Peacock's upcoming drama, Dr. Death, hopes to reveal one of the shocking secrets of the medical industry. The series is a fictionalized version of a true crime that became popular in a podcast in 2018.
This is actually the second season of Dr. Death, which aired in 2021.
If you are into true crime shows, you'll want to add Dr. Death to your list. But if this is your first time hearing about this show, you might be wondering who is Dr. Death.
This article will help answer all your questions about the show and whether it's something you should check out.
What Is Dr. Death Series About?
Dr. Death follows the surprisingly real story of a Texas-based surgeon who was given the grim moniker after killing almost all of his patients.
The surgeon, named Christopher Duntsch in real-life, was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 after being found guilty of maiming and killing nearly 40 of his patients between 2011 and 2013.
Before earning the sinister nickname, Duntsch was a model student who graduated with honors. But despite his high grades, he was accused of taking drugs on the job.
After an official complaint was lodged by an anonymous person, Duntsch was asked to take a drug test. He refused this and had to leave the school.
This led him to take a program designed for impaired physicians. When his residency ended, Duntsch reportedly finished less than 100 operations. Neurosurgeons are typically expected to have performed 1,000 operations before finishing the program.
After this, he moved to Dallas, Texas to start a private practice on back pain and spinal issues. In 2011, he became a surgeon at Baylor Regional Medical Center.
This is also where Dr. Death started receiving accusations of botching his surgeries, one of which was on a patient named Lee Passmore. After his operation, Passmore had a severed leg ligament and continues to have back pain.
The Peacock drama is inspired by Wondery's true crime podcast which was released in 2018.
Why Did Dr. Death Do It?
The big question on everyone's minds is-- why did Dr. Duntsch do it? And how did he earn his nickname?
Throughout the course of two years, Duntsch operated on 37 patients in the Dallas-based hospital. Out of that number, 33 patients were either hurt or harmed by the surgery.
While there were some patients who woke up paralyzed, there were others who discovered permanent pain from nerve damage after getting off the anesthesia.
Duntsch also had two patients who died on him-- one from a stroke caused by a vertebral artery that was cut, the other from significant blood loss post-operation.
What's even more surprising is that a childhood friend of the doctor had a spinal operation but woke up as a quadriplegic. The doctor damaged the patient's vertebral artery, causing irreparable and life-changing damage. After this, Baylor suspended the doctor for 30 days.
When he returned, he operated on a patient who died from blood loss after a major artery was cut by Duntsch. Since he resigned from the hospital after this, his record remained clean, allowing him to get hired at another hospital in 2012.
This is where the other fatality occurred after a verbal artery cut. There was also one patient who had a botched surgery after a nerve root was amputated. What's even worse is that the doctor left surgical hardware inside the patient.
After this surgery, Dr. Robert Henderson (played by Alec Baldwin) attempted to take action against Duntsch. This got him fired from the hospital.
Despite this, he was still able to operate and do more harm until his license was suspended in 2013. A few months after that, his license was revoked for good.
In 2015, he faced six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A couple of years later, a disturbing email he previously sent to his former assistant was discovered and used as evidence against him.
The letter read:
“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.”
Duntsch was found guilty of injury to an elderly person. He has been sentenced to life in prison, which he currently serves.
Did Dr. Death Have Any Successful Surgeries at All?
Out of the total 38 surgeries that he performed, Duntsch botched 35; including one with a childhood friend of his.
Throughout his career, he worked at four hospitals where 20 patients had severe and permanent damage after the operation. He also had two patients who died after getting operated on.
There were only three surgeries that Duntsch performed with no complications.
Despite several complaints from other surgeons and patients, Duntsch was able to operate on these patients. There were also allegations of drug and alcohol abuse.
Laura Beil, a local medical journalist and the host of Dr. Death, told Dallas Observer:
“It wasn’t just the nurses and the patients; you had other surgeons trying to stop him … You had other doctors doing whatever they could to stop him and couldn’t. And so that really tells you something about how hard it is to police a bad doctor when he’s either unaware or unwilling to stop.”
Who Stars in Peacock’s Dr. Death?
The Peacock TV series stars the following actors:
- Joshua Jackson (as Christopher Duntsch)
- Christian Slater (as Dr. Randall Kirby)
- Alec Baldwin (as Dr. Robert Henderson)
- AnnaSophia Robb (as Michelle Shughart)
- Grace Gummer (as Kim Morgan)
- Mandy Moore (as Benita Alexander)
- Kelsey Grammer (as Dr. Geoffrey Skadden)
- Molly Griggs (as Wendy Young)
- Dominic Burgess (as Jerry Summers)
- Edgar Ramirez (as Paolo Macchiarini)
Is There a Trailer for Dr. Death?
Yes, the official trailer of Dr. Death Season 1 has been uploaded on YouTube years ago. You can watch the two trailers here:
The trailer for the second season, however, is not yet available.
Dr. Death Season 2 will be available to watch on Peacock starting July 13, 2023.
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