According to the magazine, in 2012 he was charged in Italy with attempted aggravated fraud related to alleged efforts to persuade very ill patients to undergo radical surgery at facilities where he had privileges. However, its imperative to mention that the doctor has only been criminally found guilty of causing bodily harm to a single patient he operated on in Sweden back in 2011 two other charges of assault were dismissed. The theory was simple: let the body do most of the work. Benita Alexander and Paolo Macchiarini in Venice, Italy [Investigation Discovery]. A review of public records in Italy found that Paolo was never divorced from Emanuela Pecchia, his wife of nearly 30 years. We will send you a maximum of two emails in, We will be in touch to remind you to contribute. All three patients later died. At the time, Macchiarini was employed by the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Sweden. He traveled to Illinois to operate on a Korean toddler who was born without a trachea and who was going to be the youngest person to ever receive an artificial one. A few years ago, Japans Haruko Obokata pulled a similar con when she announced to the world a new and simple and fake method of turning ordinary body cells into stem cells. Seven of the eight patients Paolo inserted tracheas into have died. Benita said that, if she can take any lessons away from what happened to her, she hopes that her experience will help others. Jakarta The operation, performed at one of the worlds most prestigious medical universities, part of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, was hailed as revolutionary. The media began calling him "Dr. Frankenstein" and said that he committed "the world's biggest medical fraud.". All rights reserved. Karolinska Institute announced in February 2016 that it would not renew his research contract, which was due to expire in November 2016, then terminated the contract in December 2016. Macchiarinis argument that KI fully supported and encouraged the surgeries likely swayed the judges as well, he says. February 28, 2022 Emanuela Pecchia is famously known as the wife of popular Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon, Paolo Macchiarini. 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. No one is more powerless than a patient with a disease, said Dr. Gerdin. Photographs document Ms. Seins trachea transformation: Her old windpipe looks raw and red, her new one smooth as porcelain. Swedish television broadcast a three-part expos of Paolo's work called Experimenten, which argued that the artificial windpipes did more harm than good and were actually rotting away inside his patients' bodies. In 2011, Dr. Macchiarini, a renowned leader in the field of regenerative medicine, took the medical world by storm when he built and implanted the worlds first bioartificial windpipe. They planned to marry in the Catholic Church in Italy. By the time the program aired, in mid-2014, the couple were planning their marriage. Sadly, she passed away soon after her second implant. The plastic trachea that Yesim Cetir received disfigured her and made her last three years in life basically like torture, said Bosse Lindquist, a documentarian who broke the story in Sweden about Dr. Macchiarini in a television series, The Experiment.. The other side is flat and mobile to move air to the lungs. She received another implant at the University College Hospital in London in 2011, after which she was able to be discharged. Dr. Genden said some scientists told him Youre out of your mind because trying a transplant would risk his reputation. So, as per the last reports, he is alive and well today. Experts say this case is about what the definition of a resident is under Spanish law. Louisiana Woman Disappeared After Giving Somebody A Ride, 5 Things That Still Bother Us About The Unsolved Maura Murray Case, Two Texas Teens Left After Curfew In 1988 And Never Returned, What Happened To Zion Foster? But after Alexander learned that Pope Francis was scheduled to visit South America at the time of their wedding, she confronted Macchiarini about his claims. 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. The operations were hailed at the time as a breakthrough in regenerative medicine, although some observers remained skeptical. How climate change and forest management make wildfires harder to contain, Disparity in police response: Black Lives Matter protests and Capitol riot. I cant do this anymore, Sonia Sein told herself, her family and her doctor. Macchiarinis fall was swift, but troubling questions remain about why he was allowed to continue his experiments for so long. Instead of stripping the cells from donor windpipes, Macchiarini had plastic scaffolds made to order. This organ was prepared without the knowledge of authorities in a veterinary lab at the University of Bristol, but no one questioned it because of its initial success. This was Macchiarinis first big success. If we've learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, it's that we cannot wait for a crisis to respond. 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. An unhappy result of this is the rise of pseudo-scientific therapies. Not only that, they later covered it up.. Scientists can also suffer from false hope. 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. Texas The couple set a date: July 11, 2015. According to the Karolinska Institutes timeline of the Macchiarini case, the institute recruited Macchiarini as a visiting professor of regenerative medicine/stem cell biology in 2010, and the associated Karolinska University Hospital gave him a part-time contract as a consultant and surgeon around the same time. Please make a tax-deductible gift today. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The Karolinska Institute, alleging scientific misconduct, dismissed Dr. Macchiarini, who has long denied wrongdoing. For their efforts, the whistleblowers were punished. From that moment on, she made a proposal to Paolo Macchiarini, and Dateline planned to publish the story. But, he added, Its an indirect technique. It takes time and can replace only the tracheas halfpipe side, so its not a complete tube.. So in 2010, Paolo operated on her at the National Research Center of Surgery in Moscow. She met Macchiarini while producing A Leap of Faith and was soon breaking one of the cardinal rules of journalism: dont fall in love with the subject of your story. However, the serious complications that Castillo suffered were, for a long time, kept very quiet. Some of them have been successful, but theyre cumbersome in different ways and theyre not a trachea, Dr. Patterson said. Bangkok Benita Alexander thought that she was living a real-life fairy tale when she met her fianc, Paolo Macchiarini. Its very significant, said Dr. Pierre Delaere, a professor of head and neck surgery at University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Belgium, a trachea specialist not involved in the case. At night, when she connected her tracheal tube to a ventilator, the alarm kept going off to let people know that I stopped breathing, said Ms. Sein, who hated causing her family concern. At the time, Macchiarini was working at Swedens Karolinska Institute, which awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine every year. They exchange their vows in Italy. She soon went into full-on investigative journalist mode, and learned that Paolo had, yup lied about everything. The apparent success of Ms. Seins operation is also notable because the trachea field has been rocked for years by a sensational scandal. Delaere was one of the earliest and harshest critics of Macchiarinis engineered airways. Benita Alexander thought that she was living a real-life fairy tale when she met her fianc, Paolo Macchiarini. Paolo was a world-renowned surgeon who spoke six languages, mingled with the global elite, and resembled George Clooney. Any woman would swoon for such a catch! We have estimated Paolo Macchiarini's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets. Talking about her spouse Born in 1977, this Colombian living in Spain woman suffered from tuberculosis-damaged airways. Almost immediately after she was fitted with a synthetic trachea in August 2012, Ms. Cetirs condition began to rapidly deteriorate, according to the courts written judgment. He was handsome, suave, and a charmer. Therefore, of all the medically ill individuals Paolo has ever provided a biological or synthetic implant to, at least 8 of them allegedly died due to his misconduct in research, failure to provide proper post-operative care, and/or his disregard for ethical practices. She considered backing out. Los Angeles Source: ABC Article continues below advertisement His relationship with Benita, After Macchiarini fitted Cetir with one of his artificial windpipes in 2012, her condition worsened. Paolo Macchiarini, in a 2013 photo, implanted synthetic windpipes into multiple patients; all but one died following complications with the implants. At any rate, some of his most powerful friends were themselves Nobel judges until, with his fall from grace, they fell too. That meant the donor trachea was accompanied by a blood supply that Dr. Genden connected to Ms. Seins blood vessels. 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. The university board was dismissed and even Harriet Wallberg, whod moved on to become the chancellor for all Swedish universities, lost her job. Wasnt something of this idea behind the special treatment Karolinska gave Macchiarini? They and their loved ones fall victim to false hope. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The district court in Solna today found Paolo Macchiarini not guilty on other charges, including aggravated assault, relating to three patients he treated while working for the famed Karolinska Institute (KI). George Floyd Emanuela Pecchia is married to Paolo Macchiarini for over 30 years. She pushed through his appointment despite the fact that he had some very negative references and dubious claims on his rsum. Beyenes death two and a half years after the operation, caused by the failure of his artificial airway, was a grueling ordeal. I didnt want the fairy tale to end., Alexander also hired a private investigator, a former Pennsylvania State Police detective named Frank Murphy. Probationwtf.he killed people knowing damn well that his trachea was bs! And fooled almost everyone. 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." Alexander eventually fell in love with the surgeon, and in 2014, he proposed to her, and they started planning a lavish wedding for the following year. Dr. Paolo Macchiarini became a star by creating a bioartificial windpipe. Any woman would swoon for such a catch! Heres this handsome Italian surgeon at the finest institution in the world, the Karolinska, and hes everything Im not: Hes got a beautiful head of hair, he drives a motorcycle, hes got an accent, hes incredibly charismatic and dynamic, Dr. Genden said. As it was built from Claudias own cells, she didnt need to be on any risky immunosuppressant drugs. He understood how difficult her life had become. It would be a star-studded event. Since this was radically new, Macchiarini and his colleagues should have tested it on animals first. By June 2013, when Paolo took Benita to Venice, Italy, for a romantic weekend, she knew she was falling madly in love. This was the start of a whirlwind romance that included five-star hotels, travel to far-flung locations, and extravagant shopping sprees. It is also unclear whether the verdict Thursday will have an impact in other jurisdictions where Dr. Macchiarini conducted windpipe operations. All rights reserved. That drama began about a decade ago when Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, working at Swedens famed Karolinska Institute, garnered headlines and accolades for replacing How we can build a clean and renewable future. Hwang, Obokata and Macchiarini were all attracted to the hottest regions of stem cell research, where hope for a medical breakthrough was greatest. US Capitol 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. In April 2017, the university terminated his project. No, he was just caring for his patients who were, one and all, facing certain death with no other treatment options available and no time to waste. A genius is a revolutionary by definition, a risk-taker and a law-breaker. The fact that he could keep all the details straight and compartmentalize these different lives and lies is really amazing.. But the vice-chancellor of Karolinska Institute, Anders Hamsten, wasnt bound by this judgement. Today, Ms. Sein, 56, dances and plays tag with her grandchildren and plans to resume working, possibly as an acupuncturist. Benita was also growing increasingly concerned, because she had not yet been introduced to Paolo's children or even seen where she was meant to live with him in Barcelona. Macchiarini gave his regenerating windpipes to 17 or more patients worldwide. The 18-hour procedure, conceived and led by Dr. Eric M. Genden Sr., chairman of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, is a milestone because unlike kidneys, hearts and lungs the trachea has defied decades of transplantation attempts. It is unclear whether Dr. Macchiarini is still practicing medicine, but his lawyer said in May that he had no income. Thousands of people in the United States alone develop trachea problems each year from burns, birth defects, tumors and extended intubation on ventilators. Called Experimenten (The Experiments), it argued convincingly that Macchiarinis artificial windpipes were not the life-saving wonders wed all been led to believe. Every year, it gives science a show-business makeover, picking out from the mass of medical researchers those individuals deserving of superstardom. Besides which, compassionate concerns dont override the basic principles of patient safety and informed consent. 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. There are also plenty of desperate patients who believe because theyve been told countless times that stem cells are the cure, and who cannot wait any longer for mainstream medicine. In part, this is because the field of windpipe repair is a niche area. Ms. Seins trachea before, left, and her new transplanted trachea. Instead, they found him guilty of negligence and the lesser charge of causing bodily harm. In September 2020, Swedish prosecutors announced charges against him for aggravated assault in connection to three surgeries that he had performed at the. Kentucky In place of clinical data, there are gushing testimonials. Her friends described him as "Mr. Big" from Sex and the City. Stem cell clinics have sprung up like weeds, offering to treat just about any ailment you can name. Brazil 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. The court heard testimony in the case between 27 April and 12 May. Those few patients who are still alive including Castillo have survived in spite of the artificial windpipes they received. In addition to his partner of over 30 years, he also had a special next woman. He is from Italy. Paolo then came across Andemariam Teklesenbet Beyene, a man from Eritrea who was training to be a doctor when he got diagnosed with cancer. In Macchiarinis case, the hope was that patients could be treated with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow. Castillo was soon back home, chasing after her kids. The Italian surgeon and his Italian wife Emanuela Pecchia have one son and one daughter.