Psychotic neurosurgeon intentionally maimed and killed patients in cold blood after being licensed by medical establishment

(NaturalNews) It's difficult for the average person to imagine, but to become a neurosurgeon in the United States is a lengthy, tedious process that takes decades before you ever see your first patient on your own, when you account for primary, secondary and post-secondary education.

And yet, given the sacrifices in time, money and social life, one Dallas-area neurosurgeon appears to have thrown all of that away simply because he decided he wanted to take life rather than save it.

As reported by the Dallas Morning News, well before he faced a plethora of criminal charges and lawsuits, North Texas neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch wrote an email to one of his employees.

"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," he wrote, according to the paper.

Authorities say the chilling email, dated Dec. 11, 2011, perfectly describes Duntsch's mindset just months before he "intentionally, knowingly and recklessly" botched several spinal surgeries that killed one woman, Floella Brown, who died in July 2012, and severely injured four others.

As the Dallas Morning News further reported:

The email was among new evidence Dallas County prosecutors presented against Duntsch at a hearing [August 22] in which Criminal District Judge Carter Thompson refused to reduce Duntsch's $600,000 bail.

'He has every reason to flee the state'

"I am very well-pleased that he will remain in jail and that justice will eventually be served for the crimes that he has committed," said Philip Mayfield, 45, who woke up from his spinal surgery paralyzed from the neck down in April 2013 after Duntsch allegedly injured him on purpose.

The 44-year-old neurosurgeon was arrested July 21 on five accounts of aggravated assault leading to serious bodily injury and one count of injuring an elderly person. He performed his surgeries at Dallas Medical Center, South Hampton Community Hospital and University General Hospital, the paper reported.

In a search warrant affidavit, Dallas police said that Duntsch is also under investigation for allegedly botching at least 10 additional patients' surgeries in Plano and Dallas that took place between November 2011 June 2013. Police said the surgeon "knowingly takes actions that place the patients' lives at risk," like causing extreme blood loss by cutting a major vein and then not taking proper steps to close it.

In one case, the paper noted, Duntsch left a surgical sponge inside the body of a male patient. During that same case, another physician forced him to stop operating due to his "unacceptable surgical technique," said the police affidavit.

Officials noted that Duntsch's medical license was finally suspended in December 2013 after members of the Texas Medical Board found a pattern of him failing to implement and follow proper procedures prior to operations, or respond adequately to complications that led to at least two deaths.

The Dallas Morning News further reported:

Prosecutors argued that Duntsch's bail should remain high because he could flee Dallas or harm others if free. They also said he could try to apply again for a medical license. Before his arrest, Duntsch was living with his parents and grandparents in Denver.

'Honest' mistakes?

"All he has here are his medical peers that have shunned him and the media that is following him around and a whole bunch of victims that he has hurt and his civil and criminal cases," noted prosecutor Michelle Shughart. "He has every reason to flee the state."

In addition, Shughart asked Duntsch's father if he believed his son was trying to get his medical license reinstated.

"I guess that's probably true," Donald Duntsch said. "I knew that was an intention of his at some point, in light of what happened, that he would be able to practice again as a doctor."

His attorney, Robbie McClung, argued that Duntsch had no money to flee. And she also said he did not deserve to have criminal charges filed against him, since he only made honest surgical mistakes.

In suspending Duntsch's license, the medical board stated that "impairment from drugs or alcohol" affected his ability to treat patients. However, the board said no evidence existed he was under the influence when he was operating.

An Australian news site reported that, if found guilty on all counts, Duntsch could face 99 years to life in prison.

Sources:

DallasNews.com

WashingtonPost.com

News.com.au