By David Peel
Christopher Duntsch was raised in the Memphis area, and attended Evangelical Christian School (ECS) in Cordova where he played football.
After trying to play football for other schools, he returned to the University of Memphis, and graduated in 1995. He set his sights on medicine and research.
By 2010, he had completed the MD–PhD and neurosurgery residency programs at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
He then completed a spine fellowship program with the esteemed Semmes-Murphy Clinic in Memphis.
But based on glowing recommendations from Memphis, Duntsch landed a job with a $600,000 advance with the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute to operate at Baylor Regional Medical Center.
If you know the story from the Wondery Podcast, or the programs on Peacock, you know that he botched 33 of 38 surgeries and people died as he was quietly shuffled from hospital to hospital with no notice to the public of his egregious results.
For example, his best friend and Memphis resident, Jerry Summers, had played football with Duntsch in high school and helped with the research lab during his residency.
Summers followed him to Dallas to move with him and help set up his practice. Summer had surgery by his best friend. Duntsch damaged Summers’ vertebral artery. To stop the bleeding, Duntsch packed so much anticoagulant that it squeezed the spine causing him to be a quadriplegic needing 24 hour care for life.
He just passed away in Memphis in February 2021.
It was later revealed that Duntsch had completed his residency with fewer than 100 surgeries. Typically, neurosurgery residents participate in over 1,000 surgeries during residency. He was sent to an impaired physicians’ program before being allowed to return to his residency program.
Friends recalled him going to do rounds after a night of doing drugs, with one of them saying he would never allow Duntsch to operate on him.
While in Memphis, Duntsch began a relationship with stripper, Wendy Renee Young.
She would bear two children by him, though he never married her and had other relationships.
On Dec. 6, 2013, the medical board finally permanently revoked Duntsch’s license, and he moved in with his parents in Colorado and filed for bankruptcy. In Denver, at 3:30 a.m. officers found him driving on the left side of the road with two flat tires. He was arrested for DUI and sent to a detox facility. He later was arrested for shoplifting cologne and pants from Wal-Mart.
But at least everyone got paid handsomely, right? Nope! Texas has capped damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, limiting the amount plaintiffs can be awarded for pain and suffering in most cases to just $250,000. And that is the maximum after a hard-fought trial that can run half that in expenses alone. Now economic damages, such as lost earning capacity, are not capped but most patients were disabled, older, or low earners. In the first verdict of its kind, Dr. Death was sentenced to life in prison after a criminal conviction.
Peel seeks justice for those injured in tractor trailer and car accidents, medical malpractice, and disability. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.
