christopher duntsch interview

From a creative standpoint, what is so unfortunate about the fact that you need to ask that question, and it's a totally valid question is, one would have hoped that we would have always understood that the more diverse and the better quality voices that we have in telling stories, the better the industry is as a whole. I believe that he's a product of nurture. They couldve just said, Youre the print person, leave this to us. But I would err on the side of less is more. Death' Review: Joshua Jackson Is Terrific in Terrifying Peacock Series That's as Sharp as a Scalpel. Before going to medical school, Duntsch wanted to be a pro-football player. She has a degree in political economy from Tulane University. 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. Dr. Death: Patrick Macmanus on Understanding Christopher Duntsch Here, Macmanus talks about how he first discovered the ghastly true story behind Dr. Death which stars Joshua Jackson and drops today on Peacock -- and whether he thinks Duntsch is truly crazy. 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. 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. And created all sorts of discussion and blowback inside the industry. And it isn't like cops taking down one of their own. ", "You, my child, are the only one between me and the other side. Making a splash: A deep dive into the live-action Little Mermaid with a new generation's Ariel. So it has to be taught through generations. Offers may be subject to change without notice. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. 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. In Dr. Death theres no question as to who the killer is, but there are still a few mysteries to unravel. Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2023, The True Story Behind Netflix's 'The Good Nurse', The True Story Behind Hulu's 'Welcome to Chippendales'. Dr. Death is a podcast produced by Wondery that focuses on egregious cases of medical malpractice.The podcast is hosted and reported by Laura Beil and premiered September 4, 2018. I knew I had to get across that even if you think you know the story of Christopher Duntsch, you dont really know the whole story. Liz Shannon Miller is a Los Angeles-based writer and editor, and has been talking about television on the Internet since the very beginnings of the Internet. Right? His first drug of choice would be cocaine.. Im not saying it was the systems fault. I can't think of a more enormous responsibility than trying to find an actor to play that role. "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.". As those watching the show know, Christopher was dubbed "Dr. Death" in D Magazine for his botched surgeries that caused the death of several patients and left others with disabling injuries. Martin would become Duntschs first casualty when she bled out in intensive care unit after her relatively common procedure. How did this happen? And so, I tried to include those details that would really establish how bad he was. Had he explored his research and stayed in that lane and never gone to operate, we'd be talking about him in an entirely different fashion today. But I started listening to a whole lot more podcasts after. He was putting stuff in the wrong place. Believe it or not, there was stuff I took out. There, other surgeons quickly realized their new colleague was not just arrogant about his abilities but an actual danger to his patients as the casualties began adding up. 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. (He was later let go from the company over money issues). So, while I wish that the administrations acted sooner, at the end of the day, and this is something that I've said for quite a bit now, Christopher Duntsch deserves to be in jail for the rest of his life, because how he acted was completely inhuman and any human that had that ability to feel would have stopped after the first or second surgeries. Because whether it be a hospital network, whether it be a medical board, whether it be the legal system, it doesn't actually place the little guy first. How many of them struck you funny? I have three lawsuits. Dr. Death was fired before the end of his first week for the damage hed inflicted on Brown and Efurd. Over this period, Duntsch performed back surgeries that left his patients in a worse condition, paralyzed, or deceased. Like, let the story speak for itself. A chilling new four-part docuseries explores the crimes of neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, better known as "Dr. Death". 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. Follow her on Twitter at @lizlet. 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. For months, they stopped getting reports about messed up operations and thought theyd found success. Before that, Naomi was a criminal justice reporter in Dallas, New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Dr. Death begins streaming today on Peacock. I wanted to make it easy for myself. The Real Story Behind the Dr. Death Podcast - Christopher Duntsch Beil is a journalist who has specialized in science and medical writing for 20 years, and lives in the Dallas area where much of Christopher Duntsch's story takes place. 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. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. That is a wonderful question. 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. Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater join the cast as two doctors who try to stop Duntsch from causing further harm. Christopher Duntsch a.k.a. His father was a missionary and physical therapist and his mother was a school teacher. At first I thought it was simply my world and that it was too much for you. He was then brought on board at the Dallas Medical Center where he continued his carnage. Would they have been just as willing to take on a pediatrician who had some baggage? Then it seemed that it was nothing more than boring to youso then I thought it was my vodka bottle and neurostimulants, but I watched you closely and besides concern for my healthy you were chill and rolled with me on that., What I am being is what I am, one of kind, a mother f****** stone cold killer that can buy or own or steal or ruin or build whatever he wants.". Duntsch was eventually stopped, thanks in no small part to the two doctors who worked to expose him (played by Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin). He chose Dallas after learning that Young had family near the city and she offered to go with him. Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy, and director Rob Marshall share the tale behind making their underwater musical with a groundbreaking Disney princess. After several more months of botched surgeries, Duntsch finally lost his surgical privileges altogether in June 2013 after two physicians complained to the Texas Medical Board. He might have been fired from the Institute but was still a surgeon at Baylor Plano. Dr. Death's Christopher Duntsch Is Now Serving a Life Sentence Duntsch is a former Dallas neurosurgeon who, through . Some people woke up paralyzed; others emerged from anesthesia to permanent pain from nerve damage. Right? She is also a produced playwright, a host of podcasts, and a repository of "X-Files" trivia. "In my opinion, we had a serial killer in our medical community," Dr. Randall Kirby says of Christopher Duntsch in "Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story." In "Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story," a new docuseries streaming now on Peacock, the victims who were . The value of the institutions was placed above the value of the patients. No. Were there podcasts that you looked to as an example, or that sort of influenced you when you knew you were going to be doing a podcast story like this? In 2011, Jerry agreed to letChristopherperform cervical fusion surgery at Baylor Medical Center in Plano, Texas on him. I have to figure out how to humanize this guy.'. I did talk to as many of his high school friends as I could. And by doing that, then you also bring in his patients. You did have a crusading whistleblower character in there. Naomi Martin. 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. What Was 'Dr. Death' Christopher Duntsch's Background? | True Crime Buzz And I didnt need to go into all the gory details. Christophers late childhood best friend added: Chris was very intrigued with a lot of the stuff going on in my life. Dr. Christopher Duntsch had the hallmarks of an impressive neurosurgeon, at least in theory. It was a rambling note that touched on Duntsch's frustrations with his business and personal relationships. 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. 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. And never when i not standing there. You had people that had lost loved ones, one of Duntschs defense attorneys told ProPublica. Dr. Death season one review: a true crime podcast is even scarier - Vox But even inside it, there was some times where sequences would line up as chronological, but the timeline was a lot to keep your head around. Dr. Death in surgery. 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. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. That was probably the biggest adjustment for me, was just the spareness of the script. He was charming. It sort of just blew that flame into a full-fledged conflagration -- not because the hospitals were necessarily to blame, but his education. What storytelling tools did you discover from working in a podcast format that you didnt have before, or maybe didnt think about before? I think Ava is the first person to have a completely female directed show on Queen Sugar. JOSHUA JACKSON: Well, the first key and probably the most difficult hurdle for me to get over was to not judge him. The True Story Behind Peacock's 'Dr. Death' | Time Everything You Need To Know About Dr. Did you talk a lot about how gory to make the surgeries? You can take in more from a printed article. I was gifted the opportunity to tell it. Crucially, as is recounted in careful detail in the podcast, in part because of the voluntary exit, Baylor-Plano was not required to report Duntschs actions to the National Practitioner Data Bank, a resource medical professionals and hospital administrators use to track which doctors have been fired, suspended, had their licenses revoked or have had to make malpractice payments. Jodi Smith. Dr. Death: Where Is Christopher Duntsch Today? - Grunge Well, if you want to just put in there that after the first episode its a lot less gruesome. Dr. Death (podcast) - Wikipedia One conversation in Peacocks first episode of Dr. Death sums up the confusion many felt at watching Duntsch work: It was like he knew what he was supposed to do and he did the exact opposite.. So, to be able to have someone who a true believer in the system in Henderson play up against somebody who is, for lack of a better or more tropy word, a maverick within the system, in Dr. Kirby, and to have a character like Kirby who infuses humor into everything that he does, the real life character, I think, we underplayed his humor quite frankly, was a blessing or a gift as you say to us as writers. Two patients died from his actions and many more suffered permanent injuries, including his best friend, who left Duntsch's operating room paralyzed. Yeah, I mean, what strikes me about it so much is that, you can see that, and you can also see why we need systems that clearly weren't working in this case. But not in front of my lawyers and accountants and partners and employees and friends. When I listened to the podcast, when I got into the conversation with Patrick Macmanus, when he gave me all the research material, I so wanted to make him evil. Christopher Duntsch gave me my first hit of acid.. "Never ever f***ing argue with me and banter or what the f*** ever in front of anyone. These are doctors who didn't sign up to become heroes, right? And by not stopping a narcissistic sociopath, you're encouraging a narcissistic sociopath. He wanted to be the one that was front and center and really out there. Our intent was to present the story as best we could, and then allow audiences to take away from it whatever they would like to, because I just don't believe that we can answer why someone like Christopher Duntsch is or why he did what he did. Dr. Mark Hoyle, a surgeon who worked with Duntsch during one of his botched procedures, told D Magazine that he would make extremely arrogant announcements such as: Everybody is doing it wrong. 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. 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. surgeries in Dallas and Plano in 2012 and 2013, killing or maiming up to 15 patients. I had an urge to do that very early in the process. Right? 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. Did you feel a need to go talk to Christopher Duntsch in prison? By the time the Texas Medical Board revoked his license in June 2013, Duntsch had left two patients dead. Was there anything you had to teach yourself in order to better tell this story? 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. 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?'. Joshua Jackson as Christopher Duntsch in 'Dr. When people said, You werent going to be good enough, he outworked that and he made it happen.. And the fact that the system failed doesnt absolve him of the responsibility of what he did, and I want to make that clear. The legal system will protect themselves. After youve spent a night using cocaine, most people become paranoid and want to stay in the house, the woman said in the deposition, according to D Magazine. White men also have stories to tell. But neurosurgeons are big money makers. 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. Left: Christopher Duntsch in surgery, Right: Christopher Duntschs mugshot. I had never seen him like that. 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. And thats really true for any medical story, I think. So many of these serialized investigative podcasts, they tend to grow out of some kind of mystery. She was a National Magazine Award finalist in 2016 and in 2018 won the Victor Cohen Prize for medical science reporting. His very first operation at the hospital would once again turn deadly. I sort of equate it to a plane crash. 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. The Texas Medical Board began receiving official reports about Duntsch following the botched procedures at Dallas Medical Center, as multiple doctors began sending in complaints. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This attitude and outlook stuck with Duntsch as he set out to achieve something beyond football and landed on surgery. "This defendant single-handedly. It's just a very different way of thinking about interacting. By signing up you agree to ourTerms of ServiceandPrivacy Policy. 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. We're moving in the right direction. So we were bouncing around quite a lot. His surgeries actually get even worse. But some of the most important testimony came from Kimberly Morgan, Duntschs former assistant and ex-girlfriend, who shared parts of a 2011 email from Duntsch that appeared to lay out his true aims: 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. The series tells the story of Christopher Duntsch, a doctor who maimed and killed people during surgeries at hospitals across Texas. 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. Duntsch's criminal defense attorney claims her client made honest mistakes while performing risky surgeries. And I, as an actor, want to have the ability to work for the whole smorgasbord of humanity as my directors, as my costars, as my writers, because it makes the stories that we're telling more compelling, not less. I think Patrickhe chose a very difficult path of how to tell this story, particularly by centering Duntsch. And in fact, when they called me, I was kind of like, You know Im a print reporter, right? But they were great, they were willing to kind of show me what I needed to know in terms of audio and interviewing for audio, and making an audio podcast. Read the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about. After he arrived in town, he secured a deal with the Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano and was given surgical rights at the hospital. That made it easy for him to hide from his past for a certain period of time. But there was so much that came together. KEEP READING: 'Dr. Dr. Death executive producer explains how Christopher Duntsch could have avoided prison The charismatic neurosurgeon was actually a successful researcher before he starting killing people in the. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. He thinks he's the hero of this story. They did a lot of cutting to my script, because Im used to print where you can put a few more details in, and you can have a little more have other characters, or other names, or other information in, because when you are reading, if you miss it, you can just go back and check. I don't believe that anybody in any of the administrations were actively trying to encourage this man to do what he did. She was a National . Duntsch was not reported to either the data bank or the Texas Medical Board, preventing him from being tracked as he continued his career elsewhere in the state. From 2011 to 2013, dozens of patients in the Dallas area woke up after their surgeries with horrible pain, numbness and, paralysis. 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 so, as it goes along, theres sort of less and less about what he did to each person. One improved, and I think there were four, maybe that werent hurt, but they werent helped either. But unfortunately, despite the fact I am winning it is not happening fast enough. Fact Check: Was Dr. Oz Responsible for Cruelly Experimenting on Dogs?
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