The series is set to premiere on July 12 and will feature a star-studded cast. It was Duntsch, babbling about his family being in danger. Could you take care of it?" One of the patients who suffered disastrous consequences was Jerry Summers, the boyfriend of Megan Kane and a friend of Christopher Duntsch. Death,' Dallas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch", "Texas neurosurgeon nicknamed 'Dr. 0:57. Dr. Henderson thought the operation on Mary Efurd was so botched that Christopher Duntsch had to be an imposter. Christopher Daniel Duntsch was born in Montana on April 3, 1971, and raised alongside his three siblings in an affluent suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. [11] Several of his friends recalled him going to work after a night of doing drugs, with one of them saying he would never allow Duntsch to operate on him. That's why it really shined down to me," Kissinger said in an interview. Joshua Jackson went to the dark side to play Dr. Christopher Duntsch, who's serving a life sentence for maiming a woman during surgery, in the new Peacock series Dr. Death. [18] He damaged patient Philip Mayfield's spinal cord, drilling into it and leaving him partially paralyzed from the neck down. He wanted to become a doctor, and not just any doctor - a neurosurgeon, operating on injured backs and necks. The databank was established in 1990 and tracks malpractice payouts and adverse actions against doctors, such as being fired, banned from Medicare, handed a lengthy suspension, or having their license suspended or revoked. Wendy Young had just given birth to their son and lived there with him. He remained there for several months before being allowed to return to the residency. Just weeks after permanently maiming Morguloff, Dr. Duntsch operated on his lifelong friend and roommate, Jerry Summers. Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of hospital oversight. On April 9, 2013, Phillip Mayfield was scheduled to have a simple 45-minute operation to alleviate his back pain. But, he can only walk 30 feet at a time and cannot stand for more than a few minutes. Dr. Death, read about how reckless surgeon Robert Liston killed his patient and two bystanders. Muse woke up in considerable pain, but Duntsch convinced him it was normal. The director of neurosurgery at UT Southwestern, Carlos Bagley, testifying for the defense, said that "the only way this happens is that the entire system fails the patients." The Legislature has also made suing hospitals difficult. Christopher Duntsch, known as "Dr. Death" tried to explain himself in rambling emails, but he only made things worse for his criminal case. He secured investments in Discgenics from local spine surgeons, including Dr. Robertson and Dr. Kevin Foley, a prominent Memphis neurosurgeon Duntsch spent a year training under as part of the surgery fellowship at the Semmes-Murphey Clinic. ", "Plano's Baylor hospital faces hard questions after claims against former neurosurgeon", "Barry Morguloff's suit against the Baylor Health Care System", "Was Wendy Renee Young Dr. Death's Wife? By the end of the week, administrators told Duntsch he would no longer be operating at Dallas Medical Center. Prosecutors put a high priority on that charge, as it provided the widest sentencing range, with Duntsch facing up to life in prison if convicted. He said even a person with the most basic sense of human anatomy would know they were operating in the wrong area. Jurors convicted Duntsch Tuesday of injury to an elderly person in the botched July 2012 surgery that put Mary Efurd in a wheelchair. As those watching the show know, Christopher was dubbed "Dr. Death" in D Magazine . In October 2011, she registered articles of incorporation to form Duntsch's practice, the Texas Neurosurgical Institute. Boop said that Duntsch spent his final year as an attending physician and could not operate independently. It had come from Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. From 2017: https://bit.ly/3hXJccx Although he wasn't a talented athlete, he trained for hours on his own and made it as a linebacker on his high school football team at Evangelical Christian School in Memphis. Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. The explanation was enough to satisfy Muse. [7], When Duntsch applied for privileges at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, the hospital queried the NPDB. He proved to be Duntsch's last surgery; University General pushed him out soon afterward. When Morgan asked Duntsch about the woman in his house, he said she was just his secretary and friend. MISI representatives stated he would brag about his capabilities and be critical of the work of other surgeons. August 28, 2013, 2:01 . He completed a spine fellowship program at the Semmes-Murphey Clinic in Memphis for his surgical residency, spending the standard five years on neurosurgery and one-year learning general surgery. Efurd eventually gained back some control and mobility, but she now uses a wheelchair and suffers chronic pain. Summers asked Duntsch to fix his chronic neck pain from a high school football injury that had gotten worse after a car accident. Board chairman Irwin Zeitzler later said that complications in neurosurgery were more common than most laymen believe, and it took until June 2013 to find the "pattern of patient injury" required to justify suspending Duntsch's license. 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. For the last three days, jurors listened to testimony in the . Death.. Jerry Summers believed that his best friend Christopher Duntsch was a talented neurosurgeon who would cure his chronic neck pain. She was left with just one vocal cord. Glidewell is still in constant pain and has undergone more than 50 procedures to correct the damage left by Duntsch. The television series Dr. Death based on the incident, began streaming on Peacock in July 2021. [9][24][19][7] After several days, Kirby was brought in to repair the damage and later described what he found after opening Glidewell back up as the work of a "crazed maniac". During surgery, he cut a major vessel in her spinal cord. A deranged surgeon runs amok, maiming and killing multiple patients, unhindered by a medical community sworn to police itself. But when he awoke and was experiencing extreme pain, Dr. Duntsch said that surgery had been a success and there had been no complications. But police say an email Duntsch wrote in 2011 points to his mind-set in the months before he "intentionally, knowingly and . Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! The sponge triggered a severe blood-borne infection that caused Glidewell to become septic. A CT scan would later reveal that Efurds nerve root had been amputated, there were several screw holes nowhere near where they were supposed to be, and one screw had been lodged in another nerve root. As Burke says in "Dr. Death," "No matter what happens, no matter what somebody does to you or the people you love, all you're gonna get is $250,000. No one can pay to remove ratings. Immediately, he started yelling and cussing at me, saying, 'How dare you? However, he closed Glidewell with the sponge in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. Jerry Summers, who grew up with Christopher Duntsch in Tennessee, was left a quadriplegic after agreeing to let "Dr. Death" operate on his neck. Christopher Duntsch, 44, faces up to life in prison if convicted. Dr. Death in surgery. The operation should have taken less than ninety minutes; it ultimately lasted four and a half hours. Now, a podcast called Dr. Death is breaking down the deranged surgeons criminal acts and shows how drug abuse and blinding overconfidence led to big trouble for the patients who found themselvesunderneath the spiraling doctors knife. The Texas Medical Board would later conclude that Brown died of excessive blood loss and a stroke, according to The Texas Observer . Dr. Fulton never worked with Duntsch again. [36] On February 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison. Duntsch approached Pam Trusty about being on camera during a follow-up visit where she was still in pain. Barry Morguloff, the owner of a pool service company, was left with bone fragments in his spinal canal after Duntsch tried to pull a damaged, Jerry Summers, a longtime friend of Duntsch's, came to Plano to have, Kellie Martin was undergoing a routine back operation when Duntsch cut through her spinal cord and severed an artery. Baylor officials took Summers' accusation seriously and ordered Duntsch to take a drug test. He is a graduate of Evangelical Christian School in the Cordova suburb of Memphis, where he starred in football.[7]. However, Baylor did not fire him; instead, he was allowed to resign. In March 2014, three former patients of Duntsch's Mary Efurd, Kenneth Fennel, and Lee Passmore filed separate federal lawsuits against Baylor Plano, alleging the hospital allowed Duntsch to perform surgeries despite knowing that he was a dangerous physician. [37][4], Over objections from Duntsch's lawyers, prosecutors called many of Duntsch's other patients to the stand in order to prove that his actions were intentional. Duntsch operated and flew out to Las Vegas without securing a call physician. In 2014, he developed syringomyelia, a painful condition that causes fluid-filled cysts on the spinal cord. Moving made sense for both of them. He called Duntsch's fellowship supervisor in Memphis, as well as the supervisor of Duntsch's residency; it was then that he learned about the incident that led him to be referred to the impaired physician program. He stalled at first, telling administrators he got lost on the way to the lab. He ran two labs, gained experience writing grants, and earned more than $3 million in funding for research projects. [16] In 2021, he was profiled on CNBC's American Greed. Duntsch's trial has been called a precedent-setting case, as it's the first time that a physician has been convicted on criminal charges for actions in the course of their medical work and malpractice involving botched surgery. [36][11][9] For the same reason, prosecutors opted to try Duntsch for Efurd's maiming first. When Jerry Summers woke up, he couldn't move his arms or legs. The patient was Mary Efurd coming in for a second operation. Duntsch also removed so much bone and muscle tissue from Summers' neck that his head was no longer secure on his body. According to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a neurosurgery resident does about 1,000 operations during training. However, part of the problem was proving that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. However, he sewed up Glidewell with the sponge still in place despite others in the operating room warning him about it. She also said that he kept a pile of cocaine on his dresser in his home office. [43], The conviction of Duntsch has been called a precedent-setting case, as it is believed to be the first time that a physician has been convicted on criminal charges for actions in the course of their medical work. (Dallas County Jail via AP) Gift Article. He later told Glidewell that it was clear Duntsch had tried to kill him. It was then that Christopher decided to switch his career to medicine. To see the rest of Dr. Christopher Duntsch's murder and maiming spree, and the fight to stop him, you'll need to purchase Peacock premium. Finally, the board permanently revoked Duntsch's license on December 6, 2013. Cheney recalled wondering why a neurosurgeon with such outstanding credentials would be operating at a lower-tiered hospital on the way to his surgery. He is very caring and took the time to help me understand my pain issues. Ratings for Dr. Christopher D. Duntsch, Inactive. In addition, a neurosurgeon hired to review Brown's case found that Dr. Duntsch had misdiagnosed the source of her pain and was operating in the wrong place. Leaving on April 20, 2012, with a lawyer-negotiated letter saying, "All areas of concern with regard to Christopher D. Duntsch have been closed. No one came out and spoke with Kellie Martin's family or informed them of her condition during this time. Part of the problem was being able to prove that Duntsch's actions were willful as defined by Texas law. Several people who were in the operating room for Efurd's surgery suspected that Duntsch might have been intoxicated, recalling that his pupils were dilated. At one point, an assisting surgeon named Dr. Hoyle observed Duntsch performing such alarming and erratic behavior; he grabbed his hands and pleaded with him to stop. When he woke up, he was a quadriplegic with incomplete paralysis. Lazar was scathingly critical of Duntsch's work. The Dallas district attorney's office subpoenaed every hospital on Duntsch's CV for records of his surgeries. An MRI revealed that multiple bone fragments in his spinal canal were compressing and adhering to his S1 nerve and that Duntsch had installed the hardware incorrectly. [40][41] On May 8, 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused Duntschs petition for discretionary review. Once, he stopped by to pick up some paperwork. [14] He persuaded Young to come with him; Young agreed, since she had grown up in the Dallas area. Im the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state.. The case status is Disposed - Other Disposed. However, by the time he met Young, Duntsch was over $500,000 in debt. The Judge overseeing this case is GINSBERG, CARL. [4][49], Last edited on 14 February 2023, at 04:48, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Plano, Texas District and County Attorneys Association, "Dr. Duntsch defense expert: "The only way this happens is the entire system fails the patients", "Plano Doctor Suspended After Two Patient Deaths", "Former Neurosurgeon Faces Life In Prison After Guilty Verdict", "What Was Dr. Christopher Duntsch's Background And Why Were People So Impressed With The Man Later Known As 'Dr. "I called Dr. Duntsch up, and I said, 'I saw this online.' He was wearing the shirt of his black scrubs, and it was covered in blood. Duntsch stuffed Glidewell's throat with a surgical sponge to attempt to stop the bleeding. She had suffered from lower back pain for years and was referred to Duntsch by her pain management doctor. Mary Efurd: While Brown was dying, Duntsch was operating on Mary Efurd, a 71-year-old anxious to return to her treadmill after surgery to relieve her back pain. Written by Patrick Macmanus, the show will only be available exclusively on Peacock. He didn't wear underwear. This was the time when Dr. Christopher Duntsch started to turn into Dr. Death. 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Duntsch, aka Dr Death, was sentenced to life in prison in 2017, Dr Death - Trailer for the Peacock series based on the true story of Christopher Duntsch. In February 2012, he went under the knife for an elective spinal fusion surgery. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. Wendy Young knew her ex-boyfriend Christopher Duntsch's medical career was unraveling, but she wasn't prepared for what she said was his bizarre behavior that coincided with his fall from grace as a surgeon.. He did his surgical residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, spending five years studying neurosurgery and a year studying general surgery. Where is Christopher Duntsch AKA Dr. Death now? The last charge was for the maiming and paralyzing of Efurd. Although she didn't think much of it and assumed Morgan was helping with research. He refused to acknowledge anything was wrong, hindering the, This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 04:48. Over this period, Duntsch performed back surgeries that left his patients in a worse condition, paralyzed, or deceased. D Magazine gave him the nickname in . On top of this, he misspelled both Kukekov and Ignatova's names. He said, "Randy, you were right. He then prescribed Muse so much Percocet that a pharmacist refused to fill the prescription. Dr. Death in surgery. Before he was "Dr. Death" on Wondery's hit 2018 podcast, disgraced former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch was a student at Colorado State University. Philip is one of more than 30 people maimed by Dr. Christopher Duntsch, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media. Her husband could not hold himself up; he had no support of his own and could barely speak. Under heavy lobbying from Kirby and Henderson, the Texas Medical Board suspended Duntsch's license on June 26, 2013. Prince Charming, Im gonna change your life, Wendy Young said of the promising start to her romance with Christopher Duntsch. [19] Prosecutors sought a sentence long enough to ensure that Duntsch would never be able to practice medicine again. Henderson sent Duntsch's picture to the University of Tennessee to determine whether he actually had a degree from that institution and received confirmation that Duntsch, in fact, did. Baylor wanted Duntsch operating quickly and often so they could be reimbursed for the monies they had advanced to him. Around 2006 and 2007, Duntsch began to become unhinged. The process involves cutting a hole in the skull to relieve the pressure in the brain. Yet, in April 2012, he returned to work just four months after surgery. "Dr. Death" is based on the chart-topping podcast of the same name that, in turn, is based on the horrifying true story of Christopher Duntsch. He added that many board members found it hard to believe that a trained surgeon could be as incompetent as Duntsch appeared to be.[9]. Efurd was left paralyzed. As a result, Summers lost almost 1,200 mL of blood. This case was filed in Dallas County District Courts, Dallas County Civil District Courts located in Dallas, Texas. Those words continue to haunt her, and she's tormented by the knowledge that her endorsement caused others to select Duntsch themselves. Christopher Duntsch is a former neurosurgeon known by his nickname Dr. Death or Dr. D. The Montana native got his nickname for his malpractice while working at hospitals in Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. When he arrived, Nurse Kyle Kissinger spotted a hole in Duntsch's scrubs. He is not eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74 years old. Duntsch stuffed a surgical sponge in Glidewell's throat to stanch the bleeding. [13] In 2010, Duntsch moved to Dallas. Advertisement. Dr. Hassan Chahadeh, the owner, said when Duntsch had applied for privileges, his record was clean. During his tenure at Baylor Plano, Kimberly Morgan assisted in every surgery with Duntsch. [4], After 13 days of trial, the jury needed only four hours to convict him for the maiming of Efurd. As part of their investigation, prosecutors obtained a December 2011 email written by Christopher Duntsch. July 19, 2021. Jodi Smith. Several of Duntsch's surgeries at Baylor Plano resulted in severely maimed patients: Baylor Plano officials found that Duntsch failed to meet their standards of care and permanently revoked his surgical privileges. Every victim deserves to have their story told, and unfortunately, Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death, has 33. On December 30, 2011, Duntsch operated on Lee Passmore. He also reported shooting pains throughout his body. The series follows two other surgeons, along with . According to court documents, surgeons at the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute soon grew suspicious of Duntsch. "After building a flourishing neurosurgery practice, everything suddenly changes when patients entering Dr. Duntsch's operating room for complex but routine spinal surgeries start leaving permanently disabled or dead. They met with an assistant DA but got little traction. They also believed that the charge would be easy to prove in court; Duntsch had been told repeatedly that he was not placing the hardware in the correct position, and fluoroscopy images from Efurd's surgery proved this. In the end, Floella Brown never regained consciousness because Duntsch refused to transfer her to another doctor in time, and her family had to remove her from life support. When Martin awoke from anesthesia, she was screaming and clawing at her legs which had become patchy and full of purple streaks and spots. Dr. Duntsch said to Cheney, "I don't know why you're this way. July 14, 2021. Over the span of a few years, he managed to maim and injure over 30 patients, with two more dying during and shortly after undergoing surgery with him. Death. Duntsch, once a neurosurgeon, is the focal point of the new streaming Peacock docuseries "Dr. Death." D Magazine gave him the nickname in its reporting in 2016. It's hard to find a lawyer willing to jump through these hoops no matter how negligent the doctor was, because Texas limits non-economic damages in most cases to $250,000 per doctor. Fennell required months of rehabilitation to be able to walk with a cane, and was left unable to walk for more than 30 feet or stand for more than a few minutes without having to sit down again. Three holes had been poked into Efurd's spinal column where Duntsch had tried and failed to insert screws. Finally, Dr. Kirby received a call from Hassan Chahadeh. And its all because of one surgeon named Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. Christopher Duntsch was a neurosurgeon who radiated confidence. Hospital officials were exasperated when Duntsch refused to delay Efurd's surgery, and asked him multiple times to care for Brown or transfer her out of his care. Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971)[1] is a former American neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death[2] for gross malpractice resulting in the maiming of several patients' spines and two deaths while working at hospitals in the DallasFort Worth metroplex. After this look at Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. He is currently appealing this sentence. Of those 38, 31 were leftparalyzed or seriously injured and two of them died from surgical complications. The case highlights the risks of allowing a troubled physician to move to another hospital . Troy was left barely able to speak above a whisper, had to be sedated for weeks and had to be fed through a feeding tube for some time as food was getting into her lungs. Dr. Rimlawi called Baylor Plano and advised them against continuing a relationship with Christopher Duntsch, but this fell to deaf ears. February 21, 2017 / 5:45 AM / CBS News. The hospital initiated another peer review, but Duntsch resigned rather than face certain termination. [42] The four hospitals that employed Duntsch have ongoing civil cases against him. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045, when he will be 74-years-old. During his surgery, Duntsch didnt installed the necessary hardware to Muses spine and instead had left it floating between the spine and muscle tissue. Duntsch lasted about three months at MISI. In 2005, about a third of the way through his residency, department chairman Dr. Jon Robertson appointed Duntsch program director of the school's tissue bank. Summers had a credit card in his name connected to Duntsch's account and would drive him around, balance his checkbooks, and pick up his dry cleaning. Journalists must draw attention to the failures in the U.S. medical and legal systems that allowed Christopher Duntsch, the subject of journalist Laura Beil's well-regarded "Dr. Death" podcast series, to injure dozens of patients, members of an expert panel said at the "10 years after 'Dr. Death': Are patients any safer from bad doctors?" panel at Health Journalism 2022 in Austin. Inside The Death Of Chris Benoit, The Professional Wrestler Who Killed His Family And Then Himself, Archaeologists Just Uncovered A Massive Roman Phallic Carving In Spain And It Might Be The Biggest Ever Found, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. They also believed that charge would be easy to prove in court; Duntsch had been told repeatedly that he was not placing the hardware in the correct position and fluoroscopy images from Efurd's surgery proved this. Dr. Randall Kirby, a general and vascular surgeon, assisted with Morguloff. Passmore met with Dr. Duntsch and was impressed by his confidence; he would fix him. Chris Dozois, a fellow linebacker with the Rams, recalled Duntsch struggling, even with basic drills, but begging to run them over and over until he got it right. "It's a miracle," she said in the infomercial later promoted on his website. By this time, Duntsch was almost penniless, and the judge had to appoint a lawyer for him. In January 2013, Kenneth Fennell was scheduled for another operation because he was still experiencing extreme pain in his back. In November 2011, he was hooked on the prescription opiates that numbed the pain in his lower back. Death'? On May 24, 2011, Christopher Duntsch signed a physician services agreement with Rimlawi and Won's Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) in Dallas. His father was a missionary and physical therapist and his mother was a school teacher. He then packed it with too much of a substance intended to stop the bleeding. His girlfriend, Wendy Young, had a second son in September 2014. Ellis Unit outside of Huntsville, Texas. South Hampton Community Hospital in Dallas (now University General Hospital). The appalling actions of the rogue surgeon and their repercussions on his unsuspecting patients were . He was left with pain so debilitating he could not work any longer and now spends most of his days at home. 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. Duntsch moved to Denver, Colorado, and went into a downward spiral. Christopher Duntsch was born in Montana and spent most of his youth in Memphis, Tennessee. By this time, however, Brown was brain dead. Kirby, Henderson, and another doctor decided to contact the district attorney, convinced that Duntsch's malpractice was so egregious it was criminal. But, she never reported Duntsch up the ladder or told anyone about the horrors she witnessed in the operating room. Then check out the horrifying story of Simon Bramhall, a surgeon who admitted to burning his initials into patients livers. His pain management specialist advised against an operation but referred him to a neurosurgeon named Christopher Duntsch. Dr. Robert Henderson was brought in on July 28, 2012, to perform a revision surgery on Efurd. He realized he'd seen that hole for three straight days Duntsch hadn't changed his scrubs all week. [9] Duntsch's defense blamed their client's actions on poor training and lack of oversight by the hospitals. [38] Shughart countered that the 2011 email, sent after his first surgeries went wrong, proved that Duntsch knew his actions were intentional. According to his lawyers, Duntsch had not realized how poorly he had performed as a surgeon until he heard the prosecution experts tell the jury about his many blunders on the operating table. Randall Kirby wrote a detailed complaint to the Texas Medical Board, calling Duntsch a "sociopath" who was "a clear and present danger to the citizens of Texas." This time on 53-year-old Mary Efurd. A spill of more than 500,000-gallons of crude oil from the Keystone Pipeline in December in Kansas was caused by a combination of a faulty weld and "bending stress fatigue" on the pipe, the . Christopher Duntsch was sentenced to life in prison in February 2017 for his heinous acts. Then, on July 24, 2012, he operated on Floella Brown. She bled to death . Even worse, some of the patients never got the chance to wake up. Troy was sedated for weeks and forced to eat through a feeding tube because food was getting into her lungs. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! The lead investigator on the case later revealed that she wanted Duntsch's license suspended while the ten-month probe was underway, but board attorneys were not willing to go along. To top it all off, he was operating on the wrong portion of her back. Trusty was never told she was participating in an infomercial and believed Duntsch had been selected as the top neurosurgeon in Dallas and was participating in a video about the award. Officers said he was driving on the left side of the road with two flat tires. [3], Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board. Assistant district attorney Michelle Shughart, who led the prosecution of Duntsch, later recalled that Henderson and Kirby reached out to her demanding to testify against Duntsch; according to Shughart, doctors rarely testify against each other. [7] He lasted for less than a week before administrators pulled his privileges after the death of a patient, Floella Brown, and the maiming of another, Mary Efurd. Now, his time at the university . Officers took him to a nearby psychiatric hospital. In 2006, Duntsch teamed up with two Russian stem cell scientists: Valery Kukekov and Tatyana Ignatova. While they were in the lab working, Duntsch went to work raising money for a company he called DiscGenics. Christopher was raised along with his three younger siblings in a wealthy suburb in Memphis, Tennessee. Film & TV 'Dr. Death' Condemns Christopher Duntsch, but the Real Culprit Is Texas's Broken Health-Care System I helped break the story on the convicted surgeon, but Peacock's dramatized . Duntsch was suspected of having used cocaine the night before the operation. Around this time, Christopher Duntsch's behavior became noticeably erratic. While there, he damaged patient Jeff Cheney's spinal cord, leaving him without feeling on the right side of his body.