Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife recounts the true story of Dr Paolo Macchiarini, a talented and well-respected surgeon, rumored to be connected to celebrities and powerful individuals such as the Pope and Barack Obama. With a high-ranking position in society and a seemingly perfect life, there was only one problem — his patients kept turning up dead.
Emmy-nominated director Ben Steele takes a deep dive into the man’s life, uncovering some unsettling truths along the way, and following the criminal proceedings brought against him because of his work. The series, now streaming on Netflix, raises questions about the medical profession, and creates a sense of anxiety, as we realize that we place our faith in surgeons and never for a moment think that the operation they are going to perform could have deadly repercussions.
The True Story Behind Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife
Swiss-Italian surgeon Paolo Macchiarini became internationally renowned in the mid-noughties. His groundbreaking work focused on plastic and artificial organs and in 2011, while at Karolinska University Hospital, he performed a significant transplant operation, providing a patient with a windpipe, grown artificially in a lab, and using the patient’s stem cells to complete the process.
However, patients started dying after the procedure. Seven out of eight patients who were operated on subsequently died, and alarm bells were raised. Later it would be revealed that some of the patients involved should not have received the operation in the first place. Reports indicate that in 2013, the Karolinska Hospital halted the transplants and declined to continue with Macchiarini’s contract as a surgeon. Things would escalate by 2014, and Macchiarini was accused of falsifying research by four former colleagues.
Paolo Macchiarini in Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife | Image via Netflix
In 2015, an external investigation revealed that the surgeon was guilty of research misconduct. A Swedish TV documentary focused on the subject but would report that he had continued with his work and research, even though no real testing had been done on the artificial tracheas, and allegations that he had exaggerated the health conditions of his patients would horrify others in his field.
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Things would grow progressively worse for Macchiarini. Sacked from his position in KI in 2016, he would operate in Russia at the Kazan Federal University, a position he would be fired from in 2017.
The esteemed medical publication The Lancet would retract more of his papers and it would only be a matter of time before he would have to face a court for what he had done.
Where is Dr. Paolo Macchiarini now?
Image via BBC/SVT/LARS GRANSTRAND
In June of 2022, a court in Sweden heard the evidence against the surgeon and found him guilty of causing bodily harm, but not guilty of assault.
As a result, Macchiarini was given a two-year suspended sentence. However, an appeals court in 2023 would re-evaluate the case against him, and overturn the decision. He was sentenced to two and a half years this time.
A report in Science would reveal the details of the court’s decision. As an appeal has been raised against the sentence, it means that Macchiarini does not have to report to prison until a final decision is reached. How long it will take before the case is heard again is unknown. If the appeal fails he will have to face prison time for his actions.
At a press conference after the hearing, Macchiarini denied he had any intent to harm the patients.
