Botched surgeries lead to paralysis, death

This week’s installment of “Strange Medicine” might better be described as disturbing.  This story comes out of Dallas, TX and involves Christopher Duntsch, a neurosurgeon who was convicted of intentionally maiming a seventy-four-year old woman during surgery, leaving her paralyzed.  While his trial focused on this case, several others have been injured or killed after going under the knife in the hands of Duntsch (Ballor, 2017).  His defense attorneys claim his surgical mistakes are the result of him having the skill of a first-year resident—essentially a rookie doctor.  Prosecutors argue, however, that he had years of training and knew what he was doing.  Perhaps the most alarming piece of evidence is a 2011 email from Duntsch that says he is ready to become a “cold blooded killer” (Ballor, 2017).    

A general surgeon witnessed one of Duntsch’s butchered surgeries.  After seeing the patient’s abdominal cavity filling with blood, he confronted Duntsch about the bleeding.  The general surgeon stopped the bleeding and the surgery continued, however the general surgeon cancelled his remaining cases with Duntsch and vowed not to work with him again (Goodman, 2016). 

The biggest question surrounding this case is why Duntsch was allowed to continue practicing medicine after so many failures.  From an outsider’s perspective, it seems that there needs to be continuous checks on a physician’s competence to ensure he is treating patients effectively.  I think of all the other personnel in the operating room, including the general surgeon mentioned above—why wasn’t he reported sooner?  Certainly, surgeons make occasional mistakes—nobody is perfect.  However, the frequency and seriousness of the mistakes Duntsch was making should have raised some red flags.  Perhaps if he had been reported to the medical board sooner, more patients would have received care from a competent physician. 

Sources:

Ballor, Claire.  (2017, February 21^st).  Dallas doctor who performed questionable surgeries gets life in prison.  The Dallas morning news.  Retrieved from http://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2017/02/20/doctor-sentenced-life-prisonfor-botched-spine-surgery-dallas-county

Goodman, Matt.  (November, 2016).  Dr. Death.  D Magazine.  Retrieved from http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2016/november/christopher-duntsch-dr-death/