The Cowboy | Dirty Laundry

Laura Beil· Host0:00

Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Dr. Death: The Cowboy early and ad free. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app, or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. Kathy Monaco had seen her share of bad backs. She'd worked in medical administration for nearly 25 years. For the last four, she'd worked for Dr. John Schneider, handling patient requests at his clinic. So when her husband Russell hurt his back lifting a beer keg, Kathy knew he needed to see a doctor. According to court documents, she later said, "He was in a lot of pain, and I said, 'It's time to go. We need to get checked out because you can't miss work.'" Russell was 47 years old. He and Kathy lived with their two daughters, Mallory and Madison, and their husky, Timba. Russell worked as a machinist, and in his spare time coached softball for one of his daughter's teams. He'd had trouble with his back before, and Russell wasn't sure about his local surgeon. So Kathy called in a favor. She sent her boss an email. It read, "I know you're busy, and I'm sorry to bother you again, but could you look at my husband's lumbar MRI that was done yesterday?" Dr. Schneider got back to her the same day. He told her that Russell had three ruptured discs and would need an operation pretty quickly. But if they wanted Schneider to do it, they would have to go all the way to the hospital where