Dr. Christopher Duntsch is facing both civil and criminal charges over his injuring four patients and killing one patient, Floella Brown. He is also under investigation for at least 10 other botched surgeries. What is even more chilling however is the evidence in the case, including an email where Duntsch writes one of his employees that “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.”
He also wrote “how can I do anything I want and cross every discipline boundary like it’s a playground and never ever lose.”
The Dec. 11, 2011 email has been introduced to show possible intent in the months before he “intentionally, knowingly and recklessly” botched spinal surgeries. Brown died in 2012. The evidence was offered to oppose a reduction in bail for Duntsch. It worked. Criminal District Judge Carter Thompson refused to reduce the $600,000 bail.
Duntsch, 44, faces five counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and a count of injuring an elderly person. The surgeries were performed at Dallas Medical Center, South Hampton Community Hospital and University General Hospital. Police believe that he “knowingly [took] actions that place the patients’ lives at risk.” In one operation, another doctor stopped him from continuing due to “unacceptable surgical technique.” His license was revoked in December 2013.
His attorney had a brutally frank argument for the release. Robbie McClung told the judge “The oath he took was to be a doctor. He screwed it up. He hurt people he was trying to help.”
For his part, Duntsch has insisted that “99 percent of everything that has been said about me is completely false.” Perhaps, but that one percent would still be hard to get beyond.
Source: Dallas News
Karen, I live in California. I am an R.N. I had a stroke caused by an emergency room doctor at the Veterans Medical Center in San Diego. I am not a Vet.
I was on duty at the time, and went to the ER of the hospital where I worked because I was feeling dizzy and suspected I was having a medication reaction. If this had happened when I was home, I would have taken an antihypertensive and I would have been fine.
Long story short, the doctor was incompetent. She hadn’t graduated, and had no business heading up the ER at 7:30 p.m., I was having a medication reaction, and told her twice what to give me. The nurse told me “stop bothering the doctor”. The doctor panicked and was trying to call a neurosurgeon who was at home.
Result: They gurneyed me in to get a CAT scan which showed one of the cerebral arteries had burst (secondary to extreme hypertension). Then they took me back and gave me what I had asked for.
Too late. I couldn’t work any more. My house was foreclosed on, all of my furniture, cars, everything was sold to get money to live off of, everything caved in. My credit is ruined. I went to two attorneys. They both told me that changes in California law e.g. “tort reform” made it almost impossible to sue a doctor in an emergency room.
dutch:
Both extremes are detrimental – frivolous lawsuits and hospitals ducking accountability. Here in sue-happy California, frivolous lawsuits are common. I know too many people who’ve been targeted by shake down lawsuits. Shining the light of public scrutiny should help address either extreme end of the spectrum, one would hope.
What is sad is that around the country, the high profile class action lawsuits such as for asbestos mainly benefited the lawyers.