Dr. Death is the salaciously-titled Peacock medical drama that stars Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater as two doctors who try and stop the insane machinations of a crazed and sadistic neurosurgeon. Joshua Jackson plays Christopher Duntsch, a successful medical practitioner operating in Dallas, Texas. The show is based on a true story and is an adaptation of the Wondery true-crime podcast of the same name.
Dr. Death True Story Explained
The Peacock drama is based on the shocking true story of Christopher Duntsch, a real-life surgeon who would operate on 37 patients in Dallas over roughly two years. However, out of the patients he worked on, 33 were harmed during the treatment he administered, with some waking up paralyzed and others awakening from anesthesia to permanent pain from nerve damage.
The list of atrocities continued, with two patients losing their lives after procedures, one from blood loss after an operation and the other from a stroke caused by a severed vertebral artery.
The stories of Duntsch’s terrible practices even extended to a patient that he knew. A friend of Duntsch’s from his childhood went in for a spinal operation but woke up a quadriplegic after the doctor damaged his vertebral artery. These awful instances should never happen, but Duntsch somehow managed to evade being scrutinized, by moving around to other hospitals and managing to convey a confident and caring persona.
Christopher Duntsch Timeline – From Career to Prison
Christopher Duntsch | Image via Dallas County Sheriff’s Department via AP
Duntsch began a medical career after failing to play football at a pro level, instead deciding to move into the world of neurosurgery. He enrolled in an M.D./Ph.D program at the University of Tennessee at Memphis College of Medicine and it was reported that he would study hard and put in a lot of time and dedication conducting research in cancer and stem cell treatment.
However, despite his dedication, it seemed that even in the mid-2000s his work was scrutinized by colleagues. In a deposition from one woman, she revealed that she knew he had spent a night on cocaine and LSD before starting his shift at the hospital the next day. He was still allowed to complete his training, although it is stated that he had not done nearly enough procedures compared to other surgeons.
When Duntsch arrived in Dallas in 2011, he joined the Invasive Spine Institute in Plano as a physician, with operating privileges, but it became apparent that he was more of a danger to patients. Dr. Randall Kirby would note that Duntsch botched what should have been a simple procedure, using the wrong instrument that caused damage to the patient. In early 2012, he performed the botched procedure on his childhood friend.
He returned in the Spring of 2012 after a suspension and made a terrible mistake in a routine surgery that saw the patient, Kellie Martin, die after he cut a major artery. As the mistakes continued, Duntsch resigned in April 2012, before he was fired, and a communication breakdown would allow him to find work elsewhere. He secured a position in the Dallas Medical Centre in July 2012 and was somehow allowed to begin operating while they conducted his reference checks.
After two terrible surgeries, he was fired from that facility in July 2012. He would perform his final operation in May 2013, a procedure on Jeffrey Glidewell during which he mistook part of Glidewell’s neck muscle for a tumor. During the routine surgery he would puncture Glidewell’s artery and cut a hole in his esophagus, damaging his vocal cords too before finally stitching the poor patient back up, somehow managing to leave a sponge in the internal wound which resulted in Glidewell being placed in the ICU for four days.
The two doctors, Kirby and Henderson, mortified by his record of injuring patients, escalated their investigation into Duntsch, leading to his medical license being revoked in June 2013. Duntsch’s life would spiral downward after the ban. He would turn to excessive drinking and be caught shoplifting, and prosecutors were working with the two doctors who had spotted his mistakes to build a case against him.
Eventually, they indicted Duntsch on five counts of aggravated assault and one count of causing harm to an elderly person. Several patients were brought in to testify about their horrific experience under his care. In December 2013, he had his license permanently revoked, and in February 2017 he received a life sentence specifically regarding his treatment of 74-year-old Mary Efurd who suffered from an amputated nerve root and misplaced hardware during the operation performed on her.
Is Dr. Death Still Alive?
Yes, Christopher Duntsch is still alive in 2023. He is currently in prison serving a life sentence, and an appeal made in December 2018 was denied.
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