''Dr. Death'' is a podcast produced by

Wondery Wondery is an American podcast network and publisher of podcasts including ''American History Tellers'', ''Dr. Death (podcast), Dr. Death'' and ''The Shrink Next Door''. Wondery was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and media executive Hernan Lopez ...

that focuses on egregious cases of

medical malpractice Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, deviates from standards in their profession, thereby causing injury or death to a patient. The negligen ...

. The podcast is hosted and reported by Laura Beil and premiered September 4, 2018. Season 1 tells the story of

Christopher Duntsch Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971) is a former American neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. Death for 33 incidents of gross neurosurgical malpractice while working at hospitals in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, which maimed ...

, a Texas

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, ...

who was convicted of gross malpractice after 31 of his patients were left seriously injured after he operated on them, and 2 patients died during his operation. Season 2 focuses on Farid Fata, a

hematologist Hematology ( spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the production ...

and

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...

convicted for prescribing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

to patients who either didn't have cancer or whose condition did not warrant chemotherapy. He pled guilty to charges of healthcare fraud,

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

, and conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks. Season 3 focuses on

Paolo Macchiarini Paolo Macchiarini (born 22 August 1958) is a thoracic surgeon and former regenerative medicine researcher who became known for research fraud and manipulative behavior. He was convicted of research-related crimes in Italy and Sweden. Previou ...

, a Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon and

regenerative medicine Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by st ...

researcher who became known for research fraud and unethical experiments in synthetic tracheas that led to the deaths of several patients, as well as the experience of his former fiancé Benita Alexander, who reveals Macchiarini's extensive fraud in their relationship in a series of interviews. Season 4 focuses on Serhat Gumrukcu, an HIV and cancer researcher.

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3 - "Miracle Man"

Season 4 - "Black Magic"

Promotion

Wondery promoted the podcast by renting ad space on a

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

directly across the street from Baylor Plano where Dr. Death subject Christopher Duntsch had worked. The billboard was covered up hours after it was erected by

Clear Channel Outdoor Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. is a multinational corporation focused on outdoor advertising. The company is based in San Antonio, Texas. Together with JCDecaux, it is one of the largest outdoor advertising companies. History Founding ...

after they received several complaints; Baylor Plano denied any involvement with the removal of the billboard.

Reception

''Dr. Death'' received mostly positive reviews. ''

GQ Magazine ''GQ'' (short for ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and previously known as ''Apparel Arts'') is an international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though ...

'' called it "The scariest podcast of the year." Season two of the show received the 2021 Ambies award for "Best True Crime Podcast".

TV adaptation

On October 3, 2018, it was announced that

Universal Cable Productions Universal Content Productions LLC (UCP) is an American television production company operating within the Universal Studio Group division of NBCUniversal, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. History Universal Cable Productions In July ...

had put the TV series into development. '' Happy!'' show runner Patrick Macmanus will executive produce and write the script.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Investigative journalism Infotainment Audio podcasts 2018 podcast debuts Crime podcasts 2018 podcast endings Podcasts adapted into television shows Medical malpractice American podcasts Wondery podcasts Health fraud media