Dr. Death (2021) s01e07 Episode Script
Feet of Clay
1
[INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
-
- [RODRIGUEZ'S "LIKE JANIS"]
♪
And you measure for wealth ♪
By the things you can hold ♪
And you measure for love ♪
By the sweet things you're told ♪
And you live in the past ♪
Or a dream that you're in ♪
And your selfishness ♪
Is your cardinal sin ♪
And you want to be held ♪
With highest regard ♪
It delights you so much ♪
If he's trying so hard ♪
And you try to conceal ♪
Your ordinary way ♪
With a smile or a shrug ♪
Or some stolen cliché ♪
But don't you understand ♪
And don't you look about ♪
I'm trying to take nothing from you ♪
So why should you act so put out ♪
For me? ♪
'Cause emotionally ♪
You're the same basic trip ♪
And you know that I know ♪
Of the times that you slip ♪
So don't try to impress me ♪
You're just pins and paint ♪
And don't try to charm me ♪
With things that you ain't ♪
And don't try to enchant me ♪
With your manner of dress ♪
'Cause a monkey in silk ♪
ADA Shughart.
So measure for measure ♪
Thank you.
And when I won't see you ♪
Then measure it dead ♪
'Cause don't you understand ♪
And don't you look about ♪
I'm trying to take ♪
Nothing from you ♪
So why should you act so put out ♪
And sit there in wonder and doubt ♪
For me? ♪
♪
[INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
Are you under the influence of
any drugs or alcohol today?
No, sir. [LAUGHS]
I just woke up from a
nap when y'all came by.
That's why I'm still in my pajamas.
I see.
Well, we would like to
hear your side of things.
But first thing is you've been charged
with five counts of aggravated assault
and one count of harm
to an elderly person.
So you have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and
will be used against you
in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney,
one will be appointed to you.
Do you understand these rights?
Yes.
And you waive your right to a lawyer?
Yes.
Okay, then.
Can we walk you through these charges?
I've got every case memorized.
I can tell you everything you
need to know about my patients.
But start here.
Every single surgery I
performed was textbook.
Okay, then.
Stan Novak.
Mr. Novak.
Presented with severe neck pain.
He had difficult insurance.
I was helping him out.
There was significant bleeding,
but luckily, I was able to see
that there was some tissue
growing on the bone.
Appeared to be cancerous,
so I aborted surgery,
sent it off to biopsy,
got him closed up and off the table.
And was it?
Was it
Cancerous?
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
No. Neck muscle.
But abnormal.
It appeared to be cancerous.
Anything else?
Well, my staff is responsible
for counting the number of sponges
that are used in surgery,
and they were all accounted for.
But in post-op, I discovered
that a member of my staff
had left a sponge in his neck.
They should be held responsible.
Cindy Tremblay was a
very heavyset woman.
I can prove that.
Surgery was textbook. Lower back pain.
I'd have preferred to
do minimally invasive,
but she was such a heavyset woman
that the hole was large. [LAUGHS]
That caused some bleeding.
I inserted the pedicle screw,
but it drifted a little bit off midline.
But that happens in
about 6% of surgeries.
- Sixty?
- Six.
I make sure everything
is done exactly right.
She was only in a hospital
for a couple days.
Never complained. Textbook surgery.
Shelley Brennan.
The anesthesiologist gave her fentanyl,
so there were complications
associated with that.
Shelley Brennan died from blood loss.
But the anesthesiol
that that wasn't a
a surgery problem.
What about Dorothy Burke?
♪
You know, Madeline Beyer
and Dorothy Burke
is a large part of the reason
I came down today.
You came down today?
I just thought it was medically ethical
for me to report those
cases to the board
to the to the to the police.
Because somebody has
to be held accountable.
That's criminal.
On the hospital.
Mrs. Beyer I mean, Mrs. Brennan
my my my surgery
from the previous day
was still in recovery.
And they just kept on coming in.
And coming it's very distracting.
If I had just been allowed to
follow my surgical training,
you know, and then
my my medical staff
was also, um, working against my wishes,
which is very distracting.
And I was trying to help her.
And I do have to say,
these allegitations of of drug use?
I voluntary
I-I-I-I
I voluntary, um, voluntary drug tests,
hair and urine,
through this entire time.
Never failed a drug test.
[STAMMERING] And then
In the first 22 years of my career,
I never had any any suggestions
or allegations of drug tests.
But now all of a sudden,
there's this this comment.
[LAUGHS] This mention.
And that's coming from them, obviously.
They are conspiring against me.
Who's conspiring against you?
Dr. Randall Kirby
and Dr. Robert Henderson.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[SIGHS]
Look, I just came down
here to visit my boy.
I'm going back to Denver tonight.
Dr. Duntsch, you're under arrest.
We have to book you.
And you'll be seen by a judge
and taken to holding to
await your bond hearing.
So I can't go home?
[BEEPING]
Hello. This is a free call
from Dallas County
Correctional Facility.
- Hello?
- Dad.
Chris.
The police came by, picked me up.
[SIGHS] What is it this time?
They're confused, Dad, okay?
It's those accusations, my patients.
It's all ridiculous. I need
you to come down here.
Down to Dallas.
The bond hearing's on Tuesday.
What exactly did they charge you with?
Elder abuse.
Elder abuse? How?
I told you. It's ridiculous.
But I just need you to come down.
Okay.
And it's probably gonna be expensive.
Yeah. Don't worry about that.
I need to get out of here.
I should be working.
I just need to get my medical
license approved in Colorado.
Your medical license?
Yeah, yeah, make some money,
hire an elite legal team
to expose this conspiracy
bullshit for what it is:
professional jealousy
and desperate slander.
We'll figure something out.
- Tuesday.
- I'm on my way.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
- Dad?
- Yeah?
♪
I love you.
Okay.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[PHONE RINGING IN DISTANCE]
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Hi, Mrs. Brennen.
You'll be okay.
♪
Tubular retractor.
[MACHINERY BEEPING]
Dr. Morgan, tubular retractor.
Kim.
Tubular retractor.
Kerrison.
[SCREAMING]
[BUZZING TONE]
[DISTORTED SPEECH]
Kim.
[DISTORTED SPEECH]
Kim.
Kim.
I need to see Duntsch.
Shelley Brennan's blood
pressure plummeted.
[SIGHS]
It happens.
You stabilize the patient
and keep on moving.
Is that what you did?
Stabilize Miss Brennan?
[LAUGHS]
Are you trying to blame me?
I'm trying to understand how
a simple one-level laminectomy
ends up with a dead patient.
That surgery was perfect.
We were in and out in 50 minutes.
She was in DIC within three hours.
Her body covered in hives.
That sounds like an
allergic reaction to me.
That's an anesthesiology complication.
You've had quite a few
anesthesiology problems.
What exactly are you implying?
You're not gonna deflect this one.
I don't think I like
your tone, Miss Piel.
I came here to tell you face-to-face
that you are done at Baylor.
Effective immediately.
No.
I'm not leaving.
Do you think I'm asking your permission?
The burden of proof is bouncing
all over your court right now.
I haven't done anything
that warrants a termination.
James, Sweeney, Padua, Summers.
I was investigated and cleared.
If you fire me now, that's
a breach of our contract.
Don't make this ugly.
Bow out gracefully.
[LAUGHS]
- Who are you calling?
- My lawyer. Lawyers, in fact.
You think you can win a
fight against Big Baylor?
I'm not fighting Big Baylor.
I'm fighting you.
I have a right to defend myself.
I'm not intimidated by you.
[SIGHS]
Let me have one more case.
There's no scenario that I
let you back into my hospital.
Give me one more case,
- and I'll let you observe.
- Not a single doctor or nurse
is willing to work with you.
You're radioactive.
You recruited me from MISI.
I wasn't even thinking
about coming to Baylor.
I accelerated operations
to fill the day.
- Bring in money.
- What do you want?
- You know exactly what I want.
- You won't get it. I want you gone.
- You have to be gone.
- Okay. Fine.
Then we're negotiating.
I'll resign.
You'll write me a recommendation.
That's not up to me. It's up to legal.
Whatever it is, we'll
protect Baylor Plano.
Because we did nothing wrong.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[SIGHS]
[KNOCKS ON DESK]
♪
[SIGHS]
[KNOCKS ON DOOR] Knock, knock.
What is the status of our
application for privileges
over at Dallas Medical Center?
Why? What happened?
Oh, nothing. It's just exhausting
working for people
with limited mental capacity.
[CHUCKLES]
Baylor's out.
Will you follow up with DMC?
♪
[PHONE RINGING]
[GAVEL BANGS]
The defense is requesting
bond, is that correct?
That's correct, Your Honor.
However, the state's motion for $600,000
is not just generally egregious,
but particularly inappropriate
in this matter.
Dr. Duntsch is currently unemployed.
And as you can see from
his bank accounts,
submitted as exhibit four,
that his personal assets
do not allow for such a bond
to be met at this time.
- State's response?
- The state agrees.
$600,000 is not appropriate.
We're filing to deny bond altogether.
The state's request is beyond the pale.
Denying bail for a doctor?
A doctor charged with serious and
flagrant damage to his patients.
Christopher Duntsch is a flight
risk and a danger to society.
As it relates to Dr. Duntsch
being a flight risk,
he has ties to the community,
a home, and a child.
And as far as his privileges
are concerned,
Dr. Duntsch has refrained
from practicing medicine
from the moment his
reputation and credentials
were so baselessly questioned.
Well, I guess, then, at this time,
the state would like to call
Donald Duntsch to testify.
Objection. Your Honor. [LAUGHS]
Don Duntsch is present in court
today in support of his son.
He's not prepared to be called.
Miss McClung, Donald Duntsch
is on the state's witness list.
It's the state's prerogative
to call him when they wish.
It's your responsibility to prep
your witnesses beforehand.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[INDISTINCT WHISPERS]
♪
We appreciate you being
here today, Mr. Duntsch.
Where did you travel in from again?
We live outside Denver, Colorado.
Well, that must be hard to
have Christopher so far away.
Well, Chris has chosen
to stay near his family.
His son.
And I'm proud of him for that.
You seem to place a great deal of import
on integrity in your life.
I like to think so, yes.
Mr. Duntsch, is Christopher trying
to get his medical license back?
W
Well, I think, at one point,
he would have liked that to happen.
But you know, now, with
all that's going on
So you don't know if his medical license
was about to be reinstated?
To be specific,
a Colorado medical license?
Uh
I can't say, um, decisively.
I, uh that's not something
he and I talk about a lot.
That's a hard one for me to answer.
I I don't know.
Mr. Duntsch, did Christopher tell you
he wants to make bond
so that he can go back to work
and raise money for a defense?
♪
Yes. I suppose that's true.
Doesn't this all point to
the fact that Christopher,
despite his bad outcomes,
will continue practicing
medicine, no matter what?
[DARK MUSIC]
♪
- Get the fuck away from my house!
- [GUN CLICKS]
So I walk out of my office,
- and I'm like, "Where's Kim?"
- Enough.
And all I get are blank
stares. Confusion.
- She just walked out.
- Are you high?
I gave you the chance
to get in, ground up.
And you just walked out.
You walked out on me,
walked out on the empire.
You're goddamn right I did.
And seriously?
You're slithering around my house?
How sad.
You're making this pretty
fucking easy, Chris.
I'm filing a restraining
order against you.
Stay away.
You never had an empire.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
You never will.
♪
-
- [INDISTINCT RAP MUSIC]
♪
[INDISTINCT RAP MUSIC]
♪
[ULTRAMAGNETIC MC'S "EGO TRIPPIN'"]
Keepin' busy in the place ♪
♪
Fort Greene Mission Posse ♪
2Love's in the house ♪
South Bronx ♪
To the girl Chris ♪
[TIRES SQUEAL]
[CRASHING]
♪
[BEEPING IN DISTANCE]
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]
[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE]
[GRUNTS]
[GRUNTS] Shit.
We should be celebrating.
Defense will argue this
isn't a criminal case.
They'll say it should be settled
in malpractice court.
- How do we counter that?
- I've talked to his patients.
Their stories, anyone with half
a heart will feel for them.
And what's the "but"?
This isn't just about
his medical skills.
Defense will say, and
it's hard to disprove,
that these were accidents
or the fault of others.
So we gotta make it about the man.
About what made him, about
his choices, his character.
We need to show that this all
started way before Dallas.
I'm gonna talk to the
people closest to him.
- His friends, girlfriends, teachers.
- [LAUGHS]
- What?
- Skadden?
We already tried that.
And what got back to us was,
"He came out of there trained."
I contacted U.T.
and Semmes-Murphey,
asked for his training hours.
This is what they gave me.
683 cases.
Of which only 230 were spinal.
How many should there be?
Well, there's no required minimum,
but a good number would be around 400.
That's his residency.
Where's Semmes-Murphy?
Told me they don't keep records.
- Oh?
- Not required to by law.
But according to them, he had enough.
I'll hear it from the
horse's mouth himself.
I'm not sure that's the end of
the horse he best represents.
We should help her.
- I'm not going to Memphis.
- No. God, no.
- Never again.
- [SIGHS]
You want to come to my house?
Your parents home?
[WHISTLES]
Here's Duntsch's Facebook page.
You're gonna love this.
Listen to this horseshit.
"The sound of the sea grows near.
"I feel waves upon my heart.
"All I want, all I need,
the answer awaits at the start."
Well, he's a better surgeon
than he is a poet.
Duntsch holds three patents.
Two with Ilya Burkov and Katya Melnikov.
Registered to a company
called Discgenics.
Discgenics, okay.
D-I-S-C-G-E-N-I-C-S.
- [BEEPS]
- Discgenics.
Hello, doctors.
Hey! Do svidaniya!
Hello, doctors.
I appreciate your willingness
to speak with us.
I know this puts you in an
uncomfortable position,
but we wanted to ask you
about Dr. Duntsch's time at Discgenics.
And now, it goes without saying
that we will protect your identity.
We don't want to get you in any trouble.
Trouble? What trouble?
Well, it seems everyone is afraid
to talk about Christopher Duntsch.
We're not scared. We're Russian.
- [LAUGHS]
- What do you want to know?
Anything and everything you can tell us.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Hello? Hello?
♪
What, you got hamsters
powering your Wi-Fi here?
I don't think that's how
Wi-Fi works, actually.
Yeah. I don't know why I did that.
[CHOPPY AUDIO] And they decided it
that it was for him to be away.
Yes, but he still had to
complete stage four.
Could you repeat what
you just said, please?
Which part did you miss?
The drug part or the investor part?
- All of it.
- All of it. We missed all of it.
I was saying that Duntsch
met with investors.
Skadden among them.
Everything was fine until
We don't know it was drugs,
but it was definitely something.
His behavior, his performance devolved.
Geoffrey Skadden was an
investor in Discgenics?
Research, Dr. Henderson. Research.
You've clearly done none.
He was one of the first
investors in Discgenics.
♪
[MUMBLING INDISTINCTLY]
[KNOCKS]
- Hi. Wendy Young?
- I have nothing to say to you media folk.
I'm not media. Name's Michelle Shughart.
I'm the assistant district attorney
overseeing the Christopher Duntsch case.
I was hoping to ask you a few questions.
Well, you got some kind of
subpoena or something?
I don't. But I can get one.
Question you in a more formal setting,
if that's what you're
most comfortable with.
It's up to you.
Come on.
Mason.
You were with him in Memphis?
Yeah. Just for a bit.
A couple of months before
we moved to Dallas.
But you know what he was like at home,
in social settings?
What do you want me to say?
That he was a druggie?
An alkie? A fraud?
If that's what you have to tell me.
You're not that much older than me.
Probably not.
And already a DA.
- Assistant.
- Assistant.
You like your parents?
Yes.
Treat you good?
Very.
- Support you?
- Always.
Must be nice. Such a perfect life.
[LOUD THUMP]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
I'm not gonna help you.
He deserves it.
- His patients, they
- No, no, no. Stop.
The world's a shitty place.
He dealt them a shitty hand.
Look, I've got a boy who needs to eat.
Needs a roof, needs clothes,
a piece of crap toy
from the supermarket now and again.
And I applied for the good jobs.
Nothing doing there.
And I'm no welfare queen.
'Cause the moment I start taking money
from the government's when
they start poking around
wondering about Mason's well-being.
So all I've got right
now is Chris's parents
and their checks.
So yeah,
in case you're wondering,
I'm gonna do what I have to do.
Thank you, Christopher Duntsch.
Thank you for your time.
Of course.
Teresa, Melanie, this
is Mr. And Mrs. Keller.
- Howdy.
- Pleasure.
Where's Dr. Morgan?
Newer pastures.
The commute was getting to her.
- She's from McKinney, right?
- She is.
It's not 20 minutes from here.
Are you saying she
didn't like me anymore?
[LAUGHING] Hardly possible.
Oh, that's too bad. She was lovely.
Still is, I imagine. Come on back.
You're operating at the
Dallas Medical Center now?
That's right. You're my first case.
[SIGHS]
- Oh!
- No, I'm sorry.
- Oh, please. Not at all.
- It dills my pickle
that anybody'd fill in half a crossword.
- Mm. Incorrectly, at that.
- Hmm?
I did the same thing not ten
minutes before you walked in.
[LAUGHS]
So what's keeping you
from doing the Frug?
- Neck or back?
- Well, it's my back.
Just one thing after another.
You know. How about you?
Neck.
Doctor says I need a "disctectomy"?
Is that how you say it?
All Greek, far as I hear.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
My son's getting married next year.
Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- Where?
Nothing's sorted; he keeps telling me
we got plenty of time
to figure it all out.
You're gonna be planning it.
That's the truth.
- That's the truth.
- [BOTH LAUGHING]
- [SIGHS] Kids?
- Oh, yes. Yes, but, you know,
weddings now are all
done and gone for me, though.
Time for rest, I suppose.
- Doctor's ready for you, hon.
- Oh. Well, good luck to ya.
- You too, dear.
- Your turn, Dorothy.
Thought you fell in, Earl.
Yeah, I'm up. Let's go.
- I'll see you.
- Bye.
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
[SIGHS]
Ms. Shughart, Dr. Skadden
will see you now.
♪
Ms. Shughart. Please come in.
Nice to meet you. Won't you have a seat?
Thank you.
[INQUISITIVE MUSIC]
♪
[INDISTINCT TV CHATTER]
Hi, Jerry. Nice to meet you.
Like basketball?
I like basketball.
Helps take my mind off things,
blow off steam.
I'll jump in.
I'm trying to establish a pattern
to prove Dr. Duntsch's recklessness.
From what I can ascertain,
it goes as far back as medical school.
Is that a fair assessment?
Yeah.
Was he properly trained?
What do you think?
Did you ever witness him take drugs?
Mr. Summers?
Take drugs?
Yes.
What's gonna happen to him?
How do you mean?
If I tell you all this stuff,
what is gonna happen?
We'd schedule a deposition
that'll go on the record,
after which you'll testify in court
and hopefully get a conviction
and justice for you
and the others he hurt.
- So he'll go to prison?
- I hope so.
I didn't do right by him.
He worked so hard,
harder than everybody.
He never stopped.
And then he takes a job at a hospital,
someone else makes a mistake,
and they blame him for it,
saying he's a bad doctor.
You have any idea what
that does to a person?
He was depressed.
I just wanted to be there for him.
He needed a win.
[TENSE MUSIC]
That's why you let him operate on you?
For a win?
I had my neck looked at
right out of high school.
The doctor said I needed surgery,
but life got in the way.
And then Dr. Skadden took a look at me.
Skadden? From Semmes-Murphy?
Favor for Chris.
And he didn't want to operate.
Said I had a narrow canal or something.
No insurance.
But Chris is the smartest guy I know.
If anyone could do it, it was him.
So the operation was your idea?
[SOMBER MUSIC]
Yeah.
♪
If I was in your position,
I'd be upset, angry.
How are you not angry at
him for doing this to you?
I could have stopped him.
I saw it.
I was strong, and I
could have stopped him.
Kayla tried to stop him.
- Who's Kayla?
- Kayla Gibson.
With him at U.T.
She tried to stop him.
[LAUGHS]
But we were just having fun, you know?
Do you think he did it on purpose?
No.
Do you think he deserves to be punished?
He has a family.
When was the last time you saw him?
Has he come to see you
since the operation?
- Has he come to check in on his friends?
- Stop. Stop, stop.
- Has he said, "I'm sorry"?
- Get out, get out.
- He's not your friend, Jerry.
- Get her out.
- He did this to you.
- Get her out.
- Let's go.
- He killed other people.
- Come on.
- Just help me
- Fuck you! He's my friend, okay?
- We need you need to testify.
He's my fucking friend!
He's my friend! He's my fucking friend!
Okay? He's my fucking friend!
He's my fucking friend!
Fuck you. He's my fucking friend.
I bring you more glad tidings of joy.
- Thank you.
- [WHISTLES]
I gotta start inventing some shit.
- What?
- From 2001 to 2006,
Skadden made $27 million in
royalties from Medtronic.
The largest medical device
company in the world.
That's nothing to them.
From 2006, "Medical device
maker Medtronic Inc.
"agreed to pay 40 million
"to settle government civil charges
"that its Sofamor Danek spinal
surgery division paid kickbacks,
"including sham royalty
agreements and lavish trips
"to surgeons to induce them
to use the company's products."
Medtronic is not admitting
illegality, of course.
Was that because of Skadden?
"Spine surgery patents are valuable,
"and litigation in this
area is tricky terrain.
"Two of the Medtronic consultants
"mentioned in the whistleblower
case received
"hundreds of thousands of
dollars from the company.
"Geoffrey Skadden of the
Semmes-Murphy clinic
in Memphis and "
some other dude whose
name I can't pronounce,
"are highly regarded surgeon-inventors
"who have played a role in developing
important surgery products
"with Medtronic.
"Dr. Skadden said that he has
more than 50 issued patents
"and that he has received
reasonable royalties for inventions
that have nothing to
do with his practice."
Well, he deserves to get
paid for his inventions.
[SIGHS] I guess so.
This is the SEC filing for Discgenics.
You can see that Skadden's listed
as the Executive Officer and a Director.
That's in 2007, three years
into Duntsch's residency.
Two years after that, he was
admitted into the fellowship.
Well, how do you like that?
What a coincidence.
Why do you think Skadden
wouldn't mention
that he was an investor in Discgenics?
Would you?
- I'd like to think I would.
- But?
Probably not, because
I'd want to hide it.
Because it's wrong.
How can I be an investor in his company
and the head of his fellowship
at the same time?
I mean, that's what we
would call anybody?
That's the definition of a
conflict of interest, Robert.
- Uh-huh.
- I'm in love with your wife.
I am in love with you.
- I know.
- [LAUGHS]
The two of you are making
a moral argument,
not a legal one.
And nothing he did crosses that line.
I think we can all agree that
he definitely pissed on it.
That's the American way, Randy.
I think we ought to do
something about that.
Yes. We should.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
Breakfast for dinner?
Kayla.
Thank you for coming.
I turned around twice.
Wanna sit down?
I'm sorry for springing that
article on you like that.
Oof, you knew exactly
what you were doing.
I haven't seen him in years.
Not since med school.
- Okay.
- Not sure what I can offer.
Please, sit.
Did that article make sense?
No.
But you're here.
You talked to Jerry?
I did.
And?
He's in a tough place right now.
And he's protecting Chris.
What do you wanna know?
I'm trying to get a picture
of who he is, why he is.
You're trying to put him in prison.
I'm having a hard time
reconciling the person I knew
with the person in that article.
It's all true.
In fact, that article sorta
just scratched the surface.
He was charming.
Intelligent, focused, handsome.
Very handsome.
Y'all partied a lot?
We did what most med students do.
Work hard, party harder.
He had a wild side, but didn't everyone?
Did you witness him using drugs?
The thing about med school
is no one cares how hard you party
as long as you can handle it.
Chris handled it just
fine until he didn't.
It started off with him handing
out tabs to his friends.
Then he started writing
prescriptions at parties.
I tried to stop him, but he didn't care.
People knew to go to his place
to get whatever they wanted.
You're the one who made the
anonymous call to the program?
I had to do something.
What about his training?
I can't overstate to you
how brilliant Chris was.
I'd say he was the smartest
person in school.
But he's a researcher. That's his gift.
He had no business
going the surgery route.
If he'd stayed in the research field,
I think he'd have one
of the biggest mansions
in Germantown right now.
- Germantown?
- They have museums for homes.
Chris and I used to take
drives there on Sundays,
picking out the houses we'd buy one day.
He'd say things like, "Me and you,
Kayla, we're gonna run this town
and sleep on mattresses full of cash."
- A power couple.
- [LAUGHS]
Yeah, it's funny.
It's funny you should say that,
'cause he used to call me and him
a Black and white power cookie.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
That was Chris.
He'd say silly things like that.
School was stressful,
and he made it fun.
Whenever I was with him, it felt like
things were gonna be okay.
Sorry.
Maybe I should have had an intervention.
But I was in a top program,
and I didn't want to
deal with any drama,
so I left him.
Who does that?
My parents always taught me to
care for the ones around us.
I didn't do that.
That article,
that is not the man I fell in love with.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
I don't even know why I came.
I don't want to get
involved in any of this.
If you use me as a reference for
anything I said, I'll deny it.
I understand, and I won't.
But I appreciate you talking to me.
I, um
I wish you knew him back then.
♪
Maybe we can try to cut
some sort of plea deal?
The ADA isn't offering a deal.
Well, can you try to secure one?
They won't go for it, Mr. Duntsch.
18 months until the trial starts.
18 months in here.
- Chris
- No.
No.
This cannot be.
I am not guilty.
They can't do this to me.
Look, we can go
18 months until the
fucking trial starts!
That's the best that you can do?
- The system isn't as fast as you'd
- Just go. Go, go.
I need to talk to my father alone.
[SIGHS]
This lawyer, she isn't working.
She's a good lawyer, Chris.
What about Mr. Damelio?
Could he work the case?
Damelio's a tax attorney.
I'm not going to make it, Dad.
- I can't do this.
- No, don't Chris.
- Don't say that.
- I'm alone.
My friends, my colleagues,
they've abandoned me.
Family is the only thing I have left.
And Wendy hasn't visited in months.
She won't bring Mason.
And I need to see my son.
Maybe you could talk to her.
Remind her how important it
is that families stick together.
They never know when they might
need something from us someday.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Can you hear how loud it is in here?
- Do you hear how loud it is?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, it's loud.
- It's like that all the time.
Everything you say echoes off the floor,
off the ceiling.
You can't hear yourself speak.
You can't hear the TV.
You can't hear anything.
So people just keep on talking
louder and louder,
and they turn the TV louder and louder.
And it is like this all the time.
- I'm so sorry, Chris.
- [SCOFFS] Sorry?
That's funny.
Because the bond hearing
was your fuckup.
I could be out there
with my son right now
and not begging for visits from a cage.
You are the goddamn reason
I am in this hellhole.
I'm done.
♪
"I have burned my tomorrow
"and I stand inside today.
"At the edge of the future
where my dreams all fade away."
"I face all my sorrows.
"Shadows stand in my way.
"At the edge of the future,
"what will happen, none can say.
"You see only darkness
"as you ran away.
"You know now you were sleeping.
And your dreams will turn today."
It's going everywhere.
Look.
Hey, buddy.
[CHUCKLES]
Is that for me?
- Oh.
- Guess the toy.
- I gotta guess the toy?
- Yeah.
Okay, what do you think
is in here? I think
it's a PlayStation.
- Look.
- Look?
A truck! Oh, my God.
A PlayStation can't fit
in that big of a box.
I should have known. You're right.
A PlayStation can't fit
in that big of a box.
And it can't fit in that bag either.
- And I got it all wrong.
- [LAUGHS] Yeah.
You got the whole thing wrong.
[UNKLE'S "BURN MY SHADOW"]
♪
[LOCK CHIRPS]
♪
8,000 people carried at 8,000 miles.
That's pretty encouraging, isn't it?
Yeah, now a whole bunch
of them are profiteering.
They're selling their torches online
for, like, thousands of dollars.
People, man. [SIGHS]
I leave myself in God's
and Dr. Duntsch's hands.
- Stiff competition.
- Dr. Duntsch.
Josh Baker. I'll be your
circulating nurse, sir.
You come from Baylor?
That's right.
And my dreams all fade away ♪
[WHISPERS] You got a
hole in your scrubs, sir.
I have burned my tomorrows ♪
You said you're the
circulating nurse, right?
Yes, sir.
Shouldn't you be prepping my OR?
Absolutely, sir.
Mrs. Keller. I'll see
you on the other side.
Now
let's get you up and doing cartwheels.
♪
And burn my shadow away ♪
♪
And burn my shadow away ♪
♪
I faced my destroyer ♪
I was ambushed by a lie ♪
And you judge me once for falling ♪
This wounded heart will rise ♪
♪
And burn my shadow away ♪
♪
And burn my shadow away ♪
♪
[INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
-
- [RODRIGUEZ'S "LIKE JANIS"]
♪
And you measure for wealth ♪
By the things you can hold ♪
And you measure for love ♪
By the sweet things you're told ♪
And you live in the past ♪
Or a dream that you're in ♪
And your selfishness ♪
Is your cardinal sin ♪
And you want to be held ♪
With highest regard ♪
It delights you so much ♪
If he's trying so hard ♪
And you try to conceal ♪
Your ordinary way ♪
With a smile or a shrug ♪
Or some stolen cliché ♪
But don't you understand ♪
And don't you look about ♪
I'm trying to take nothing from you ♪
So why should you act so put out ♪
For me? ♪
'Cause emotionally ♪
You're the same basic trip ♪
And you know that I know ♪
Of the times that you slip ♪
So don't try to impress me ♪
You're just pins and paint ♪
And don't try to charm me ♪
With things that you ain't ♪
And don't try to enchant me ♪
With your manner of dress ♪
'Cause a monkey in silk ♪
ADA Shughart.
So measure for measure ♪
Thank you.
And when I won't see you ♪
Then measure it dead ♪
'Cause don't you understand ♪
And don't you look about ♪
I'm trying to take ♪
Nothing from you ♪
So why should you act so put out ♪
And sit there in wonder and doubt ♪
For me? ♪
♪
[INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
Are you under the influence of
any drugs or alcohol today?
No, sir. [LAUGHS]
I just woke up from a
nap when y'all came by.
That's why I'm still in my pajamas.
I see.
Well, we would like to
hear your side of things.
But first thing is you've been charged
with five counts of aggravated assault
and one count of harm
to an elderly person.
So you have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and
will be used against you
in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney,
one will be appointed to you.
Do you understand these rights?
Yes.
And you waive your right to a lawyer?
Yes.
Okay, then.
Can we walk you through these charges?
I've got every case memorized.
I can tell you everything you
need to know about my patients.
But start here.
Every single surgery I
performed was textbook.
Okay, then.
Stan Novak.
Mr. Novak.
Presented with severe neck pain.
He had difficult insurance.
I was helping him out.
There was significant bleeding,
but luckily, I was able to see
that there was some tissue
growing on the bone.
Appeared to be cancerous,
so I aborted surgery,
sent it off to biopsy,
got him closed up and off the table.
And was it?
Was it
Cancerous?
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
No. Neck muscle.
But abnormal.
It appeared to be cancerous.
Anything else?
Well, my staff is responsible
for counting the number of sponges
that are used in surgery,
and they were all accounted for.
But in post-op, I discovered
that a member of my staff
had left a sponge in his neck.
They should be held responsible.
Cindy Tremblay was a
very heavyset woman.
I can prove that.
Surgery was textbook. Lower back pain.
I'd have preferred to
do minimally invasive,
but she was such a heavyset woman
that the hole was large. [LAUGHS]
That caused some bleeding.
I inserted the pedicle screw,
but it drifted a little bit off midline.
But that happens in
about 6% of surgeries.
- Sixty?
- Six.
I make sure everything
is done exactly right.
She was only in a hospital
for a couple days.
Never complained. Textbook surgery.
Shelley Brennan.
The anesthesiologist gave her fentanyl,
so there were complications
associated with that.
Shelley Brennan died from blood loss.
But the anesthesiol
that that wasn't a
a surgery problem.
What about Dorothy Burke?
♪
You know, Madeline Beyer
and Dorothy Burke
is a large part of the reason
I came down today.
You came down today?
I just thought it was medically ethical
for me to report those
cases to the board
to the to the to the police.
Because somebody has
to be held accountable.
That's criminal.
On the hospital.
Mrs. Beyer I mean, Mrs. Brennan
my my my surgery
from the previous day
was still in recovery.
And they just kept on coming in.
And coming it's very distracting.
If I had just been allowed to
follow my surgical training,
you know, and then
my my medical staff
was also, um, working against my wishes,
which is very distracting.
And I was trying to help her.
And I do have to say,
these allegitations of of drug use?
I voluntary
I-I-I-I
I voluntary, um, voluntary drug tests,
hair and urine,
through this entire time.
Never failed a drug test.
[STAMMERING] And then
In the first 22 years of my career,
I never had any any suggestions
or allegations of drug tests.
But now all of a sudden,
there's this this comment.
[LAUGHS] This mention.
And that's coming from them, obviously.
They are conspiring against me.
Who's conspiring against you?
Dr. Randall Kirby
and Dr. Robert Henderson.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[SIGHS]
Look, I just came down
here to visit my boy.
I'm going back to Denver tonight.
Dr. Duntsch, you're under arrest.
We have to book you.
And you'll be seen by a judge
and taken to holding to
await your bond hearing.
So I can't go home?
[BEEPING]
Hello. This is a free call
from Dallas County
Correctional Facility.
- Hello?
- Dad.
Chris.
The police came by, picked me up.
[SIGHS] What is it this time?
They're confused, Dad, okay?
It's those accusations, my patients.
It's all ridiculous. I need
you to come down here.
Down to Dallas.
The bond hearing's on Tuesday.
What exactly did they charge you with?
Elder abuse.
Elder abuse? How?
I told you. It's ridiculous.
But I just need you to come down.
Okay.
And it's probably gonna be expensive.
Yeah. Don't worry about that.
I need to get out of here.
I should be working.
I just need to get my medical
license approved in Colorado.
Your medical license?
Yeah, yeah, make some money,
hire an elite legal team
to expose this conspiracy
bullshit for what it is:
professional jealousy
and desperate slander.
We'll figure something out.
- Tuesday.
- I'm on my way.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
- Dad?
- Yeah?
♪
I love you.
Okay.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[PHONE RINGING IN DISTANCE]
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Hi, Mrs. Brennen.
You'll be okay.
♪
Tubular retractor.
[MACHINERY BEEPING]
Dr. Morgan, tubular retractor.
Kim.
Tubular retractor.
Kerrison.
[SCREAMING]
[BUZZING TONE]
[DISTORTED SPEECH]
Kim.
[DISTORTED SPEECH]
Kim.
Kim.
I need to see Duntsch.
Shelley Brennan's blood
pressure plummeted.
[SIGHS]
It happens.
You stabilize the patient
and keep on moving.
Is that what you did?
Stabilize Miss Brennan?
[LAUGHS]
Are you trying to blame me?
I'm trying to understand how
a simple one-level laminectomy
ends up with a dead patient.
That surgery was perfect.
We were in and out in 50 minutes.
She was in DIC within three hours.
Her body covered in hives.
That sounds like an
allergic reaction to me.
That's an anesthesiology complication.
You've had quite a few
anesthesiology problems.
What exactly are you implying?
You're not gonna deflect this one.
I don't think I like
your tone, Miss Piel.
I came here to tell you face-to-face
that you are done at Baylor.
Effective immediately.
No.
I'm not leaving.
Do you think I'm asking your permission?
The burden of proof is bouncing
all over your court right now.
I haven't done anything
that warrants a termination.
James, Sweeney, Padua, Summers.
I was investigated and cleared.
If you fire me now, that's
a breach of our contract.
Don't make this ugly.
Bow out gracefully.
[LAUGHS]
- Who are you calling?
- My lawyer. Lawyers, in fact.
You think you can win a
fight against Big Baylor?
I'm not fighting Big Baylor.
I'm fighting you.
I have a right to defend myself.
I'm not intimidated by you.
[SIGHS]
Let me have one more case.
There's no scenario that I
let you back into my hospital.
Give me one more case,
- and I'll let you observe.
- Not a single doctor or nurse
is willing to work with you.
You're radioactive.
You recruited me from MISI.
I wasn't even thinking
about coming to Baylor.
I accelerated operations
to fill the day.
- Bring in money.
- What do you want?
- You know exactly what I want.
- You won't get it. I want you gone.
- You have to be gone.
- Okay. Fine.
Then we're negotiating.
I'll resign.
You'll write me a recommendation.
That's not up to me. It's up to legal.
Whatever it is, we'll
protect Baylor Plano.
Because we did nothing wrong.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[SIGHS]
[KNOCKS ON DESK]
♪
[SIGHS]
[KNOCKS ON DOOR] Knock, knock.
What is the status of our
application for privileges
over at Dallas Medical Center?
Why? What happened?
Oh, nothing. It's just exhausting
working for people
with limited mental capacity.
[CHUCKLES]
Baylor's out.
Will you follow up with DMC?
♪
[PHONE RINGING]
[GAVEL BANGS]
The defense is requesting
bond, is that correct?
That's correct, Your Honor.
However, the state's motion for $600,000
is not just generally egregious,
but particularly inappropriate
in this matter.
Dr. Duntsch is currently unemployed.
And as you can see from
his bank accounts,
submitted as exhibit four,
that his personal assets
do not allow for such a bond
to be met at this time.
- State's response?
- The state agrees.
$600,000 is not appropriate.
We're filing to deny bond altogether.
The state's request is beyond the pale.
Denying bail for a doctor?
A doctor charged with serious and
flagrant damage to his patients.
Christopher Duntsch is a flight
risk and a danger to society.
As it relates to Dr. Duntsch
being a flight risk,
he has ties to the community,
a home, and a child.
And as far as his privileges
are concerned,
Dr. Duntsch has refrained
from practicing medicine
from the moment his
reputation and credentials
were so baselessly questioned.
Well, I guess, then, at this time,
the state would like to call
Donald Duntsch to testify.
Objection. Your Honor. [LAUGHS]
Don Duntsch is present in court
today in support of his son.
He's not prepared to be called.
Miss McClung, Donald Duntsch
is on the state's witness list.
It's the state's prerogative
to call him when they wish.
It's your responsibility to prep
your witnesses beforehand.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[INDISTINCT WHISPERS]
♪
We appreciate you being
here today, Mr. Duntsch.
Where did you travel in from again?
We live outside Denver, Colorado.
Well, that must be hard to
have Christopher so far away.
Well, Chris has chosen
to stay near his family.
His son.
And I'm proud of him for that.
You seem to place a great deal of import
on integrity in your life.
I like to think so, yes.
Mr. Duntsch, is Christopher trying
to get his medical license back?
W
Well, I think, at one point,
he would have liked that to happen.
But you know, now, with
all that's going on
So you don't know if his medical license
was about to be reinstated?
To be specific,
a Colorado medical license?
Uh
I can't say, um, decisively.
I, uh that's not something
he and I talk about a lot.
That's a hard one for me to answer.
I I don't know.
Mr. Duntsch, did Christopher tell you
he wants to make bond
so that he can go back to work
and raise money for a defense?
♪
Yes. I suppose that's true.
Doesn't this all point to
the fact that Christopher,
despite his bad outcomes,
will continue practicing
medicine, no matter what?
[DARK MUSIC]
♪
- Get the fuck away from my house!
- [GUN CLICKS]
So I walk out of my office,
- and I'm like, "Where's Kim?"
- Enough.
And all I get are blank
stares. Confusion.
- She just walked out.
- Are you high?
I gave you the chance
to get in, ground up.
And you just walked out.
You walked out on me,
walked out on the empire.
You're goddamn right I did.
And seriously?
You're slithering around my house?
How sad.
You're making this pretty
fucking easy, Chris.
I'm filing a restraining
order against you.
Stay away.
You never had an empire.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
You never will.
♪
-
- [INDISTINCT RAP MUSIC]
♪
[INDISTINCT RAP MUSIC]
♪
[ULTRAMAGNETIC MC'S "EGO TRIPPIN'"]
Keepin' busy in the place ♪
♪
Fort Greene Mission Posse ♪
2Love's in the house ♪
South Bronx ♪
To the girl Chris ♪
[TIRES SQUEAL]
[CRASHING]
♪
[BEEPING IN DISTANCE]
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]
[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE]
[GRUNTS]
[GRUNTS] Shit.
We should be celebrating.
Defense will argue this
isn't a criminal case.
They'll say it should be settled
in malpractice court.
- How do we counter that?
- I've talked to his patients.
Their stories, anyone with half
a heart will feel for them.
And what's the "but"?
This isn't just about
his medical skills.
Defense will say, and
it's hard to disprove,
that these were accidents
or the fault of others.
So we gotta make it about the man.
About what made him, about
his choices, his character.
We need to show that this all
started way before Dallas.
I'm gonna talk to the
people closest to him.
- His friends, girlfriends, teachers.
- [LAUGHS]
- What?
- Skadden?
We already tried that.
And what got back to us was,
"He came out of there trained."
I contacted U.T.
and Semmes-Murphey,
asked for his training hours.
This is what they gave me.
683 cases.
Of which only 230 were spinal.
How many should there be?
Well, there's no required minimum,
but a good number would be around 400.
That's his residency.
Where's Semmes-Murphy?
Told me they don't keep records.
- Oh?
- Not required to by law.
But according to them, he had enough.
I'll hear it from the
horse's mouth himself.
I'm not sure that's the end of
the horse he best represents.
We should help her.
- I'm not going to Memphis.
- No. God, no.
- Never again.
- [SIGHS]
You want to come to my house?
Your parents home?
[WHISTLES]
Here's Duntsch's Facebook page.
You're gonna love this.
Listen to this horseshit.
"The sound of the sea grows near.
"I feel waves upon my heart.
"All I want, all I need,
the answer awaits at the start."
Well, he's a better surgeon
than he is a poet.
Duntsch holds three patents.
Two with Ilya Burkov and Katya Melnikov.
Registered to a company
called Discgenics.
Discgenics, okay.
D-I-S-C-G-E-N-I-C-S.
- [BEEPS]
- Discgenics.
Hello, doctors.
Hey! Do svidaniya!
Hello, doctors.
I appreciate your willingness
to speak with us.
I know this puts you in an
uncomfortable position,
but we wanted to ask you
about Dr. Duntsch's time at Discgenics.
And now, it goes without saying
that we will protect your identity.
We don't want to get you in any trouble.
Trouble? What trouble?
Well, it seems everyone is afraid
to talk about Christopher Duntsch.
We're not scared. We're Russian.
- [LAUGHS]
- What do you want to know?
Anything and everything you can tell us.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Hello? Hello?
♪
What, you got hamsters
powering your Wi-Fi here?
I don't think that's how
Wi-Fi works, actually.
Yeah. I don't know why I did that.
[CHOPPY AUDIO] And they decided it
that it was for him to be away.
Yes, but he still had to
complete stage four.
Could you repeat what
you just said, please?
Which part did you miss?
The drug part or the investor part?
- All of it.
- All of it. We missed all of it.
I was saying that Duntsch
met with investors.
Skadden among them.
Everything was fine until
We don't know it was drugs,
but it was definitely something.
His behavior, his performance devolved.
Geoffrey Skadden was an
investor in Discgenics?
Research, Dr. Henderson. Research.
You've clearly done none.
He was one of the first
investors in Discgenics.
♪
[MUMBLING INDISTINCTLY]
[KNOCKS]
- Hi. Wendy Young?
- I have nothing to say to you media folk.
I'm not media. Name's Michelle Shughart.
I'm the assistant district attorney
overseeing the Christopher Duntsch case.
I was hoping to ask you a few questions.
Well, you got some kind of
subpoena or something?
I don't. But I can get one.
Question you in a more formal setting,
if that's what you're
most comfortable with.
It's up to you.
Come on.
Mason.
You were with him in Memphis?
Yeah. Just for a bit.
A couple of months before
we moved to Dallas.
But you know what he was like at home,
in social settings?
What do you want me to say?
That he was a druggie?
An alkie? A fraud?
If that's what you have to tell me.
You're not that much older than me.
Probably not.
And already a DA.
- Assistant.
- Assistant.
You like your parents?
Yes.
Treat you good?
Very.
- Support you?
- Always.
Must be nice. Such a perfect life.
[LOUD THUMP]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
I'm not gonna help you.
He deserves it.
- His patients, they
- No, no, no. Stop.
The world's a shitty place.
He dealt them a shitty hand.
Look, I've got a boy who needs to eat.
Needs a roof, needs clothes,
a piece of crap toy
from the supermarket now and again.
And I applied for the good jobs.
Nothing doing there.
And I'm no welfare queen.
'Cause the moment I start taking money
from the government's when
they start poking around
wondering about Mason's well-being.
So all I've got right
now is Chris's parents
and their checks.
So yeah,
in case you're wondering,
I'm gonna do what I have to do.
Thank you, Christopher Duntsch.
Thank you for your time.
Of course.
Teresa, Melanie, this
is Mr. And Mrs. Keller.
- Howdy.
- Pleasure.
Where's Dr. Morgan?
Newer pastures.
The commute was getting to her.
- She's from McKinney, right?
- She is.
It's not 20 minutes from here.
Are you saying she
didn't like me anymore?
[LAUGHING] Hardly possible.
Oh, that's too bad. She was lovely.
Still is, I imagine. Come on back.
You're operating at the
Dallas Medical Center now?
That's right. You're my first case.
[SIGHS]
- Oh!
- No, I'm sorry.
- Oh, please. Not at all.
- It dills my pickle
that anybody'd fill in half a crossword.
- Mm. Incorrectly, at that.
- Hmm?
I did the same thing not ten
minutes before you walked in.
[LAUGHS]
So what's keeping you
from doing the Frug?
- Neck or back?
- Well, it's my back.
Just one thing after another.
You know. How about you?
Neck.
Doctor says I need a "disctectomy"?
Is that how you say it?
All Greek, far as I hear.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
My son's getting married next year.
Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- Where?
Nothing's sorted; he keeps telling me
we got plenty of time
to figure it all out.
You're gonna be planning it.
That's the truth.
- That's the truth.
- [BOTH LAUGHING]
- [SIGHS] Kids?
- Oh, yes. Yes, but, you know,
weddings now are all
done and gone for me, though.
Time for rest, I suppose.
- Doctor's ready for you, hon.
- Oh. Well, good luck to ya.
- You too, dear.
- Your turn, Dorothy.
Thought you fell in, Earl.
Yeah, I'm up. Let's go.
- I'll see you.
- Bye.
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
[SIGHS]
Ms. Shughart, Dr. Skadden
will see you now.
♪
Ms. Shughart. Please come in.
Nice to meet you. Won't you have a seat?
Thank you.
[INQUISITIVE MUSIC]
♪
[INDISTINCT TV CHATTER]
Hi, Jerry. Nice to meet you.
Like basketball?
I like basketball.
Helps take my mind off things,
blow off steam.
I'll jump in.
I'm trying to establish a pattern
to prove Dr. Duntsch's recklessness.
From what I can ascertain,
it goes as far back as medical school.
Is that a fair assessment?
Yeah.
Was he properly trained?
What do you think?
Did you ever witness him take drugs?
Mr. Summers?
Take drugs?
Yes.
What's gonna happen to him?
How do you mean?
If I tell you all this stuff,
what is gonna happen?
We'd schedule a deposition
that'll go on the record,
after which you'll testify in court
and hopefully get a conviction
and justice for you
and the others he hurt.
- So he'll go to prison?
- I hope so.
I didn't do right by him.
He worked so hard,
harder than everybody.
He never stopped.
And then he takes a job at a hospital,
someone else makes a mistake,
and they blame him for it,
saying he's a bad doctor.
You have any idea what
that does to a person?
He was depressed.
I just wanted to be there for him.
He needed a win.
[TENSE MUSIC]
That's why you let him operate on you?
For a win?
I had my neck looked at
right out of high school.
The doctor said I needed surgery,
but life got in the way.
And then Dr. Skadden took a look at me.
Skadden? From Semmes-Murphy?
Favor for Chris.
And he didn't want to operate.
Said I had a narrow canal or something.
No insurance.
But Chris is the smartest guy I know.
If anyone could do it, it was him.
So the operation was your idea?
[SOMBER MUSIC]
Yeah.
♪
If I was in your position,
I'd be upset, angry.
How are you not angry at
him for doing this to you?
I could have stopped him.
I saw it.
I was strong, and I
could have stopped him.
Kayla tried to stop him.
- Who's Kayla?
- Kayla Gibson.
With him at U.T.
She tried to stop him.
[LAUGHS]
But we were just having fun, you know?
Do you think he did it on purpose?
No.
Do you think he deserves to be punished?
He has a family.
When was the last time you saw him?
Has he come to see you
since the operation?
- Has he come to check in on his friends?
- Stop. Stop, stop.
- Has he said, "I'm sorry"?
- Get out, get out.
- He's not your friend, Jerry.
- Get her out.
- He did this to you.
- Get her out.
- Let's go.
- He killed other people.
- Come on.
- Just help me
- Fuck you! He's my friend, okay?
- We need you need to testify.
He's my fucking friend!
He's my friend! He's my fucking friend!
Okay? He's my fucking friend!
He's my fucking friend!
Fuck you. He's my fucking friend.
I bring you more glad tidings of joy.
- Thank you.
- [WHISTLES]
I gotta start inventing some shit.
- What?
- From 2001 to 2006,
Skadden made $27 million in
royalties from Medtronic.
The largest medical device
company in the world.
That's nothing to them.
From 2006, "Medical device
maker Medtronic Inc.
"agreed to pay 40 million
"to settle government civil charges
"that its Sofamor Danek spinal
surgery division paid kickbacks,
"including sham royalty
agreements and lavish trips
"to surgeons to induce them
to use the company's products."
Medtronic is not admitting
illegality, of course.
Was that because of Skadden?
"Spine surgery patents are valuable,
"and litigation in this
area is tricky terrain.
"Two of the Medtronic consultants
"mentioned in the whistleblower
case received
"hundreds of thousands of
dollars from the company.
"Geoffrey Skadden of the
Semmes-Murphy clinic
in Memphis and "
some other dude whose
name I can't pronounce,
"are highly regarded surgeon-inventors
"who have played a role in developing
important surgery products
"with Medtronic.
"Dr. Skadden said that he has
more than 50 issued patents
"and that he has received
reasonable royalties for inventions
that have nothing to
do with his practice."
Well, he deserves to get
paid for his inventions.
[SIGHS] I guess so.
This is the SEC filing for Discgenics.
You can see that Skadden's listed
as the Executive Officer and a Director.
That's in 2007, three years
into Duntsch's residency.
Two years after that, he was
admitted into the fellowship.
Well, how do you like that?
What a coincidence.
Why do you think Skadden
wouldn't mention
that he was an investor in Discgenics?
Would you?
- I'd like to think I would.
- But?
Probably not, because
I'd want to hide it.
Because it's wrong.
How can I be an investor in his company
and the head of his fellowship
at the same time?
I mean, that's what we
would call anybody?
That's the definition of a
conflict of interest, Robert.
- Uh-huh.
- I'm in love with your wife.
I am in love with you.
- I know.
- [LAUGHS]
The two of you are making
a moral argument,
not a legal one.
And nothing he did crosses that line.
I think we can all agree that
he definitely pissed on it.
That's the American way, Randy.
I think we ought to do
something about that.
Yes. We should.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
Breakfast for dinner?
Kayla.
Thank you for coming.
I turned around twice.
Wanna sit down?
I'm sorry for springing that
article on you like that.
Oof, you knew exactly
what you were doing.
I haven't seen him in years.
Not since med school.
- Okay.
- Not sure what I can offer.
Please, sit.
Did that article make sense?
No.
But you're here.
You talked to Jerry?
I did.
And?
He's in a tough place right now.
And he's protecting Chris.
What do you wanna know?
I'm trying to get a picture
of who he is, why he is.
You're trying to put him in prison.
I'm having a hard time
reconciling the person I knew
with the person in that article.
It's all true.
In fact, that article sorta
just scratched the surface.
He was charming.
Intelligent, focused, handsome.
Very handsome.
Y'all partied a lot?
We did what most med students do.
Work hard, party harder.
He had a wild side, but didn't everyone?
Did you witness him using drugs?
The thing about med school
is no one cares how hard you party
as long as you can handle it.
Chris handled it just
fine until he didn't.
It started off with him handing
out tabs to his friends.
Then he started writing
prescriptions at parties.
I tried to stop him, but he didn't care.
People knew to go to his place
to get whatever they wanted.
You're the one who made the
anonymous call to the program?
I had to do something.
What about his training?
I can't overstate to you
how brilliant Chris was.
I'd say he was the smartest
person in school.
But he's a researcher. That's his gift.
He had no business
going the surgery route.
If he'd stayed in the research field,
I think he'd have one
of the biggest mansions
in Germantown right now.
- Germantown?
- They have museums for homes.
Chris and I used to take
drives there on Sundays,
picking out the houses we'd buy one day.
He'd say things like, "Me and you,
Kayla, we're gonna run this town
and sleep on mattresses full of cash."
- A power couple.
- [LAUGHS]
Yeah, it's funny.
It's funny you should say that,
'cause he used to call me and him
a Black and white power cookie.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
That was Chris.
He'd say silly things like that.
School was stressful,
and he made it fun.
Whenever I was with him, it felt like
things were gonna be okay.
Sorry.
Maybe I should have had an intervention.
But I was in a top program,
and I didn't want to
deal with any drama,
so I left him.
Who does that?
My parents always taught me to
care for the ones around us.
I didn't do that.
That article,
that is not the man I fell in love with.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
I don't even know why I came.
I don't want to get
involved in any of this.
If you use me as a reference for
anything I said, I'll deny it.
I understand, and I won't.
But I appreciate you talking to me.
I, um
I wish you knew him back then.
♪
Maybe we can try to cut
some sort of plea deal?
The ADA isn't offering a deal.
Well, can you try to secure one?
They won't go for it, Mr. Duntsch.
18 months until the trial starts.
18 months in here.
- Chris
- No.
No.
This cannot be.
I am not guilty.
They can't do this to me.
Look, we can go
18 months until the
fucking trial starts!
That's the best that you can do?
- The system isn't as fast as you'd
- Just go. Go, go.
I need to talk to my father alone.
[SIGHS]
This lawyer, she isn't working.
She's a good lawyer, Chris.
What about Mr. Damelio?
Could he work the case?
Damelio's a tax attorney.
I'm not going to make it, Dad.
- I can't do this.
- No, don't Chris.
- Don't say that.
- I'm alone.
My friends, my colleagues,
they've abandoned me.
Family is the only thing I have left.
And Wendy hasn't visited in months.
She won't bring Mason.
And I need to see my son.
Maybe you could talk to her.
Remind her how important it
is that families stick together.
They never know when they might
need something from us someday.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Can you hear how loud it is in here?
- Do you hear how loud it is?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, it's loud.
- It's like that all the time.
Everything you say echoes off the floor,
off the ceiling.
You can't hear yourself speak.
You can't hear the TV.
You can't hear anything.
So people just keep on talking
louder and louder,
and they turn the TV louder and louder.
And it is like this all the time.
- I'm so sorry, Chris.
- [SCOFFS] Sorry?
That's funny.
Because the bond hearing
was your fuckup.
I could be out there
with my son right now
and not begging for visits from a cage.
You are the goddamn reason
I am in this hellhole.
I'm done.
♪
"I have burned my tomorrow
"and I stand inside today.
"At the edge of the future
where my dreams all fade away."
"I face all my sorrows.
"Shadows stand in my way.
"At the edge of the future,
"what will happen, none can say.
"You see only darkness
"as you ran away.
"You know now you were sleeping.
And your dreams will turn today."
It's going everywhere.
Look.
Hey, buddy.
[CHUCKLES]
Is that for me?
- Oh.
- Guess the toy.
- I gotta guess the toy?
- Yeah.
Okay, what do you think
is in here? I think
it's a PlayStation.
- Look.
- Look?
A truck! Oh, my God.
A PlayStation can't fit
in that big of a box.
I should have known. You're right.
A PlayStation can't fit
in that big of a box.
And it can't fit in that bag either.
- And I got it all wrong.
- [LAUGHS] Yeah.
You got the whole thing wrong.
[UNKLE'S "BURN MY SHADOW"]
♪
[LOCK CHIRPS]
♪
8,000 people carried at 8,000 miles.
That's pretty encouraging, isn't it?
Yeah, now a whole bunch
of them are profiteering.
They're selling their torches online
for, like, thousands of dollars.
People, man. [SIGHS]
I leave myself in God's
and Dr. Duntsch's hands.
- Stiff competition.
- Dr. Duntsch.
Josh Baker. I'll be your
circulating nurse, sir.
You come from Baylor?
That's right.
And my dreams all fade away ♪
[WHISPERS] You got a
hole in your scrubs, sir.
I have burned my tomorrows ♪
You said you're the
circulating nurse, right?
Yes, sir.
Shouldn't you be prepping my OR?
Absolutely, sir.
Mrs. Keller. I'll see
you on the other side.
Now
let's get you up and doing cartwheels.
♪
And burn my shadow away ♪
♪
And burn my shadow away ♪
♪
I faced my destroyer ♪
I was ambushed by a lie ♪
And you judge me once for falling ♪
This wounded heart will rise ♪
♪
And burn my shadow away ♪
♪
And burn my shadow away ♪
♪