The incompetency and gross malpractice of Texas surgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch raised so much attention that you wonder why his neurosurgery practice in Dallas wasn’t mistaken for a chop shop. By the time his license to practice was revoked in June, two of his patients were dead and four were left paralyzed.
People went on the record to call him out: One person told authorities that Duntsch was “the worst surgeon I’ve ever seen.” Another told a reporter that Duntsch seemed to learn things properly only in order to do the exact opposite. Another compared him to Hannibal Lecter. And these were his medical peers.
So why did it take more than a year after the Texas Medical Board was aware of Duntsch before this clearly out-of-control medical provider was stripped of his propensity to do harm? As the Texas Observer concludes, it’s “the weakness of Texas’ unregulated system of health care, a system built to protect doctors and hospitals. And a system in which there’s no way to know for sure if your doctor is dangerous.”
Read the whole sordid story here.
What adds insult to injury is that Texas “tort reform” has wiped out the ability of most victims to sue for malpractice in court. And that helps attract doctors like Duntsch to a state where they know there will be little accountability for any harm they cause.