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(Warning: As you might expect from a post about losing faith in humanity, these stories involve murder, sexual assault, the death of children, suicide, the death penalty, mental illness, and serious health struggles. Please take care of yourself if any of that hits close to home.)

The REALLY scary part of all of this is the medical system that allowed him to continue practicing even when his patients were dying and colleagues were raising concerns. One hospital even allowed Duntsch to resign without reporting him to the National Practitioner Data Bank, enabling him to secure positions at other facilities.

The tipping point came with the case of Mary Efurd, a 72-year-old patient left paralyzed after Duntsch operated on the wrong part of her spine, severed a nerve root, and misplaced surgical hardware. This case, among others, prompted the Texas Medical Board to revoke his license in 2013. 

In 2015, criminal charges were filed, and in 2017, Duntsch was convicted of injury to an elderly person and sentenced to life in prison.​

She​ endured excruciating pain for approximately 35 minutes until the surgical team noticed the propofol on the pillow. Realizing the epic screwup, the medical team administered the correct anesthesia, but the damage was done. Gustafson later recounted: "We're two and a half years out since the surgery, and it affects me every day... I have PTSD from it. I still have nightmares. I get daily flashbacks. This is something that I needed professional help with, so I started therapy."

The experiment is now seen as wildly unethical. There was no informed consent (obviously — Donald was a baby), and the risks to the child's cognitive and emotional development were huge. Donald grew up to be a physicist but died by suicide in his early 40s. 

Setzer's mother, Megan Garcia, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Character.AI and Google, and describes this interaction in Setzer's last conversation with the Chatbot:

SETZER: “I promise I will come home to you. I love you so much, Dany.”

CHATBOT: “I love you too, Daenero. Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love.”

SETZER: “What if I told you I could come home right now?”

CHATBOT: "... please do, my sweet king.”

In January 2026, Character.AI and Google reached a mediated settlement with Sewell’s mother, Megan Garcia, along with settlements in several other lawsuits involving teenagers who allegedly suffered serious harm after using Character.AI. 

Two months prior, Russell Taylor — the executive director of the Jared Foundation, a nonprofit that purported to fight childhood obesity — was arrested on federal child sexual abuse images charges, and in the course of investigating, authorities discovered he had traded sexually explicit videos of children as young as 6 years old with Fogle. 

Additionally, the FBI subpoenaed text messages Fogle traded in 2008 with a Subway franchisee he was having an affair with. The texts were damning: Fogle talked about sexually abusing children as young as 9 years old, and tried to enlist her help to sleep with her 16-year-old cousin. Further investigation found that Fogle traveled to New York to have sex with a 17-year-old underage sex worker.

Fogle pleaded guilty to two counts: distribution and receipt of child sexual abuse images, and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. He was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in prison. He's eligible for parole on March 24, 2029.

Note to history buffs: I know this is a super simplified explanation that doesn't mention all the complexities of the situation.

One super messed-up example: in August 2023, a Cruise robotaxi reportedly ran over a pedestrian after they had already been hit by a human-driven car, and then dragged her an additional 20 feet because the vehicle didn't understand what had happened. Following the incident, Cruise stopped driverless operations nationwide. 

But Waymo has since expanded to more than 10 U.S. cities, and companies like Zoox, Tesla, and Volkswagen are continuing to push robotaxis into new markets.

Loibl had shot Grimmie three times at point-blank range. Grimmie's brother tackled him, and the two fought before Loibl broke away and shot himself. Grimmie was rushed to the hospital but pronounced dead less than an hour later.

Investigators learned that Loibl was obsessed with Grimmie, spending his free time watching videos of the singer and poring over her social media accounts. He believed they were soulmates, so to make himself more attractive to her, he underwent Lasik eye surgery, got hair plugs, and lost 50 pounds. When he was told it was unlikely they'd ever be together, Loibl became angry and defensive. Somewhere along the way, he decided on this new, horrible course of action.

 The third time finally sparked major outrage and national media attention. The Department of Health fined the hospital $50,000, implemented strict oversight, and temporarily required external surgeons to monitor surgeries. 

Carvey filed a $7.5-million lawsuit against the surgeon. Carvey wasn't just concerned for himself — he wanted to make sure it never happened to anyone else. "This is not about money," he said at the time. "This is about accountability and patient safety." After reaching a settlement (the amount was never publicly disclosed), Carvey donated the entire sum to charity. 

Good on you, Dana. And you know what? Maybe the ending to this one will leave you with a little shred of faith in humanity.

Dial 988 in the United States to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Lifeline is available 24/7/365. Your conversations are free and confidential. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org. The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-800-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.