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

Wondery Wondery is an American podcast network and publisher of numerous award-winning podcasts, including Dirty John, Dr. Death, and The Shrink Next Door. Wondery was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and media executive Hernan Lopez. The company was lau ...

that focuses on egregious cases of medical malpractice. 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 neurosurgery, neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death for gross medical malpractice, malpractice resulting in the mutilation, maiming of several patients' spin ...

, a Texas neurosurgeon who was convicted of gross malpractice after thirty-one of his patients were left seriously injured after he operated on them, and two patients died during his operation. Season 2 focuses on

Farid Fata Farid T. Fata (, born 1965) is a Lebanese-born former hematologist/ oncologist and the mastermind of one of the largest health care frauds in U.S. history. Fata was the owner of Michigan Hematology-Oncology (MHO), one of the largest cancer practic ...

, a

hematologist Hematology (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, always 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 ...

and oncologist convicted for prescribing chemotherapy to patients who either did not have cancer or whose condition did not warrant chemotherapy. He pled guilty to charges of healthcare fraud, money laundering, and conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks. Season 3 focuses on Paolo Macchiarini, a Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon and regenerative medicine researcher who became known for

research fraud Scientific misconduct is the violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in the publication of professional scientific research. A '' Lancet'' review on ''Handling of Scientific Misconduct in Scandinavian countrie ...

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.

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3 - "Miracle Man"

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 advertise ...

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 Americas (CCOA) is an out-of-home (OOH) advertising company based in New York City with operations throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean. CCOA is one of two separate business units operating as part of Clear Channel Outdo ...

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Death (podcast) Investigative journalism Infotainment Audio podcasts 2018 podcast debuts Crime podcasts 2018 podcast endings Podcasts adapted into television shows Medical malpractice American podcasts