent-setting case, as it is believed to be the first time that a physician has been convicted on criminal charges for actions in the course of their medical work. [40][41] On May 8, 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused Duntschs petition for discretionary review. Fennell is in constant pain, and it took several months of rehabilitation before he could begin to walk with a cane. Every victim deserves to have their story told, and unfortunately, Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death, has 33. Troy was sedated for weeks and forced to eat through a feeding tube because food was getting into her lungs. They didn't have enough evidence to stop him because he hadn't done anything wrong yet. The board called in veteran neurosurgeon Martin Lazar to review the case. But, he can only walk 30 feet at a time and cannot stand for more than a few minutes. Lee Passmore was thirty-seven and worked as a field agent for the Collin County medical examiner. He was tragically mistaken. All the while, the operating room staff questioned whether Duntsch was putting hardware into Efurd in the right places and noticed he kept drilling and removing screws. However, on January 6, 2012, a week after the surgery, Dr. Duntsch performed another operation on Passmore. From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx The Legislature not only puts the burden of proof on the plaintiff instead of the defendant in medical malpractice cases, but it also allows hospitals to keep information about doctors confidential. [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. The appalling actions of the rogue surgeon and their repercussions on his unsuspecting patients were . 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 . 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. Boop said that Duntsch spent his final year as an attending physician and could not operate independently. His CV also conveyed he earned a Ph.D. in microbiology from St. Jude Children's Research Hospitals, graduating summa cum laude. 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. Morguloff had become addicted to the pain killers being prescribed to him by this time. 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. Over objections from Duntsch's lawyers, prosecutors called many of Duntsch's other patients to the stand to prove that his actions were intentional. Page opened a desk drawer and saw a mirror with a pile of cocaine and a rolled-up dollar bill on top. 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. 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. Christopher Duntsch, 44, faces up to life in prison if convicted. When Duntsch finally returned on Monday, he was fired. Duntsch is the first physician sentenced to life in prison for his actions while practicing medicine. Dr. Death in surgery. Duntsch's next stop was at Dallas Medical Center. 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. The hospital initiated another peer review, but Duntsch resigned rather than face certain termination. With Brown still in the ICU, Duntsch took another patient into surgery that morning. The Judge overseeing this case is GINSBERG, CARL. Morguloff sought a second opinion on his excruciating pain from Dr. Michael Desaloms. The two soon began dating and moving in together within three months. 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. [4], Longtime spine surgeon Robert Henderson performed the salvage surgery on Efurd. Journalists must draw attention to the failures in the U.S. medical and legal systems that allowed Christopher Duntsch, the subject of journalist Laura Beil's well-regarded "Dr. Death" podcast series, to injure dozens of patients, members of an expert panel said at the "10 years after 'Dr. Death': Are patients any safer from bad doctors?" panel at Health Journalism 2022 in Austin. Although she didn't think much of it and assumed Morgan was helping with research. Updated Dec 9, 2022 at 3:25pm. In effect, plaintiffs have to prove a tough case without access to the necessary hospital records. Base compensation was $600,000 a year for two years, beginning on June 14, 2011. Death'? I can't believe that you're accusing me of killing someone,'" Muse recounted. No one can pay to remove ratings. Dr. Fulton never worked with Duntsch again. In 2011, Christopher Duntsch met Wendy Young at the Beauty Shop bar in Memphis. Wendy Young had just given birth to their son and lived there with him. Christopher Duntsch wrote that he was ready to become a "cold blooded killer". Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. ", "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? Dr Deathis a new limited series about the rise and fall of Duntsch. Dr. Death in surgery. When other doctors discovered the sponge, Duntsch refused to return to help remove it. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. On May 24, 2011, Christopher Duntsch signed a physician services agreement with Rimlawi and Won's Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) in Dallas. Finally, the board permanently revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. She was transferred to a Dallas hospital after suffering from a severe infection, and Randal Kirby was asked to operate on her. After the operation, Brown woke up and seemed fine, but early the following day; she lost consciousness. She was dancing at a strip club in Memphis, and Duntsch's issues with his business, DiscGenics, grew more severe. 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. CHRISTOPHER Duntsch, is infamously known as Dr Death for gross malpractice. To top it all off, he was operating on the wrong portion of her back. Death' found guilty of maiming woman during surgery", "Former neurosurgeon sentenced for purposely maiming patients", "Doctor convicted of botched surgery gets life in prison", "Christopher Daniel Duntsch v. The State of Texas Appeal from Criminal District Court No. 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. His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. In 2017, Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of maiming one of his patients. Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. He recommended fusing two of her vertebrae and the insertion of "hardware" in her spinal area. Dr. Duntsch assured Muse that the pain was normal and prescribed him, strong pain killers, causing him to spiral into an addiction. There were two names on the top page: Kellie Martin and Christopher Duntsch. 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. However, Baylor did not fire him; instead, he was allowed to resign. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. by Saul Elbein. After 13 days of trial, the jury needed only four hours to convict him for the maiming of Efurd, and on February 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison. [42] The four hospitals that employed Duntsch have ongoing civil cases against him. The television series Dr. Death based on the incident, began streaming on Peacock in July 2021. Death.. Learn more. He died in 2021 of an infection related to complications from Duntsch's operation. Kirby was shocked; he called the owner of University General and warned him that Duntsch would hurt someone, and the hospital would be over. However, St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital. Unfortunately, when Morguloff woke up, he began to experience continuous pain, paresthesia, and loss of sensation in his left leg. Due to the debilitating pain, Fennell later had a second operation by Duntsch to relieve it, and was left significantly paralyzed in his legs. She said she thought that he was going to make millions, Kimberly Morgan's friend once said her attraction to Christopher Duntsch. Prince Charming, Im gonna change your life, Wendy Young said of the promising start to her romance with Christopher Duntsch. His older son had been born back when he was at Baylor Plano. Dr. Henderson thought the operation on Mary Efurd was so botched that Christopher Duntsch had to be an imposter. When Kirby learned the details, he immediately asked the doctor who referred the case to him about the surgeon: "Is it a guy named Christopher Duntsch?" It involves the case of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a spinal neurosurgeon who left a trail of dead and permanently disabled . After several more months of botched surgeries, Duntsch finally lost his surgical privileges altogether in June 2013 after two physicians complained to the Texas Medical Board. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Then, on July 24, 2012, he operated on Floella Brown. 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." [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. His father was a missionary and physical therapist and his mother was a school teacher. Duntsch was fired after he performed a surgery and immediately left for Las Vegas, leaving no one to look after his patient. He remained there for several months before being allowed to return to the residency. [7], While in Memphis, Duntsch began a long-term relationship with Wendy Renee Young. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. After he arrived in town, he secured a deal with the Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano and was given surgical rights at the hospital. A few days later, he took the test and passed. 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. Duntsch had removed part of his femoral nerve. He said even a person with the most basic sense of human anatomy would know they were operating in the wrong area. 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 . Duntsch also removed so much bone and muscle tissue from Summers' neck that his head was no longer secure on his body. For 33 patients of Texas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, it was a reality. He is not eligible for parole until 2045; he will be 74 years old by then. One day, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiner's office. During surgery, he cut a major vessel in her spinal cord. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the lucrative salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his mounting financial problems. I thought he was either really, really good, or hes just really, really arrogant and thought he was good, Hoyle said. Former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch is one of the most infamous doctors ever brought to trial in a criminal case, and with good reason. July 19, 2021. [9] Duntsch completed his undergraduate degree in 1995, then continued on to an ambitious MDPhD program. Could you take care of it?" Despite his colleagues being [] "[4] The Texas Medical Board revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. Typically, neurosurgery residents participate in over 1,000 surgeries in the course of their residency. As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email written by Christopher Duntsch. Kirby warned him again that it was only a matter of time. The charismatic neurosurgeon was actually a successful researcher before he starting killing people in the operating . Baylor Plano allowed Duntsch to continue operating despite the documented issues with Kenneth Fennell, Mary Efurd, Lee Passmore, and Barry Morguloff's surgeries. Death'? Kirby arrived and transferred Glidewell to a top-tier hospital to perform an emergency operation to remove the sponge. Promising Beginnings. Christopher Duntsch, known as "Dr. Death" tried to explain himself in rambling emails, but he only made things worse for his criminal case. Leaving on April 20, 2012, with a lawyer-negotiated letter saying, "All areas of concern with regard to Christopher D. Duntsch have been closed. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary, and his mother, Susan, was a schoolteacher. The explanation was enough to satisfy Muse. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. If you had back pain, and had tried everything else, Dr. Duntsch could give you the spine surgery that would take your pain away. The series is set to premiere on July 12 and will feature a star-studded cast. "I called Dr. Duntsch up, and I said, 'I saw this online.' During his tenure at Baylor Plano, Kimberly Morgan assisted in every surgery with Duntsch. [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. During his short tenure, he spent little time in the operating room. 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. Those words continue to haunt her, and she's tormented by the knowledge that her endorsement caused others to select Duntsch themselves. Duntschs career started off bright. Jerry Summers Was 'Dr. Death's' Best Friend. [9][10], Duntsch had severed Brown's vertebral artery, and refused to abort despite the massive blood loss. Officers said he was driving on the left side of the road with two flat tires. He ran two labs, gained experience writing grants, and earned more than $3 million in funding for research projects. [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. They have two sons. [48], In 2019, Duntsch was the focus of the premiere episode of License to Kill, Oxygen's series on criminal medical professionals. After a fall in her kitchen, Martin experienced chronic back pain and sought out surgery to alleviate it. Wendy Renee Young was romantically involved with Texas physician Christopher Duntsch, who became known as "Dr . [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. 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. Duntsch, 40 at that time, bought an appletini for Young, 27, and they started their relationship. The patient was Mary Efurd coming in for a second operation. As Burke says in "Dr. Death," "No matter what happens, no matter what somebody does to you or the people you love, all you're gonna get is $250,000. 2-Dr.Randall Kirby, a hero. Passmore focused on recovery and getting back to work in the months following his surgery. [14] He persuaded Young to come with him; Young agreed, since she had grown up in the Dallas area. However, he closed Glidewell with the sponge in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. Jerry Summers, who grew up with Christopher Duntsch in Tennessee, was left a quadriplegic after agreeing to let "Dr. Death" operate on his neck. While they were in the lab working, Duntsch went to work raising money for a company he called DiscGenics. Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and . [4][5] In 2017, he was convicted of maiming one of his patients and sentenced to life imprisonment. But police say an email Duntsch wrote in 2011 points to his mind-set in the months before he "intentionally, knowingly and . [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. Baylor Plano again ordered Duntsch to take a drug test. Peacock's Dr. Death is a chilling dramatization of the real-life story of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch. Christopher was raised along with his three younger siblings in a wealthy suburb in Memphis, Tennessee. Left: WFAA-TV, Right: D MagazineLeft: Christopher Duntsch in surgery, Right: Christopher Duntschs mugshot. MISI representatives stated he would brag about his capabilities and be critical of the work of other surgeons. They created a method for culturing the stem cells of intervertebral discs outside of the body. On 06/26/2013 MARY EFURD filed a Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice lawsuit against CHRISTOPHER D DUNTSCH, MD. I left with him and believed in him and then, you know, he just kind of fell apart.. It was Duntsch, babbling about his family being in danger. He was left with pain so debilitating he could not work any longer and now spends most of his days at home. Part of the problem was being able to prove that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. Duntsch was suspected of having used cocaine the night before the operation. 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. During surgery, Duntsch operated on the wrong part of Fennell's back. The show starsJoshua Jackson,Grace Gummer, AnnaSophia Robb,Christian SlaterandAlec Baldwin. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary. Board chairman Irwin Zeitzler later said that complications in neurosurgery were more common than most laymen believe, and it took until June 2013 to find the "pattern of patient injury" required to justify suspending Duntsch's license. A Texas neurosurgeon accused of intentionally botching multiple spinal surgeries, resulting in the death of two . In January 2013, Kenneth Fennell was scheduled for another operation because he was still experiencing extreme pain in his back. A Texas jury found Christopher Duntsch guilty Feb. 14 of maiming patients who had turned to him for surgery to resolve debilitating injuries. 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. [26][4], After leaving Dallas Medical Center, Duntsch received privileges at South Hampton Community Hospital in Dallas and also took a job at an outpatient clinic named Legacy Surgery Center (now Frisco Ambulatory Surgery Center) in Frisco. His sophomore year, he made it as one of the few walk-on players. One screw was jabbed directly into her spinal canal and had skewered the nerves that control one leg and the bladder. [9] Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of oversight by the hospitals. [16] In 2021, he was profiled on CNBC's American Greed. [7][28][16], 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. He earned his M.D. Dr. Death in surgery. Duntsch continued to medicate Morguloff with prescription pain killers and ignored the change in his condition. The case status is Disposed - Other Disposed. Did Christopher Duntsch have a wife and kids?
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