The former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was finally brought to justice after injuring and maiming over 30 of his patients during surgery and allegedly causing the deaths of two more. South Hampton Community Hospital in Dallas (now University General Hospital). In 2017, Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of maiming one of his patients. Soon afterward, he severely maimed Jeff Glidewell after mistaking part of his neck muscle for a tumor during a routine cervical fusion, severing one of his vocal cords, cutting a hole in his esophagus and slicing an artery. Duntsch approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. In November 2011, he was hooked on the prescription opiates that numbed the pain in his lower back. During surgery, Duntsch damaged Summers' vertebral artery causing it to bleed uncontrollably. [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. It had come from Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. There were two names on the top page: Kellie Martin and Christopher Duntsch. Over the span of a few years, he managed to maim and injure over 30 patients, with two more dying during and shortly after undergoing surgery with him. He was brilliant. He is currently appealing this sentence. [35], The last charge was for the maiming and paralyzing of Efurd. Soon after starting Efurd's surgery, Duntsch turned to Kissinger and told him he would be performing a craniotomy on Floella Brown. [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 2006, Duntsch teamed up with two Russian stem cell scientists: Valery Kukekov and Tatyana Ignatova. Passmore says if he settles, he is allowing the hospital to continue to get away with their negligence. At the time, Duntsch was looking for operating prospects in Dallas, San Diego, and New York. Just one day after his suspension had ended, Duntsch operated on Kellie Martin. [4] [19], Despite both of his surgeries at Dallas Medical Center going catastrophically awry, hospital officials did not report him to the NPDB. Learn more. Dr. Phil airs on weekdays. Dubbed "Dr. Death," the case gained national attention, revealing She bled so much that blood was saturating the blue draping around her body and dripping onto the floor. The two went back to Duntsch's home and danced under a disco ball he had in his office. He felt that anyone with a basic knowledge of human anatomy would know that he was operating in the wrong area of Efurd's back. They argued that Duntsch was motivated to continue operating because the lucrative salary of a neurosurgeon would solve his mounting financial problems. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. Famously known by the Family name Christopher Daniel Duntsch, is a great neurosurgeon and convicted criminal for malpractice.He was born on April 3, 1971, in Montana. He is very caring and took the time to help me understand my pain issues. He didn't contact a lawyer, although he struggled with the decision. [18] Despite this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. Duntsch told his friends and family that Passmore would be fine in a day or two and to not worry about it. However, St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital. The Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. ", "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? [31][16] The inquiry went nowhere until 2015, when the statute of limitations on any potential charges was due to run out. B. Ellis Unit outside Huntsville. After this look at Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. [12], Initially, Duntsch focused heavily on the PhD half of his degree. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary. In addition, a ligament in his leg was severed, and a screw was stripped and lodged into a nerve bundle. 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. 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. 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?" 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. During his surgery, Duntsch didnt installed the necessary hardware to Muses spine and instead had left it floating between the spine and muscle tissue. According to Megan Kane, an ex-girlfriend of one of Duntschs friends, she saw him eat a paper blotter of LSD and take prescription painkillers on his birthday. When Morgan asked Duntsch about the woman in his house, he said she was just his secretary and friend. Duntsch received his undergraduate degree from the University of Memphis and stayed in town to receive an M.D. On May 24, 2011, Christopher Duntsch signed a physician services agreement with Rimlawi and Won's Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) in Dallas. That's why it really shined down to me," Kissinger said in an interview. D MagazineChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch has been sentenced to life in prison for a series of botched spinal surgeries, reports CBS . 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. It was completely unnecessary, didn't relieve her pain, and only set her up for another needed surgery. Dr. Christopher Duntsch became the subject of a Peacock original series for all the wrong reasons. He claimed he was the best in Dallas. Due to the debilitating pain, Fennell later had a second operation by Duntsch to relieve it, and was left significantly paralyzed in his legs. Duntsch's next patient was Jeff Glidewell. It was determined during the repair surgery that Dr. Duntsch had not even been operating on the correct part of Jeff Glidewell's spine. [42] The four hospitals that employed Duntsch have ongoing civil cases against him. 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. [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 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. During his tenure at Baylor Plano, Kimberly Morgan assisted in every surgery with Duntsch. Duntsch stuffed Glidewell's throat with a surgical sponge to attempt to stop the bleeding. Passmore told D Magazine during an interview that he is uncomfortable receiving any attention but knows he must do so if anyone is going to listen. July 14, 2021. WFAA-TVChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. Kissinger also noticed that Duntsch had pinpoint pupils and hardly seemed to blink. Around 2006 and 2007, Duntsch began to become unhinged. Baylor wanted Duntsch operating quickly and often so they could be reimbursed for the monies they had advanced to him. She was dancing at a strip club in Memphis, and Duntsch's issues with his business, DiscGenics, grew more severe. [9] Duntsch completed his undergraduate degree in 1995, then continued on to an ambitious MDPhD program. 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]. CHRISTOPHER Duntsch, is infamously known as Dr Death for gross malpractice. Christopher was raised along with his three younger siblings in a wealthy suburb in Memphis, Tennessee. She also said that he kept a pile of cocaine on his dresser in his home office. Dr. Death, read about how reckless surgeon Robert Liston killed his patient and two bystanders. Duntsch had his surgical rights temporarily suspended after his botched surgery on Summers and his first patient back was 55-year-old Kellie Martin. He thought surgery might give him some relief and stop his need for drugs. One of the early investors in DiscGenics, Rand Page, said Duntsch would be mixing a vodka orange juice during their morning meetings. Part of the problem was being able to prove that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. Morgan didn't follow Duntsch after he left, however. One day, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiner's office. How could Dr. Christopher Duntsch practice medicine for as long as he did without being stopped? 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 . 1-Christopher Duntsch and then girlfriend, Wendy Young. Dr. Death in surgery. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. Of those 38, 31 were leftparalyzed or seriously injured and two of them died from surgical complications. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary. Duntsch was fired after he performed a surgery and immediately left for Las Vegas, leaving no one to look after his patient. Officers took him to a nearby psychiatric hospital. On November 7, 2011, Dr. Duntsch was scheduled to perform his first surgery at Baylor Plano on Kenneth Fennell for his back pain. 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. But, she never reported Duntsch up the ladder or told anyone about the horrors she witnessed in the operating room. 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. 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. 0:57. His older son had been born back when he was at Baylor Plano. ", "Greg Abbott Enters Fray in Lawsuits Involving "Sociopath" Doctor", "Abbott sides with Baylor hospital in neurosurgeon lawsuit", "Who Are Robert Henderson And Randall Kirby, The Surgeons Who Tried To Stop 'Dr. For 33 patients of Texas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, it was a reality. "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 . He was then brought on board at the Dallas Medical Center where he continued his carnage. Jurors convicted Duntsch Tuesday of injury to an elderly person in the botched July 2012 surgery that put Mary Efurd in a wheelchair. She witnessed Duntsch put on his lab coat and make his rounds the following morning as if nothing had happened. His name appeared on several papers and patents, and he took part in a number of biotech startups. [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. He was held in the Dallas County jail for almost two years until the case went to trial in 2017. Duntsch pierced and blocked her vertebral artery with a misplaced screw and refused to stop despite the massive blood loss. Christopher Duntsch ended up at Millsaps College in Mississippi to play football and was offered financial aid. 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.". Baylor suspended Duntsch, pictured, for a month. by Saul Elbein. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. Henderson then cleaned out bone fragments and discovered that one of Efurd's nerve roots was gone entirely. i feel much better now ! Dr. Duntsch assured Muse that the pain was normal and prescribed him, strong pain killers, causing him to spiral into an addiction. 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. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary, and his mother, Susan, was a schoolteacher. [14] He persuaded Young to come with him; Young agreed, since she had grown up in the Dallas area. Before he was "Dr. Death" on Wondery's hit 2018 podcast, disgraced former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was a student at Colorado State University. However, red flags surfaced early on, as nurses wondered if Duntsch was under the influence of drugs while on duty. Duntsch's next stop was at Dallas Medical Center. "If he wasn't doing research, he was out with Jerry Summers, partying," Morgan said in her deposition. Brown was left in a coma for hours before Duntsch finally acquiesced to her transfer. You'd like to think . He earned his M.D. Baylor Plano allowed Duntsch to continue operating despite the documented issues with Kenneth Fennell, Mary Efurd, Lee Passmore, and Barry Morguloff's surgeries.
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