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Written by Patrick Macmanus, the show will only be available exclusively on Peacock. Of that set, two died and 31 were paralyzed or seriously injured. The hospital conducted an initial background check on Duntsch, and he came up clean. By the time the Texas Medical Board revoked his license in June 2013, Duntsch had left two patients dead and four paralyzed in a series of botched surgeries. The show consists of interviews with his patients and other people close to the case, as well as the full story of Duntsch's crimes. Henderson says that Duntsch told the Dallas Medical Center administration about the Martin and Summers cases, but explained that the outcomes hadnt been his fault: Summers, he said, had been paralyzed by a bad drug interaction, and Martin had died because of complications from anesthesia. Dr. Christopher Duntschs patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldnt stop him. My record is excellent," he told The Dallas Morning News in 2015. by Saul Elbein. My whole world crashed, he said. Duntschsmedical privileges were revoked by the Texas Medical Board in June of 2013 and Duntschs life continued to spiral from there, according to D Magazine. You know in the beginning he talked about marriage. Theres no reason to assume another doctor would have advised her differently. Duntsch, an engaging and fast-talking son of missionaries, came to North Texas with uncommon credentials. Forty-five minutes passed, then an hour, two hours, with no word. We felt confident too.. The eight-part series tells the harrowing true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch who, across. It isnt enough to prove that a doctor did something awful. In doing so, hospitals preserved Duntsch's reputation. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes longer than we want., What Henderson took from this, he told me, is that were dealing with people who dont do the job they are hired to do.. He explained the disturbing visit by saying he had been attacked by an investigator for an attorney hired by one of his patients, although that account was never verified. Maybe, he sighed, we should have gotten a second opinion.. His father was a missionary and physical therapist and his mother was a school teacher. For one thing, it can open a case only if it receives a written complaintakin to a police department that forbids its officers from investigating criminal activity they witness. His mom was a teacher. On the online doctor-rating site Healthgrades.com, he had 4.5 stars out of five. "The nerve root had been severed. Duntsch was first reported to the state medical board in 2012, per the Texas Observer. Though a hospital peer review took this doctors privileges in 2006, he continued to practice for three more years until he retired, according to federal records. It was that egregious. Duntsch was an anomaly, one of the worst malpractice cases Texas has seen in decades. For example, when Duntsch left Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, the hospital provided a letter confirming there had been no "summary or administrative restrictions or suspensions," despite the fact that Duntsch had been suspended for 30 days following Summers's surgery. Those who met him described him as being fast-talking, confident, and someone who always had a plan to fix patients' ailments, per D Magazine. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. He had no idea what he was doing. He was horrified to realize that Duntsch was going to keep practicing. "I'm a well-trained surgeon. And the only thing she complained about was she couldnt find what she wanted to watch on TV.. Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. It would clearly be a policy decision for the Legislature to consider whether the process or the standards for evidence required for a temporary suspension need to change., Leigh Hopper, formerly the Medical Board spokesperson, put it more bluntly. Their romance moved. Because he owed people a lot of money. Near the end of his report, Kirby wrote, The [Medical Board] must stop this sociopath Duntsch immediately or he will continue [to] maim and kill innocent patients. Perhaps it was the completeness and forcefulness of his presentation, perhaps it was the fact that another neurosurgeon had just joined the board, and he understood as none of the rest did the severity of what Duntsch had done. The "deadly weapons" were his hands and surgical tools. Even when the board does sanction a doctor, those sanctions are often lighteven in cases in which the doctor is badly impaired. Hewould go on to have another child with Youngwho finally split from the struggling doctor by 2014. Kayla Keegan leads Good Housekeepings editorial growth strategies in the partnership, news, social, branded, membership and newsletter spaces. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! In telling the story of Duntsch, both the series and podcast reveal how a flawed system allowed him to operate for so long. One might think that if a doctor had paralyzed one patient and had another die in the course of a month, it would be someones job to figure out why. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. The series is set to premiere on July 12 and will feature a star-studded cast. Physicians who complained about Duntsch to the Texas Medical Board and to the hospitals he worked at described his practice in superlative terms. He said his son called him upset after several of the botched surgeries. This was the time when Dr. Christopher Duntsch started to turn into Dr. Death. Over this period, Duntsch performed back surgeries that left his patients in a worse condition, paralyzed, or deceased. .css-lwn4i5{display:block;font-family:Neutra,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:-0.01rem;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;text-align:center;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-lwn4i5:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-lwn4i5{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-lwn4i5{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-lwn4i5{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-lwn4i5{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.1;}}Leann Rimes Shares Video Montage for Anniversary, Read Erin Napier's Post about 'Home Town', Christie Brinkley = Iconic In Bareback Riding Pic, 35 Celebrity Relationships That Upset Fans, Celebrities You Didn't Know Had Famous Moms, 30 Celebrity Feuds That Were Never Resolved, Celebrity Couples from 50 Years You Forgot About, We Ranked Every Single Adam Sandler Movie, 34 'Bridgerton' Fun Facts to Fuel Your Obsession, Where Youve Seen the Cast of Bridgerton Before. Efurd, who is now wheelchair-bound, spoke to reporters following the sentencing. Articles must link back to the original article and contain the following attribution at the top of the story: This article was originally published by the, Articles cannot be rewritten, edited or changed beyond alignments with house style books. Efurd woke up after surgery in horrible pain, barely able to move her legs. Peacock's Dr. Death is a chilling dramatization of the real-life story of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch.As those watching the show know, Christopher was dubbed "Dr. Death" in D Magazine . Martins surgery was Duntschs last at Baylor. In December 2012, he performed a cervical fusion at Legacy Surgery Center of Frisco that left his patient with paralyzed vocal cordsan unheard-of complication. With the exception of pain management clinics and anesthesiologists, the board doesnt have the authority to inspect a doctor, or to start an investigation on its own. He blamed Summers paralysis on Duntschs surgical misadventures, which had led to the artery being cut; the final straw, he wrote in his report, had been the packing of coagulants around the cut, which had seriously damaged Summers spinal cord. The four-part docuseries features old footage and new interviews to tell more of the story about the neurosurgeon who was sentenced to prison after maiming or killing more than 30 patients. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Dr. Death, which premieres on July 15 on Peacock, shows the horrors that followed once he was on the job. Up until 2003, medical care in Texas was regulated by a system of checks. He talked impressive. Its a completely egregious case, Leigh Hopper, then head of communications for the Texas Medical Board, told The Dallas Morning News in June. Christopher, known as Dr Death, was Jerry's friend and the surgeon who performed the botched operation on him in 2011 Credit: Dallas County Sheriff's office. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. In an official statement, she wrote, The way the lawis currently written, with a high bar of evidence for the board to meet, the process can take time so that the board can build a solid case. If you were a patient in the Dallas area around this time looking for a spine surgeon, there would have been nothing to suggest that Duntsch was a risky choice. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. During a spinal surgery on his childhood friend and roommate, Jerry Summers, Duntsch damaged an artery and rendered him a quadriplegic. But the real tragedy of the Christopher Duntsch story is how preventable it was. They move slowly and only take action theyre reasonably sure will be effective. Goals scored. Two weeks later, on June 14, 2013, Kirby got a call to come to University General to do a recovery surgery on one of Duntschs patients. Doctors, and then, later, lawyers would call the boards investigators and sometimes even the board members themselves, begging them to do something. Every year the board is both overseeing many more doctors and bringing in more money. Why Trust Us? Martin selected Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a neurosurgeon with a glowing reputation, to perform the surgery at Baylor Plano Hospital. We now know that the Texas Medical Board was working behind the scenes in summer 2012, trying to find grounds to temporarily suspend Duntschs license. In a specialized field like neurosurgery, that means further months of delay. But Young would never get the happy ending she had envisioned with the doctor. After Christopher performed a spinal surgery on Mary in 2012, Mary suffered crippling pain afterward. "I think all of us will be thinking about things like this, and hopefully there will be some tighter controls, more accountability in a lot of areas so something like this wont happen again. And yet they occurred in Duntschs operating rooms over a period of just two years," an article in D Magazine reads. The show starsJoshua Jackson,Grace Gummer, AnnaSophia Robb,Christian SlaterandAlec Baldwin. It was horrible. During surgery, Duntsch had sliced through one of the arteries alongside Martins spine, as he had with Summers. At the time, Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before the Texas Medical Board revoked his license. Nicknamed "Dr. Death," the story of Duntsch's egregious medical crimes and the healthcare system that failed so. Another woman named Megan Kane claimed he ate a paper blotter of LSD and took prescription painkillers in the early 2000s on his birthday. Mary told reporters afterward, "I think its going to be like a floodgate thats going to really open, crying. For one, there was alleged drug and alcohol abuse. Dr. Death is the new true-crime series on Peacock starring The Affair's Joshua Jackson as the infamous surgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch. At one point Dr. Henderson sent me a tape of a conversation he had with the main Medical Board investigator assigned to Duntschs case. The one-time neurosurgeon was sentenced by the 12-member jury to spend the remainder of his life behind bars Monday afternoon. He then had trouble moving the plate into place. I was very independent and I had to become dependent on others for transportation, for my meals, for a lot of things," she said. They talked about how he doted on his two little boys. Another spinal fusion; another routine procedure. I thought, this couldnt have happened. "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. Kellie Martin was in good health; a laminectomy is considered a minor procedure. Daniel Reece, Michael Rice and Christopher Ochwat, Reece left in January, while the other two were sacked by the management for reasons still unclear. This has freed hospitals from the fear of litigation, but its also removed the financial motivation for policing their own physicians. Duntsch went back into the operating room and left Don waiting. Kellie Martin and her husband, Don, went to see Duntsch, who suggested a procedure called a microlaminectomy, in which part of the spine is removed to relieve pressure on the nerves. During the surgery, Duntsch sliced into one of the arteries running down Summers spine, causing massive bleeding, which he tried to staunch by packing coagulants around the wound. He waited until they told him his wife had been sent to the intensive care unit. I think what happened is that as things began to fall apart, the only thing he knew was to try harder, Don Duntsch said. A poorly put-together case can mean months or years of expensive litigation. He works out, he reads, he studies the Bible. "As his victims pile up, two fellow physicians and Dallas prosecutor Michelle Shughart set out to stop him.". It was mostly designed to monitor doctors licenses and make sure the states medical practitioners are keeping up with professional standards. He said he had no doubt that his son cared about his patients. He was friendly, and we had good conversation. Its not clear how such a well-trained surgeon could have performed so disastrously, but the June 26 Medical Board report offers a hint: Respondent is unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety due to impairment from drugs or alcohol.. Office manager B.J. After his wife died, Don Martin found himself at a loss. And all the while, until their cases are resolved, doctorseven those accused of the most heinous malpracticecan continue to practice. Once Duntsch left Baylor, he was no longer the hospitals problem. Young is portrayed in the dramatized series by actress Molly Griggs, who brings to life the couples volatile arguments, including onedepiction in whichYoung announcesshe is pregnant just months into their relationship to a less-than-thrilled Duntsch, played by former Dawsons Creek star Joshua Jackson. He seemed to have a hard time moving organs and blood vessels out of the way, according to Kirby. When he arrived in Dallas in late 2010, Duntsch's resume spoke of a skilled neurosurgeon: An M.D. Death Series, Dr. Hospital management, the court system and the Texas Medical Board formed a web of regulation that penalized and prevented bad care. One woman came in for a routine operation on a herniated disc, and bled to death on the recovery table. In the end, he blamed pride for his sons downfall. Hes been devastated, Don Duntsch said. Like pilot trainingyou dont expect a trained pilot to get drunk and fly his plane into the ground., But its more complicated than that. A CT scan found that the metal spinal fusion hardware, meant to be placed on the patients spine to keep the vertebrae from moving, was sunk into the muscles of her lower back, inches from her spine. Prince Charming, Imgonnachange your life, Young toldCNBCsAmerican Greed inan episode airing earlier this year. But what is the real-life story behind Duntsch and Youngs complicated romance? The Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. According to his ex-girlfriend Wendy Young (played by Mollie Griggs in the show), Duntsch is in touch with his two sons. Photos, illustrations and other art may be available for syndication but must be confirmed. She alsoalleged tothe magazine that he broke into her apartment, showing up one day covered in blood. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Editors note: For more information about Dr. Christopher Duntschs case, listen to the 2018 podcast Dr. Duntschs explanation, along with the email from Baylor, was enough to get him a trial run of five surgeries at Dallas Medical Center. I dont know what it is, she said. Two days later, once Efurd was stable, Henderson was assigned to do the repair surgery. Instead, Duntsch would find himself behind bars for life after botching more than 30 surgeriesresulting in the death of two patients and earning him the nickname Dr. This defendant single-handedly ruined their lives, and he gave each of them a life of pain, prosecutor Michelle Shughart told jurors in closing statements. .css-ssumvd{display:block;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.0625rem;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.25;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-ssumvd:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-ssumvd{letter-spacing:0rem;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Gayle King Is Showcasing Women Making Waves, Your Complete Guide to the Bridgerton Family, Jada Pinkett Smiths Red Table Talk Is Canceled, Oprah Wishes Carol Burnett a Happy 90th Birthday, Oprah and Mindy Kaling Are Producing a TV Show, Oprah and Michelle Obama Have a Netflix Special, Gayle Kings Pop Culture Must-See List for April, What We Know About The Little Mermaid Remake, Dr. Death Tells the Horrifying True Story of Christopher Duntsch, The True Story that Inspired Season 2 Dirty John, 20 True-Crime Podcasts You Should Be Listening To, Gayle King Is Showcasing Women Making Waves, email he wrote to former assistant Kimberly Morgan. But a few years later, he popped up in Kermit doing just thatas well as selling drugs out of the operating room and performing bizarre surgeries he hadnt been trained for. Its hard to find good conversation with a random person, Young told the magazine. Meanwhile, he was continuing to get patients, continuing to operate. But Public Citizen found that of those 793 doctors, the Texas Medical Board had taken serious action in less than half the cases. He told Morgan that Young was just his secretary from Memphis, whose husband would be moving to the area soon, according to the podcast. By all appearances, he had simply decided to leave. Once the case has been put together, the investigators will make a recommendation to the board itself, a group of 12 physicians and seven laypeople appointed by the governor. So while hospital administrators did a deeper background examination, they granted Duntsch temporary privileges. Across two years, Duntsch . It's a good questionand one that Dr. Death details, along with the surprisingly difficult fight to revoke his license. It was just gone. Ellisontold thepodcast that Morgan was instantly smitten with the doctor. In July of that year, Duntsch was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury on five counts of aggravated assault and one count of harming an elderly person. Friends since they played football together in high school, Summers helped Duntsch stay organized while he worked in the lab during his residency. According to The Dallas Morning News, he will be up for parole in 2045, when he is 74. Promotional materials distributed by your outlet, including all social media work, must include cites for the Observer and our reporter. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. The eight-episode series is anticipated to be a thrilling watch. Once Duntsch proved himself inept, hospitals let him resign instead of going through the legal process of firing him. Kirby had spent 16 years performing general surgery in the Dallas area, in which time hed assisted on more than 2,000 spine operations. Another had 13 civil judgments against him, including for wrongful death, permanent injury and two cases of removing the wrong body part. When Duntsch came out, he told Don there had been some complications, and that Kellie would have to stay the night, but that the operation had gone fine. These doctors are busythey have practices of their own that pay a lot better than volunteering for the Medical Boardand there arent many of them. ), Photo: And still it took the Texas Medical Board more than a year to stop Duntscha year in which he kept bringing into the operating room patients who ended up seriously injured or dead. He nicked the patients vertebral artery, causing the space he was working in to fill with blood. 2021 The Texas Observer. But Baylor didnt hold him to that. In January 2012, he assisted on one of Duntschs surgeries. Baylor brought in a senior surgeon to fix the damage to Summers spine. But when I talked to Medical Board spokesperson Megan Goode about this, she said Public Citizen had it wrongthat the board isnt underfunded at all. Sometimes we know that someones bad, but when it comes to taking them to a hearing and proving it to where we can actually do some disciplinary action, it takes time of gathering evidence. None of this hurt his career. The problem, she said, isnt staff. Before we ask if the board does its job, we have to ask what is the job the Legislature assigned to the board, and what resources the board gets to do that job. As she lay dying, Duntsch performed his third surgery, on a woman named Mary Efurd. Later, when Duntsch moved to Dallas to begin his career as a neurosurgeon he took Summers with him. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Even more surprising, these crimes came from a doctor who looked great on paper. For the first time, the board could suspend without a hearing doctors who constituted a continuing threat to the public welfare, i.e., cases where the public couldnt afford to wait for the full board proceedings. This guy already killed somebody, made another a quad, made a partial paraplegic out of my patient. I said, He needs to be stopped. In February of 2017, Christopher was sentenced to life in prison. Dallas Magazine states that Duntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. Jurors heard from Duntschs father, mother, brother and a family friend who sought to appeal to the sympathies of the jury. In February 2013, for unclear reasons, the board took his license. A 27-year-old Young had been working as a stripper in Memphis when she met Duntsch, then 40. When physical therapy didnt relieve the pain, her family doctor suggested she see a certain neurosurgeonbut the doctor couldnt find that surgeons card, so she suggested Duntsch instead. The two-week trial especially focused on Mary Efurd's testimony. Given the graphic subject matter, if you're squeamish, keep your finger on the "fast forward" button while watching Dr. Death. Jurors also heard from doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who testified theywere shocked by what they saw Duntsch do during and after those surgeries. Many of them had committed serious practice violations. By the time she was transferred to UT Southwestern Medical Center later that day, she was brain dead. and a Ph.D. from a top-tier medical school, a decade of experience, and a central role in a pioneering stem-cell treatment. Instead, she awoke in searing pain, which she likened to child birth, per D Magazine. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! "He has a job inside the prison. Because investigations are confidential, Duntschs public record with the Texas Medical Board remained clean. He said that Summers had broken down in to uncontrolled crying and said, I know your brother would never do this to me on purpose.. Whatever the reason, this time the board acted. He was smart. Summers remains paralyzed. What all this means is that the Texas Legislature has committed the state to a policy of medical deregulationa free-market system in which doctors can practice as they please with limited government interference. Because of greed. Deathand the intense media scrutiny surrounding the shocking case would drive Young out of Dallas with the couples two sons. Kellie Martin and Floella Brown died. After losing his license, Duntsch filed for bankruptcy and returned to Colorado, where his parents live. In November 2011 he was granted surgical privileges at Baylor Regional Medical Center of Plano. We have to consider the uncomfortable possibility that Christopher Duntsch is to the medical system what the recent West explosion was to the fertilizer industrya regrettable tragedy, but the price of living in a free-market system. Anatomy of a Tragedy. Jackson developed a perspective on his character. Dallas Medical Center also declined to comment, citing privacy concerns. He just had no recognition of the proper anatomy. Duntsch briefly enrolled at CSU in the fall of 1991 when he was 20 years old. You're probably asking, How could Duntsch have gotten away with a string of botched surgeries? Christopher Duntsch, 46, was initially charged with five counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and one count of injuring an elderly person, 1 but the trial focused on the last charge, which alleged that Duntsch deliberately harmed Mary Efurd, then aged 72, in a 2012 operation that left her in a wheelchair. Duntschwho was just completing a prestigious spine surgery fellowship in Tennesseebought Young an appletini and the two immediately clicked. Jodi Smith. Christopher Duntsch, the focus of Peacock's true crime series Dr. Death, looked good on paper. Hes lost everything.. The boards mandate, spelled out in the Medical Practice Act, recognizes a doctors license as a hard-won, valuable credential. All rights reserved. Duntsch grew up in a middle-class family. When I think about it, its just devastating., When I spoke to him, a year after his wifes death, he told me that they had trusted Duntsch, and that there had been no sign suggesting they do otherwise. Young told D Magazine she was forced to move from her Dallas home after investigators started camping out on her street and attorneys started waiting in the stairwell of her apartment, looking for Duntsch. Kay Van Wey, a Dallas plaintiffs attorney who represented over 10 of Duntsch's patients, put it to ProPublica simply: The hospitals played a game of medical "kick the can." Speaking to Inside Edition, they called him "a snake in the grass," "a monster," "drug addict" and even "a psychopath.". She was 55 and had been experiencing persistent back pain after a fall at home. Dr. Death is the new true-crime drama on Peacock, based on the 2018 podcast series of the same name. At his home and office, my calls rang and rang before going to voicemail boxes that were full. His daughter, Caitlin Martin-Linduff, was relieved and tearful to know Duntsch will never hurt anyone again. Into this milieu rolled Christopher Duntsch, M.D., like a 100-year storm. In this case, as well, the Texas Medical Board took no action, according to Public Citizen. 300 (2.48 per match) 2021. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. When Kirby saw Glidewell, he later wrote the Medical Board, he was horrified. The incision, he wrote, was cut into Glidewells throat two or three inches lower and an inch midline from where it should have been oriented saliva and pus were coming out of the wound.. His victims also had descriptors. Nevertheless, Christopher had his medical license stripped in 2013 and was eventually brought to justice after Mary took him to court. 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 Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. He felt confident. He sounded impressive, Don said. Mr. He was a megalomaniac. AnnaSophia Robb Stars In New Series Dr. They just cant comprehend that an M.D.-Ph.D. neurosurgeon could do what Christopher Duntsch was doing. And a system in which theres no way to know for sure if your doctor is dangerous. If the board decides to act on a complaintand only one in four complaints makes it that farinvestigators begin subpoenaing hospital records, which the board will eventually send to a pair of volunteer doctors in the same specialty who will review the case (if they disagree, a third doctor has to be found to break the tie).

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