I think he built up this idea in his head of who he was and what he was going to do with his life and now all of that has disappeared and wasnt coming back, I think he finds himself in a state where hes struggling to figure out, who am I now? Shughart said in the series. As the eldest of four, his parents remember him as a precocious boy. There was a dissection of one patients esophagus, and screws that an indictment labeled far too long that caused significant blood loss in another patient. Of that set, two died and 31 were paralyzed or seriously injured. She woke up with severe pain and couldnt stand. Whatever happened, he was gone from Minimally Invasive Spine Institutebut not from Baylor Plano. Why else would his daughter have sent Duntsch a card thanking him? 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. According to his lawsuit, Morguloff wound up with searing pain in his back and left leg from bone fragments lodged in his spinal canal during the operation, which were only discovered eight months later when he sought a second opinion. Like, he wasnt scared. Young was 27 when they met; Duntsch was 40. His pain management specialist advised against an operation. 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. In emails, he alleges that he was at the center of a vast conspiracy to bilk money from the hospitals where he practiced. An incredibly difficult thing to prove. Six weeks after her death on March 12, 2012, the medical examiner ruled her fate an accident. On April 20, Duntsch submitted a letter to Baylor Planos medical staff services director, Patricia Sproles, saying he was moving his practice and resigning his clinical privileges. There was Kellie Martin, who died from massive blood loss after a surgery at Baylor Plano. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. The new true crime show, which comes out Thursday, tells the story of promising-turned-disgraced surgeon, Dr. Christopher Duntsch (played by Jackson), who was accused of maiming and killing his more than two dozed patients. Neurosurgeon Duntsch Found Guilty, Faces Life in Prison, In Duntschs Assault Trial, Questions About His Role After Patient Deaths, In Second Day of Testimony, Doctor Calls Neurosurgeon Duntschs Outcomes Catastrophic. 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. Hoyle called the whole surgery sloppy, enough so that he canceled the remaining three or four operations he had scheduled with Duntsch and vowed never to work with him again. Duntsch was told to take a drug test but disappeared instead. The disc was pressing on a nerve, which caused the pain. 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. The doctor in the strange case is now 50 years old. According to Dallas Magazine, Dr. Christopher Duntsch talked a big game. She needed drug tests. What made him cause damage, trauma and even death to his patients? Photo: 1. He is a graduate of Evangelical Christian School in the Cordova suburb of Memphis, where he starred in football. Morgan was present in the operating room during Passmores surgery. The Dallas County DA, along with fighting against these very laws, was also running out of time. Summers died a few months ago, in February 2021, after getting an infection connected to the botched surgery from Duntsch that left him a quadriplegic. He also discovered a way to produce stem cells from intervertebral discs in cultures outside the body. Dr. That's when he moved to Colorado to live with his parents. 33 of his surgeries went horribly wrong. Creating cells from a culture would eliminate the need for human extraction; there was huge potential upside. Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr Death / Joshua Jackson 6 According to Young, there was even a ransom note for her and her two children written in blood. Passmore was allowed to resign and still access his long-term disability insurance, which he says hed paid into for more than 10 years. Whatever Duntsch set out to be when he first donned that white coat, being a media sensation for all the wrong reasons may not have been his goal. In the months following his surgery, Passmore focused on recovery and getting back to work. In addition, he began to experience random fainting episodes andcomplex regional pain syndrome, a rare nervous system disorder causing skin blistersthat then slough off, as well as chronic pain and skin sensitivity. 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. Kane came into the picture as a deposition witness. At the time, Young was giving birth to their second boy. The new true crime show, which comes out Thursday, tells the story of promising-turned-disgraced surgeon, Dr. Christopher Duntsch (played by Jackson), who was accused of maiming and killing his more than two dozed patients. The real question is:Why couldn't anyone stop him in time? Dallas most important news stories of the week, delivered to your inbox each Sunday. But she wasnt in the room when he woke up a quadriplegic, telling anyone with ears that Duntsch had been using cocaine the night before the procedure. Maybe thats how they do it in Tennessee, but according to my training, thats not how they do it here. He kept her on after splitting from Rimlawi and Won. 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. For the DA though she proved to be a good witness. I didnt really know how to feel anymore, but while he was out in Colorado we kept in contact.. 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. 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. (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.) Based on Wondery's viral podcast of the same name, Stan's Dr. Death follows the sinister true story of former American neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch, who became known as 'Dr. Death' after he left a trail of maimed patients across various hospitals in Texas. Christopher Duntsch - AKA Dr. Death - spent 18 months asa practicing surgeon atmultiple Texas hospitals until hehad his license revoked in 2013. And of course, there are many in the medical field who go above and beyond the call of duty. Nerve pain now fires through his back, the result of a screw lodged in a nerve bundle. The university said, We cant let you see his personnel file. From the top of his class to life in prison: things did not go as he planned. Christopher Duntsch, 44, faces up to life in prison if convicted. 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. Strangely enough, Dr. Boop also mentioned, "I have not operated with Chris." AnnaSophia Robb, 27, portrays Michelle Shughart, the assistant district attorney on Dr. Death's case. That said; the 12 jurors did what the Texas Medical Board should have done. Dr. Death might not have cared about being a surgeon, just the prestige that came with it. Around that same time, Duntschs behavior was becoming erratic. In a long running series of complaints, a Texas doctor has been found guilty of a felony in one medical malpractice case. Like Summers, Floella Browns vertebral artery was damaged, causing massive bleeding. It was clear to anyone whos not a complete idiot that they were a thing, he says. He was shocked at the CT scan: the spinal fusion hardware sat in her soft tissue. They eventually went back to his home, dancing to music under a disco ball he had in his office. This posterior longitudinal ligament is one of the spines two major stabilizers. On April 9, 2013, Mayfield underwent surgery performed by Duntsch to remove a troublesome disk from his spine. Duntsch is now living out his life behind bars, but Young told CNBC'sAmerican Greed earlier this year that the former neurosurgeon still regularly talks with his two young sons. She had family in Dallas and decided shed go with him if he chose that city. Death: The Undoctored Story, available to stream now. When he stepped off the bed for the first time after surgery, the feeling on the bottom of his feet had vanished. But its the only way to get anybody to listen. The intended 45-minute procedure stretched over an hour before Duntsch finally emerged and told Mayfield's wife the surgery was a success. Meanwhile, Brown went brain dead and passed away. If he wasnt doing research, he was out with Jerry Summers, partying, Morgan said in the deposition. They described him as the bright, precocious little boy who had taken. He said Youngwho by now had given birth to their son, Aidenwas just his secretary and friend. Duntsch grew up in a middle-class family. Finally, in July 2015, the Dallas County District Attorneys Office followed through. Like Boop, Dr. Robertson also gave Duntsch a great review. He has a job inside the prison. Duntsch moved to Colorado to live with his parents, while Young stayed behind in Dallas with the couples son. There was Duntschs childhood friend, Jerry Summers, who woke up from a procedure unable to move his arms and legs. The eight-part series tells the harrowing true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch who, across two years, injured 32 of his 38 patients.
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