We did a lot of research to see if we could find anyone else who had done any cases like this, any other doctors who had been prosecuted for what they had actually done during the surgery, Shughart said. I asked him why hed trusted Duntsch to be his doctor. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. [7], In 1957 she landed her big break with her own television series, Summers Here, which featured a different star guest each week, such as Wilfrid Hyde White, Michael Bentine and Terence Alexander. According to doctors who later reviewed the case, Duntsch had damaged Summers vertebral artery, causing it to bleed almost uncontrollably. Cause and location of death was not made known to the public. Here is a clip of Jerry and his Stella pic.twitter.com/OE6q3bim72. [2] During World War II, she entertained troops as part of ENSA, and was known as Lancashire Comedienne Jill Summers, the Pin-Up Girl of British Railways. Even though he was living in Colorado, he continued to return to Dallas to see his two sons. His vigorous nonviolent campaign against segregation predated Martin Luther King Jr. by some 50 years. Last year, Duntsch was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, becoming the first doctor in the nation to meet such a fate for his practice of medicine. dies years after botched surgery The statement was only made so that he might hear it and go, Let me get my ass down there.. Weve had egregious results at Dallas Medical Center. He then picked out a pair of trousers and put them on in a dressing room. The pain from the pinched nerve in the back of Jeff Glidewells neck had become unbearable. All Jerry would say to me is, I want to die. CommonSpirit Health is part of the Hospitals & Physicians Clinics industry, and located in Illinois, United States. His surgery, an anterior lumbar spinal fusion, took place on Jan. 11, 2012. As the pain grew worse, it became clear his only choice was neurosurgery. In truth, the night before the surgery Summers and Miller had dinner at a local restaurant and watched the University of Memphis basketball team play Southern Mississippi on the bar TV. See Photos. This was attempted murder.. Robert Oshel, a patient safety advocate and former associate director of the databank, says that hospitals are required to check all applicants for clinical privileges and once every two years for everyone who has clinical privileges. WebJennifer Milmore (born October 1, 1969) [1] [2] is an American actress best known for her role as Carrie on the sitcom Jesse, which ran from 1998 to 2000 [1] and Lauren on two episodes sitcom Friends in 1997. Revelers drank and used cocaine and pills, she said. A vascular surgeon who operated at Baylor-Plano, Dr. Randall Kirby, said he met Duntsch soon after he started and found him to be an arrogant know-it-all. Kirby sent the board a five-page letter on June 23, 2013, spurred by what had happened to Glidewell. Hamilton County Herald - News In one comment directed at Kirby, he wrote, You use the word without explanation impaired physician and sociopath. Randolph Miller was both a colorful and a controversial man. Jennifer Miller [17], In January 1997, Summers died in her sleep at Oaklands Hospital, Manchester, of kidney failure. Jerry lived in a room in the surgeons 5 bedroom house, along with Duntschs girlfriend and newborn son. Jerry began his career as an actor and stuntman in the mid-1950's. Later, in a 2017 deposition, he claimed to have made up the accusation in order to get his friends attention, who seemed to have abandoned him after the surgery. At least two facilities that quietly dumped Duntsch failed to report him to a database run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services thats supposed to act as a clearinghouse for information on problem practitioners, warning potential employers about their histories. Unfortunately, you cannot understand that I am building an empire and I am so far outside the box that the Earth is small and the sun is bright, Duntsch had written. Her career in entertainment lasted eighty years and in 1982 she achieved stardom as Phyllis Pearce, in Granada Television's long-running soap opera Coronation Street. Duntsch was taken into custody on July 21, 2015. from the 1950s on. A decade later, in 1982, Summers reappeared as Phyllis Pearce, a blue rinsed pensioner, forever lusting after pompous ex-serviceman Percy Sugden. Trusting his friends expertise, he decided to undergo an elective spinal fusion surgery at the Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, where Duntsch had operating privileges. Before we even get to Mary Efurd, you can see that its just its going downhill. Obituary for Norma Brewer Blackmon Knoxville Information Sentinel, Sunday Closures and Cancellations ABC Columbia. The complaints were generally that she was too rude for the working men. or. Many hospitals, however, hesitate to submit reports to the databank, worrying that doing so may hurt doctors job prospects or even prompt lawsuits. As she and other prosecutors contacted every person Duntsch had ever operated on or their survivors, they struggled to figure what crimes he could be charged with. You had people that had lost loved ones, Robbie McClung, Duntschs lead defense attorney, said. After being called in to help Efurd, Henderson, too, made it his personal mission to stop Duntsch from operating. As scar tissue builds up, his pain will worsen and his range of motion will decrease. She couldnt turn over or wiggle her toes. He kept telling the scrub tech suck more, suck more. He is among giants up there, and he was trying to tell me over and over again how most of the spine surgery here in Dallas was being done inappropriately and that he was going to clean this town up.. You cant state or imply that donations to your organization support ProPublicas work. I mean, that indicates that he might get it back at some point in time, and I was already aware of the fact of how glib Dr. Duntsch was, and how disarming he was, and how friendly and intelligent he appeared whenever he introduced himself to people that he wanted to impress. Since Texas enacted tort reform in 2003, reducing the amount of damages plaintiffs could win, the number of malpractice payouts per year has dropped by more than half. Jennifer Emily. I want to die.. The hospital is now closed, and its administrators from that time did not respond to questions about why they hired Duntsch. Miller edited the Weekly Blade for 16 years. (The ownership of the clinic has changed and the new owners declined to comment for this story. In the phone conversation, Boop said university officials had asked Duntsch to take a drug test, but he had avoided it, disappearing for several days. After Duntschs disastrous run at Dallas Medical Center, he was finally reported to the state medical board. WebA first-rate athlete, Summers studied acting with Richard Boone. The operation was so botched, Henderson recalled thinking Duntsch had to be an impostor passing himself off as a surgeon. By the 1960s, with theatres starting to close and variety acts falling out of fashion, Summers reinvented herself, and alongside her television work, launched on the club scene with an act featuring songs and comedy. The next patient Duntsch operated on was Barry Morguloff. The nurse realized hed seen that hole for three straight days Duntsch apparently hadnt changed his scrubs all week. "STREET'S PHYLLIS IN HOSPITAL. Jennifer Miller. Jill Summers was best known to British TV viewers for her role as the gravel-voiced battleaxe Phyllis Pearce in ITV's Coronation Street but before winning fame in the soap she had a long career as a singer in revue and variety. When Duntschs patients tried to sue him for malpractice, many found it almost impossible to find attorneys. They lived in a downtown luxury high-rise while Duntsch shopped for a house. Robert Wilder Obituary | Chattanooga Instances Free Press. WebJerry Summers. In court, her family said they withdrew life support a few days later. It was covered in blood. Jerry passed away on February 10, 2021, at the age of 50 in Memphis, Tennessee, from an infection resulting from the 2011 cervical fusion surgery performed by Duntsch that left him a quadriplegic. Christopher Duntsch, 45, is accused of maiming four patients, including longtime friend Jerry Summers, and causing the death of at least two others. Jerry Summers His age is 77. With an undeniably strong presence, she's able to work confidently with buyers from all walks of life. Among the notable actors that Summers doubled for are Tony Curtis, Sal Mineo, Christopher Jones, and Walter Koenig. Passmores pain specialist told him he didnt have a back surgeon to whom he routinely referred patients, but that hed gone to lunch recently with one who seemed like a guy that knew what he was talking about, Passmore recalled in court testimony. In the end, it fell to the criminal justice system, not the medical system, to wring out a measure of accountability for Duntschs malpractice. He also founded the first known jitney cab service, called the Hack Line, which operated between downtown Chattanooga and other African American communities. I cant see this, said Kyle Kissinger, an operating room nurse. [8], By 1939, she had left the stage to take up hairdressing and ran a combined hairdresser's and newsagent's with her first husband. He was sentenced to life in prison. By then, a judge who knew Glidewell had also brought the case to the DAs attention. He basically cant really feel things when hes holding them in his fingers.. He remains in much the same condition as he awoke in after Duntsch operated on him, unable to move from the neck down. The day after her surgery, Efurd awoke in agony. Multiple layers of safeguards are supposed to protect patients from doctors who are incompetent or dangerous, or to provide them with redress if they are harmed. His life seemed to go into a free fall. Duntsch held up remarkably well, seeming calm in the certainty that he really was a good surgeon. He was saying: Theres so much blood I cant see. Jerry Summers He put his own pants into the cart and rolled the cart out the front door without paying for the pants he was wearing. As an actress, Summers' first television acting role was in 1969 in Kevin Laffan's twice-weekly Yorkshire TV soap Castle Haven, playing pub landlady Delilah Hilldrup. When asked about Dr. Duntschs weaknesses or areas for improvement, the supervising physician communicated that the only weakness Duntsch had was that he took on too many tasks for one person., In 2010, Boop faxed a recommendation for Duntsch to Baylor-Plano, checking off good or excellent in boxes asking about his skills and noting, Chris is extremely bright and possibly the hardest working person I have ever met. Another supervisor, Dr. Jon Robertson, who was an old family friend of the Duntsches and an investor in DiscGenics, noted on his recommendation that Duntsch had an excellent work ethic. (A University of Tennessee attorney said Robertson could not respond to questions.). According to the health care analysis firm Merritt Hawkins, the average neurosurgeon is worth $2.4 million a year in revenue to a hospital.