What does it take to put a doctor in prison for what he did in the operating room?

In this powerful episode of AdvoKAYte: Holding Healthcare Accountable, host Kay Van Wey sits down with Michelle Shughart, the lead prosecutor in the infamous “Dr. Death” case — the criminal trial that sent neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch to prison for life.

Michelle pulls back the curtain on how a case unlike anything the Dallas DA’s office had ever seen became a historic prosecution.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

1. Michelle’s path to the Dr. Death case

• From handling everyday felonies and white-collar crimes to taking on a serially harmful surgeon with a trail of devastated patients.

2. Why this was truly a criminal case

• How the team dug through medical records, patient stories, and surgeon testimony to prove that what happened in the OR was far beyond “complications.”

3. Inside the mind of Dr. Death

• The chilling “stone cold killer” email
• Wildly abnormal surgical “complications” that “just don’t happen”
• A surgeon who didn’t know what structure he was operating on — and still thought he was doing a great job
• How narcissism, possible sociopathy, and drugs collided in the worst way

4. The victims and the numbers

• How subpoenas revealed that almost every patient he touched was harmed — and why it’s a miracle he was stopped before building an even bigger practice.

5. The hospital records you never see

• How Michelle used criminal subpoenas to access peer review files and internal documents that called his work “terrible” and “inexcusable.”

6. The defense strategy

• Why no doctor took the stand to defend his care, and how the defense tried to shift blame to hospitals and training programs instead.

7. The turning point in court

• How Dr. Randall Kirby and Dr. Robert Henderson raised the alarm — and how Dr. Mark Lazar’s testimony finally forced Dr. Death to confront what he’d done.

8. Where the story goes from here

• Why Michelle, Kay, and the rest of the team still work together to push for systemic change so this never happens again.

About Our Guest – Michelle Shughart

1. Felony Chief at the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office
2. Lead prosecutor in the Dr. Death criminal case
3. Now in the Crimes Against Children unit, which she calls some of the most meaningful work she’s ever done
4. Mom of two young kids, fighting every day for the most vulnerable

About the Podcast

AdvoKAYte: Holding Healthcare Accountable, hosted by medical malpractice attorney Kay Van Wey, uses real cases like Dr. Death to expose how the system fails patients — and what must change to make healthcare safer.

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How did “Dr. Death” Christopher Duntsch keep getting hired by hospitals… even after maiming and killing patients?

In Episode 6 of AdvoKAYte: Holding Healthcare Accountable, medical malpractice attorney and host Kay Van Wey talks with Dr. Robert “Bob” Oshel, former senior leader at the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), about how a system designed to catch dangerous doctors failed to stop Dr. Death.

Using the Dr. Death case as a roadmap, Kay and Dr. Oshel break down:

1. How Duntsch was able to move from hospital to hospital despite catastrophic outcomes
2. How hospitals can quietly push out problem physicians without triggering NPDB reporting
3. The legal tricks (like 29-day suspensions) used to avoid filing reportable actions
4. Why only about half of U.S. hospitals have EVER reported a clinical privileges action
5. The stunning reality that 1.8% of doctors account for half of all malpractice payouts—yet most never face serious discipline
6. Why patients cannot access NPDB data on their own doctors
7. What would have to change—legally and politically—to prevent “the next Dr. Death”

You’ll also learn:

1. What the National Practitioner Data Bank is and why Congress created it
2. How hospitals, medical boards, and insurers are supposed to use it
3. Why weak enforcement, loopholes, and money incentives keep patients in the dark

This episode will change the way you think about hospital accountability, “bad apples,” and the illusion that “someone must be watching.”

About Our Guest – Dr. Robert Oshel

1. PhD in Government, specializing in public law and research methodology
2. Former director-level leader at the National Practitioner Data Bank, overseeing research and secretarial review of disputed reports
3. Longtime volunteer with Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, analyzing national malpractice and disciplinary data to expose patterns of danger and inaction

Subscribe to AdvoKAYte: Holding Healthcare Accountable

New episodes weekly with Kay Van Wey, digging into real cases like Dr. Death and exposing how the system fails patients and how we can fight back.

If this episode opened your eyes, like, comment, and share.

Tell us in the comments: Should the Dr. Death case have pushed Congress to make doctor discipline data public?

How do dangerous physicians slip through the cracks—and even thrive—in our healthcare system?

In Episode 5 of AdvoKAYte: Holding Healthcare Accountable, host Kay Van Wey talks with credentialing and peer review expert Anne Roberts, a 29-year industry veteran who has worked with hospitals nationwide to improve physician oversight, prevent patient harm, and strengthen safety culture.

Anne’s work spans nearly three decades across academic medical centers, rural hospitals, and major health systems. She trains physician leaders, oversees onboarding, evaluates competency, and investigates red flags long before a doctor ever touches a patient. After the Dr. Death case, Anne and Kay connected through a shared outrage—and a shared mission: no more preventable patient harm.

In this eye-opening conversation, Anne breaks down:

1. Credentialing 101: how hospitals are supposed to vet a doctor’s training, competence, and background
2. The red flags that should stop a physician from being hired
3. Why shortcuts happen—and how financial pressure leads to dangerous decisions
4. The truth about board certification and what it does (and doesn’t) mean
5. How recredentialing and continuous monitoring really work
6. The secret world of peer review—and why patients rarely get access to outcomes data
7. What patients can do to protect themselves when choosing a doctor
8. How business leaders sometimes override clinicians—and why that puts patients at risk

Anne also shares how she won the Icon Award for her leadership in reforming credentialing standards, and why she believes transparency, training, and better oversight are the only way forward.

If you’re a patient, a healthcare professional, or someone who wants to understand how the system failed in the Dr. Death case—and how to prevent the next one—this conversation is essential.

Listen to more episodes & access resources:

https://www.vanweylaw.com/advokayte-podcasts/

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