Thats something that was new to us, so we need to analyze that, Lundstrm-Kron says. So, as per the last reports, he is alive and well today. He performed a synthetic trachea transplant on, In 2013, he met documentary television producer. He was 63 years old when he was found guilty of causing harm through negligence but not of carrying out an intentional assault and he received a probationary sentence on June 16, 2022. Benita Alexander wearing a wig as she tracked down Paolo in Barcelona [Investigation Discovery]. Why dont the Electoral College and popular vote always match up? But it did not work, and a court in Sweden has found him criminally liable for the harm inflicted on a patient. Starting in 2011, Macchiarini performed three transplantations of synthetic tracheas at Karolinska University Hospital, but one of those patients died in 2012, the timeline reports. These included Harriet Wallberg, who was the vice-chancellor of the Karolinska Institute in 2010, when Macchiarini was recruited. WebIn reality, Paolo had not worked with the Pope, and he was still married to his wife of 30 years. Illinois "Maybe it happened because I am a journalist, and once I sort of woke up and put my journalist hat back on, I could expose him," she said. While many in Sweden expressed disappointment at what they saw as the leniency of the sentence, given that prosecutors had asked for five years in prison, the verdict nonetheless represented the culmination of a stunning fall from grace for a once high-flying surgeon. She spent more than three years in intensive care and endured 200 surgical procedures, theTimes reports. And the TV shows second season, announced earlier this month, will cover the podcasts third, with Edgar Ramirez playing Paolo Macchiarini, and This Is Us star Mandy Moore playing Benita Alexander, an investigative journalist who falls into a whirlwind romance with the doctor. 2023 Warner Bros. Ultimate Fighting Championship Does the heat of stem cell research the high levels of funding, prestige and media coverage it enjoys somehow encourage fraud? The Karolinska University Hospital suspended Dr. Macchiarinis contract as a surgeon in 2013, but the affiliated Karolinska Institute kept him on until 2016 even as the scandal over his work spread, according to a timeline on the institutes website. Although all three patients eventually died, Dr. Macchiarini was not directly accused of killing them. California Her ex-husband John was dying of cancer. Las Vegas He officially cleared Macchiarini of scientific misconduct, allowing merely that hed sometimes acted without due care. Paolo Macchiarinis income source is mostly from being a successful . Almost overnight, he became a superstar. Paolo stated in an interview with a TV station in Iceland that he has always acted in the patients' best interest, and believes that his procedures should be seen as successful. February 28, 2022 Emanuela Pecchia is famously known as the wife of popular Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon, Paolo Macchiarini. February 28, 2022 Emanuela Pecchia is famously known as the wife of popular Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon, Paolo Macchiarini. The Karolinska Institute was seduced by Macchiarini, Gerdin told the newspaper. In September 2020, Swedish prosecutors announced charges against him for aggravated assault in connection to three surgeries that he had performed at the. In court testimony, he defended himself as only trying to help desperately ill patients, and said he had the full support of KI and his colleagues. The felony conviction means Macchiarini would have a hard time finding employment again in Sweden, Gerdin says. He opened and cleaned out the donors esophagus, laying it against Ms. Seins esophagus. Texas But, we now know that the success of this operation was a lie, and the complications she suffered because of it were kept under wraps for a really long time. Tokyo In the same year, he earned his medical degree from the, In 1989, he took a course on statistics in clinical research at, In 1994, he obtained a masters degree certificate in organ and tissue transplantation from the, From 2006 to 2009, he was an investigator at the, In June 2008, he performed a trachea transplant on, He performed a synthetic trachea transplant on, In 2012, he was charged in Italy with attempted aggravated fraud. The first successful direct transplant of a trachea is a medical milestone that could help thousands of people with airways damaged by ventilators and other causes. Even so, it wasnt until 2016 that the Karolinska Institute declined to renew his contract. The mild sentence comes as a disappointment to Macchiarinis critics. Because immunosuppressant drugs are required to prevent rejection of the transplant, cancer patients would be eligible only if free of cancer for five years, Dr. Genden said. For six years, she had endured a tube inserted in her windpipe, or trachea, to keep her alive, but her discomfort and distress were becoming more and more unbearable. The secret sauce in his approach, he said, is transplanting not just the donor trachea but also its attached esophagus (food tube), thyroid gland and thyroid arteries. WebPaolo Macchiarini Net Worth. But because Macchiarini is apparently living in Spain, its unlikely to have much effect. Keep up with your favorite shows delivered to your inbox! Washington Dr. Genden also transplanted the cricoid, cartilage cuffing the trachea, supplanting Ms. Seins completely destroyed cricoid. Paolo proposed to her on Christmas Day in 2013. There are people who go to jail for 5 years for not paying their taxes. A review of public records in Italy found that Paolo was never divorced from Emanuela Pecchia, his wife of nearly 30 years. But the vice-chancellor of Karolinska Institute, Anders Hamsten, wasnt bound by this judgement. How climate change and forest management make wildfires harder to contain, Disparity in police response: Black Lives Matter protests and Capitol riot. Guided by a high-powered microscope, he used surgical thread half the diameter of a human hair. A genius is a revolutionary by definition, a risk-taker and a law-breaker. WebPaolo Macchiarini (born 22 August 1958): 2 is a Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon and former regenerative medicine researcher who became known for research fraud and manipulative behavior. (LogOut/ Look out for a message in your inbox in. Another was a Russian mother named Julia Tuulik, per BBC News. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday appealed a sentence given to an Italian surgeon who was put on trial for causing bodily harm during experimental stem-cell windpipe transplants on three patients who died. WebPaolo Macchiarini (born 22 August 1958): 2 is a Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon and former regenerative medicine researcher who became known for research fraud and Your tax-deductible contribution plays a critical role in sustaining this effort. And in 2014, four Karolinska University Hospital doctors filed two separate reports claiming that Macchiarinis scientific papers described exaggerated the positive results of the operations and incorrectly describe[d] the postoperative status of the patients and the functionality of the implant, the timeline says. But of 20 patients, including children, most ultimately died, and scientists said Dr. Macchiarini misrepresented data and exaggerated his techniques effectiveness. It won Dr. Macchiarini international news coverage and cemented his place as a celebrity scientist. Brazil Michigan The couple set a date: July 11, 2015. So I called and called till I got an appointment., Dr. Genden said Ms. Sein beseeched him for the transplant, saying, You need to do this for me or Im going to end my life.. The vice-chancellor, Anders Hamsten, resigned. The operations were hailed at the time as a breakthrough in regenerative medicine, although some observers remained skeptical. He was handsome, suave, and a charmer. Death for Season 2 at Peacock, From 'Truth About Pam' to 'Candy,' True-Crime EPs Tell the Truth (VIDEO). Not only that, they later covered it up.. As Grinnemo recalls, it nearly destroyed his career: I didnt receive any new grants. Was he conning his patients, his colleagues and the scientific community? And Murphy found that Macchiarinis claims about the wedding were almost all untrue and that the surgeon was married and had been for nearly 30 years. And difficult to jump off. When you implant a synthetic trachea you have one certainty, and that is that the patient will die as a result of it, Delaere says in the email. In September, a Swedish prosecutor indicted him on aggravated assault charges related to three trachea transplants. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Jakarta Thats what Macchiarini told his fiancee. Articles in this area are retracted 2.4 times more often than the average for biomedicine, and over half of these retractions are due to fraud. Macchiarini was fired in 2016 amid allegations of fraud and scientific misconduct after many of his transplant recipients died. Benita Alexander on attending Paolo Macchiarinis criminal trial in Sweden Alexander said she attended Macchiarini's trial for closure, seven years after she was Every year, it gives science a show-business makeover, picking out from the mass of medical researchers those individuals deserving of superstardom. Here are 13 more things about him: He married Pecchia in 1986. Subscribe to News from Science for full access to breaking news and analysis on research and science policy. He was eventually dismissed from Karolinska. Even the jewelry he had given her was Coming from different countries including Eritrea, Spain, Russian, Iceland, Britain and the United States, 20 patients were operated on by Macchiarini, who provide them with an artificial windpipe. No one wanted to collaborate with me. US Capitol And investigations by both institute and the hospital found coverups regarding Macchiarinis work. Back in New York, Benita found herself unable to stop thinking about Paolo's patients. It relieved a little bit of burden from him.. Get more great content like this delivered right to you! Abu Dhabi The story portrayed Macchiarini, who was already married at the time, as a serial fabulist who exaggerated or lied about degrees, academic appointments, and The court said the penalty was a suspended sentence, but did not specify how long the sentence would be if imposed. He says prosecutors should have pressed for manslaughter charges because Macchiarini had no evidence that the tracheas he implanted would develop into normally functioning organs. Its fascinating to rewatch as a lesson on how not to report on medical science. All rights reserved. I Googled trachea transplant and Dr. Genden popped up. Award-winning documentary-maker Benita Alexander was swept off her feet by renowned Italian doctor Paolo Macchiarini in 2013 while she was working on a story about his pioneering medical work. Benita Alexander thought that she was living a real-life fairy tale when she met her fianc, Paolo Macchiarini. Paolo Macchiarini rode groundbreaking surgeries to global fame, but patients died anyway. But after Alexander learned that Pope Francis was scheduled to visit South America at the time of their wedding, she confronted Macchiarini about his claims. From November 2011 to June 2014, Paolo Macchiarini gave transplants to Christopher Lyles, Yulia Tuulik, Alexander Zozulya, Yesim Cetir, Hannah Warren (a 3-year-old), Sadiq Kanaan, and Dmitri Onogda. But as the big day approached, Alexander saw these plans unravel, and finally realised that her lover had lied about almost everything. They should be. In the To some extent, they believed Macchiarini because he told them what they wanted to hear. In 2017, Paolo worked at a university in Russia, where he was given a federal grant for oesophagus research on primates, and operated on baboons rather than humans. However, its imperative to mention that the doctor has only been criminally found guilty of causing bodily harm to a single patient he operated on in Sweden back in 2011 two other charges of assault were dismissed. One was a 2-year-old girl named Hannah Warren, on whom hed operated in Peoria, IL, in 2013, according to Vanity Fair. In part, this is because the field of windpipe repair is a niche area. An alarmingly wide gap has grown between what we expect from stem cells and what they deliver. I didnt want the fairy tale to end., Alexander also hired a private investigator, a former Pennsylvania State Police detective named Frank Murphy. Hes clearly bright and has accomplishments, but he cant contain himself. Dressed in a white lab coat or in surgical scrubs, with his broad, handsome face and easy charm, he certainly looked the part. Here are 13 more things about him: Categories: biographical data, crimes, Europe, fitness & health, Italy, Lifestyle, LISTS, Russia, Social Issues, Sweden, Tagged as: Basel, Benita Alexander, Emanuela Pecchia, Paolo Macchiarini. (LogOut/ "I have to tell people. The grant ended in spring 2017. All rights reserved. She says she feels she has been given a chance of being alive one more time.. Pennsylvania But for now, lets focus solely on his medical patients, shall we? Paolo Macchiarinis most notable patient is Claudia Castillo. Born in 1977, this Colombian living in Spain woman suffered from tuberculosis-damaged airways. She became close to Paolo as she opened her heart to him about how hard it was for her daughter, then nine years old, to lose her father. Most, including Andemariam Beyene, are now dead. Stem cell brain implants could 'slow ageing and extend life', study shows, offering to treat just about any ailment you can name, Pregnant women's stem cells could treat osteoporosis, say scientists. In 2018, KI finally released the findings of its second investigation, which confirmed he had committed misconduct. And fooled almost everyone. And it needs a blood supply to connect to the patients vascular system. Its a problematic idea with unfortunate side effects. LONDON It sounded like real-life science fiction a 3-D printed organ, a groundbreaking artificial windpipe, built in a laboratory and made to order. The plastic trachea that Yesim Cetir received disfigured her and made her last three years in life basically like torture, Bosse Lindquist, the documentarian behind the Swedish TV series The Experiment, told the Times. He convinced the Karolinska Institute that this could make them famous, and they just let him do it. They didnt. From that moment on, she made a proposal to Paolo Macchiarini, and Dateline planned to publish the story. Dr. Genden examines the new trachea by inserting a scope in a hole he left in her neck, which hell eventually close. One of these is the hype surrounding stem cells. It would be a star-studded event. As of the time of that judgment, Macchiarini had not been prosecuted in other countries where he implanted his artificial windpipes, and it was unclear whether he was still practicing medicine, the Times adds. Not just that, Paolo was also entangled in several other controversies. There was nothing anybody could do for these patients, said Dr. Genden, who became captivated by the problem in medical school 30 years ago after a patient with a tracheal tumor died. According to the Karolinska Institutes timeline of the Macchiarini case, the institute recruited Macchiarini as a visiting professor of regenerative medicine/stem cell biology in 2010, and the associated Karolinska University Hospital gave him a part-time contract as a consultant and surgeon around the same time. A surgeon who just a decade ago was celebrated around the globe as a pioneer in stem cell transplants has been convicted of one count of causing bodily harm, a felony, in a Swedish court. Benita was also growing increasingly concerned, because she had not yet been introduced to Paolo's children or even seen where she was meant to live with him in Barcelona. The law is supposed to protect individuals from all types of assault, especially when they are powerless, said Dr. Bengt Gerdin, an independent investigator who was hired by the Karolinska Institute in 2015 to look into Dr. Macchiarinis work. But it was already too late. So did Karolinskas dean of research. Dr. Gerdin said Dr. Macchiarini was allowed to continue his procedures for so long because the Karolinska Institute and its hospital allowed him to do so. Acquittal is therefore difficult to defend., But Gerdin says the verdict is not unexpected. In his case, his stem cells were seeded into the airway just hours before it was implanted into him, making it work perfectly fine. Watch He Lied About Everything on ID GO now! Nearly all of those patients have died. In this episode, eyewitnesses, officials, and some of Paolos victims thus reveal how they got conned by him, with his former lover television producer Benita Alexander at the front and center. It is fitting that Macchiarinis career unravelled at the Karolinska Institute. (LogOut/ Source: ABC Article continues below advertisement His relationship with Benita, He hopes the immunosuppressant drugs, which can create health risks, can be reduced or even stopped if the entire graft becomes filled with Sonias cells.. We have, for example, a growing list of scientific celebrities who have committed major stem cell fraud. Benita decided to get in touch with private investigator Frank Murphy. He says, Ive created this bioreactor and its stem cells and it makes tracheas. And its huge., Dr. Genden said that when he and colleagues questioned Dr. Macchiarini at a conference early on, in his bigger-than-life way he says, This is ridiculous, you dont know what youre talking about, it functions beautifully., Dr. Genden thought his work had become obsolete, so you basically shut down the lab, he said. The couple has been married for 30 years now. Benita Alexander Before their wedding, the An advantage is that immunosuppressants are necessary only for several months, he said. Miss Universe 2021 Her friends described him as "Mr. Big" from Sex and the City. The other side is flat and mobile to move air to the lungs. For other cases, though, doctors say the approach seems promising. By 2011, he was working in Sweden at one of the worlds most prestigious medical universities, the Karolinska Institute, whose professors annually select the winner of the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine. Most protagonists on medical dramas are modern-day heroes. As the home of the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine, one of its ambitions is to create scientific celebrities. The story portrayed Macchiarini, who was already married at the time, as a serial fabulist who exaggerated or lied about degrees, academic appointments, and personal accomplishments. Called Experimenten (The Experiments), it argued convincingly that Macchiarinis artificial windpipes were not the life-saving wonders wed all been led to believe. The official report into the matter dubbed this the bandwagon effect. She received a new trachea in January and is believed to be the first patient in the world to undergo a successful direct transplant of a donor trachea. According to the magazine, in 2012 he was charged in Italy with attempted aggravated fraud related to alleged efforts to persuade very ill patients to undergo radical surgery at facilities where he had privileges. Prior to this, he was regarded as a pioneer in the field of regenerative medicine using both biological and synthetic scaffolds seeded with patients own stem cells as trachea transplants. For their efforts, the whistleblowers were punished. Euan Ward reported from London, and Christina Anderson from Bastad, Sweden. Philippines Then, in October of 2009, another woman, who had been operated on by Paolo twice before, received her airway transplant. She was wearing a blonde wig, and her nervous laughter is audible on the video they shot. More than a decade ago, Macchiarini became a superstar in the field of medicine when he implanted the worlds first bioartificial windpipe, a plastic structure that used the patients stem cells to reduce the risk of organ rejection. Ohio His operation was on June 9, 2011, at the Karolinska University Hospital, where he received the upgraded plastic trachea made at University College London. Four of Macchiarinis colleagues at KI, including Corbascio, filed official complaints in 2014 charging that several papers describing the surgeries deliberately left out serious complications in the patients. He understood how difficult her life had become. Thailand Karolinskas leadership expected big things from their superstar, things that would bring prestige and funding to the institute. Almost immediately after she was fitted with a synthetic trachea in August 2012, Ms. Cetirs condition began to rapidly deteriorate, according to the courts written judgment. New Jersey There Was Nothing Anybody Could Do for These Patients. Now There Is. The answer came only a couple of weeks later, when Swedish television began broadcasting a three-part expos of Macchiarini and his work. The Macchiarini scandal claimed many of his powerful friends. It is thus likely she has since passed away. Tennessee She met Macchiarini while producing A Leap of Faith and was soon breaking one of the cardinal rules of journalism: dont fall in love with the subject of your story. The university board was dismissed and even Harriet Wallberg, whod moved on to become the chancellor for all Swedish universities, lost her job. If there is a moral to this tale, its that we need to be wary of medical messiahs with their promises of salvation. Stem cell research is a hot field of science and, according to statistics, also a rather scandal-prone one. She has since had the synthetic trachea removed. No, he was just caring for his patients who were, one and all, facing certain death with no other treatment options available and no time to waste. He is still licensed to practice medicine in Europe. A Swedish filmmakers investigative documentary raised further questions, as did a Vanity Fair article detailing how the beguiling surgeon became romantically involved with an NBC producer working on a feature about him and apparently conned her into believing he was divorced and would marry her in a ceremony officiated by the pope and attended by the Clintons, Obamas, John Legend and Elton John. Alexander admits that, at the time, she was in a vulnerable place. Anyone can read what you share. Apparently, her graft detached soon after, causing an infection, and because of difficulties in breathing, she had to be admitted into emergency a total of 13 times. She remained in intensive care for more than three years at Karolinska University Hospital and underwent more than 200 surgical procedures. They will especially examine the judges decision that Macchiarini couldnt be held responsible for what happened to Andemariam and Lyles because he acted in distress, according to the courts statement. Paolo was in the house, but he was not alone after Benita's friends were asked to leave, they noticed a blonde woman coming out of the house, with two young children. The very next day, she got an email from a friend that outlined the Pope's plans to visit South America on Benita and Paolo's wedding day. The maximum prison sentence for causing bodily harm is 4 years. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Some answers have emerged from the official inquiries into the Karolinska Institute and the Karolinska University hospital. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? There was another woman from the Czech Republic with mucoepidermoid carcinoma who received such a transplant. Also seduced by Macchiarini was former NBC News producer Benita Alexander, who met the surgeon in 2013 when she was working on A Leap of Faith, an NBC special about Macchiarini hosted by Meredith Vieira. Change). They identified many problems with the way the twin organisations handled him. Though Macchiarini was in the public eye, he was able to sidestep the usual rules and regulations. But it did not work, and a court in Sweden has found him criminally liable for the harm Plus: A Chicago mother is arrested in connection to the murder of her 6-year-old son; the convicted killer Robert Durst dies at age 78; Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes sentencing date is set; and an LGBTQ+ rights movement hero is found dead in a Florida landfill. It is unclear whether Dr. Macchiarini is still practicing medicine, but his lawyer said in May that he had no income.
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