Dr. Death: Operating In Plain Sight

Duntsch got a job with the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute in Dallas, TX. He earned surgical privileges at Baylor Regional Medical Center, also known as Baylor-Plano, in Plano, TX, in July 2011. Duntsch's supervisors and mentors from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis highly recommended him.recommendedDuntsch finished his residency at the school.

Duntsch's colleague stated,Dr. Randall KirbyDuntsch once went to Las Vegas instead of treating a patient. This action led to his firing. Still, Duntsch kept his surgical privileges at Baylor.

Duntsch performed botched surgeries on Barry Morguloff, Robert Passmore, and Kenneth Fennell while he held surgical privileges at Baylor-Plano in the fall of 2011. These three procedures caused lawsuits and permanent physical damage to his patients.

DuringMorguloff's surgery, Duntsch left bone fragments in the patient's spinal canal. Both Morguloff and Passmore suffered serious pain and limited movement.

According toRolling Stone, Dr. Kirby later told the Texas Medical Board that Duntsch was "impaired" and a "sociopath" lacking any understanding of how poor his technique was.

December 2011, Duntsch sent an alarming email to Kimberly Morgan, his surgical assistant and ex-girlfriend. This happened weeks before Duntsch botched Robert Passmore's surgery at Baylor-Plano. Theprosecution in Duntsch's 2017 triallater usedthe emailhe wrote:

I really am building an empire...

Anyone close to me thinks I likely am something between god, einstein, and the antichrist...

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.

February 2012, Duntsch performed aspinal fusion surgeryon his childhood friend, Jerry Summers. During the surgery, Duntsch nicked an artery in Summers's back, causing major bleeding. Summers could not move his arms or legs upon waking. Duntsch moved to other patients instead of fixing the mistake right away.

A senior surgeon assessed the situation and found Duntsch paralyzed Summers. Duntsch performed a poor surgery and packed coagulants around the cut artery, permanently damaging Summer's spinal cord.

Summers still suffers fromincomplete paralysis, meaning he cannot move below his neck but can feel pain.

Baylortemporarily suspendedDuntsch was suspended for less than a month after he botched an elective spinal fusion surgery on his childhood friend, Jerry Summers. In the spring of 2012, Duntsch returned to Baylor and operated on Kellie Martin, a school teacher. She fell from a ladder and compressed a nerve. Her autopsy showed Duntsch cut a major vessel during her surgery, causing her to bleed out in the hospital hours later.

BaylorOrdered Duntsch to take a drug test.After the incident, the test results showed the first sample was water diluted. His second test came back clean. Martin's case became an accident.

The Wondery podcast exploresDr. DeathDuntsch resigned from Baylor on April 20, 2012, before firing occurred. He left voluntarily, so he was not reported. Duntsch walked out of the hospital where he caused serious harm to several patients, including his childhood friend. He left with a letter stating "no restrictions or suspensions" on his "clinical privileges" during his employment, according toRolling Stone.

Baylor-Plano did not report Duntsch to the Texas Medical Board at that time.

A few months after Duntsch resigned from Baylor-Plano, he applied for surgical privilegesat Dallas Medical Center. In July 2012, after Duntsch's background check cleared, the Dallas Medical Center gave him temporary privileges and allowed five surgeries over three days.

The first surgery seemed okay initially. However, the last two surgeries caused one patient to die and another to suffer lasting physical harm.

Duntsch was fired from the Dallas Medical Center in July 2012 after messing up two surgeries. When senior neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Henderson came to fix the damage from the second surgery, he found Duntsch left metal hardware in the patient's back muscles and cut a nerve root.Texas Observer:

I couldn’t believe a trained surgeon could do this... He lacked any knowledge of proper anatomy... At every step, you had to know what to do to make the wrong move, because he did all the wrong things.

Henderson called the Texas Medical Board, starting the long process to file a complaint and get an investigation.

Duntsch's last surgery before losing his medical license happened on Jeffrey Glidewell in May 2013.Duntsch allegedly mistookpart of Glidewell's neck muscle for a tumor during a routine surgery meant to ease neck pain, an accident from years earlier.

After giving up on the operation mid-way because of the fake tumor, Duntsch punctured Glidewell's artery. He also cut a hole in Glidewell's esophagus and sliced his vocal cords before sewing him back up, leaving a sponge in the wound.

Glidewell stayed in the ICU for four days. He still has nerve damage and cannot eat large food pieces.

As Duntsch performed his final surgery on Jeffrey Glidewell, the state medical board received many reports and started investigating Duntsch. Dr. Kirby, Glidewell's wife, and Dr. Henderson—who tried to fix one of Duntsch's botched surgeries at Dallas Medical Center in 2012—reported worries to the board. Duntsch had to stop operating because his license was suspended.Duntsch had to stop operating.This happened on June 26, 2013.

The board said the investigation took a long time. They felt it was unlikely a recent neurosurgeon would be so incompetent after rigorous training. Dr. Irvin Zeitler, the medical board head then, stated:

To suspend a physician’s license, there must be a pattern of patient injury. That is what happened. But establishing that took until June 2013.

The Texas medical board permanently revoked Duntsch’s license in December 2013. Soon after, Duntsch filed for bankruptcy andDuntsch moved into his parents' home.He moved to Colorado.

In January 2014, Duntsch got a DUI.Colorado police arrested Duntsch.for driving under the influence. Officers pulled Duntsch over after seeing him drive on the wrong side of the road with two flat tires. They ran a breathalyzer test; he failed it.

Duntsch still lived with his parents in Colorado in 2015, though he traveled to Dallas often to see his children. During a visit in March 2015, Duntsch went to a psychiatric hospitalSomeone saw him banging on doors; his hands and face were covered in blood. He claimed his family faced danger.

Later that spring, Duntsch went to the Dallas Walmart with money from his father. He tried to bag over $800 worth of watches, computer gear, cologne, sunglasses, and silk neckties. He changed out of his pants and tried on a new pair, leaving with both sets and the merchandise without paying. Authorities soon arrested him for shoplifting.

In May 2015, Duntsch wrote a long diatribe in the comments section of a 'Texas Observer' article about him.The Texas Observer.published an article titled "'Sociopath' Surgeon Duntsch Arrested for Shoplifting Pants." Duntsch did not like this. He posted a series ofDuntsch wrote long, rambling messages.These messages appeared in the comments section of the website.Observer's website. His messages totaled more than 80 printed pages. Duntsch replied to Dr. Kirby's comment calling him a "sociopath" by saying:His missives totaled over 80 printed pages. Duntsch responded to Dr. Kirby's comment calling him a "sociopath" by saying:

siclibel and slander of a criminal nature, this might be a good point to defend this comment.Kirby brought the comments to the district attorney.

Kirby took the comments to the district attorney.

In February 2017, the criminal court charged Duntsch with five counts of aggravated assault and one count of injury to an elderly person. The charges targeted Mary Efurd.Mary Efurd.She was 74 during her botched surgery; she had an amputated nerve root and misplaced hardware.

Friends and colleagues testified during the trial that Duntsch regularly used drugs and alcohol during his residency. The testimony also stated that during his final year, he could not operate without supervision.

The jury delivered its verdict in less than a day. They found Duntsch guilty of knowingly injuring Efurd. A judge sentenced Duntsch to life in prison, and his appeal inDecember 2018He was denied.