AM

American Scandal

Wondery

The Story of Dr Death the Cowboy

From New Season - Dr. Death: The CowboyJun 10, 2026

Excerpt from American Scandal

New Season - Dr. Death: The CowboyJun 10, 2026 — starts at 0:00

There are people you are told to trust, like lawyers, teachers, and especially doctors. But what happens when you put your life in someone's hands and they betray you In an all new season of Doror Death, host Laura Bele uncovers the story of a surgeon who took advantage of a broken system fight to bring him to justice. Doror Death the Cowboy follows a charming neurosurgeon who rode into western towns selling a persona of confidence and care He wore cowboy boots in the operating room and became sought after by patients. He promised to heal them, to help them But instead, he left a trail of broken bodies. This is a story about a doctor who was never truly held accountable for ruining the lives of his patients. It's also a story of a fight for justice that will leave you questioning who to trust. You're about to hear a clip from Doctor Death the Cowboy. Listen to Doctor Death the Cowboy wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Doctor Death the Cowboy ad free right now Start your audible subscription in the Audible app or on Apple podcasts When they were called in, he sat at the edge of the exam table He was in his sixties, tall and wiry, and he began to lay it out for them I would go over the films with them and say, Here's the problem And then he told them what it meant. We're gonna to have to do surgery We just need to fix the fusions that never healed None of them healed Christie was speechless, trying to take it all in I said the first surgery fromr Dr. Schneider, he said, no, none of the hardware is healed, none of it And I'm picturing it in my head all these screws and bolts in my mom's back just floating around And I asked him, I said so my mom was walking around without broken back all this time. He said, yeah, none of it's healed My mom didn't say anything She was just listening in shock. dor. Narodsky was clear that there were no magic fixes The best he could do was to remove the hardware and fuse her spine for a third time My brain was just Go on it every which direction. likeike do we trust this doctor? S you know what he doing And there was one question in particular that was weighing on her mind The thought that Dr. Schneidder had planted in her head I asked him if this is going to paralyze my mom I still believed that he was R, Dr. Schneider and anybody that touched her was gonna to paralyze her There was nothing to be done doror Norodski told her that wouldn't happen He wasn't pushy at all He said thinkink on it get back to me Let me know what you think. Christie walked out of Dr. Norodsky's office relieved fininally she found someone willing to take on one of Dr. Schneidder's patients But as she took her mom and her two toddlers back out of the building and into the parking lot Christie could feel her emotions rising The kids and my mom in the truck and I walked around the parking lot so they wouldn't hear me She pulled out her cell phone and punched in the number for the office of Dr. Schneidder I asked to speak to him. He wouldn't take the call so I told the seecretary to give him a message for me. er I wanted to hear it from Schneider that he lied to us all these years, that my mom had a broken back that she's walking around with hardware that's not even connected to her bones and I wanted to hear it from him. What his thoughts are. Did he know all these years that my mom's fusion didn't heal that he put her through so much pain and agony And I remember a few of the people in the parking lot looking at me because I was screaming on the phone demanding him to get on the phone and talk to me and tell me what he thinks of this She just kept saying, he's too busy, he's with patience, he cannot come to the phone. But I'll be sure to tell him. A week later Her mom got a letter. It was from Dr. Schneidder He wrote I was aghast that your daughter would intimate and accuse myself or my staff of medical error or ignoring your needs. He went on with a warning for her I am very concerned you chose doctor Noratsky for your second opinion and would encourage you to be very, very careful before believing or letting this doctor treat you I would be happy to sit down with you and your family and review these issues As she scanned through the words, Christie could only think one thing What an asshole? At that point you think he's like He doesn't want any other surgeon to see what he did to my mom inside her back Christie and her mom did not take up Dr. Schnyder's offer of a follow up appointment. nor did she pay any attention to his warnings about Dr. Noratsky Instead, she moved ahead with her mom's surgery Then not long later, a second letter arrived in the mail with the warning that made her wonder what. and who she was really dealing with I panicked completely panicked Binge all episodes of Dr. Death the Cowboy, ad free right now on Audible. Start your audible subscription in the Audible app or on Apple podcasts

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