Dr Death (2021) - A true story (It could have been part of the American Horror franchise).
Fortunately for me, I have a great news source which tells me it is #WorldHealthDay (thank you CineTV - not just entertaining, but also informative!). To be part of the conversation, I'd love to take the opportunity to talk about a particular doctor on the small screen: Dr Death!
It is also a bit of a double whammy, having told @papcrusher I didn't like any content from 2021 - it turns out, beyond Survivor, I liked this gem. I must have seen it in very early 2021, and it wasn't on Netflix!
Right from the get-go, I would nearly bet I know what you're thinking: Joshua Jackson - I remember him from 'Dawson's Creek' - and you would be right. He was the guy in the background, but now - he takes centre stage. And the truth is, he deserves to be the leading man in this one, his performance was superb - and he had us feeling absolute disgust towards him - the absolute intention of the piece. Whereas the doctor that Alec Baldwin plays is charming - could he be anything but?
You see, this is a true story - the 'deaths' that earned him the title, 'Dr Death' wern't ficticious, but very much the product of the American Health System. Let me sum up the show for you: The good doctor is an incredibly high achiever - as a young man he shows incredible promise and tenacity and this sees him make significant gains in his study and through university.
But, over time he starts to make mistakes, and this results in the deaths of patients - the problem is, hospitals are part of the 'moving him on', without blemishing the doctor's name - in the knowledge that it would also blemish the hospital. From an academia standpoint, all his notes were textbook brilliant - and it was impossible to suggest negligence. This allowed Dr Death to move from location to location, but then the question is asked: what if the deaths and mistakes and permanent disabilities were not accidents, but the mad and wild intentions of a man not just playing God, but assuming he was God - holding the power of life and death in his hands - he did, afterall, have the academic understanding of each procedure he undertook in his capacity as a neurosurgeon - often doing spinal surgeries.
This series therefore is shot in a non-linear way, jumping between present work endeavours and where he'd been in the past. Dr Chris Duntsch (Dr Death) was being followed up by two fellow surgeons and a District Attorney - but, given the speed at which bureaucracies work - the audience is forced to watch patient after patient, people who are promised hope - wake, to their lives being shattered. This included his best-friend, who complained of back-problems - minor, in comparison to the resulting surgery performed by his friend leaving him a paraplegic.
The government was complicit here too, perhaps - as the more experienced District Attorneys refused the case, citing the impossibility of a conviction given the pattern of behaviour could be imagined as accident - the end result was for an imaginative prosecution, brought to the court as elder abuse.
The eventual outcome is that Dr Duntsch loses his licence; it is revoked by the Texas Medical Board - and it looks like a win. The neuorsurgeon, who is now financially and emotionally broken is given a life sentence in prison, with the reprieve of a parole in 2045 - having served 30 years behind bars, leaving him out when he's 74! Yet - the ending is not necesarily the 'win' or 'happy' one that we might have hoped for, as the supers tell us that doctor abuse is common practise - and that anyone we trust to complete our surgeries are ultimately part of patterns of greed associated with medical institutions.
Dr Duntsch, in real life, obviously received the mirror conviction of the portrayal of Jackson on screen. He performed 38 surgeries over a two year period, with 33 of these being 'botched'.
The show was a warning, but I certainly wouldn't watch it before seeing a doctor!
This post is in response to the CineTV prompt. Get on it! https://twitter.com/CineTv_io/status/1512016326818254856
