While the state of modern journalism can often seem pretty dire, investigative, serialized podcast series stand out as one of todays few bright spots, one of the last places you can still find people willing to pay for good reporting. Kirby, along with Dr. Robert Henderson (played in the series by Alec Baldwin), a spine surgeon who had been called in to fix Duntschs mistakes, were among the physicians who reported and attempted to stop him. They couldve just said, Youre the print person, leave this to us. But I would err on the side of less is more. Floella Brown went under Dr. Deaths knife in July 2012 and shortly after her surgery, she suffered a massive stroke caused by Duntsch slicing her vertebral artery during surgery. And from that, it became apparent that the story is really about our healthcare system. This thrilling drama is based on a hit podcast of the same. You just reminded me, that was another danger that we were really grappling with. (A mock-up of the billboard Wondery paid to put in front of the hospital where its subject used to work). Christopher Duntsch - AKA Dr. Death - spent 18 months as a practicing surgeon at multiple Texas hospitals until he had his license revoked in 2013. We definitely amped up the sound effects. But unfortunately, despite the fact I am winning it is not happening fast enough. 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. (An exclusive trailer is shown below.). But there would be certain things that I would hear and like and not like. Both the scripted Dr. Death series and the Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story docuseries are now streaming on Peacock. I spoke to her by phone this week about the series itself, and about the challenges of working in a new medium. "Dr. Death" Memphis victim dies years after botched surgery And thats really true for any medical story, I think. KEEP READING: 'Dr. The show was Dr. Death, from Wondery, the same podcast production company that brought us Dirty John, last years thoroughly addictive series about a stalker/con artist who inserted himself into one Orange County family and nearly tore them apart. I have to confess, I had not listened to Dirty John before they called me. 'Dr. Death' Surgeon Killed or Maimed 33 of His Patients - People A chilling new four-part docuseries explores the crimes of neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, better known as "Dr. Death". Death' First Trailer, The Best TV Shows on Amazon Prime Video to Stream Now. Well, it was a team effort. I'm happy to be a part of a show that is redressing the failure of creative imagination that has placed a female director as some other thing, rather than a director, meaning a male director. Such significant injuries should have been never eventssomething that should never occur in an operating room, a surgeon told D Magazine, which covers the Dallas-Fort Worth area, in a 2016 piece that inspired the eventual Dr. Death podcast. And then on top of that, you have the systemic side of the medical system that ultimately failed in stopping him. Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater in 'Dr. (He was later let go from the company over money issues). Duntsch was offered a $600,000 advance and a temporary suite in a luxury hotel to come to Dallas while the couple searched for a new home in Plano, according to a 2018 "Dr. Death" podcast, which inspired the Peacock series. And the other part of it, is that the reason that it kind of starts out like that is you really need to know from the outset how bad a surgeon he was. Eventually, they indicted Duntsch on five counts of aggravated assault and one count of causing harm to an elderly person. In 2011, Jerry agreed to letChristopherperform cervical fusion surgery at Baylor Medical Center in Plano, Texas on him. They never would've made it to 38 surgeries. The charismatic neurosurgeon was actually a successful researcher before he starting killing people in the operating room. According to D Magazine, a doctor at the hospital where Duntsch worked said that Duntsch had been sent to an impaired physician program after he refused to take a drug test. More reviews here. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY What is Dr. Death's origin story? The nightmare at the center of Dr. Death, a new Peacock drama inspired by the 2018 true crime podcast of the same name from Wondery, involves a surgeon who seems intent on using his scalpel to destroy the lives of his patientsand a medical system content to let him skate by. Death' Review: Joshua Jackson Is Terrific in Terrifying Peacock Series That's as Sharp as a Scalpel. Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. My instinct was that the only way, that this man has to be evil, because there has to be a reason why all of this spectacularly bad stuff happened and the simplest and easiest answers he's evil. It sort of just blew that flame into a full-fledged conflagration -- not because the hospitals were necessarily to blame, but his education. Planes dont crash because one big thing goes wrong. He thinks he's the hero of this story. Dominic Burgess on Playing Real Life Jerry Summers in Peacock's Dr Did you feel a need to go talk to Christopher Duntsch in prison? This was a very dangerous story for somebody like me to delve into. Tulsa Hospital Shooting Suspect Was a Patient Who Had Recent Back Surgery and Targeted His Doctor: Cops, One Brother Was a Hero, One Was a Serial Killer: New Docuseries Explores the Stayner Family's Plight. That was a big focus of Collider's one-on-one interview with Joshua Jackson, who spoke openly about the differences between the American and Canadian health care systems and why it's an important step for shows like Dr. Death to include an all-female directing team (Maggie Kiley, Jennifer Morrison, and So Yong Kim directed the eight episodes). WFAA-TVChristopher Duntsch a.k.a. I limited myself to those emails that were produced as evidence in the trial, because the D.A. So my follow-up question to that is how has the show changed your relationship to going to the doctor? So it was lovely to get to know her again as a director and just see how she has grown and blossomed and thrown herself into that role. Why Did Dr. Death Do It? 'Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story' Explains How much of a gift was it to have characters like the ones Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater play, to basically serve as protagonists? He was affable. You can take in more from a printed article. When he woke up, he was a quadriplegic with incomplete paralysis. And so there was no world where they were going to let him speak to me. Of course, a pediatrician couldnt have done as much damage. The Peacock limited series, based on the Wondery podcast, covers the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch (played by Joshua Jackson ), whose surgical career ruined the lives of numerous. Write to Mahita Gajanan at mahita.gajanan@time.com. It was also perhaps the definitive portrait of Orange County, California. I think Patrickhe chose a very difficult path of how to tell this story, particularly by centering Duntsch. But neurosurgeons are big money makers. Theres a lot of attorneys not allowing things in this story it seems like. In Canada, health is a right. 12 Unnerving Facts About Dr. Death Christopher Duntsch - Ranker 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. Because how can I do anything I want and cross every discipline boundary like its a playground and never ever lose. You had people on crutches. The value of the doctors, right? From the people that I talked to First of all, only Duntsch knows that, and I cant read his mind. I think his upbringing fanned the flames of that sociopathy and that narcissism. Laura Beil Interview: Dr. Death Reporter On Christopher Duntsch - UPROXX Well, the whole email thats coming up in episode three Its hard to pick out because it just goes on and on. He was then brought on board at the Dallas Medical Center where he continued his carnage. So we had all of the tools at our disposal. And by bringing him into the center portion of the story, you essentially are asking the audience to have compassion or empathy for him, to understand him. Caroline is a writer and Florida-transplant currently living in New York City. It was the status, because his friend Rand Page, said that he actually never intended to be a neurosurgeon, that he was gonna work at this [stem cell treatment] company and make his fortune there. Despite her qualifications as a reporter, Beil was also a podcast newbie. In the meantime, prosecutors were working with Kirby and Henderson to find a way to indict Duntscha challenge, considering Texas had never previously handled such a case. And created all sorts of discussion and blowback inside the industry. Yeah, that was a concern. Read the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about. He did his surgical residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, spending five years studying neurosurgery and a year studying general surgery. It's just a very different way of thinking about interacting. So, the other big mystery as you already pointed out was like, how did the medical system allow this to happen? In Dr. Death theres no question as to who the killer is, but there are still a few mysteries to unravel. I wanted to talk to his father, and his father indicated that he did want to, but his appellate attorney wouldnt allow that for reasons that I dont understand. So, I always try its like how do you tell their story, and what happened to them, and what theyve lived through, but without really exploiting them? Sure, yeah. And so, the producers started Googling and decided that he would make a good story, and then they contacted me because they were looking for a local reporter in Dallas who could work on the story. "Never ever f***ing argue with me and banter or what the f*** ever in front of anyone. I needed to establish its not just that he was a little bit bad, he was horrible. "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.". Through it all, Duntsch was able to lure patient after patient under his knife was his extreme confidence. But on the other hand, they knew you had to have certain sounds to make the experience really real for people, and really immersive. Particularly for Duntsch, because it goes over such a long period of time. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital You have to be spare and selective with the details. It is good and healthy and natural and necessary for us to have other people and other perspectives, than just white men. Two patients died from his actions and many more suffered permanent injuries, including his best friend, who left Duntsch's operating room paralyzed. So, in this case, it was just a lot that went wrong, starting with the fact of Duntsch himself. I believe that it was an outgrowth of the fact that by the time these administrations caught up with what he was doing, they had already moved him on. So, yeah, I think the fact that he was in a profession that brings in a lot of money for hospitals was certainly a factor. Would they have been just as willing to take on a pediatrician who had some baggage? What was totally new was that Im a print journalist. But I did have to let go and trust them. Do you want to add anything? But I think, it is good. I have to say, it was nice to do something different. The question of how Duntsch was able to operate with impunity for so longwhen surrounded by many people who tried to raise the alarm and faileddrives Dr. Death, which jumps across time in each episode to show what the doctor was like as a young man, friend and medical student, and then later as a surgeon, a partner and a father. One improved, and I think there were four, maybe that werent hurt, but they werent helped either. The podcast is also becoming the go-to medium for in-depth profiles of fascinating sociopaths, allowing us to marvel at the sheer breadth of human behavior as we go about our mundane daily drive to work or do chores around the house. I couldve done more, like, the actual surgical details, but listening to it with other people, I could see how youd want to leave some of that out. Tackling some of the same stories that in years past might have gotten one sensational episode on Dateline NBC, the more expansive, more bingeable podcast format seems to allow them to become both more memorable and more consequential. I was really lucky that the first people to ever call me up and say, Do you want to make a podcast? were really good at it. And so, he was an attractive hire. He had 15 years of medical training under his belt, his CV reportedly spanned 12 single-spaced pages and he exuded confidence all of which landed him a job performing minimally invasive spinal surgeries. Were you in the car listening to the podcast on the way to the grocery store and you said, 'Oh my God, I've got to make a limited series out of this?'. Chief among them is the mystery of whether Duntsch was homicidal or simply criminally inept. The son of a physical therapist and teacher, he was known even before pursuing his medical aspirations as a person who didnt give upeven when letting go would have been the right choice. The medical boards will protect themselves. Speaking only for myself, I could have listened to seven hours of the incredibly graphic stuff. Thats why we have these hours and hours of tape, but that said, there are a few fundamentals that were wrong. 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., The sad fact is that I would go faster do better and catch more respect and honor by f***ing every one in the brain, emotionally and mentally controlling them in a manner that borders on abuse, taking no prisoners, and sending everyone in my way, and especially that f***s with me to hell for the simple fact that they thought they could much less tried, 1 week and then everything unraveled. No, for me, I love that stuff. I dont know, but that would be my guess. After this, life for Duntsch fell apart. However, it wouldnt be long until Duntschs seemingly perfect career began to unravel. 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I felt sick for most of the last three years in the best possible way. JACKSON: Well, actually, I think it's even one step scarier than that. His surgeries actually get even worse. I kind of wanted there to be three hours more of that, but when I was listening to it with some friends, they were putting their hands over their heads and saying No, no, no! They never turned it off though, which I think is telling, but it seemed like they were having a hard time listening. Prior to serving as Senior TV Editor at Collider, her work had been published by Vulture, Variety, The AV Club, The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, The Verge, and Thought Catalog. His very first operation at the hospital would once again turn deadly. The last hospital to employ Duntsch was the now-shuttered University General, where he botched another surgery after he mistook a patients neck muscle for a tumor. The former neurosurgeon is currently serving a life sentence for the maiming of Mary Efurd, one of. So, we've taken steps and that's good, but I think it's a totally valid thing to ask because we're not there yet. How many of them struck you funny? Because that one where he says that, Im God, Einstein, and I do what I want, but also I control things behind the scenes without anyone knowing in the same sentence that just cracked me up. But the meta statement of "my gosh, a show can be shot by three women, who knew" we were 75 years past the place of thinking "can three men shoot a show all by themselves?" Later, following another accusation that he was abusing drugs before doing surgeries, Duntsch was relegated to mostly minor surgical procedures at the hospital. And the American system, I often find myself having to remind myself that in the American system that the money comes first before the care. So really for us, we're in a place where we're actually conscious of it, but the industry still has time to go. The Peacock limited series Dr. Death is in many ways much more a horror story than a drama, but the villain at its center is all too real. The pair were childhood friends and eventually became roommates. Duntsch had his surgical rights temporarily suspended after his botched surgery on Summers and his first patient back was 55-year-old Kellie Martin. But perhaps more terrifying, the show depicts the chilling real-life story of Dallas-area neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, who stands accused of killing or maiming more than 30 patients in the 2010s. She came in to have two vertebrae fused, but when she woke up she experienced severe pain and couldnt stand. In the Canadian system, you go for care first, and then you pay a couple of times a year into the system. You can't ask for a story that is so ready-made. Ellis Unit prison in Texas. And I need to think of it, not as a patient, but as a customer, which is a very difficult thing because you're in an extremely vulnerable place anytime you're interacting with the medical system. Philip Mayfield, one of Christopher Duntsch's patients, who was paralyzed after his surgery. But the truth was far more complex. In late 2010, Dr. Christopher Duntsch came to Dallas to start a neurosurgery practice. Coverage of Duntschs case, the podcast series and the now-streaming Peacock series all make sure to underscore that his story is part of a major systemic failurea common theme in true crime stories. They were trying to process the horror that was Christopher Duntsch as they were going along, because they couldn't answer the question that we began with: "Why does he do what he did?" Of those 38, 31 were leftparalyzed or seriously injured and two of them died from surgical complications. Only years later would the Dallas district attorneys office discover through a search of hospital records that although a typical neurosurgery resident completes about 1,000 operations during their training, Duntsch had actually done fewer than 100. Despite being known in Texas as a doctor to avoid (at least among professional peers), and despite a report to the data bank and an investigation into his cases by the state medical board, Duntsch continued to be hired. 'When They See Us': Joshua Jackson, Blair Underwood & Christopher Jackson on the Netflix Limited Series, 'Dr. You have these compelling heroes in Henderson and Kirby that are unlike, in my opinion, unlike other quote-unquote "heroes" in the true crime space, because these are two who are taking down one of their own. It profiles a spine surgeon named Christopher Duntsch, who operated on 38 people, 33 of whom were left either dead or with some form of permanent paralysis. Duntsch focused on his research for a while but was recruited from Memphis to join the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute in North Dallas in the summer of 2011. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. I have three lawsuits. I think Ava is the first person to have a completely female directed show on Queen Sugar. Dr. Death was fired before the end of his first week for the damage hed inflicted on Brown and Efurd. It mightve taken longer. Based on true events, as documented in the Wondery podcast, the series stars Joshua Jackson as Christopher Duntsch, a Texas physician who repeatedly crippled or killed patients in his care through surgeries which were either grossly incompetent or malicious. Do you think we get an answer at the end of the show? Im the only clean minimally invasive guy in the whole state.. Dr. Death season one review: a true crime podcast is even scarier - Vox Death' Review: Joshua Jackson Is Terrific in Terrifying Peacock Series That's as Sharp as a Scalpel. Dr. Death: Where Is Christopher Duntsch Today? - Grunge The Real Story Behind the Dr. Death Podcast - Christopher Duntsch Christopher Duntsch gave me my first hit of acid.. Life After "Death": Lethal Surgeon Sentenced to PrisonWATCH NEXT: Former patient of Dr. Duntsch discusses botched surgery (1 of 5) https://youtu.be/9JwAnjnDs. So the outcomes are totally evil, and it is unconscionable that this man was allowed to continue to create this much chaos and pain in people's lives. Many in the crowd wore the custom eye masks wed been given, to add to the audio immersion effect. 7 chilling thoughts of jailed neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch Despite this refusal, Duntsch was allowed to finish his residency. Offers may be subject to change without notice. And we did have full access to doctors as well as Laura Beil, who did the original Dr. Death podcast. As long as I could do the reporting and the writing, they were willing to show me the rest, and it worked out great. Because the reality is, is that we're a training craft business. Theyre not just props in your story, they are real people whove lived this, and you need to just be respectful of that, and not fall into tropes, and not exaggerate what theyve been through, but also not diminish it. The episodes will include interviews from Duntsch's ex-girlfriend, who mothered his two children; his best friend, who he paralyzed during an operation; several of Duntsch's former colleagues, including a surgeon who physically tried to stop him during a surgery gone awry; and other victims and lawyers close to the case. JACKSON: I mean, I think, leaving aside our show, it means that finally the industry as a whole is starting to redress some of the failures of imagination that have led us into a predominantly male, predominantly white-dominated creative industry. Its those two question combined the lurid, unstoppable search for an ultimate motive, and the more concrete question of how the medical system allowed this to happen and how we can fix it that make listening to Dr. Death feel like youre eating cake and taking your medicine at the same time. [3] In 2013, things came to a tragic head. So I have to constantly remind myself here that no matter how well-intentioned or well-meaning any doctor or any hospital that I'm interacting with, ultimately they're selling me something. Naomi is an enterprise/ investigative reporter who has covered Dallas County government, Parkland Memorial Hospital, juvenile detention and the county jail. A new crime drama called "Dr. Death" is inspired by the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a Texas surgeon who was said to have intentionally maimed 32 patients during surgery, two of whom. And so, thats really what I zeroed in on, the whole systemic failure that allowed this to happen. And what did it mean to you to have an all female directing team? Some people woke up paralyzed; others emerged from anesthesia to permanent pain from nerve damage. [We wanted to profile] enough patients where it was established what he did and the pain he caused, but there was also a danger the only way I know to describe it is a sort of victim fatigue. Former Texas Neurosurgeon 'Dr. Death' Christopher Duntsch Subject Of Documentary, TV Miniseries CBSDFW 20K views 1 year ago 'Dr. Death,' The Neurosurgeon Who Left Patients Maimed Inside Edition. And then I believe it absolutely became a full-blown fire when he went through school and went through the different hospitals, administrations that he went through because he wasn't stopped. Was a Dallas Surgeon Stoned When He Maimed His Patients?Surgery is scary enough, but when you hear what happened to some people it may seem downright terrifying. Im not saying it was the systems fault. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. And the fact that the system failed doesnt absolve him of the responsibility of what he did, and I want to make that clear. Of course, podcast producers are subject to the same profit motive that helped facilitate a guy like Duntsch, but to their credit, Wonderys producers seem to have realized that a story like Dr. Deaths needed to be built on a foundation of solid reporting. Was there anything you had to teach yourself in order to better tell this story? Their efforts to stop him, as documented both in the podcast and show, take a long time, as Duntsch moves between hospitals and continues injuring patients. But more importantly, he explained how he got inside the head of a man who it would be all-too-easy to write off as pure evil. So what it meant for the particulars of our show is that we had three excellent directors. I didnt really expect that one to create quite such a reaction. Now, INSDE EDTION tracks the surgeon down to get some answers. Believe it or not, there was stuff I took out. I could only go as far back as his Memphis days, so I did go back to Memphis, and I did talk to quite a few people who knew him in high school. Christopher Duntsch may be the most famous neurosurgeon in Texas. I say to her 'someday, I'm going to be right and you're going to feel bad about this.' 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. Christopher Duntsch - Wikipedia Duntsch's criminal defense attorney claims her client made honest mistakes while performing risky surgeries. And then for his early background, I relied on the testimony that his parents and his family gave at his trial, where they talked about his history. He is serving his sentence at the O.B. How much of a factor is a for-profit medical system in helping this to happen? The best of these series retain the lurid appeal of the news magazine while offering the opportunity to go deeper; to tell stories that resonate as much as they titillate. 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. Death': "He Thinks He's the Hero of This Story", So when it comes to the question of how he was able to get away with it for so long, that involves a lot of breaking down the administrative and legal aspects that keep a doctor like him in a position of doctoring. Joshua Jackson on Playing 'Dr. I mean you cant really boil it down. According to D Magazine, Duntsch did so well in medical school that he was allowed to join the prestigiousAlpha Omega Medical Honor Society. He chose Dallas after learning that Young had family near the city and she offered to go with him. Patrick Macmanus also explains why the show's supporting characters were such a gift. He was intelligent. In the doc, Jerry, who died in February from an infection connected to the botched surgery Christopher performed on him in 2011, gave an interview about their friendship and the operation that eventually led to his death.

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