Shughart countered that the 2011 email, sent after his first surgeries went wrong, proved that Duntsch knew his actions were intentional. Jeff Glidewell came across Dr. Christopher Duntsch in 2013 while searching for a neurosurgeon . 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." DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch has been sentenced to life in prison for a series of botched spinal surgeries, reports CBS . Where Is Christopher Duntsch's Wife Wendy Renee Young Now? But based on documents gathered by the DA, when Duntsch finished his residency, he had operated fewer than 100 times. 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.". 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 Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before his license was revoked by the . 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. The day after Mary Efurd's surgery, she awoke in excruciating pain and could not turn over or wiggle her toes. 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. Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. He refused to acknowledge anything was wrong, hindering the, This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 04:48. Jurors convicted Duntsch Tuesday of injury to an elderly person in the botched July 2012 surgery that put Mary Efurd in a wheelchair. To avoid the costs of fighting and possibly losing a wrongful termination suit, hospital officials reached a deal with Duntsch's lawyers in which Duntsch was allowed to resign in return for Baylor Plano issuing a letter stating that there were no issues with him. Who is Christopher Duntsch and what did he do? | The US Sun Board chairman Irwin Zeitzler later said that complications in neurosurgery were more common than most think. Dr. Death: Disgraced surgeon at center of podcast, show has CSU roots Duntsch was fired after he performed a surgery and immediately left for Las Vegas, leaving no one to look after his patient. Duntsch, who had been listed as the founder, president & chief science officer, was being sued by the former chief operating officer and was dismissed from his roles and seat on the board. Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. The charismatic neurosurgeon was actually a successful researcher before he starting killing people in the operating . When he arrived, Nurse Kyle Kissinger spotted a hole in Duntsch's scrubs. Death'? "Something was wrong," Dr. Rimlawi said, "whether it be impairment from drugs, alcohol, mental illness, or a combination of all three." 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. Dr. Death is based on the podcast of the same name, produced by Wondery. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. B. Ellis Unit outside Huntsville. He remained there for several months before being allowed to return to the residency. 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 . He earned his M.D. [27], While attempting to remove degenerated discs in Marshall "Tex" Muse's back, Duntsch left surgical hardware floating between the spine and muscle tissue. 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. He performed only one surgery with the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute. Passmore met with Dr. Duntsch and was impressed by his confidence; he would fix him. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. Inside The Death Of Chris Benoit, The Professional Wrestler Who Killed His Family And Then Himself, Archaeologists Just Uncovered A Massive Roman Phallic Carving In Spain And It Might Be The Biggest Ever Found, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Then, on December 6, 2011, he operated on seventy-four-year-old Mary Efurd. The surgery was supposed to take less than 45 minutes and ultimately lasted over four hours. But he yearned to play linebacker for a Division 1 team and set his sights on the Colorado State Rams. This time on 53-year-old Mary Efurd. After a fall in her kitchen, Martin experienced chronic back pain and sought out surgery to alleviate it. Duntsch had his surgical rights temporarily suspended after his botched surgery on Summers and his first patient back was 55-year-old Kellie Martin. [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. When other doctors discovered the sponge, Duntsch refused to return to help remove it. Having exhausted his football eligibility, Duntsch decided to switch to a career in medicine. By this time, Jerry Summers, his childhood friend, had moved from Tennessee to live with Duntsch. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of . He hoped to play football, but his multiple transfers revoked his eligibility. 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. Typically, neurosurgery residents participate in over 1,000 surgeries in the course of their residency. Death'? He was nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death for malpractice resulting in the maiming of several patients and killing two of them while working at hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Mr. For instance, he came to work wearing the same tattered scrubs for three days in a row. The staff told Duntsch that Brown, his patient from the day before, was in critical condition. Once, he stopped by to pick up some paperwork. Evil Lives Here: Shadows Of Death is investigating the numerous crimes of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, who was nicknamed Dr. Death after causing pain, suffering, and even death to multiple patients over the course of two years. 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. Dr. Duntsch said to Cheney, "I don't know why you're this way. 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. 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 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. 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. Morguloff sought a second opinion on his excruciating pain from Dr. Michael Desaloms. DiscGenics says its mission is toimprove the lives of those suffering from the debilitating effects of degenerative diseases of the spine. The Judge overseeing this case is GINSBERG, CARL. [37][4], Over objections from Duntsch's lawyers, prosecutors called many of Duntsch's other patients to the stand in order to prove that his actions were intentional. However, Baylor did not fire him; instead, he was allowed to resign. ", "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. Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano (now Baylor Scott and White Medical Center - Plano). The Real Story Behind the Dr. Death Podcast - Christopher Duntsch He decided to turn to neurosurgery, which can be a lucrative field. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the lucrative salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his mounting financial problems. Dr. Duntsch assured Muse that the pain was normal and prescribed him, strong pain killers, causing him to spiral into an addiction. 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. [15], Duntsch joined Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano (now Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Plano) as a minimally invasive spine surgeon with a salary of $600,000 per year, plus bonuses. Berry Morguloff was Dr. Duntsch's next unsuspecting victim. Then, on July 24, 2012, he operated on Floella Brown. [4][5] In 2017, he was convicted of maiming one of his patients and sentenced to life imprisonment. 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]. We've had a catastrophic event here. Lazar was scathingly critical of Duntsch's work. Young said that Morgan visited often. Christopher Duntsch. The deal required Duntsch to attain privileges at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano. He didn't wear underwear. Dhruv Trivedi. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. 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. 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. [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.