Special Reports — Features: A podcast, Netflix series, and television adjustment examine regenerative medication doctor’s misbehaviors
by Rachael Robertson, Enterprise & & Investigative Writer, MedPage Today November 30, 2023
Discover the renewed media attention to the cautionary tale of disgraced cosmetic surgeon, Paolo Macchiarini, MD.
Once hailed as a leader in regenerative medicine, Macchiarini is now notorious for his failed medical experiments on patients.
Over a decade ago, Macchiarini performed the pioneering procedure of implanting the first bioartificial trachea into a patient, which he repeated in subsequent years on several patients who are mostly deceased today.
In June, a Swedish court of appeals found Macchiarini guilty of gross assault and sentenced him to 2.5 years in prison. In 2015, he was also convicted by a Swedish court of “causing physical injury.”
The Netflix docuseries “Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife” and the hit podcast Dr. Death and its TV adaptation have delved into Macchiarini’s life. Formally documented exposés also contributed to bringing Macchiarini’s misdeeds to light.
MedPage Today asked experts to weigh in on how the once-renowned surgeon fell from grace, and how his legacy has impacted the field of regenerative medicine.
Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD, professor of surgery and bioengineering and deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, stated that Macchiarini’s case “is a really good example of how the science community polices itself.”
“You cannot get away with reporting false results. It always catches up with you,” he said.
Badylak explained that when Macchiarini first started getting widespread attention, he was doing science nobody else was doing. He claimed to have found a solution for unmet medical needs in regenerative medicine.
For years, Macchiarini held a faculty and researcher position at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, but his research was called into question multiple times.
