Duntsch suggested drilling a hole in Brown's head to relieve the pressure, but was refused permission. The television series Dr. Death based on the incident, began streaming on Peacock in July 2021. In December 2012, Jacqueline Troy was left barely able to speak above a whisper after Duntsch cut her vocal cords and one of her arteries. Duntsch recommended fusing Morguloff's L5-S1 vertebrae, and the surgery was scheduled for January 11, 2012. Christopher Duntsch is currently imprisoned at the O.B. Boop said that Duntsch spent his final year as an attending physician and could not operate independently. The surgery was scheduled for December 30, 2011. 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 DallasFort Worth metroplex. Then, on July 24, 2012, he operated on Floella Brown. Kirby arrived and transferred Glidewell to a top-tier hospital to perform an emergency operation to remove the sponge. He performed only one surgery with the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. Dr. Fulton never worked with Duntsch again. by Saul Elbein. One of the early investors in DiscGenics, Rand Page, said Duntsch would be mixing a vodka orange juice during their morning meetings. Former teammates later said that, while Duntsch trained hard, he lacked talent at the game. 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. The hospital hired him and granted him temporary surgical privileges until his reference checks were completed. is a beautiful and populous city located in Montana U.S. . Henderson then cleaned out bone fragments and discovered that one of Efurd's nerve roots was gone entirely. 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. Morguloff sought a second opinion on his excruciating pain from Dr. Michael Desaloms. When Henderson saw the imaging from Duntsch's surgery, he was certain that there would be legal action, and had the salvage surgery recorded. From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx Yet, in April 2012, he returned to work just four months after surgery. He claimed he was the best in Dallas. [36] On February 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison. The case status is Disposed - Other Disposed. Kissinger also noticed that Duntsch had pinpoint pupils and hardly seemed to blink. 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. He did his surgical residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, spending five years studying neurosurgery and a year studying general surgery. To stop the bleeding, he packed the space with so much anticoagulant foam that it constricted Summers' spine. [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. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. I can't believe that you're accusing me of killing someone,'" Muse recounted. 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. This meant Summers could still feel pain, but was unable to move from the neck down. [18] He damaged patient Philip Mayfield's spinal cord, drilling into it and leaving him partially paralyzed from the neck down. Passmore met with Dr. Duntsch and was impressed by his confidence; he would fix him. Christopher Duntsch, known as "Dr. Death" tried to explain himself in rambling emails, but he only made things worse for his criminal case. Christopher Duntsch was a neurosurgeon who radiated confidence. B. Ellis Unit outside Huntsville. [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. Summers had a credit card in his name connected to Duntsch's account and would drive him around, balance his checkbooks, and pick up his dry cleaning. It was Duntsch, babbling about his family being in danger. 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. Christopher Duntsch ended up at Millsaps College in Mississippi to play football and was offered financial aid. His resume looked brilliant on paper," journalistMatt Goodman said of Christopher Duntsch's ability to continue to gain employment at Texas hospitals despite a deadly track record. 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 felt that anyone with a basic knowledge of human anatomy would know that he was operating in the wrong area of Efurd's back. 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 . 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 . [44] The Dallas County district attorney's office called it "a historic case with respect to prosecuting a doctor who had done wrong during surgery. Duntsch is the first physician sentenced to life in prison for his actions while practicing medicine. [38][39] On December 10, 2018, the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed Duntsch's conviction by a 21 split decision. Dr. Duntsch said to Cheney, "I don't know why you're this way. He is not eligible for parole until 2045; he will be 74 years old by then. The Dallas district attorney's office subpoenaed every hospital on Duntsch's CV for records of his surgeries. Duntsch had removed part of his femoral nerve. [30], Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move elsewhere and still theoretically get a medical license. "[3] 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. 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. I left with him and believed in him and then, you know, he just kind of fell apart.. Kirby warned him again that it was only a matter of time. Glidewell was reportedly still suffering the ill effects of Duntsch's operation years later and has undergone more than 50 procedures to correct the damage. Jerry Summers believed that his best friend Christopher Duntsch was a talented neurosurgeon who would cure his chronic neck pain. Christopher Duntsch. She was moved to the ICU and died due to blood loss. Shughart countered that the 2011 email, sent after his first surgeries went wrong, proved that Duntsch knew his actions were intentional. Randall 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." That same month, the two began an affair. The staff told Duntsch that Brown, his patient from the day before, was in critical condition. i feel much better now ! Left: Christopher Duntsch in surgery, Right: Christopher Duntschs mugshot. A Texas neurosurgeon accused of intentionally botching multiple spinal surgeries, resulting in the death of two . But soon his patients started to experience complications, and the system failed to protect them. She bled so much that blood was saturating the blue draping around her body and dripping onto the floor. Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. 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. Caroline is a writer and Florida-transplant currently living in New York City. He is currently appealing this sentence. The Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. [10][7], Duntsch completed his residency having participated in fewer than 100 surgeries. An MRI revealed that multiple bone fragments in his spinal canal were compressing and adhering to his S1 nerve and that Duntsch had installed the hardware incorrectly. Death.. That's why it really shined down to me," Kissinger said in an interview. Although he wasn't a talented athlete, he trained for hours on his own and made it as a linebacker on his high school football team at Evangelical Christian School in Memphis. Before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board, he was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 . 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. The appalling actions of the rogue surgeon and their repercussions on his unsuspecting patients were . A disc in his lower spine had blown out, and the pieces had to be picked out of the space above. As he lay there in agony, Duntsch was nowhere to be found. His pain management specialist advised against an operation but referred him to a neurosurgeon named Christopher Duntsch. The two soon began dating and moving in together within three months. Out of his 38 surgeries, only three had no complications. After a breath test, Duntsch was arrested for DUI and sent to a detox facility. Pic credit: Dallas County Sheriff's Office. Of those 38, 31 were leftparalyzed or seriously injured and two of them died from surgical complications. Donald Duntsch was a gridiron football standout in Montana, and Christopher was determined to follow in those footsteps. 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]. Just weeks after permanently maiming Morguloff, Dr. Duntsch operated on his lifelong friend and roommate, Jerry Summers. February 22, 2017. Duntsch arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes after Efurd's surgery had been scheduled. When he called Duntsch's office, he was told it would "go away." The Peacock originalDr Deathis based on atrue story. This was the time when Dr. Christopher Duntsch started to turn into Dr. Death. He later appealed his case, but lost when his conviction was upheld 2-1 in the Fifth District Court of Appeals . Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! The case highlights the risks of allowing a troubled physician to move to another hospital . [9][10], Duntsch had severed Brown's vertebral artery, and refused to abort despite the massive blood loss. Her husband could not hold himself up; he had no support of his own and could barely speak. She also said they snorted cocaine from a small pile he kept on a dresser in his home office. The director of neurosurgery at UT Southwestern, Carlos Bagley, testifying for the defense, said that "the only way this happens is that the entire system fails the patients." She was dancing at a strip club in Memphis, and Duntsch's issues with his business, DiscGenics, grew more severe.