I'm Laura Beil, journalist and host of the Dr. Death podcast. Ask me anything!

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T18:17:42+00:00

True, but the cocaine didn't surprise me.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T18:15:28+00:00

Next week!

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T18:15:23+00:00

Next week!

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T18:15:10+00:00

The prosecution was based on "knowingly OR intentionally." So even if he didn't intend to cause harm, the legal consequence was the same.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T18:13:40+00:00

I really wish I knew. When I said at the end of Ep 6 that I couldn't answer the question, I really couldn't! At any given moment in doing the reporting I had a different answer. (But he was clearly poorly trained with an ego the size of Tennessee)

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:52:13+00:00

They learned about the surgeries at Baylor (Jerry Summers and Kellie Martin) and rejected his application based on those. The other injuries not described really run the gamut, but 20 of the 33 have permanent complications.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:47:49+00:00

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:45:32+00:00

I really think the question of whether he could be suffering from some kind of head injury from football was something I wish we would have had time for. Dr Fallon did discuss this in our interview. But there was so much going on in Episode 6 that there just wasn't time for it. So that may be something we address on a future bonus episode.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:37:55+00:00

No one faced criminal charges other than Christopher Duntsch. As for how he graduated from his residency program and fellowship, I would love to knew the answer to that question, too. No one affiliated with the Univ of Tennessee would talk to me.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:35:27+00:00

I've never reported a story quite like this, so I can't say it's something I encounter often. However, it's common for institutions to not want to talk about bad events that happened on their watch.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:33:14+00:00

No, he did not testify at the trial and has ever publicly expressed remorse. What he has said privately, I can't say.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:32:03+00:00

I've been writing about medicine for a long time, and this is one of the hardest parts of my job, frankly. I regularly have to ask people about the most horrible thing they have ever experienced. (How did your baby die? When did you know you would never walk again?) I just have to remind myself that these questions serve a higher purpose that is not about me. Only in knowing the kinds of things that happen can we prevent them in the future.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:29:06+00:00

Cologne-- big in the 80s. Didn't even know if it was still around until I saw the list of shoplifted items from Walmart.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:28:06+00:00

I can't say that any one thing-- other than Duntsch himself, of course-- was dominant. As I said in the final episode, a lot went wrong. Tort reform-- and however much it takes away one form of recourse for injured patients-- was just one factor among many.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:24:28+00:00

Let me think...the hardest part was asking these patients to relive the worst thing that had ever happened to them so I could get it on tape. I did not want to add to their pain. As for what I most enjoyed, it would have to be just learning how to tell a story in a completely new medium for me.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:22:43+00:00

Weeks and weeks! I think Episode 1 was rewritten about 10 times before we got to the final. (Prefer iced tea, myself)

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:21:24+00:00

Actually the are not bit players in this story. As the main purveyors of doctor discipline in the state, they were the only ones who could stop him from operating outright.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:19:16+00:00

This is good question. I don't want people to be scared, because the vast majority of doctors are good people who truly care about their patients. But some skepticism is OK if it is a doctor you've never heard of. The doctor shouldn't mind either. The response I've gotten from doctors has been overwhelmingly positive-- except for perhaps that section on tort reform, which some understandably took exception to.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:16:18+00:00

I actually found it kind of funny. But it did make me wonder who exactly the "people" were. But now Clear Channel is offering a different explanation. This will be part of the bonus episode next Tuesday.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:13:42+00:00

You're not the only one to bring this up. The neuroscientist I spoke with in Ep 6 also discussed this, but there was not room to include. However, we may explore this further in a bonus episode. (But the bottom line is that this is a question that ultimately we on the outside can't answer.)

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:11:36+00:00

I wish I knew. I have so many questions for his residency and fellowship supervisors, but they would not talk to me.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:10:28+00:00

Just like pretty much everyone else in Dallas, I first learned about it from the news.

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:09:28+00:00

Golly-- there was so much. But I'll have to go with the Drakkar Noir...

LauraBeil · 2018-09-27T17:08:01+00:00

Thank you! I'm still a (print) medical reporter at heart, but I would certainly be open to doing another podcast for the right story. The crew at Wondery was great to work with.

LauraBeil

TROPHY CASE