What Happened To Paolo Macchiarini After Netflix's Bad Surgeon?
As true crime interest grows more and more mainstream, we've learned just how many devious and irresponsible criminals can be found hiding in plain sight in less obvious places like the police station or the hospital. This latter example is the case with Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, the focus of Netflix's "Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife."
A Swiss surgeon alleged to be criminally responsible for the deaths of three of his patients, Macchiarini pioneered a unique thoracic surgical procedure that involved placing a plastic tube covered in a patient's stem cells into their throat to aid them with preexisting medical conditions. Unfortunately, the procedure was only approved after the surgeon obfuscated the results of the initial animal trials and falsified his qualifications.
As a result of this, as well as accusations of medical misconduct (the surgeries were not thought to be emergency cases), the subject of "Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife" was dismissed from his role at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet in 2016. He has since been convicted for his crimes and was served a 2.5-year prison sentence in Sweden. As for his relationship with his partner, Emanuela Pecchia, with whom he has two children, it is unknown whether she is still with Macchiarini.
Dr. Paolo Macchiarini still defends the procedures
Due to the aforementioned fact that the surgeries that Dr. Paolo Macchiarini of "Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife" performed were not thought to be medically necessary, the surgeon received a conviction from the Solna District Court, despite receiving no sentence from a lower court. "The patients have been caused bodily harm and suffering," the appeals court said of the three patients who died (via Associated Press). The court also concluded that the patients "could have lived for a not insignificant amount of time without the interventions."
As for Macchiarini himself, the focus of the true-crime documentary responded with his own statement in his defense following the conviction. "The intention of harming is the most awful accusation that you can make to a doctor," he began. "In the operating room, we were 20, 25 people. What surprises me is why I am here alone?" (via Science). He later concluded, "We did the transplant in good faith." Though Macchiarini and his lawyer, Bjorn Hurtig, said that they would appeal the conviction, the Swedish Supreme Court has since blocked the appeal. The surgeon has declined to comment on the Netflix true-crime series.