Currently available on Netflix, A surgeon who wants you well? is a documentary that traces the true story of Paolo Macchiarinian Italian doctor known for his controversial research in the field of thoracic surgery. He was accused of having carried out dangerous and unethical medical experiments on seriously ill patients, without solid scientific evidence to support its claims. THE charges pressed against him today relate in particular to the data falsification, Lignorance of ethical protocols And the pressure placed on patients.
Would you like to learn more? Here is everything you need to know about this drama which hit the headlines and shook up the world of medicine few years ago.
His first risky experiences
It all starts at the University of Pisa. Paolo Macchiarini taught thoracic surgery and quickly acquired a good reputation for his technical skill and ability to perform complex operations. In the 1990s, the surgeon began working on the use of stem cells to regenerate the lungs of patients with serious illnesses.
To do this, he carries out experiments on animals and develops a technique called “regenerative lung transplantation” consisting of injecting stem cells into a patient’s lungs to stimulate the growth of new lung tissue. However, these interventions had not yet been tested or approved by regulatory authorities. and therefore presented a significant risk to the health of patients. In total, seven of eight patients who received a bioartificial trachea transplant by Paolo Macchiarini have died.
Did you know ? Paolo Macchiarini carried out the world’s first transplant of an artificial trachea reconstructed from the patient’s stem cells.
Investigations and accusations
©TT News Agency / Alamy / Abaca
Over the years, his medical practices sparked controversy. Some colleagues expressed concerns about the ethics of its techniques and patient safety. They also pointed out that Paolo Macchiarini had a tendency to falsify certain data and publish only positive results, while failing to report complications and deaths that occurred during his interventions.
In 2016, a journalistic investigation revealed that Paolo Macchiarini had carried out risky operations on patients without their prior consent or that of scientific ethics committees, essential for carrying out experimental protocols on humans. He was also accused of altering medical documents to justify his interventions. Another investigation was opened by the Karolinska Research Institute in Stockholm, where he worked for several years, to study the cases of patients who had undergone regenerative lung transplant operations.
Trial and conviction
©TT News Agency / Alamy / Abaca
The same year, Paolo Macchiarini was suspended from his professorship at the University of Pisa. He was also removed from the Italian Order of Physicians for violating medical ethics. We will have to wait until June 21, 2023 for this sinister news item to finally come to a conclusion. This day, Paolo Macchiarini was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by the Stockholm Court of Appeal for “aggravated abuse” against three of his eight patients. The other charges were dropped, leaving the victims’ families without answers.
LR