DALLAS (WFAA) – The Dallas spine surgeon accused of butchering patients and botching surgeries was put behind bars Wednesday.
Dr. Christopher Duntsch was charged with five counts of aggravated assault and one count of injury to an elderly person. The six charges apply to the care of five patients who either died or are scarred for life.
In an online promotional video, Dr. Duntsch billed himself as one of the best spine surgeons in North Texas.
But in an e-mail to his medical assistant discovered by one attorney suing him, a less-modest Duntsch said, "anyone close to me thinks that I likely am something between God, Einstein and the antichrist." He added, "you cannot understand that I really am building an empire."
Instead, some say Duntsch was allegedly building a resume of botched surgeries, of paralyzed patients, and — in two cases — death.
While Duntsch was operating on Lee Passmore of Frisco, an assisting surgeon had to intervene.
"Dr. Duntsch had to be physically restrained by the surgeon who was operating with him," said Jim Girards, Passmore's attorney, who is suing Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. "That second surgeon recognized he was doing things that were not explainable and were extremely dangerous that were likely to lead to paralysis."
Other patients have similar stories.
Four suffered severe nerve injuries. Duntsch's former roommate, Jerry Summers, will never walk again. Summers testified in a lawsuit that he witnessed Duntsch using drugs the night before his operation.
In that e-mail to his medical assistant, Duntsch refers to his "vodka bottle and neuro-stimulants."
"Hospital staff knew Dr. Duntsch had a gallon jug of vodka under his desk," Girards said. "A baggie of white powder had been found in his bathroom."
In 2013, witnesses to the surgeon's behavior filed a criminal complaint with the Dallas County district attorney. Now — two years later — a grand jury indicted Duntsch on five counts of aggravated assault on five different patients.
While authorities can't comment on the details of their case, Girards refers back to Duntsch's e-mail to his assistant, in which Duntsch wrote, "What I am being is what I am, one of a kind, a [expletive] stone cold killer [...]"
Duntsch is being held on $600,000 bond. He was stripped of his medical license in 2013, but now stands to spend up to 20 years in prison.
