The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. Morguloff had become addicted to the pain killers being prescribed to him by this time. It was determined during the repair surgery that Dr. Duntsch had not even been operating on the correct part of Jeff Glidewell's spine. He wrote grants and secured more than $3 million in funding. A patient who was left barely able to walk and in constant pain after undergoing two botched surgeries at the hands of killer neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch says he 'guarantees' there are other . Fennell is in constant pain, and it took several months of rehabilitation before he could begin to walk with a cane. Im the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state.. ", You know in the beginning he talked about marriage. Facebook Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch. 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. After intense rehab and his determination, eventually, he was able to use a walker and cane to mobilize himself. As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email written by Christopher Duntsch. Now, one of the several complaints against the . He realized he'd seen that hole for three straight days Duntsch hadn't changed his scrubs all week. [9][24][19][7] After several days, Kirby was brought in to repair the damage and later described what he found after opening Glidewell back up as the work of a "crazed maniac". His first and only surgery with MISI was on a Thursday in September 2011 at Baylor Plano. [4][49], Last edited on 14 February 2023, at 04:48, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Plano, Texas District and County Attorneys Association, "Dr. Duntsch defense expert: "The only way this happens is the entire system fails the patients", "Plano Doctor Suspended After Two Patient Deaths", "Former Neurosurgeon Faces Life In Prison After Guilty Verdict", "What Was Dr. Christopher Duntsch's Background And Why Were People So Impressed With The Man Later Known As 'Dr. Prosecutors also faulted Duntsch's employers for not reporting him. From 2011 to 2013, dozens of patients in the Dallas area woke up after their surgeries with horrible pain, numbness and, paralysis. No diagnostic imaging studies were ordered, and no reasonable explanation was offered for his condition. "[45], Wondery Media launched a ten-episode podcast series named Dr. Death, focusing on Duntsch. Despite this refusal, Duntsch was allowed to finish his residency. Finally, Dr. Kirby received a call from Hassan Chahadeh. 11:15 PM on Mar 1, 2014 CST. He was left with only one vocal cord, permanent damage to his esophagus, and partial paralysis on his left side. Duntsch is at the O. Berry Morguloff was Dr. Duntsch's next unsuspecting victim. One of the patients who suffered disastrous consequences was Jerry Summers, the boyfriend of Megan Kane and a friend of Christopher Duntsch. [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. The Judge overseeing this case is GINSBERG, CARL. Dr. Christopher Duntsch became the subject of a Peacock original series for all the wrong reasons. The series peers into the torturous crimes of . She was dancing at a strip club in Memphis, and Duntsch's issues with his business, DiscGenics, grew more severe. He claimed he was the best in Dallas. All the while, the operating room staff questioned whether Duntsch was putting hardware into Efurd in the right places and noticed he kept drilling and removing screws. Since Duntsch's departure was technically voluntary, Baylor Plano was under no obligation to report him to the Texas Medical Board or the National Practitioner Data Bank. [46], Dr. Death, a TV mini-series based on the podcast, began streaming on Peacock on July 15, 2021. Passmore met with Dr. Duntsch and was impressed by his confidence; he would fix him. He was tragically mistaken. At the time of their meeting, Young was working as a dancer in a strip club. 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. February 22, 2017. A CT scan would later reveal that Efurds nerve root had been amputated, there were several screw holes nowhere near where they were supposed to be, and one screw had been lodged in another nerve root. There are many sick people in the world, but Duntsch takes the cake for me. [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. The Legislature not only puts the burden of proof on the plaintiff instead of the defendant in medical malpractice cases, but it also allows hospitals to keep information about doctors confidential. Christopher Duntsch, known as "Dr. Death" tried to explain himself in rambling emails, but he only made things worse for his criminal case. While they were in the lab working, Duntsch went to work raising money for a company he called DiscGenics. Duntsch had removed part of his femoral nerve. Duntsch suggested drilling a hole in Brown's head to relieve the pressure, but was refused permission. When other doctors discovered the sponge, Duntsch refused to return to help remove it. [38][39] On December 10, 2018, the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed Duntsch's conviction by a 21 split decision. 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]. [4], Upon applying for work, he looked extremely qualified on paper: he had spent a total of fifteen years in training (medical school, residency and fellowship), and his curriculum vitae was twelve single-spaced pages. Mayfield was taken to a different hospital and told his spinal cord had already been deformed, and the damage was irreversible. Three holes had been poked into Efurd's spinal column where Duntsch had tried and failed to insert screws. Duntsch initially attended Millsaps College to play Division III college football, and later transferred to Division I Colorado State University. They didn't have enough evidence to stop him because he hadn't done anything wrong yet. He avoided it and disappeared for several days. Passmore says if he settles, he is allowing the hospital to continue to get away with their negligence. [18] Despite this, Duntsch was retained by South Hampton when new owners bought it and renamed it University General Hospital. Dubbed "Dr. Death," the case gained national attention, revealing Unfortunately, when Fennell woke up from surgery, he was paralyzed from the waist down. Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. Baylor Plano again ordered Duntsch to take a drug test. In a long running series of complaints, a Texas doctor has been found guilty of a felony in one medical malpractice case. D MagazineChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. Death,' Dallas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch", "Texas neurosurgeon nicknamed 'Dr. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. 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. During his tenure at Baylor Plano, Kimberly Morgan assisted in every surgery with Duntsch. 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. The series is set to premiere on July 12 and will feature a star-studded cast. An anesthesiologist and Dr. Anson Fulton, who assisted with the surgery, warned Duntsch about the blood loss, and he continued to ignore them and operate. Lee Passmore is still fighting. He is not eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74 years old. He thought it was odd that Duntsch wasn't working at Baylor Plano anymore, so he called his insurance company, who stated Christopher Duntsch was in good standing. He was wearing the shirt of his black scrubs, and it was covered in blood. The process involves cutting a hole in the skull to relieve the pressure in the brain. Baylor wanted Duntsch operating quickly and often so they could be reimbursed for the monies they had advanced to him. Before working with him, Dr. Hoyle said that he didnt know how to feel about his fellow surgeon. Shughart argued that Duntsch should have known he would 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. A deranged surgeon runs amok, maiming and killing multiple patients, unhindered by a medical community sworn to police itself. Then check out the horrifying story of Simon Bramhall, a surgeon who admitted to burning his initials into patients livers. Duntsch also received forty percent of all revenue he generated beyond $800,000 each year. Dr. Christopher Duntsch's patients ended up maimed and dead, but the real tragedy is that the Texas Medical Board couldn't stop him. From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx 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." In 2014, he developed syringomyelia, a painful condition that causes fluid-filled cysts on the spinal cord. Jeff Cheney later learned that part of his spinal cord had been cut during the operation. Dr. Christopher Duntsch appeared to havean impressive resume, but left a trail ofpain and devastation for those who trusted him with their health. Jeff Glidewell came across Dr. Christopher Duntsch in 2013 while searching for a neurosurgeon . But based on documents gathered by the DA, when Duntsch finished his residency, he had operated fewer than 100 times. Dr Deathis a new limited series about the rise and fall of Duntsch. He is a graduate of Evangelical Christian School in the Cordova suburb of Memphis, where he starred in football.[7]. The first season of Dr. Death, which launched in 2018 and ran for seven episodes, examined the life and horrific crimes of Christopher Duntsch. Dr. Death is based on the podcast of the same name, produced by Wondery. 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. 3-Jeff Glidewell, another victim of Duntsch's. 4-Michelle Shugart, the woman who brought this all to fruition . "Something was wrong," Dr. Rimlawi said, "whether it be impairment from drugs, alcohol, mental illness, or a combination of all three." You'd like to think . Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. Next week marks the five-year anniversary of Texas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch being sentenced to life in prison. South Hampton Community Hospital in Dallas (now University General Hospital). They have two sons. When Morgan asked Duntsch about the woman in his house, he said she was just his secretary and friend. By this time, Jerry Summers, his childhood friend, had moved from Tennessee to live with Duntsch. 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. My surgery was 3 months ago but i noticed difference right away. [4], After 13 days of trial, the jury needed only four hours to convict him for the maiming 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. Duntsch is a serial maimer and killer. His mother, Susan, was a school teacher. His very first operation at the hospital would once again turn deadly. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? "[20][4] Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. A few days later, he took the test and passed. The Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. Journalists must draw attention to the failures in the U.S. medical and legal systems that allowed Christopher Duntsch, the subject of journalist Laura Beil's well-regarded "Dr. Death" podcast series, to injure dozens of patients, members of an expert panel said at the "10 years after 'Dr. Death': Are patients any safer from bad doctors?" panel at Health Journalism 2022 in Austin. [36] On February 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison. He was brilliant. Henderson and Kirby feared that Duntsch could move and theoretically get a medical license in another state. Jerry Summers believed that his best friend Christopher Duntsch was a talented neurosurgeon who would cure his chronic neck pain. The two soon began dating and moving in together within three months. No one can pay to remove ratings. A Texas jury found Christopher Duntsch guilty Feb. 14 of maiming patients who had turned to him for surgery to resolve debilitating injuries. During surgery, Duntsch damaged Summers' vertebral artery causing it to bleed uncontrollably. Young said that Morgan visited often. Ellis Unit prison in Huntsville, Texas. ", "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? He was a genius. Board chairman Irwin Zeitzler later said that complications in neurosurgery were more common than most think. Christopher Duntsch. Duntsch told Mayfield's wife it went well, but she instantly knew something was wrong as she walked into his room. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. Soon after starting Efurd's surgery, Duntsch turned to Kissinger and told him he would be performing a craniotomy on Floella Brown. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. Everything went perfect in there." He recommended fusing two of her vertebrae and the insertion of "hardware" in her spinal area. Over the course of two years, Christopher Duntsch operated on 38 patients in the Dallas area. [16] In 2021, he was profiled on CNBC's American Greed. Duntsch stuffed Glidewell's throat with a surgical sponge to attempt to stop the bleeding. 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. It was Duntsch, babbling about his family being in danger. She bled to death . Christopher Duntsch was a neurosurgeon who radiated confidence. In October 2011, she registered articles of incorporation to form Duntsch's practice, the Texas Neurosurgical Institute. 1-Christopher Duntsch and then girlfriend, Wendy Young. Now, his time at the university . He then prescribed Muse so much Percocet that a pharmacist refused to fill the prescription. The case status is Disposed - Other Disposed. Duntsch also appears in no yearbooks during the time in which he says he earned his Ph.D. It was completely unnecessary, didn't relieve her pain, and only set her up for another needed surgery. The story of Dr. Death, Christopher Duntsch, feels like something out of a movie or book. Jerry Summers, who grew up with Christopher Duntsch in Tennessee, was left a quadriplegic after agreeing to let "Dr. Death" operate on his neck. Advertisement. Dr. Henderson thought the operation on Mary Efurd was so botched that Christopher Duntsch had to be an imposter. Dr. According to D Magazine, a doctor at the hospital where Duntsch worked said that Duntsch had been sent to an impaired physician program after he refused to take a drug test. Assistant district attorney Michelle Shughart, who led the prosecution of Duntsch, later recalled that Henderson and Kirby reached out to her demanding to testify against Duntsch; according to Shughart, doctors rarely testify against each other. 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. 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. Peacock's Dr. Death is a chilling dramatization of the real-life story of former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch. At the time, hospitals were not required to report doctors who only had temporary privileges. After interviewing dozens of Duntsch's patients and their survivors, prosecutors concluded that Duntsch's acts were indeed criminal, and nothing short of imprisonment would prevent him from practicing medicine again. Brown was left in a coma for hours before Duntsch finally acquiesced to her transfer. Her husband could not hold himself up; he had no support of his own and could barely speak. It told the unfortunately true story of Doctor Christopher Duntsch, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison for maiming an elderly patient. I left with him and believed in him and then, you know, he just kind of fell apart.. 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.