They allowed Macchiarini to continue his work as a visiting professor with a research lab. None other than Pope Francis would officiate, and his papal palace in Castel Gandolfo would serve as the venue. Your tax-deductible contribution plays a critical role in sustaining this effort. Please try again later. Dr. Macchiarini received a conditional, or suspended, sentence, and was acquitted of assault charges related to two other patients who had also received the artificial organs from him at the Swedish facility. In such dire circumstances, new treatments can be tried as a last resort. Experts say this case is about what the definition of a resident is under Spanish law. Nevada Two investigations, one by the Karolinska Institute and one by Karolinska University Hospital, both found that problems with Dr. Macchiarinis work had been covered up. That drama began about a decade ago when Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, working at Swedens famed Karolinska Institute, garnered headlines and accolades for replacing The apparent success of Ms. Seins operation is also notable because the trachea field has been rocked for years by a sensational scandal. Even the jewelry he had given her was Thats what our experience of medical research leads us to suspect. She visits Mount Sinai weekly for blood work. This went on for three years until, just recently, Grinnemo was cleared of all wrongdoing. Chinese balloon photos Benita Alexander on attending Paolo Macchiarinis criminal trial in Sweden Alexander said she attended Macchiarini's trial for closure, seven years after she was unknowingly caught in a fraudulent romance with him, and for justice for his patients and for their families. July 21, 2022 Examined 9:54 Whats next for Russia? Paolo Macchiarini is exposed Reality struck Alexander's fantasy romance eight weeks before she was supposed to marry Macchiarini in 2015, when she received an email from a colleague with the subject line saying, "The Pope." Remembering George Floyd: A year of protest. "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. The charismatic Italian surgeon who designed it foresaw a future where hearts and lungs could be made from plastic, and organ donations became a thing of the past. She would later discover that the woman in Barcelona had been living with Paolo for years, but that there were several other women in his life as well. Jakarta February 28, 2022 Emanuela Pecchia is famously known as the wife of popular Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon, Paolo Macchiarini. Cardiothoracic surgeon Matthias Corbascio, one of Macchiarinis former colleagues at KI who first raised questions about the work, describes it as terrible and insane. The court basically gave him a slap on the wrist, says Corbascio, who is now at the University of Copenhagen. Thereafter it was all over the news. Her transformation follows a groundbreaking experimental procedure she underwent in January: the first time, medical experts believe, a donor trachea has been successfully directly transplanted into another person. Paolo grew close to Alexander's daughter [Investigation Discovery], He was incredibly charming, worldly smart, sophisticated, and seemed very gentle," Benita told CrimeFeed. Plus: NYC sixth-grader struck and killed by stray bullet; New Hampshire police search for person of interest in double homicide; Fyre Festival fraudster released early from prison; and manhunt continues for escaped Texas prisoner. In their view, he was grossly misrepresenting his results and the health of his patients. But hes lost his reputation, and thats more important.. And difficult to jump off. 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. Any replacement trachea must be rigid or itll collapse like a straw in a McDonalds milkshake, Dr. Genden said. But even if his days had been numbered, this didnt necessarily justify what Macchiarini put him through. The answer came only a couple of weeks later, when Swedish television began broadcasting a three-part expos of Macchiarini and his work. A High-Flying Italian Surgeons Fall From Grace, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/17/world/europe/macchiarini-windpipe-surgeon-deaths.html. What's next for abortion rights in America? This was the start of a whirlwind romance that included five-star hotels, travel to far-flung locations, and extravagant shopping sprees. Earliest evidence of horseback riding found in eastern cowboys, Funding woes force 500 Women Scientists to scale back operations, Lawmakers offer contrasting views on how to compete with China in science, U.K. scientists hope to regain access to EU grants after Northern Ireland deal, Astronomers stumble in diplomatic push to protect the night sky, Satellites spoiling more and more Hubble images, Pablo Neruda was poisoned to death, a new forensic report suggests, Europes well-preserved bog bodies surrender their secrets, Teens leukemia goes into remission after experimental gene-editing therapy, Disgraced stem cell surgeon convicted of criminal harm, Disgraced surgeon is still publishing on stem cell therapies, Six papers by disgraced surgeon should be retracted, report concludes, Former star surgeon's disgrace rocks Swedish science. But as time went on, she could not resist her connection to the dashing surgeon and she violated the number one rule of journalism: Never get involved with a person you're reporting on. Next month, she will turn 57. In the months and years following their respective surgeries, all of them except Dmitri Onogda have passed away due to post-operative complications. Macchiarini, they claimed, wasnt really doing clinical research. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. In late 2014, four doctors in Sweden accused him of fraud, saying that he'd falsified data in six of the papers he had published. Castillo was soon back home, chasing after her kids. There is South Koreas Hwang Woo-suk who, in 2004, falsely claimed to have created the first human embryonic stem cells by means of cloning. Its fascinating to rewatch as a lesson on how not to report on medical science. Then, in October of 2009, another woman, who had been operated on by Paolo twice before, received her airway transplant. Paolo then came across Andemariam Teklesenbet Beyene, a man from Eritrea who was training to be a doctor when he got diagnosed with cancer. A White House source confirmed that Bill Clinton had never met Paolo. 2023 Warner Bros. Dr. Genden examines the new trachea by inserting a scope in a hole he left in her neck, which hell eventually close. Not only that, they later covered it up.. A life-saver and a game-changer. Unfortunately, though, she reportedly succumbed to her underlying disease in January of 2012. Macchiarini has consistently claimed he is innocent. Countless news stories declared it a medical breakthrough. In part, this is because the field of windpipe repair is a niche area. Eduard Folayang Michigan Its enough to worry officials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If as a doctor you do stupid things, then you can be charged. But the not-guilty verdicts on the other two cases highlight how the law can leave vulnerable people unprotected, he says, for example when they are facing life-and-death decisions and holding less information than their doctor. They planned to marry in the Catholic Church in Italy. The court ruling Thursday was in a case involving a Turkish woman named Yesim Cetir, who was the longest surviving of his patients at Karolinska. All rights reserved. Paolo was a world-renowned surgeon who spoke six languages, mingled with the global elite, and resembled George Clooney. In his case, his stem cells were seeded into the airway just hours before it was implanted into him, making it work perfectly fine. But Benita stood by her man and, she said, tried to help him through a tough time. 2nd Impeachment Trial: What this could mean for Trump, Presidential transition of power: Examined, How Donald Trump spent his last days as president, How Joe Biden's inauguration will be different from previous years, Trump challenges the vote and takes legal action, 2020s DNC and RNC are different than any before, Power Trip: Those Who Seek Power and Those Who Chase Them, Leave No Trace: A Hidden History of the Boy Scouts, Keeper of the Ashes: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders, The Orphans of COVID: America's Hidden Toll, X / o n e r a t e d - The Murder of Malcolm X and 55 Years to Justice, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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. Paolo Macchiarini traveled to Illinois to operate on toddler Hannah Warren, who was born without a trachea in 2013. At any rate, some of his most powerful friends were themselves Nobel judges until, with his fall from grace, they fell too. Florida Karolinskas leadership expected big things from their superstar, things that would bring prestige and funding to the institute. KI officials let him do this. Chief judge Bjoern Skaensberg said the court agreed that Macchiarinis operations were not consistent with science and proven experience, but the court determined that two of the interventions were justifiable.. Dr. Delaere developed another innovative method, performed on nine patients so far: implanting a section of donor trachea in a patients forearm for weeks until it develops blood vessels and can replace part of the patients trachea. Surely, he got away with so much because he was considered an exception to the rules with more than a whiff of the Nobel about him. When the blood vessels were finally connected, the donor trachea began bleeding. I cant do this anymore, Sonia Sein told herself, her family and her doctor. Singapore Death for Season 2 at Peacock, From 'Truth About Pam' to 'Candy,' True-Crime EPs Tell the Truth (VIDEO). She says she feels she has been given a chance of being alive one more time.. That meant the donor trachea was accompanied by a blood supply that Dr. Genden connected to Ms. Seins blood vessels. Benita Alexander thought that she was living a real-life fairy tale when she met her fianc, Paolo Macchiarini. The tube was necessary because her trachea the airway leading to the lungs had become damaged after she spent weeks on a ventilator for a severe asthma attack in 2014. 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. Delaere feels the sentence is too light for what he considers a serious crime. They didnt even seek the approval of Stockholms ethical review board, which is based at Karolinska. With Macchiarinis exploits endorsed by management and breathlessly reported in the media, it was all too easy to jump on that bandwagon. According to hospital staff, she had roughly 40 near-death experiences during this time, the judgment said. It would be a star-studded event. Macchiarinis deceit was so outlandish, Vanity Fair sought the opinion of the Harvard professor Ronald Schouten, an expert on psychopaths, who gave this diagnosis-at-a-distance: Macchiarini is the extreme form of a con man.