"And then the screw at the bottom wasnt really even in bone. Eventually, after repeated letters, calls, and acts of whistleblowing, Henderson and Kirby attracted the attention of the Dallas District Attorney's office who agreed to prosecute Duntsch on charges of assault and harm to an elderly person, specifically Mary Efurd, a 71-year-old patient who suffered a botched back surgery. On the stand he carefully explained the many defects and errors Duntsch had made. 1 birth record, View 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Summers tragically passed away in early 2021 following an infection connected to his botched 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. By the end of his residency, he had finished less than 100 operations; the average neurosurgeon is expected to perform around 1,000 by the end, according to the outlet. When Henderson looked at Efurd's post-operative X-rays and later opened her up for surgery, he was astonished by what he found: misplaced screws, a severed nerve root, and several holes drilled into her spine. The 51-year-old recently starred in the USA true crime series, Dirty John, opposite Connie Britton. A Colorado neurosurgeon was disciplined for performing surgery on the wrong spinal disc. Thats correct, Carlton admitted. Watch More About Dr. Death In Our Free App Henderson was called in to do a salvage surgery on 71-year-old Mary Efurd, who was suffering from extreme pain following the operation she'd had the day before. The patient was put on life support but died, according to the Virginia Medical Board. Ultimately, 31 . Death, the case gained national attention, revealing how easy it can be for dangerous doctors to transfer between hospitals. Prosecutors began looking into the allegations against Duntsch, and in July 2015 charged him with five counts of aggravated assault and one count of injury to an elderly person related to Efurds surgery. A New Mexico doctor surrendered his license in 2019 while under investigation for drinking alcohol during a telemedicine group session for individuals in recovery. "He was interpersonally a monster, a nightmare to be around. Bush who was seeking his second term. Add Andr's family friends, and his friends from childhood through adulthood. The new steps are the TMBs effort to better meet that profile information requirement, a spokesperson later clarified. Henderson learned the third patient had walked in for surgery two days earlier but been unable to bear weight on her legs in the aftermath and was in excruciating pain, he says. Most state medical boards across the country, including Texas, provide incomplete information about a physicians practicing history, according to a report released last month by the Patient Safety Action Network, a national advocacy group. A man who was a victim of other people's bad work and bad behavior. Joshua Jackson (right) portrays Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr Death, on the new Peacock limited series Credit: Scott McDermott/Peacock Dawson's Creek heartthrob Jackson stars as the titular character of Dr Death, which ended up becoming Duntsch 's nickname after the accusations came out. Court testimony would later show that behavior had continued. Unlike Texas, those states require physicians to report this information to their states medical boards within 30 to 60 days. We want to believe we're in safe hands when we're with a doctor. Its how the statutes and rules are currently written.. Duntsch's surgery on Kelli Martin ultimately resulted in her death. Or is this just a sociologic, pathologic personality that has flipped and become a destroyer instead of healer?". The Peacock original series "Dr. Death" is coming to USA Network this October here's what to know about Christopher Duntsch, the real doctor who inspired the show. One of the most harrowing real-life accounts of this tale, Jerry Summers, was Christopher Duntsch's childhood friend and a staunch advocate of the doctor to a fault. Dr. Henderson continues his long-standing career and is a spine specialist and surgeon with a focus on chronic back and leg pain. Some physicians were disciplined following criminal charges including driving drunk, domestic violence, possession of a controlled substance and operating a firearm while intoxicated, KXAN found. and you'll be alerted when others do the same. He had severed a major artery in her spine during a minor operation. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! They would later have two children. He was fired and failed to report it, the NMMB found, in addition to failing to maintain complete and accurate medical records for his patients. "I've wondered if he waschemically altered to the point where he became completely incompetent as a surgeon and as a physician. Death: The Undoctored Story, saying,This was attempted murder.. The prosecution argued that Duntsch's wounding of his patients was intentional and he had failed to learn from his past mistakes in early surgeries. graduate of UEL, Charles spent several years in corporate analytics roles before committing to pursuing editing full time. Available in the Wondery App. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. His offices are located at 9080 Harry Hines Boulevard, Suite 210 in Dallas, Texas. In a July 15 bonus episode of the Dr. Death podcast featuring. La Combe de la Selle, Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans, Grenoble, Isre, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France : La Combe de la Selle produced some of the best prehnite specimens known. His defence team argued that he was merely a bad surgeon, not a criminal. So when the administrator of Hendersons hospital asked him to evaluate the post-op condition of a third Duntsch patient, my antennas were up, he says. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Kirby had worked with Duntsch once and vowed never to do it again. He would not say if any will face any disciplinary actions for not sharing issues in their pasts. A former colleague found a horror show when he performed follow-up surgery on one of Duntschs patients: Screws meant for her spine driven instead into muscle tissue, three holes in bone where Duntsch had repeatedly tried to set a screw, and a completely missing nerve root that Duntsch apparently amputated, leaving the woman unable to move her leg., Born in Montana and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Duntsch initially pursued an athletic career in US football doggedly so, according to former classmates. Alec Baldwin as Robert Henderson, Christian Slater as Randall Kirby. Starring alongside Jackson is Alec Baldwin as spine surgeon Robert Henderson and Christian Slater as vascular surgeon Randall Kirbythe two men who did everything in their power to stop Dr. Christopher Duntsch operating ever again. What is Andr's ethnicity and where did his parents, grandparents & great-grandparents come from? "It had circulated that. The Biography section is collaborative, where we work together to present the facts. Clinton won 43.01% of the popular vote to Bush's 37.45%. We share yesterday, to build meaningful connections today, and preserve for tomorrow. They also blamed his actions on poor medical training and lack of oversight at the hospitals where he worked. As described in the Dr. Death series and podcast, neurosurgeons typically take part in more than 1,000 surgeries during their residency. As a result, he had to attend a program for impaired physicans, reportedProPublica. Portrayed by Christian Slater as a comedic foil to SNL regular Alec Baldwin's stoic Dr. Henderson, the real Randall Kirby appears much more reserved. The USA App is the best place to catch up on the most recent season of your favorite shows, watch live TV, and stream movies. As heard in the podcast, Duntsch reportedly continued to operate despite the fact Martin was losing a significant amount of blood. What KXAN found, he said, suggests there could be another Dr. Death all over again. The surgeon instead performed an L4-L5 discectomy and admitted he failed to properly confirm the correct level of surgery, according to the Colorado Medical Board, which called the error substandard care.. Prosecutor Michelle Shughart also presented to the court a 2011 email from Duntsch in which he wrote 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," according to CBS. 5 brands that consistently make great Chromebooks, Surprise your mom with one of these Mothers Day, NFL players daughter drowns after falling in pool, Skydiver dies after parachute malfunction, Maternal mortality bill passes Texas House, Report: Texas only behind Nebraska in housing spending, TX Senate passes medical billing transparencybill, Sweeping bills on teacher pay, school funds pass. Death' First Trailer, 'New Amsterdam' Series Finale: How It Ended and Who Wound Up Together, Texas Boy, 8, Is Home on Family's Ranch with Beloved Cow After Heart Transplant and 453 Days in a Hospital, The Best True Crime Documentaries to Stream Now, Hyperbaric Chambers and Pig Intestines: All the Details of Jay Leno's Treatment for 'Very Severe' Burns, Tulsa Hospital Shooting Suspect Was a Patient Who Had Recent Back Surgery and Targeted His Doctor: Cops. The results of Efurd's surgery were in fact so horrific that Henderson began to suspect Duntsch was an imposter. Im really glad to have that information., When asked what patients need most right now, Henderson paused for a brief moment before answering: transparency., Theres something wrong, he said of the current system. Director of Investigations & Innovation Josh Hinkle, Photojournalist Chris Nelson,Digital Special Projects Developer Robert Sims, Digital Director Kate Winkle and Graphic Artists Rachel Gale and Jeffrey Wright contributed to this report. The board announced these changes after KXAN started asking questions. He has been serving his sentence at Ellis Unit in Huntsville, Texas, and will become eligible for parole on 20 July 2045. Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Another surgeon, Randall Kirby, contacted Henderson with similar concerns. He is serving his sentence at the O.B. That patient, Barry Morguloff, reports ProPublica, was left with bone fragments in his spinal canal and experienced constant pain and was temporarily confined to a wheelchair following the procedure. He had 15 years of training, his name had appeared in several medical papers and he was well-versed in stem-cell research. Where did your affordable housing money go? It had circulated that he had operated on a good friend of his and made him into a quadriplegic, Henderson tells PEOPLE. AnnaSophia Robb, 27, portrays Michelle Shughart, the assistant district attorney on Dr. Death's case. Kirby first became aware of Dr. Duntsch brutalizing his patients after assisting on surgery in which Duntsch misused medical tools to the point of endangering the patient's life. In 2010, he relocated to Dallas with his girlfriend Wendy Renee Young. Friends can be as close as family. 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. But it is something that were looking into right now.. Featured in the hugely successful Dr. The patient died. The tale of Peacock's Dr. Death is so macabre it's easy to forget it is a true story, but what do the real people behind these characters look like? He tracked down the program where Duntsch had completed his surgical training and sent them a picture. GQ called it the scariest podcast of the year, deeming it almost too difficult to listen to. "Dr. Henderson is a fantastic spinal surgeon," Kirby told License to Kill. Sheriff: Texas mass shooting suspect could be anywhere. Also in 2011, court testimony would later reveal, Duntsch wrote to his assistant and ex-girlfriend in an email: Unfortunately, you cannot understand that I am building an empire and I am so far outside the box that the Earth is small and the sun is bright. 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. I cant conceive of a way that he wasnt aware that he was hurting patients, says Henderson, who eventually took his concerns to the state medical board. A Virginia anesthesiologist was disciplined in 2020 after failing to document his patients medical record and need for continuous respiratory monitoring once transferred out of his care. It is a sentiment echoed by other patient advocates who believe it is a matter of when not if., Well, said Henderson, I think the odds of it are pretty darn high.. I think they have their priorities wrong, Henderson said. Other shocking surgeries followed, including a routine surgery on Barry Morguloff to help with a spine issue, which was where Dr. Kirby (Slater) saw firsthand how reckless and dangerous Duntsch was as he allegedly botched the procedure. , starring Joshua Jackson, Alec Baldwin, and Christian Slater, are both available to stream on Peacock now. Copyright 1999-2023 AncientFaces, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Another, Kellie Martin, bled to death after a botched procedure. Select " [relationship]" It was discovered in 1767 by a shepherdess, who was going to throw a silver rich rock at a goat. That information is required to be reported by a state law passed in 2001. On Jan. 11, 2012, Dr. Kirby was. Welcome to AncientFaces, a com "Thank you for helping me find my family & friends again so many years after I lost them. The show, which premiered in 2021 and begins airing on USA Network on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT October 5, is fictional, but it's based on the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a man who earned the sinister nickname "Dr. Death" after many of his surgeries left patients injured, in pain, or even dead. Death, Dr. Kirby (played by Christian Slater) is horrified and attempts to correct Duntsch (played by Joshua Jackson). He was sentenced to life in prison, where he remains to this day. Virtuallyeverything was either not done, or done in the wrong place. See What AncientFaces Does, He resigned after the deadly surgery. The expecting mother will need diapers and bottles, but she will also need comfy maternity clothes to wear throughout her pregnancy or a maternity pillow. Long before he became a neurosurgeon, the young Christopher Duntsch had dreams of playing college football, but he didn't make the grade at two separate colleges. Thats why I went into medicine, was to help people. All other criminal convictions, charges, arrests and medical disciplinary actions are only required to be self-reported when physicians apply for, or renew, their licenses every two years. Henderson said he will take the findings of KXANs investigation to members of Congress. Slater is also known for his roles in Mr. Kirby would soon be joined on his mission to keep Duntsch from harming anyone else by Dr. Robert Henderson, a widely respected orthopedic surgeon specializing in spine health. This is where it all seemed to start to go wrong, as he was accused of botching a surgery to treat back pain on Lee Passmore. President Ford escaped a second assassination attempt 17 days later on September 22 when Sarah Jane Moore tried to shoot him in San Francisco. Patients, meanwhile, are kept in the dark. Before being fired for failing to meet standards of care, Duntsch resigned. Prodigal Son actress Molly Griggs takes on the role of Wendy Young, who was Duntsch's girlfriend and is the mother of his kids. Shughart is now a district attorney and still resides in Dallas county today. As the series depicts, the latter charge was important because it carried the widest breadth of sentencing options. Still Practicing: Tracking Problem Doctors, Texas Coronavirus Vaccine Rollout Investigations, Sign up for More than the Score Sports newsletter, Why North Carolinas doctor transparency is better than Texas, according to a report released last month, High-waisted jeans that are as comfortable as they, Monster striped bass caught in Lady Bird Lake, Texas ranks No. Barbara Nitke/Peacock, Even though Duntsch's poor surgical record was well known in the medical community,Kirby and Henderson found themselves. Dubbed Dr. An Arkansas doctors medical license was suspended four times, revoked for five years and he was required to participate in multiple substance abuse treatment programs. It was as if he knew everything to do, Henderson told ProPublica of Duntsch, and then hed done virtually everything wrong.. The attempt failed and 8 US servicemen were killed. Duntsch left Dallas Medial Center and suspicions began to be raised by staff members, particularly spine surgeon Robert Henderson, who had been called to carry out Efurd's second round of surgery. He was granted temporary privileges at the center and operated on two patients: Floella Brown and Mary Efurd.