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He had a lot of animus to me personally. Its hard to find good conversation with a random person, Young says. It said, Anyone close to me thinks that I likely am something between god, einstein, and the antichrist. I dont have feeling in my feet, and I will slip and fall off that damn ladder, he says today. His next patient, Floella Brown was 63. He argues that the patients were just telling stories and that Passmore was fine after his operation. The procedure was routine and involved removing bone tissue in the spine to alleviate pressure on afflicted nerves. 33 of his 37 surgeries were botched, with two dead and 31 injured for life. With such goings-on, Duntsch got himself kicked out of his own company. [7] Meanwhile, Brown went brain dead and passed away. Now, one of the several complaints against the . Take the case of Dr. Death, aka Dr. Christopher Duntsch. In her deposition, Morgan said Baylor Plano President Jerri Garison called both of them to her office and told them what Summers had said. One of the early investors in Duntsch's company Discgenics was Dr. Rand Page. But it was growing increasingly clear that his opportunities were running out. 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. Baylor calls the allegations against it extremely frustrating and difficult and reiterates that Duntsch came with references from multiple sources who worked with him in his residency and fellowship training programs., To put these misleading allegations into fair context, Baylor Plano is part of a hospital system that has made substantial investments over several decades to continuously enhance the quality of care we provide our patients, and we have gained many recognitions for these processes. Jamie Dornan was originally attached to play Christopher in the beginning. The evidence collected by the DA's office by subpoenaing every hospital on his CVshows Duntsch completes a fraction of these. 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. It wasnt until lawsuits were filed that the alleged drug use became public. He later told Duntsch to his face that he was dangerous. Duntsch also said he was prepared to embrace the very darkest part of himself. He stayed in New York while everyone. She had clinical experience and often spent time with Duntsch when he was conducting research. He was the oldest of fourhe has two brothers, Nathan and Matt, and a sister, Lizand attended a private high school. In a statement, the hospital said it cooperated with the Texas Medical Board when asked, and did not file its own complaint because it was aware someone else already had. Dr. Death is now also going to be a TV show with Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin playing main roles. In reality, he makes everything so, so much worse. 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. The two met at a Memphis strip club. He, too, had an injury to his left vertebral artery, and the incision was far from where it shouldve been and had begun to leak pus. While applying to Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, TX, Duntsch also provided Dr. Jon Robertson as a reference. In July 2015, indictments came through. His dad is a physical therapist. Duntsch had moved from the W to Hotel Zaza and then, finally, to a five-bedroom house not far from the hospital. Hoyles job was to cut Passmore open and sew him up, and on December 30, 2011, he made a small incision just above the 36-year-olds groin and moved the blood vessels and organs out of the way, allowing Duntsch clear access to the lower spine to remove a herniated disc. He lost everything, so having to face the reality was very hard for him.. Lopez answers Henderson's frustrationin a somber tone, sayingthat while you may know a doctor is bad, gathering evidence takes time. This very friend would later end up a quadriplegic under Duntsch's weapon of a scalpel. The notorious neurosurgeon was forced to declare bankruptcy shortly after and moved back in with his parents in Colorado. The monster in the white coat is all too real. To become a neurosurgeon, one typically has to complete over 1000 surgeries in residency, but somehow, reporter Laura Beil discovered that Duntsch only completed 100. Wendy Renee Young and Christopher Duntsch were parents of two kids, Preston and Aiden. 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. But the unexpected reunion wasnt a happy one. 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, now known as "Dr. Death," had his medical license revoked in 2013 (more on that below), per Pro Publica.He subsequently moved back in with his parents in Colorado and was . 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. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. Attorney James Girards was representing Lee Passmore, one of Duntsch's victims and reached out to her. Matt Goodman is the online editorial director for. A string of arrests for DWI, shoplifting, and more followed. He said somebody had been there and they had hit him on the head, she said. 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. An incredibly difficult thing to prove. Duntsch soon appeared and tried to calm them, assuring them that Passmore would be fine in one or two days. 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. He struggles with incontinence. Dr. Duntsch is at number one. One surgeon described these as never events. They shouldnt ever happen in someones entire career. 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. The damage is irreversible. 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. During a deposition with Passmores lawyer, attorney James Girards, a woman named Megan Kane recalls Duntsch eating a paper blotter of LSD and taking prescription painkillers on his birthday in either 2006 or 2007. Around May 2013, Henderson got a call from Foley, the fellowship supervisor. 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. Duntsch was taken to jail for what Young referred to as a time out but his erratic behavior wouldnt end there. 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. Out of his 38 surgeries, only three had no complications. If a person died in the fourth-floor apartment of a complex in Collin County, Passmore was the one who hiked up those four flights with somewhere around 20 pounds of gear on his back and got that body back down. It was the invention of me and my wife, because we made all primary experiments. She was dancing at a strip club then, and Duntschs business problems were growing more severe. Duntsch was described asa precocious boy and a bright student. Duntsch landed in jail on a $600,000 bond and waited for the trial to begin. Somebody knocks back and I am like Who in the f---is in my house, Young recalled in the four-part Peacock docuseries Dr. He was shocked at the CT scan: the spinal fusion hardware sat in her soft tissue. Don tried to convince the jury that his son cared for his patients. According to Dallas Magazine, a woman named Megan Kane remembered how Duntsch partied with her onhis birthday. But its the only way to get anybody to listen. Duntsch was also picked up wandering near a Chase Bank in North Dallas and taken to Green Oaks psychiatric hospital for an evaluation. Like Summers, Floella Browns vertebral artery was damaged, causing massive bleeding. He told Morgan that Young, who was pregnant at the time with their first son, was his close friend and secretary. Investigations took patients and attorneys back to where Duntsch had had such a promising beginningin Memphis, at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where he earned both an M.D. He wrote grants and secured more than $3 million in funding. A few weeks later I took my first son to visit him for Christmas and then I became pregnant, Young said. Unlike a TV series where you get to see the character,a podcast is darker. She says he was prone to hyperbole, and, yeah, he had a questionable sense of humor. He stayed in town for his undergraduate degree, emerging from the University of Memphis in 1994. While the school refused to verify or deny his claims, he wasn't in any of the yearbooks of that time. I knocked on my door. Creating cells from a culture would eliminate the need for human extraction; there was huge potential upside. Was it you? Young said in the docuseries. Was he was only in it for the research prestige and the money? According to him, Duntsch had a "great work ethic" and no areas of weakness. Kukekov had discovered stem cells in human brain tumors, which presented a huge potential for the development of new cancer drugs. Duntsch was told to take a drug test but disappeared instead. Duntsch placed a surgical cage where the disc was, to widen the opening around the nerve roots and relieve the pressure that was causing Passmores pain. Dallas surgeon Randall Kirby says his former colleague, Dr. Christopher Duntsch, managed to commit crimes so heinous that patients everywhere are still struck by fear when they hear about the case . He had a room upstairs in the Plano house. The hospital called Rimlawi when it couldnt reach his colleague. A couple of months later, FloellaBrown came to Duntsch for a cervical fusion to alleviate her neck and shoulder pain. But then came that fax, and he saw Duntschs name next to Kellie Martins. Duntsch had only been in the Dallas area for a few months. Christopher Duntsch Early Life Story, Family Background and Education. Such behavior did not go unnoticed by the other doctors. "You don't know this yet, but you will never walk again. But Duntsch kept going, as if he were fishing in a pond at night, saying he was working by feel, not sight. The message alluded to a week where everything unraveled with their relationship. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. 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. The evidence said otherwise. They met as Duntsch was looking for opportunities in an operating room somewhere. July 19, 2021 The former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was finally brought to justice after injuring and maiming over 30 of his patients during surgery and allegedly causing the deaths of two more. We discovered it.. And there were plenty of other signs as well. Dr. Death might not have cared about being a surgeon, just the prestige that came with it. Thats when we stumbled across the gap, Passmore says. Christopher Duntsch, Known As Dr. Death, Maimed His Patients Through Routine Back Surgery. And not just Dallas CountyI dont recall hearing about it anywhere.. 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. In 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty. And this was 10 months before Duntsch's last surgery. 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. Talking to the Dallas Morning News in 2014, Duntsch said he provided the test and was clean. According to Texas Medical Board records, Summers vertebral artery was damaged, and he lost more than two liters of blood while intubated. 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. I have lost both companies. He would file for bankruptcy years later, and the filings show that Duntsch has had no managerial role with Discgenics since 2012, when he was removed as a board member and as chief science officer. Duntsch ended up slicing her vertebral artery, stopping blood and oxygen flow to her brain. But then he gave Passmore the card of a neurosurgeon named Christopher Duntsch. There was Floella Brown, whose sliced vertebral artery triggered the stroke that killed her at Dallas Medical Center. It was a downward spiral pretty rapidly after he lost his license, Young said in the docuseries. Then it just started to all unravel.. His pain management specialist advised against an operation. Today, Duntsch is serving a life imprisonment term in a Texas prison, and he's now the subject of an NBC Peacock netstreaming series featuring some big-name, A . He recorded conversations with Foley, the head of the fellowship program, and Boop, the chairman. I was on the third story.. Toby Shook, a Dallas defense attorney, gave a statement toDallas Magazine:"I cannot recall a physician being indicted for aggravated assault for acts committed during surgery. He works out, he reads, he studies the Bible. 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. At that point, the administration revoked his privileges. Dubbed "Dr. Death," the case gained national attention, revealing how easy. The university said, We cant let you see his personnel file. 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 was friendly, and we had good conversation. I'd call him a sociopath." By the time the Dallas County district attorney's office got involved and brought criminal charges against. Christopher Duntsch and Wendy Young struck up a conversation right away, and within three months, they were dating and living together. Like Boop, Dr. Robertson also gave Duntsch a great review. Morgan says they spent a lot of time in clubs. In March 2012, Duntsch performed alaminectomy on Kellie Martin to reduce her back pain after afallat home. He was a phenomenal partner right up until the pandemic hit and we got shut down. Lawsuits can cost hospitals millions of dollars and lost credibility, making it easier just tofire the offending doctor. Wendy Renee Young is the mother of three children. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. 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. She fell pregnant with their first son, Aiden, not long after that. Shes 33 now and doesnt live in Dallas anymore. Santa Clarita Diet's Dominic Burgess plays Jerry Summers, a former patient and best friend of Dr Death's. It got to be too much. The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education has strict rules about residency programs. Sadly, being moral and good aren't therequisites schools need to let someone become a doctor. Unfortunately, Martin and Brown were not alive to tell their tale. If that weren't enough, Page once happened across a drawer at Duntsch's house. This could be path-breaking in the future ofcancer treatment andDr. Duntsch sniffed out the opportunity right away. This posterior longitudinal ligament is one of the spines two major stabilizers. According to court documents, Rimlawi soon grew suspicious of Duntsch. Strangely enough, Dr. Boop also mentioned, "I have not operated with Chris." You, my child, are the only one between me and the other side, he wrote. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. If he wasnt doing research, he was out with Jerry Summers, partying, Morgan said in the deposition. It had come from Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. He was born in Montana, but his family settled in a suburb east of Memphis where the median household income is about $30,000 higher than the rest of the country. We moved in together within three months, and then I became pregnant.. He ran two labs, is listed as one of three inventors on a successful patent, raised millions of dollars in grant funding, and once gave a tour to the governor of Tennessee as he explained the stem cell research occurring at the university. He kind of let himself into my apartment by climbing up my balcony, she said. 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 before he left, he happened to see a fax come in to the medical examiners office. The seeds of greed were sown. They went on to have two children. There was Kellie Martin, who died from massive blood loss after a surgery at Baylor Plano. The real question is:Can this TV show bring about a change in medical law, or how hospitals treat their patients and doctors? By this time his wife and he had separated and he also filed for bankruptcy. Martin paid with her lifebecause her doctor was too proud to say he screwed up. And, seeing as how the hospital was asking specifically about that training, Foley said he didnt feel comfortable expressing concern about what hed heard was happening in Dallas. Their suffering becomes yours. Wendy has reportedly been keeping a low-profile life since ending her relationship with Duntsch and since he went to prison. His investors took him to court. Duntsch wrote that he accepted he was a cold-blooded killer. Passmore later discovered that, less than a week after his second surgery, Duntsch had operated on 45-year-old Barry Morguloff. But that isn't the scariest part. He stayed at the University of Tennessee for his surgical residency, spending the standard five years on neurosurgery and one year learning general surgery. Six weeks after her death on March 12, 2012, the medical examiner ruled her fate an accident. Neurosurgeon residents need to complete 1,000 surgeries as training requirements. St. Jude says there was no such program at the hospital at that time. At this point, Ive had enough and so I called the police.. Was this a way of keeping the University of Tennessee's ranking up? Or at least a morally upright one. Duntsch filed for bankruptcy and was arrested in Denver for driving under the influence on Jan. 10, 2014, according to local station KCNC-TV. So, I went back to Dallas. Yet they let him resign and passed the bill along for someone else to pay. Philip is one of more than 30 people maimed by Dr. Christopher Duntsch, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media. Governor Greg Abbott, then the attorney general, even waded into the whole mess, filing a brief in Passmores suit in support of the law. He went back to the sourcethe University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Morgan was present in the operating room during Passmores surgery. In actuality, Duntschhad severely deformed Mayfield's spinal column and left him immobilized from mid-chest down to his toes. We talked about marriage pretty quickly. Dr Christopher Duntsch is accused of causing agony to countless patients or worse during the three years he practiced medicine in Dallas. It was hearsay, he contended. (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.). She says she never saw him drunk or high or suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Lee Passmores friends and family heard him before they saw him. Since receiving his life sentence, Dr Death is currently housed in the O.B. He wasn't concerned about the drugs in his system while he did his rounds. She needed drug tests. He didnt contact a lawyer, although he wrestled with the decision. For the last three days, jurors listened to testimony in the . And of course, there are many in the medical field who go above and beyond the call of duty. Her body was in the Collin County Medical Examiners office in March 2012. The couple had two children together. There are some who believe that he never wanted to be in the ORat all. She worked with Dr Henderson and Dr Kirby to bring Duntsch to justice, talking to everyone from his life, both from after he became a doctor and from when he was still training to be one. Two of his patients, Floella Brown and Kellie Martin, died.. 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. 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. She also never reported Duntsch up the ladder. But upon seeing that name, he took it to his boss, Dr. William Rohr. 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. She enlisted Duntsch to help fix it. Young elaborated in a 2016 D Magazine story on Duntschs troubled career that Duntsch told her his attacker had been an investigator hired by an attorney representing his angry patients, but that account was never verified. He was the eldest of four. When he finally came to the hospital, he busied himself with another patient, also on the DA's list, Mary Efurd. Duntsch could have turned it into something good and meaningful. Kirby reported having direct knowledge of seven patients that Dr. 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.