The case is pending. Hes clearly bright and has accomplishments, but he cant contain himself. Paolo was a world-renowned surgeon who spoke six languages, mingled with the global elite, and resembled George Clooney. We now know that wasnt true. The university board was dismissed and even Harriet Wallberg, whod moved on to become the chancellor for all Swedish universities, lost her job. From that moment on, she made a proposal to Paolo Macchiarini, and Dateline planned to publish the story. 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. Paolo Macchiarini traveled to Illinois to operate on toddler Hannah Warren, who was born without a trachea in 2013. Sonia Sein, outside her Bronx home, had irreparable damage to her trachea. A life-saver and a game-changer. At the trial, Macchiarini and his lawyer argued that the patients, with no other options, had been treated under compassionate care standards. 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 2013, the hospital halted future operations with synthetic trachea and opted to not extend Macchiarinis contract. Were going to show up and say, As a student, I had this idea on the back of a napkin and now were ready to go and if it fails, the patient dies and it becomes yet another example of some surgeon who thought he could solve a problem and hes created, instead, just the opposite.. By using a patients own cells, Dr. Macchiarini sought to rectify an age-old problem with transplants involving donated organs, which the body sometimes rejects as foreign tissue. Kentucky Benita decided to get in touch with private investigator Frank Murphy. 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. But because Macchiarini is apparently living in Spain, its unlikely to have much effect. Meanwhile, Macchiarinis career soared. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. A White House source confirmed that Bill Clinton had never met Paolo. However, he eventually found out about his previous associations. This argument didnt wash with those who later investigated the case. Tennessee 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 other patients were treated at hospitals in Barcelona, Florence, London, Moscow, Krasnodar, Chicago and Peoria. North Carolina What comes next after Texas school shooting? Even the jewelry he had given her was fake. Benita was loyal to and supported Paolo when his professional life took a dark turn. In 2015, the Karolinska Institute hired an independent investigator named Dr. Bengt Gerdin to look into the Macchiarini situation, per the Times. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Delaeres damning criticisms appeared in major medical journals, including the Lancet, but werent taken seriously by Karolinskas leadership. Macchiarini shot to prominence back in 2008, when he created a new airway for Claudia Castillo, a young woman from Barcelona. Over the years, this possibility has generated great excitement and a huge amount of research. The official report into the matter dubbed this the bandwagon effect. The donor was a young man (identifying details are being withheld to protect privacy). By this year, Dr. Genden said, her condition had deteriorated so that if we delay further, its not going to work out.. The couple had traveled a lot, but there were some things ONE Championship We would have been planning my funeral, she said, but now were planning a birthday party.. Benita fell for Macchiarini while a producer for NBC, working on a story on him in 2013. Greys Anatomy Alum Isaiah Washington Retires from Acting, Tom Sizemore, Saving Private Ryan Star, Dies at 61, Chris Rock Live on Netflix, No Salvation on Last of Us, A World Without Bart Simpson, Kids Choice Awards, Rachael Ray Ending After 17 Seasons: Its Time for Me to Move On, Enver Gjokaj Returns as Captain Milius on NCIS: Hawaii, Copyright 2023 NTVB Media, Inc., All Rights Reserved, Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence, Luke Kirby, Ashley Madekwe & More Join Dr. All rights reserved. Change). Support for Macchiarini remained strong, even as his patients began to die. Called Experimenten (The Experiments), it argued convincingly that Macchiarinis artificial windpipes were not the life-saving wonders wed all been led to believe. Likewise the secretary-general of the Nobel Committee. On May 13, Alexander left her job. COVID-19 Paolo proposed to her on Christmas Day in 2013. 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. Help News from Science publish trustworthy, high-impact stories about research and the people who shape it. Probationwtf.he killed people knowing damn well that his trachea was bs! Despite having a wife and a family, Paolo was in a public affair with the internet star Benita Alexandra. You cant justify doing experimental surgery and immunosuppression when you see something else that looks perfect, so you realize, wow, were out of business., As Dr. Macchiarinis work drew criticism, Dr. Genden revived his idea, but was uncertain about trying it. Scientific pioneer, superstar surgeon, miracle worker thats how Paolo Macchiarini was known for several years. ONE Super Series Also, in such a highly competitive environment, people are keen to show allegiance to their superiors and wary of criticising them. Or rather, his celebrity status helped him do so. But owing to her cancer returning and the formation of a fistula, she too passed away. Only three are still alive as of September 2020. As of late March, 6.5 percent of cells in the donor trachea were hers, with the proportion increasing, he said. These included Harriet Wallberg, who was the vice-chancellor of the Karolinska Institute in 2010, when Macchiarini was recruited. Please make a tax-deductible gift today. 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. 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.CreditSarah Blesener for The New York Times. A review of public records in Italy found that Paolo was never divorced from Emanuela Pecchia, his wife of nearly 30 years. Ciaran Lynch, born in 2000 in Ireland without a functional trachea, received a transplant on March 15, 2010, at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. The media began calling him "Dr. Frankenstein" and said that he committed "the world's biggest medical fraud.". Records show that even with his implant failing, Andemariam was able to complete his Ph.D. before his demise in January 2013. Death Season 2, Mandy Moore Joins Dr. It would be a star-studded event. How did the GameStop stock spike on Wall Street happen? The coronavirus pandemic will most likely create more cases because many Covid-19 patients have needed weeks on ventilators. Euan Ward reported from London, and Christina Anderson from Bastad, Sweden. Disgraced Italian surgeon convicted of criminal harm to stem cell patient. Brave Combat Federation, University of Kentucky student Sophia Rosing from Fort Mitchell, Kentucky #sophiarosing #universityofkentucky #fortmitchell #kentucky #students, 10 most beautiful Miss Georgias Outstanding Teen 2022 candidates, List of 31 Patriot Front members arrested in Coeur dAlene, Idaho for conspiracy to riot, Alex Murdaugh biography: 13 things about Hampton, South Carolina native, Rita Frances Bellew biography: 13 things about Hatboro, Pennsylvania woman, Hatboro, Pennsylvania's Rita Frances Bellew: 'I'm profoundly sorry', Creighton Waters biography: 10 things about Columbia, South Carolina lawyer, Troyshaye Mone Hall biography: 10 things about Dallas, Texas woman, Shamaiya Hall biography: 10 things about Forney, Texas woman, Gabriel Forest Weiss biography: 13 things about Portland, Oregon man, Hatboro, Pennsylvanias Rita Frances Bellew: Im profoundly sorry, original sound - conandaily.com - CONAN Daily, He married Pecchia in 1986. Science and AAAS are working tirelessly to provide credible, evidence-based information on the latest scientific research and policy, with extensive free coverage of the pandemic. Scientists can also suffer from false hope. Most protagonists on medical dramas are modern-day heroes. And after hiring a private investigator, Ms Alexander found that Dr Macchiarini, pictured, was a man of more modest means living in Barcelona and that he was still married to his wife of 30 years Ms Alexander told Vanity Fair: 'I just didn't want to put two and two together. American Catherine Serou sent her mother a text that read, I hope Im not being abducted., Benita Found Her Dream Man But He Lied About Everything & Left Death In His Wake, Benita Alexander had no way of knowing that, by the end of her love story, her heart would be broken and many of Paolos patients who received the , Shakira Could Face 8 Years In Prison For Tax Fraud In Spain, What To Know About Reality Star Jen Shah's Wire Fraud Case, Tejano Music Queen Selena Was Shot To Death By The President Of Her Fan Club, 29-Year-Old Woman Arrested After Enrolling In New Jersey High School, American College Student In The Netherlands Stalked And Killed By Man She Met On Tinder, Iowa College Student Allegedly Faked Cancer Diagnosis, Scammed Hundreds, Italian Surgeon Accused Of Operating Inappropriately Gets Conditional Sentence, True Crime News Roundup: Elderly Man Missing For Months Found Dead In Trash Can Outside His Home, True Crime News Roundup: Prince Andrew Stripped Of Military Titles After Judge Allows Sex Abuse Case To Proceed, Student Studying Abroad In Russia Found Dead After Sending Her Mother Troubling Text, An Alabama Woman Disappeared After Her Boyfriend Dropped Her Off At Home, Have You Seen Semaj Goodwine? And because it was built from Castillos own cells, she didnt need to be on any risky immunosuppressant drugs. 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. Few people at Karolinska, especially among those in power, knew enough about it to appreciate Delaeres claims. Does the heat of stem cell research the high levels of funding, prestige and media coverage it enjoys somehow encourage fraud? But colleagues suspected that Macchiarini was manipulating his results. The procedure involved replacing a damaged trachea with a plastic replica that had been soaked in the patients stem cells. That drama began about a decade ago when Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, working at Swedens famed Karolinska Institute, garnered headlines and accolades for replacing damaged tracheas with plastic tubes seeded with patients stem cells that he cultivated in devices called bioreactors. Seven of the eight patients Paolo inserted tracheas into have died. Discovery, Inc. or its subsidiaries and affiliates. Las Vegas Macchiarini, they claimed, wasnt really doing clinical research. Beyenes death two and a half years after the operation, caused by the failure of his artificial airway, was a grueling ordeal. As studies have shown, the media often casts a positive light on stem cell tourism, suggesting that the treatments are effective and the risks low. You can see this in the speed with which his breakthroughs were accepted. The first person to receive one of these was Andemariam Beyene, an Eritrean doctoral student in geology at the University of Iceland. Dr. Genden said Dr. Macchiarinis rise and fall profoundly affected his own path. Paolo grew close to Alexander's daughter [Investigation Discovery], He was incredibly charming, worldly smart, sophisticated, and seemed very gentle," Benita told CrimeFeed. Faced with this public relations disaster, the Karolinska Institute immediately promised to investigate the allegations but then, within days, suddenly announced that Macchiarinis contract would not be extended. This set a dangerous example. Now his reputation lies in tatters. For Ms. Sein, the procedure was a long-sought dream. Nor did they impress the institutes ethics council when Delaere lodged a formal complaint. Gerdin says the conviction on one count still shows that health care doesnt stand above the law. "I started thinking that if this man is lying to me at such an egregious level, theres no way hes not doing this in his medical life," she told CrimeFeed. Stem cell clinics have sprung up like weeds, offering to treat just about any ailment you can name. They also questioned whether Macchiarini had obtained proper ethical permission for the surgeries and challenged a paper describing animal experiments with the technique. On Friday Mr. Hurtig declined to comment on Paolos private affairs.. Ms. Seins trachea before, left, and her new transplanted trachea. And fooled almost everyone. I could feel it in my lungs.. Around the same time, an article in Vanity Fair described how Macchiarini had misled a girlfriendan NBC news producer working on a flattering documentary about his surgeriesinto thinking they would be married in a ceremony attended by the Clintons and Obamas and officiated by the pope. She considered backing out. The court had to apply the intentional indifference standard for the assault charges, he says, which is difficult to prove. But it did not work, and a court in Sweden has found him criminally liable for the harm inflicted on a patient. According to a witness report, Paolo operated on a 45-50-year-old woman of Middle Eastern origin in a private clinic in Barcelona in the fall of 2008. Why are people hesitant to trust a COVID-19 vaccine? Investigations by the hospital and the Karolinska Institute revealed that issues with Dr. Macchiarinis work had been covered up. All but one died following severe complications with the implants. He was born in Basel, Switzerland to Italian parents. 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. However, Swedish TV reporters also decided to take a close look at Macchiarinis work. They didnt. With Macchiarinis exploits endorsed by management and breathlessly reported in the media, it was all too easy to jump on that bandwagon. Wasnt something of this idea behind the special treatment Karolinska gave Macchiarini? For the respect of privacy, his wifes identity is not revealed on the internet. On the contrary, they seemed to do more harm than good something that Macchiarini had for years concealed or downplayed in his scientific articles, press releases and interviews. Surgeon Paolo Macchiarini was hailed for turning the dream of regenerative medicine into a reality until he was exposed as a con artist and false prophet. It showed department heads and colleagues that they should give Macchiarini special treatment.He could do pretty much as he pleased. The first was a Vanity Fair article about his affair with Benita Alexander, an award-winning producer for NBC News. An independent investigator agreed. It sounded unbelievable, but Paolo explained to her that he had treated Pope John Paul II in the past, and had become part of a highly classified group of doctors that treated the global elite.