Dr. Randall Kirby, a general and vascular surgeon, assisted with Morguloff. 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. He performed only one surgery with the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute. Why do Slipknot wear masks and what do they look like without? Once, he stopped by to pick up some paperwork. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. The Peacock limited series, based on the Wondery podcast, covers the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch (played by Joshua Jackson ), whose surgical career ruined the lives of numerous people . Duntsch approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. Christopher Duntsch is currently imprisoned at the O.B. I dont know if hes there to harm me or what his true intentions were, Wendy Young said of the harrowing alleged encounter with Christopher Duntsch. Mr. MARY EFURD vs CHRISTOPHER D DUNTSCH, MDet al - UniCourt He was put on probation for three weeks and told to stick to relatively minor procedures when he returned. 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?" Dallas Magazine states that Duntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. Nevertheless, it took until June 2013 to find the "pattern of patient injury" required to justify suspending Duntsch's license, despite receiving complaints dating back to 2011. During surgery, Duntsch operated on the wrong part of Fennell's back. He then packed it with too much of a substance intended to stop the bleeding. 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. "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. [7], Shughart argued that Duntsch should have known he was likely to hurt others unless he changed his approach, and that his failure to learn from his past mistakes demonstrated that his maiming of Efurd was intentional. Cheney recalled wondering why a neurosurgeon with such outstanding credentials would be operating at a lower-tiered hospital on the way to his surgery. But, she never reported Duntsch up the ladder or told anyone about the horrors she witnessed in the operating room. The Texas Medical Board would later conclude that Brown died of excessive blood loss and a stroke, according to The Texas Observer . To top it all off, he was operating on the wrong portion of her back. It had come from Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. Duntsch's next patient was Jeff Glidewell. 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. 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. He died in 2021 of an infection related to complications from Duntsch's operation. 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. 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. However, on January 6, 2012, a week after the surgery, Dr. Duntsch performed another operation on Passmore. The Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. [12], Initially, Duntsch focused heavily on the PhD half of his degree. Death'? Where Is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death Now? He Got A - Bustle Through it all, Duntsch was able to lure patient after patient under his knife was his extreme confidence. Homesick, Duntsch left Colorado after a year and transferred to Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis. Henderson then cleaned out bone fragments and discovered that one of Efurd's nerve roots was gone entirely. Shughart countered that the 2011 email, sent after his first surgeries went wrong, proved that Duntsch knew his actions were intentional. Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. Duntsch was in a long-term relationship with Wendy Renee Young, after the pair met at a bar in Memphis when she was 27 and he was 40. [7], While in Memphis, Duntsch began a long-term relationship with Wendy Renee Young. It was determined during the repair surgery that Dr. Duntsch had not even been operating on the correct part of Jeff Glidewell's spine. Ellis Unit prison in Huntsville, Texas. Young let him buy her an appletini, and they felt a connection; eventually, she went home with Duntsch. Patient paralyzed by Dr. Death 'guarantees' there are other surgeons Was Wendy Renee Young Dr. Death's Wife? - Heavy.com 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 . According to court documents, surgeons at the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute soon grew suspicious of Duntsch. Duntsch continued operating despite clear signs that Martin was losing massive amounts of blood. Then, on December 6, 2011, he operated on seventy-four-year-old Mary Efurd. The hospital initiated another peer review, but Duntsch resigned rather than face certain termination. Dr. Fulton never worked with Duntsch again. The explanation was enough to satisfy Muse. Dr. Rimlawi called Baylor Plano and advised them against continuing a relationship with Christopher Duntsch, but this fell to deaf ears. However, he sewed up Glidewell with the sponge still in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. Christopher Duntsch Texas True Crime Blog Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch first met in 2011 at a Beauty Shop bar in Memphis. She was transferred to a Dallas hospital after suffering from a severe infection, and Randal Kirby was asked to operate on her. The case highlights the risks of allowing a troubled physician to move to another hospital . 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. For 33 patients of Texas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, it was a reality. 5 chilling details about Christopher Duntsch - sportskeeda.com He decided to turn to neurosurgery, which can be a lucrative field. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. 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. Where is Michelle Shughart Now? - The Cinemaholic He then prescribed Muse so much Percocet that a pharmacist refused to fill the prescription. In 2011, Christopher Duntsch met Wendy Young at the Beauty Shop bar in Memphis. Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. Duntsch, once a neurosurgeon, is the focal point of the new streaming Peacock docuseries "Dr. Death." D Magazine gave him the nickname in its reporting in 2016. During this time, he ran two successful labs and raised millions of dollars in grant funding. If you had back pain, and had tried everything else, Dr. Duntsch could give you the spine surgery that would take your pain away. Jerry Summers believed that his best friend Christopher Duntsch was a talented neurosurgeon who would cure his chronic neck pain. No diagnostic imaging studies were ordered, and no reasonable explanation was offered for his condition. 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. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. You'd like to think . Im the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state.. ", "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? Where Is Christopher Duntsch's Wife Wendy Renee Young Now? Lee Passmore was thirty-seven and worked as a field agent for the Collin County medical examiner. Why Did Dr. Death Do It? 'Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story' Explains He later appealed his case, but lost when his conviction was upheld 2-1 in the Fifth District Court of Appeals . Dr. Death: The Long & Bloody Road to Justice for Dallas' Deadly Doctor Christopher Duntsch wrote that he was ready to become a "cold blooded killer". In my opinion, we had a serial killer in our medical community, Dr. Randall Kirbysays of Christopher Duntsch in "Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story.". 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. Dr. Death season one review: a true crime podcast is even scarier - Vox But police say an email Duntsch wrote in 2011 points to his mind-set in the months before he "intentionally, knowingly and . The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. Duntsch suggested drilling a hole in Brown's head to relieve the pressure, but was refused permission. [7] He likened what he found when he opened Efurd up to the results of a child playing with Tinkertoys or an erector set. Duntsch moved to Denver, Colorado, and went into a downward spiral. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. Dr. Duntsch assured Muse that the pain was normal and prescribed him, strong pain killers, causing him to spiral into an addiction. ", "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. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. [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. 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. Dr. Death: Disgraced surgeon at center of podcast, show has CSU roots In May 2013, Dr. Randall Kirby was invited to a dinner by University General Hospital to meet their new neurosurgeon, Dr. Duntsch. I left with him and believed in him and then, you know, he just kind of fell apart.. [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. At the time, hospitals were not required to report doctors who only had temporary privileges. Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. To see the rest of Dr. Christopher Duntsch's murder and maiming spree, and the fight to stop him, you'll need to purchase Peacock premium. Duntsch recommended fusing Morguloff's L5-S1 vertebrae, and the surgery was scheduled for January 11, 2012. When he called Duntsch's office, he was told it would "go away." Christopher Duntsch was just a regular guy who became Dr. Death after he decided to be a neurosurgeon. In one particularly disturbing episode, in March 2015, she said she arrived home to her front door had been locked with a deadbolt from the inside. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971. However, it wasn't clear how much training Duntsch received. 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. She bled to death . For the last three days, jurors listened to testimony in the . Where Is Christopher Duntsch Now After His Appearance on - Distractify 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. [27], While attempting to remove degenerated discs in Marshall "Tex" Muse's back, Duntsch left surgical hardware floating between the spine and muscle tissue. Dr. Death executive producer explains how Christopher Duntsch could Dr. Hassan Chahadeh, the owner, said when Duntsch had applied for privileges, his record was clean. Passmore focused on recovery and getting back to work in the months following his surgery. Christopher Duntsch's Emails Are Threatening and Bewildering - Yahoo [16][24] Henderson described Duntsch's surgery as an "assault", and concluded that Efurd would have been bedridden had the salvage surgery not been performed. Jerry Summers, who grew up with Christopher Duntsch in Tennessee, was left a quadriplegic after agreeing to let "Dr. Death" operate on his neck. Neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was nicknamed Dr Death: Evil Lives Duntsch was fired after he performed a surgery and immediately left for Las Vegas, leaving no one to look after his patient. 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. [35], The last charge was for the maiming and paralyzing of Efurd. [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. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. [4], Longtime spine surgeon Robert Henderson performed the salvage surgery on Efurd. 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. He is not eligible for parole until 2045; he will be 74 years old by then. 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. A Texas neurosurgeon accused of intentionally botching multiple spinal surgeries, resulting in the death of two . On 06/26/2013 MARY EFURD filed a Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice lawsuit against CHRISTOPHER D DUNTSCH, MD. They didn't have enough evidence to stop him because he hadn't done anything wrong yet. 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.. The day that Brown suffered her stroke, Duntsch operated again. The criminal conviction of Christopher Duntsch, MD, PhD, holds important lessons for risk managers. 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 . Despite all of this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. [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. 11:15 PM on Mar 1, 2014 CST. Mayfield died of COVID in February 2021; according to his wife, he had been vulnerable to the virus due to complications caused by Duntsch's botched surgery. After a breath test, Duntsch was arrested for DUI and sent to a detox facility. While they were in the lab working, Duntsch went to work raising money for a company he called DiscGenics. In October 2011, she registered articles of incorporation to form Duntsch's practice, the Texas Neurosurgical Institute.