His father, Donald, was a missionary and a physical therapist. 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. Martin was his first patient back, and it was the last operation he performed at that hospital. And what stops another physicianfrom turning into the next Dr. Death? AnnaSophia Robb, 27, portrays Michelle Shughart, the assistant district attorney on Dr. Death's case. It got to be too much. For Duntsch, the path into medicine was unconventional and, perhaps, a reflection of his tendency to fixate on unlikely goals. She had family in Dallas and decided shed go with him if he chose that city. From the top of his class to life in prison: things did not go as he planned. Young let him buy her an appletini, and they hit it off. Hell tell you as much. In Dallas, Duntsch developed a reputation of frequenting upscale bars and hotels where he partied with his lifelong best friend and personal assistant, Jerry Summers. This posterior longitudinal ligament is one of the spines two major stabilizers. Beil is a journalist who has specialized in science and medical writing for 20 years, and lives in the Dallas area where much of Christopher Duntsch's story takes place. He was shocked at the CT scan: the spinal fusion hardware sat in her soft tissue. On paper, the 40-year-old man who arrived in Dallas in the summer of 2011 was a completely different Christopher Duntsch than the one who was introduced to the public after more than a dozen. And of course, there are many in the medical field who go above and beyond the call of duty. Slater is also known for his roles in Mr. Namely, that hed been up all night snorting eight balls of cocaine (3.5 grams each) with Duntsch. We are committed to achieving this mission by delivering high-quality products that meet or exceed customer requirements. Finally, it was the Texas Medical Board (TMB) that acted too late, too little. I thought he was either really, really good, or hes just really, really arrogant and thought he was good, Hoyle says now. But before he left, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiners office. This was the time when Dr. Christopher Duntsch started to turn intoDr. Death. The company, Discgenics, is still going, and still holds the patents, listingDuntsch, Ignatova, and Kukekov as the inventors. The next year, in 2006, Duntsch became more money-minded. But on January 6, 2012, a week after the surgery, Duntsch went back in. 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. Or, they should be: the scientists names are misspelled. She was deposed over Skype since, at the time, she was stationed with the Air Force in the Middle East. The doctor in the strange case is now 50 years old. But patient advocates and the surgeons that mobilized to rid him of his license say that Duntsch was the perfect storm. Passmore, an investigator by trade and by nature, started digging. In 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty. 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. 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. By November, he had surgical privileges to operate on patients. As these cases became public record, rumors circulated of late-night partying leading into early-morning rounds, and whispers of drug and alcohol abuse became shouts. Baylor asked him to resign immediately. Duntsch hired Morgan while he was still with the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute, and she began on August 29, 2011. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. Duntsch moved to Colorado to live with his parents, while Young stayed behind in Dallas with the couple's son. Their suffering becomes yours. In it,was a mirror with cocaine and a rolled-up dollar bill on top. Don tried to convince the jury that his son cared for his patients. In an article in Texas Observer,author SaulElbein says that one of the doctors he spoke to likened Duntsch to Hannibal Lecter three times in eight minutes. And who will Dr. Death be? He seemed really distraught and I was scared, she said of the father of her two children. Whatever happened, he was gone from Minimally Invasive Spine Institutebut not from Baylor Plano. Young says hed been breaking into her apartment, and one day she came home to find him inside, covered in blood. 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Joshua Jackson (right) portrays Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr Death, on the new Peacock limited series, Alec Baldwin (right) plays Dr Robert Henderson, The role of Dr Randall Kirby is portrayed by Christian Slater (right), Credit: Dallas Surgical Specialists/ Barbara Nitke/Peacock, AnnaSophia Robb (right) takes on the role of Michelle Shughart, Dominic Burgess (right) is Jerry Summers on the series, Molly Griggs (right) portrays Wendy Young on Dr Death, Dr Death - Trailer for the Peacock series based on the true story of Christopher Duntsch, Dr Death cast vs real people See photos of Christopher Duntsch, Michelle Shughart & more. Life After "Death": Lethal Surgeon Sentenced to PrisonWATCH NEXT: Attorney who represented Dr. Duntsch's patients discusses her cases (3 of 5) https://youtu.. St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital at that time. 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. Passmore is still fighting. Governor Greg Abbott, then the attorney general, even waded into the whole mess, filing a brief in Passmores suit in support of the law. Don tried to convince the jury that his son cared for his patients. The fault also lies with the Texas law. 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. There was Kellie Martin, who died from massive blood loss after a surgery at Baylor Plano. This led to another 20 patients suffering. Moving made sense for both of them. and a Ph.D. 1. It was the same with Dallas Medical Center where hedid not face any action. However, in the Peacock series, the couple is parents to only one child. Martin paid with her lifebecause her doctor was too proud to say he screwed up. That July, Duntsch was firing off panicked emails to his business partners at 4 am on a Monday morning: My reputation has been ruined, he wrote. In October 2011, she registered articles of incorporation to form Duntschs practice, the Texas Neurosurgical Institute. Dallas Magazine statesthatDuntsch became key in supplying samples to scientists for research. 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. But for his victims, the judgment was a big relief. Because how can I do anything I want and cross every discipline boundary like its [sic] a playground and never ever lose., Duntsch also said he was prepared to embrace the very darkest part of himself. Hospitals are liable only if the plaintiff can prove that the hospital was also malicious, that it knew of the risk and ignored it. As the eldest of four, his parents remember him as a precocious boy. The real question is:Can this TV show bring about a change in medical law, or how hospitals treat their patients and doctors? Hoyle became so disturbed by Duntsch's actions that at one point he physically restrained him. At the time, Young was giving birth to their second boy. Now keep in mind, Morgan herself was at the wrong end of some of these suits. In February 2017, Duntsch, 50, was convicted of a first-degree felony for intentionally injuring an elderly victim. Dr. Christopher Duntsch When he moved to Dallas in late 2010, Duntsch was 41 years old, fresh out of a residency program at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's Department of. The full story of Duntsch's actions can be read in Matt Goodman's D Magazine feature from 2016, when the magazine first coined him "Dr. Death.". 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. They met as Duntsch was looking for opportunities in an operating room somewhere. July 15, 2021 Scott McDermott/Peacock Peacock's new crime drama Dr. Death dramatizes the true story of Christopher Duntsch, a former Dallas-based neurosurgeon who was sentenced to life in. 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. When his patient woke up in the recovery room unable to move his extremities, Duntsch failed to perform a CAT scan or MRI. Meanwhile, his patients kept suffering, and dying, in his OR. Nobody can recognize whether it was ours or not! Ignatova says. The hospital saved face and avoided any lawsuits. He may have figured, at first, that he was protected. [7] He was constantly involved in research, and, around 2006, he saw a way to commercialize discoveries by renowned Russian stem cell scientists Valery Kukekov and Tatyana Ignatova, a husband-and-wife team. Henderson actually checked if Duntsch was a real doctor with The University of Tennessee, appalled at the damage to Efurd's spine. But Hoyle says an X-ray later showed it was positioned too far to the left. While staying with his parents outside Denver, he was stopped for driving under the influence. After graduating as a physician with above-average grades, he had his whole life ahead of him. They had discovered stem cells in human brain tumors. 33 of his 37 surgeries were botched, with two dead and 31 injured for life. A couple of months later, FloellaBrown came to Duntsch for a cervical fusion to alleviate her neck and shoulder pain. Wendy has reportedly been keeping a low-profile life since ending her relationship with Duntsch and since he went to prison. There are 31 people left alive today, irreparably damaged by Dr. Death's grievous malpractices. We need to talk about this, Hoyle said, locking eyes with him. The nerve root had been amputated. Duntsch grew up in a middle-class family. A veteran investigative reporter in the medical field, her voice enthralls. Hes alive. Matt Goodman is the online editorial director for. Duntsch had a comfortable upbringing. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. When he finally came to the hospital, he busied himself with another patient, also on the DA's list, Mary Efurd. Many shake and tremble, some have unimaginable pain. You dont get to walk away from two or three years of medical training, in the middle of an internship or a residency, get to take time off and be slotted directly in the position you left in with no questions asked. He gained experience writing grants, and earned more than $3 million in local, state, and federal funding for research projects where he served as principal or co-principal investigator. He hadnt seen it with his own eyes. Dubbed "Dr. Death," the case gained national attention, revealing how easy. On Jan. 10, 2014, Denver police arrested him for driving under the influence. In 2005, about a third of the way through the six-year program, department chairman Dr. Jon Robertson appointed him program director of the schools tissue bank, where hed supply samples to scientists and oversee two labs. We talked about marriage pretty quickly. In November 2011, Passmore was hooked on prescription opiates. But today, about five years after the Passmore surgery, Duntsch sits in Lew Sterrett Justice Center awaiting trial, the rare physician to be indicted on multiple counts of aggravated assault related to what happened in his operating rooms. He wasn't concerned about the drugs in his system while he did his rounds. There Duntsch secured a job as a minimally invasive spine surgeon at. 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. According to court filings, he was supposed to be overseen by an attending physician in the operating room; this allegedly was not adhered to, either. He broke into her home a second time in the incident where he was covered in blood and also allegedly began harassing personal injury attorney Kay Van Wey, who represented many of his former patients, in a series of rambling emails. Due to his actions, Brown suffered a stroke that night, but Duntsch didn't responded to hospital pages. Brown lost so much blood that the operating room team had to mop the floor with towels, all whileDuntschcomplained he couldn't see her spine to operate. He had a lot of animus to me personally. 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. Its less than a millimeter from the spinal canal. Dr. Christopher Duntsch, better known as Doctor Death, is serving a life sentence at a Texas prison today. We moved in together within three months, and then I became pregnant.. In reality, he makes everything so, so much worse. He argues that the patients were just telling stories and that Passmore was fine after his operation. Beil's somber reporting on the Wondery podcast titled Dr. Death will send chills down your spine. 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. 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. He secured investments in Discgenics from local spine surgeons, including Robertson and Dr. Kevin Foley, a prominent Memphis neurosurgeon under whom Duntsch would spend a year training as part of a minimally invasive spine surgery fellowship at the Semmes-Murphey Clinic, one of the largest neurosurgery practices in the United States. According to Dallas Magazine, Dr. Christopher Duntsch talked a big game. The 78-year-old Denton County man was then Dr. Christopher Duntsch's first patient when the surgeon started performing spinal fusions in 2011. There were multiple screw holes nowhere near where they were supposed to be, and a screw had been lodged in another nerve root near the bottom of the spine. 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. Joshua Jackson stars as Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a twisted neurosurgeon who goes on a malpractice rampage in the halls of the hospitals that are inattentive and neglectful enough to employ him . They went on to have two children. Duntsch has a court date next month for the shoplifting case along with the unrelated matter of a criminal trespass complaint filed against him last fall. Six weeks after her death on March 12, 2012, the medical examiner ruled her fate an accident. After Summers procedure, Morgan says Duntsch was not allowed to operate at Baylor Plano until March 2012. Duntsch was also picked up wandering near a Chase Bank in North Dallas and taken to Green Oaks psychiatric hospital for an evaluation. Armed with Baylors declaration that it never amended his privileges, Duntsch found work in four months. In actuality, Duntschhad severely deformed Mayfield's spinal column and left him immobilized from mid-chest down to his toes. Now, one of the several complaints against the . 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. But she smiles softly as she talks about those early days with Duntsch, when they were still learning about each others lives. Michael Rimlawi and Douglas Wonthe pair then owned the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute in North Dallasrecruited him from Memphis to join the practice. Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death, a former Texas-based neurosurgeon, maimed dozens of his victims and killed at least two. I dont know what it is, she said. Those are the words that Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a Dallas neurosurgeon, wrote to his girlfriend in 2011 in the midst of a two-year period that left 33 of his 38 patients maimed, wounded or. That was the same month the two started having sex. In her deposition, Morgan said Baylor Plano President Jerri Garison called both of them to her office and told them what Summers had said. I was on the third story.. "Dr. Death," which was shot earlier this year in the Albuquerque area and debuted July 15 on the Peacock streaming service, is the story of Christopher Duntsch, who is now serving a life sentence . The deal required Duntsch to gain privileges at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. In April 2012, just over four months removed from that initial surgery, Passmore returned to work. He performed his first operation at Dallas Medical Center on July 24, 2012; the hospital issued temporary privileges while it verified his credentials. Young puts Morgan there, too, although Morgan denied it in her deposition. At University General Hospital, Kirby had been granted emergency privileges to operate on a Duntsch patient named Jeffery Glidewell. No such thing. But Passmore is one of the lucky ones. Because of a valuable patent the company owned, they let him through the gates and out into the world. And yet they occurred in Duntschs operating rooms over a period of just two years. His dad is 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. His mother, Susan, taught school. Wendy Renee Young is the mother of three children. Dr. Robert Henderson, a spine surgeon who has practiced in Dallas for more than 30 years, started digging after being assigned corrective surgery on two of Duntschs patients. Thats dangerouseven that attitude is dangerous. Duntsch relented, allowing Hoyle to move in, stop the bleeding, and clean out the wound. Duntsch allegedly arrivedat the hospital three hours after the surgery wasplanned to start and began the procedure. are both available to stream on Peacock now. 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. Why else would his daughter have sent Duntsch a card thanking him? On April 9, 2013, Mayfield underwent surgery performed by Duntsch to remove a troublesome disk from his spine. This would be the first and last time Hoyle worked next to Duntsch. Digging into Christopher Duntsch's personal and professional life, Dr. Death paints a detailed portrait of a possible sociopath. His mom was a teacher. ( Source : instagram ) Young is also the mother of another child with her new boyfriend. The 43-year-old new dad, who welcomed his first child with wife Jodie Turner-Smith last year, brought his WB experience to portray the charming aspect of the surgeon, as the other characters often call him on the show. 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. But Passmore knows its his battle to fight. Hes jailed on a $600,000 bond, and his trial is set for January 31, 2017. After another disastrous outcome, this time at University General, Kirby and malpractice attorney Kay Van Wey decided to turn to the criminal justice system. According to Young, there was even a ransom note for her and her two children written in blood. At morning meetings, Page would see Duntsch mixing a vodka orange. It was hearsay, he contended. 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.". I was just like Whatever, Im out of here, Young recalled. Dr. Duntsch is at number one. Eddie Redmayne dans le rle de Charlie Cullen et Jessica Chastain dans le rle d'Amy Jackson stars as Christopher Duntsch, the titular nicknamed neurosurgeon, in Peacock's limited series based on the Wondery podcast of the same name (and of course the real-life former doctor's. 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. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Morgan, in her deposition, said Duntsch called her to say he got lost going to the lab and never took the test. Facebook Dr. Christopher Duntsch on his first day as a neurosurgeon. 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. He stayed at the University of Tennessee for his surgical residency, spending the standard five years on neurosurgery and one year learning general surgery. Summers declined an interview in Memphis and would not answer questions on the phone. 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. Summers had come in for an elective spinal fusion to relieve the pain hed carried for years after a car accident. Other doctors had to perform surgery to save his life. The 30 Rock alum also heads up the cast of the Peacock series as a doctor, though he plays one of the surgeons working to take Duntsch down. Theres no blank here for that.. They lived in a future colleagues condo at the W Hotel while they looked for a home in Plano, close to where Duntsch would be practicing. Soon though, red flags began to pop up. His emails were crazy, Van Wey recalled in the docuseries. At first, Passmore didnt think much about the way Duntsch and his assistant, Kimberly Morgan, interacted. They all signed nondisclosure agreements that prohibit them from discussing their cases or their monetary awards. He stayed local for medical school, enrolling the next year at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Yet, instead of saving lives and using his knowledge for good, the opposite happened. She was also present for Summers operation. Foley said Duntsch was satisfactory in his fellowship, that he saw no evidence of the things he was accused of in Dallas happening in Memphis. Portrayed in the Peacock miniseries, "Dr. Death," the Dallas spinal surgeon is responsible for helping stop Dr. Christopher Duntsch, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 after leaving . She was a National . 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. Duntsch'sfinal patient, Jeffrey Glidewell, entered the operating room in2013 to undergo minimally invasive surgery to fix his long-term neck pain. But Morguloffs suit describes him being in excruciating pain and telling nurses that his pain was a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. He was a phenomenal partner right up until the pandemic hit and we got shut down. Duntsch was told to take a drug test but disappeared instead. Death: The Undoctored Story, available to stream now. Meanwhile, Duntsch was struggling financially and started racking up a series of strange arrests. Finally, in July 2015, the Dallas County District Attorneys Office followed through. The very first complaint should have triggered an investigation. By this time his wife and he had separated and he also filed for bankruptcy. (And if you want to dive even deeper into the story, you can also watch the scripted drama "Dr. Death" on Peacock, starring Joshua Jackson, Alec Baldwin, and Christian Slater.). Was he was only in it for the research prestige and the money? They described him as the bright, precocious little boy who had taken. "A few weeks later I took my first son to visit him for Christmas and then I became pregnant," Young said.

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