So, I went back to Dallas. Duntschs legal woes were only just beginning. He says that surgery happened earlier in the week, and that it was he who called Rimlawi and asked him to check on the patient. This very friend would later end up a quadriplegic under Duntsch's weapon of a scalpel. 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. Kane dated Summers for a year. The fault also lies with the Texas law. It took the Texas Medical Board one whole year to investigate and finally revoke Duntsch's license. According to a police report obtained by The Texas Observer, Duntsch was captured on camera trying to steal $887 worth of merchandise, including pants, briefcases, cologne, watches and sun glasses. Dallas County Jail/AP, Duntsch filed for bankruptcy and was arrested in Denver for driving under the influence on Jan. 10, 2014, according to, Ultimately, on that case, he ended up getting 12 months (of) probation and a small fine, Michelle Shughart, assistant district attorney in Dallas County, told, Duntsch is now living out his life behind bars, but Young told CNBC's, starring Joshua Jackson, Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater. This is notably weird, considering Christopher Duntsch trained underDr. Boop, so you'd assume that theyoperated together as part of the whole learning surgery process. And there were plenty of other signs as well. Duntsch suspected that this had something to do with his vodka bottle and neurostimulants. It said he was $1 million in debt. At this point, Im like freaking out, and I just, I leave.. She had clinical experience and often spent time with Duntsch when he was conducting research. It was hearsay, he contended. I still dont know the answer.. But for his victims, the judgment was a big relief. Baldwin, 63, plays a more mature character to his onscreen partner Christian Slaters zany one, with the two pairing up in quest to end Dr Deaths medical career and bring him to justice. Slater is also known for his roles in Mr. Saul Elbein writes in the Texas Observer that Dr. Hendersonsent him a recording of his complaint to the Texas Medical Board. By December, Duntsch wrangled privileges at Legacy Surgery Center of Frisco, and Kirby, in his letter to the Texas Medical Board, narrated another grim outcome: Jacqueline Troys vocal cord was paralyzed, and her esophagus and trachea had become connected, an unheard of complication. A corrective surgery happened two weeks later, after she arrived at the emergency room of Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas, where Kirby practiced. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! The Texas DA chose six patients to make their case to the jury: Lee Passmore, Barry Morguloff, Jerry Summers, Kellie Martin, Floella Brown, and Mary Efurd. He discovered a significant esophageal injury that belabored Glidewells breathing and found a sponge that had been left in the soft tissue of his neck. Boop also said that Duntsch spent his final year operating as an attending physician, and was not allowed to operate independently. Passmore later learned that a ligament in his leg had been severed. Duntsch told Morgan a different story. Duntsch also received 40 percent of all revenue he generated beyond $800,000 each year. Methods for the treatment of degenerative disc disease Patent number: 11168305 Wendy Renee Young is the mother of three children. The evidence collected by the DA's office by subpoenaing every hospital on his CVshows Duntsch completes a fraction of these. This is accomplished by: Establishing quality . These medical professionals do irreparable harm to their patients. He was the first surgeon to do so, but not the last. 2022-10-28 16:00:03 - Paris/France. She was dancing at a strip club then, and Duntschs business problems were growing more severe. There is no way to communicate what happened there, without a 20-page document of disclosures and events and responsible parties, Duntsch once wrote of Brown and Efurd. are both available to stream on Peacock now. Instead, he thought about all those years he spent working and educating himself, all those years of paying bills on time to keep his credit high, of saving money to support his family. She also never reported Duntsch up the ladder. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News . And when this podcast tells you all the gory details, you become that patient. I knocked on my door. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. Christopher Duntschs case is perhaps unique to the justice systemits incredibly rare for a surgeon to be indicted, much less convicted, for the care he or she provided. Sproles issued a letter to Duntsch that read: There have been no summary or administrative restrictions or suspensions of Dr. Duntschs Medical Staff membership or clinical privileges during the time he has practiced at Baylor Reg. [7] He said somebody had been there and they had hit him on the head, she said. Duntsch's resume shows a doctorate in microbiology from the St. Jude Children'sResearch Hospital. The procedure was routine and involved removing bone tissue in the spine to alleviate pressure on afflicted nerves. He always had a plan, always had a pitch, always had a way to fix you. Rohr is a very professional man, Passmore says. The operation continued. According to Dallas Magazine, a woman named Megan Kane remembered how Duntsch partied with her onhis birthday. Dr. Duntsch is at number one. Baylor asked him to resign immediately. He also vibrateshis chest shakes, his right hand jitters. He was gone until Monday. She says his favorite saying was You can kiss my black ass while Im watching black-girl porn on my monitor. Which may help explain why she didnt report the three-page email he sent on December 9, 2011. Duntsch's initial presentation bowled him over. The message alluded to a week where everything unraveled with their relationship. I am beginning to think the police are the only ones intellectually and physically capable of getting to the bottom of this matter, he wrote. Duntsch in Dallas In 2010, he relocated to Dallas with his girlfriend Wendy Renee Young. Michael Rimlawi and Douglas Wonthe pair then owned the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute in North Dallasrecruited him from Memphis to join the practice. Unlike Summers, Brown, 63, suffered from hypertension and was a stroke risk. We are committed to achieving this mission by delivering high-quality products that meet or exceed customer requirements. Christopher Duntsch's medical license was suspended by the State Board after heavy lobbying from his former colleagues and wounded patients on June 26, 2013. Around this time, Drs. 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. But hed make troubling, bizarre pronouncements, like Everybodys doing it wrong. He alleged that Duntsch promised to pay him in stocks and out of his own salary but failed to follow through. Eddie Redmayne dans le rle de Charlie Cullen et Jessica Chastain dans le rle d'Amy He had a room upstairs in the Plano house. It might be Baylor, it might be somebody down in Austin, it might be somebody somewhere, but its the only way you can get your voice out there. It was the invention of me and my wife, because we made all primary experiments. It had come from Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. However, in the Peacock series, the couple is parents to only one child. A few weeks later I took my first son to visit him for Christmas and then I became pregnant, Young said. He had blood all over him. The real question isn't why Dr. Duntsch did what he did. I cried when they said life imprisonment, Young said of the verdict. I agree completely with Dr. Hoyles complaint to the board when he stated that Dr. Duntsch is the most careless, clueless, and dangerous spine surgeon either of us has ever seen, Kirby wrote. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. His father, Donald, was a missionary and a physical therapist. Passmore also learned about Kenneth Fennell, a 68-year-old who alleged in a lawsuit that, during a November procedure, Duntsch operated on the wrong body part. As one lawyer told me off the record, they faced an almost impossible dilemma: settle and give their families a financial cushion for the future medical costs but sacrifice their right to tell their stories. Duntsch allegedly performed the operation and flew out to Las Vegas without securing a call physician. Despite receiving complaints dating back to 2012, the Texas Medical Board didnt revoke Duntschs privileges until June 2013. A few days later, Glidewelldeveloped a serious infection due to the sponge left in his throat. I cannot recall a physician being indicted for aggravated assault for acts committed during surgery, says Toby Shook, a Dallas defense attorney who spent 23 years working as a Dallas County prosecutor. Not a single doctor, surgeon, staff, or the pathologist of the autopsy every [sic] stated that I surgically caused vascular injury, he wrote. Duntsch did his surgical residency at The University of Tennessee. It was the same with Dallas Medical Center where hedid not face any action. Most of the time, she said, their relationship was confined to his office. Her body was in the Collin County Medical Examiners office in March 2012. Christopher Duntsch was an American doctor and specialized as a spinal surgeona deadly spinal surgeonwho killed three of his patients and maimed 31 others during a two-year span. I didnt really know how to feel anymore, but while he was out in Colorado we kept in contact.. He kind of let himself into my apartment by climbing up my balcony, she said. In October 2011, she registered articles of incorporation to form Duntschs practice, the Texas Neurosurgical Institute. According to Duntsch's colleagueDr. Randall Kirby, Glidewell's procedure was so botched that"Duntsch was forcibly restrained from continuing the surgery by the [operating room] team.". If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Young puts Morgan there, too, although Morgan denied it in her deposition. Death after botching 33 of38 surgeries over a two-year span, inside the apartment covered in blood, holding her gun in one hand and a knife in the other, she said. But before he left, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiners office. He projected that I was the source of a lot of his problems and difficulties.. Let's delve into what made him tick, and how the medical community failed the victims of Dr. Christopher Daniel Duntsch. Dubbed angels of death, they leave a trail of damage andloss for many reasons: human fallibility, malaise, or malice. She describes investigators with binoculars camped out on their street in a white van, trying to see into their home. And scary as it may seem, it's only when we listen to podcasts like these, do we realize the reality of medical horror stories. But thats all. Dr. Death is now also going to be a TV show with Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin playing main roles. Where Is Dr. Christopher Duntsch aka . St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital at that time. Duntsch moved to Colorado to live with his parents, while Young stayed behind in Dallas with the couples son. He has a job inside the prison. A bold pronouncement, yet after just one sloppy, dangerous surgery, Hoyle vowednever to work with Duntsch again. Jurors convicted Duntsch Tuesday of injury to an elderly person in the botched July 2012 surgery that put Mary Efurd in a wheelchair. Christopher Duntsch didn't. He stayed at the University of Tennessee for his surgical residency, spending the standard five years on neurosurgery and one year learning general surgery. He stayed in New York while everyone. His father, Donald, was a physical therapist and Christian missionary, and his mother, Susan, was a schoolteacher. You'd think that a surgeon who was this bad would have some mud spattered on him on the internet. 11:15 PM on Mar 1, 2014 CST. Unlike Baldwin, Slater takes on a more brash and quirky doctor role as Dr Kirby, though both work side by side to help reveal the truth about Duntsch's botched surgeries. Why else would his daughter have sent Duntsch a card thanking him? Within months, she says, he had offers in Dallas, San Diego, and New York. Some never went to trial and had out-of-court settlements. But she smiles softly as she talks about those early days with Duntsch, when they were still learning about each others lives. She needed drug tests. Of that set, two died and 31 were paralyzed or seriously injured. The Dallas County DA, along with fighting against these very laws, was also running out of time. According to Dallas Magazine, Dr. Christopher Duntsch talked a big game. The seeds of greed were sown. He did earnhis M.D., doing so well that he was among the 12 percent of medical school graduates in his class named to the elite Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. And this was 10 months before Duntsch's last surgery. Christopher Duntsch has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. His mom was a teacher. Neurosurgeon residents need to complete 1,000 surgeries as training requirements. Prosecutors used testimony from patients and the doctors who corrected their surgeries to argue that Duntsch's outcomes were more than mere medical error. She was a National . Duntsch wrote that he accepted he was a cold-blooded killer. It wasnt until lawsuits were filed that the alleged drug use became public. I am 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. Morgan says they spent a lot of time in clubs. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. Though Christopher Duntsch moved to Dallas with girlfriend Wendy Young, he soon hired nurse practioner Kimberly Morgan as his assistant and began a romantic relationship with her. But on January 6, 2012, a week after the surgery, Duntsch went back in. According to an arrest report obtained by the outlet, he had been driving on two flat fires and had two empty bottles of Mikes Hard Lemonade in the vehicle. Six weeks after her death on March 12, 2012, the medical examiner ruled her fate an accident. She fell pregnant with their first son, Aiden, not long after that. But patient advocates and the surgeons that mobilized to rid him of his license say that Duntsch was the perfect storm. The other, Discgenics, was more successful; it still owns the patent for the technology. Dr. Wendy Renee Young says she met Duntsch in 2011 at the Beauty Shopin Memphis, a bar and restaurant that borrowed its shtick from its past life as a curl-and-dye shop owned by Elvis Presleys ex-wife. Jamie Dornan was originally attached to play Christopher in the beginning. Robb is known for her roles as Bethany Hamilton in Soul Surfer, Lacey in The Act, and Violet Beauregarde in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I look at my children, I felt like, How am I gonna explain this to them?. The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education has strict rules about residency programs. It wasnt his invention, Kukekov says. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Morgan didnt follow Duntsch after Baylor Plano. This would be the first and last time Hoyle worked next to Duntsch. He hadnt seen it with his own eyes. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our incredible journalism, in print and digital. I dont want to be on Channel 8, I dont want to be on Inside Edition. Duntsch pleaded not guilty. During Brown's surgery, Duntsch pierced her vertebral artery. He was taller than 6 feet, with a stubby nose and neatly cropped hair above bright blue eyes, and he had crafted a strategy that endeared him to patients and to referring physicians: Im the best, hed tell them. Before he cheated, before he lied. Duntschmade the incision in the wrong place before nicking a vertebral artery, confusing the muscles in Glidewell's neck for a tumor, cutting into his vocal cords, and removing a piece of hisesophagus. Now, one of the several complaints against the . He would climb a ladder and take aerial photos of crime scenes to aid in the death investigation. But the unexpected reunion wasnt a happy one. DR Death, Peacocks new limited series starring Joshua Jackson, is based on a true story, and we have your look at photos comparing the cast with their real-life counterparts. Because of a valuable patent the company owned, they let him through the gates and out into the world. Around that same time, Duntschs behavior was becoming erratic. Anton Floquet/NBCUniversal, I knocked on my door. Theres no blank here for that.. He thought about how all that might have been stolen from him in a matter of hours. But Passmore knows its his battle to fight. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. In July 2015, he was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury on six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (his hands and surgical tools). Nerve pain now fires through his back, the result of a screw lodged in a nerve bundle. According to ProPublica, Boop was aware of a complaint Duntsch used drugs before seeing patients. Unequivocally, testified an expert witness, a neurosurgeon should stop practicing after incurring multiple patient deaths and severe outcomes. It still feels as if his feet are asleep. Dr. Christopher Duntsch, better known as Doctor Death, is serving a life sentence at a Texas prison today. He harmed the very people who trusted him. I cant write on this form, Oh, by the way, I heard from Dr. Henderson about what sounds like major patient issues that you ought to look into, Foley said in the call. Ultimately, on that case, he ended up getting 12 months (of) probation and a small fine, Michelle Shughart, assistant district attorney in Dallas County, told Dr Death: The Undoctored Story.. Im the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state. Thats according to Dr. Mark Hoyle, who was the general surgeon during Passmores surgery. I dont want to be in your magazine, sir, I apologize, Passmore told me. The real question is:Why couldn't anyone stop him in time? But what Duntsch hadnt counted on was the Dallas County District Attorneys Office. His father was a missionary and physical therapist and his mother was a school teacher. He called Baylor Plano President Jerri Garison, who was clearly familiar with Duntsch and was just as clear about how little she could say on the matter: He no longer has privileges here, and I have to be very careful about what I say to you. Baylor said it was unable to provide its executives for interviews because of Passmores pending lawsuit. Duntsch was also arrested for driving under the influence while staying with his parents in Colorado and found himself in handcuffs another time in April of 2015 after he was arrested for stealing $887.30 in Walmart merchandise, according to the D Magazine. GQ calls it the scariest podcast of 2019. Sadly, being moral and good aren't therequisites schools need to let someone become a doctor. The autopsy had not been finished when Passmore accidentally saw the fax from Baylor Plano. While applying to Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, TX, Duntsch also provided Dr. Jon Robertson as a reference. Their trysts were largely confined to his office at Baylor Plano, the same place where, she said in her deposition, he often drank vodka and did research after hours. No autopsy was done (at the familys request) but it is well-documented that the stroke was due to a left vertebral artery injury due to Dr. Duntschs horrendous surgical technique, wrote surgeon Randall Kirby in a letter to the Texas Medical Board. In April 2015, he was arrested for stealing $887.30 in Walmart merchandise: five pairs of sunglasses, five watches, two pairs of shoes, four ties, two briefcases, a wallet, cologne, necklaces, a walkie-talkie. James Gunn has used the 'Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special' as a "trojan horse" to introduce some elements of the upcoming third film in the series.The 40-minute holiday special features Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis' (Pom Klementieff) bid to help Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) rediscover his love of the festive season, but the director admitted the one-off Disney+ feature ( Source : instagram ) Young is also the mother of another child with her new boyfriend. Every patient mentioned in this story who has sued, except for Passmore, has settled. Duntsch landed in jail on a $600,000 bond and waited for the trial to begin. He also had a credit card in his name connected to Duntschs account and would drive him around, balance his checkbooks, pick up dry cleaning. There's so much news out there, headlines can slip through the cracks. That only lasted for a short while, as he dove deep into the role to bring out the evil of the real-life character in the eight-episode series, he told New York Post. He couldnt help it. We discovered it.. Talking to the Dallas Morning News in 2014, Duntsch said he provided the test and was clean. By this time his wife and he had separated and he also filed for bankruptcy. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Will it help patients protect their rights? After another disastrous outcome, this time at University General, Kirby and malpractice attorney Kay Van Wey decided to turn to the criminal justice system. 53, and Andre Agassi, 52, are proud parents as they . Duntsch had only been in the Dallas area for a few months. This way, no one recognizes them as the inventors. (He also appears in no yearbooks from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center at the time in which he says he earned his Ph.D., and the school declined to verify his claims, citing afederal privacy law.) Yet they let him resign and passed the bill along for someone else to pay. Nobody can recognize whether it was ours or not! Ignatova says. One surgeon described these as never events. They shouldnt ever happen in someones entire career. Was he was only in it for the research prestige and the money? Two of his patients, Floella Brown and Kellie Martin, died.. Summers had come in for an elective spinal fusion to relieve the pain hed carried for years after a car accident. Attorney James Girards was representing Lee Passmore, one of Duntsch's victims and reached out to her. Hes jailed on a $600,000 bond, and his trial is set for January 31, 2017. For the last three days, jurors listened to testimony in the . Life After "Death": Lethal Surgeon Sentenced to PrisonWATCH NEXT: Attorney who represented Dr. Duntsch's patients discusses her cases (3 of 5) https://youtu.. At this point, Ive had enough and so I called the police.. By this time, Summers, the childhood friend, had come to live with Duntsch, too. He met Duntsch that day in the physician lounge at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, where the operation occurred. A veteran investigative reporter in the medical field, her voice enthralls. And yet nearly all who met him said they liked him immediately. In the deposition, she states that Duntsch snorted cocaine from a handy pile he kept on a dresser at his home.