Talking about her spouse Florida The other patients were treated at hospitals in Barcelona, Florence, London, Moscow, Krasnodar, Chicago and Peoria. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? February 28, 2022 Emanuela Pecchia is famously known as the wife of popular Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon, Paolo Macchiarini. But, we now know that the success of this operation was a lie, and the complications she suffered because of it were kept under wraps for a really long time. The operations were hailed at the time as a breakthrough in regenerative medicine, although some observers remained skeptical. It won Dr. Macchiarini international news coverage and cemented his place as a celebrity scientist. As of the time of that judgment, Macchiarini had not been prosecuted in other countries where he implanted his artificial windpipes, and it was unclear whether he was still practicing medicine, the Times adds. In his case, his stem cells were seeded into the airway just hours before it was implanted into him, making it work perfectly fine. 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. Acquittal is therefore difficult to defend., But Gerdin says the verdict is not unexpected. Ive never in my experience witnessed a fraud like this, with this level of international flair, Murphy told Vanity Fair. Plus: A Chicago mother is arrested in connection to the murder of her 6-year-old son; the convicted killer Robert Durst dies at age 78; Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes sentencing date is set; and an LGBTQ+ rights movement hero is found dead in a Florida landfill. They didnt even seek the approval of Stockholms ethical review board, which is based at Karolinska. 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. This argument didnt wash with those who later investigated the case. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Its love of human interest stories makes it sympathetic to unproven therapies. Alexander said that Macchiarini told her he was still married to his wife because they were Catholic but were separated. As per Back in New York, Benita found herself unable to stop thinking about Paolo's patients. The Karolinska University Hospital suspended Dr. Macchiarinis contract as a surgeon in 2013, but the affiliated Karolinska Institute kept him on until 2016 even as the scandal over his work spread, according to a timeline on the institutes website. He reportedly lied on his CV and research papers to trick patients, causing almost all those who received his inventive trachea transplants (using their own bone marrow cells for organ functionality) to lose their lives. 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. Benita decided to get in touch with private investigator Frank Murphy. Alexander started a problem with the specialist at this time. 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. But that day is always postponed. Because immunosuppressant drugs are required to prevent rejection of the transplant, cancer patients would be eligible only if free of cancer for five years, Dr. Genden said. As Grinnemo recalls, it nearly destroyed his career: I didnt receive any new grants. 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. Her transformation follows a groundbreaking experimental procedure she underwent in January: the first time, medical experts believe, a donor trachea has been successfully directly transplanted into another person. Chatri Sityodtong Eduard Folayang Prosecutors dropped the case a few months later, however, saying they didnt have sufficient evidence to prove manslaughter. As of late March, 6.5 percent of cells in the donor trachea were hers, with the proportion increasing, he said. Indonesia 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! The Karolinska Institute, alleging scientific misconduct, dismissed Dr. Macchiarini, who has long denied wrongdoing. Tennessee He hopes the immunosuppressant drugs, which can create health risks, can be reduced or even stopped if the entire graft becomes filled with Sonias cells.. Source: ABC Article continues below advertisement His relationship with Benita, Most protagonists on medical dramas are modern-day heroes. 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.. We would have been planning my funeral, she said, but now were planning a birthday party.. The media began calling him "Dr. Frankenstein" and said that he committed "the world's biggest medical fraud.". I didnt want the fairy tale to end., Alexander also hired a private investigator, a former Pennsylvania State Police detective named Frank Murphy. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday appealed a sentence given to an Italian surgeon who was put on trial for causing bodily harm during experimental stem-cell windpipe transplants on three patients who died. Disgraced surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, who faked research relating to dangerous and largely discredited tracheal transplants, has been handed a 16 month prison sentence in Italy for forging documents and abuse of office. A panel of judges unanimously ruled that the interventions were not in accordance with science and proven experience, according to a statement released today. Benita Alexander and Paolo Macchiarini in Venice, Italy [Investigation Discovery]. The story portrayed Macchiarini, who was already married at the time, as a serial fabulist who exaggerated or lied about degrees, academic appointments, and The fact that he could keep all the details straight and compartmentalize these different lives and lies is really amazing.. Born in 1984, Zhadyra Iglikova suffered from tracheostomy following a car accident. 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. These included Harriet Wallberg, who was the vice-chancellor of the Karolinska Institute in 2010, when Macchiarini was recruited. There was another woman from the Czech Republic with mucoepidermoid carcinoma who received such a transplant. Paolo Macchiarini at a press conference in 2008. His findings at the time concluded that Dr. Macchiarini had committed scientific misconduct, but this was ultimately ignored by the universitys leadership who chose to clear the Italian surgeon. But of 20 patients, including children, most ultimately died, and scientists said Dr. Macchiarini misrepresented data and exaggerated his techniques effectiveness. He was 63 years old when he was found guilty of causing harm through negligence but not of carrying out an intentional assault and he received a probationary sentence on June 16, 2022. Prosecutors asked for a five-year prison sentence for Macchiarinis liability in Cetirs bodily injury, but a Swedish court instead gave him a suspended sentence this June, deciding that he hadnt intended to cause the patients harm, according to BBC News. So in 2010, Paolo operated on her at the National Research Center of Surgery in Moscow. Dr. Macchiarini received a conditional, or suspended, sentence, and was acquitted of assault charges related to two other patients who had also received the artificial organs from him at the Swedish facility. He said yeah, so I said Lets go for it., After extracting the donors organs, you go next door and you open up Sonia and you remove the diseased trachea, and there is no going back, Dr. Genden said. So far he has not been prosecuted in any of those countries. But, he added, Its an indirect technique. It takes time and can replace only the tracheas halfpipe side, so its not a complete tube.. In the Her ex-husband John was dying of cancer. He was handsome, suave, and a charmer. His operation was on June 9, 2011, at the Karolinska University Hospital, where he received the upgraded plastic trachea made at University College London. Other trachea replacement attempts include transplanting part of a donors frozen, preserved aorta, the bodys main artery, and fabricating tracheas from patients own chest muscles and rib cartilage. She visits Mount Sinai weekly for blood work. 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Paolo grew close to Alexander's daughter [Investigation Discovery], He was incredibly charming, worldly smart, sophisticated, and seemed very gentle," Benita told CrimeFeed. (LogOut/ Illinois Family Seeks JusticeAfter Her Disappearance, Oregon Mother Of Four Who Was To Meet Up With Teen Son Suddenly Vanishes, Husband Of Missing Massachusetts Woman Charged With Her Murder, 8 Things To Know About The Nicholas Barclay Disappearance And Ensuing Deception, I'm Still Searching For My Baby: Georgia Mother Hopes For Answers In Daughters Disappearance, A Woman Disappeared From A Group Hike And Was Never Seen Again. Please make a tax-deductible gift today. On May 13, Alexander left her job. Mieke Oorts alleged killer used a GPS tracking device to stalk her and would drive up and down the road where she lived to intimidate her. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. In this episode, eyewitnesses, officials, and some of Paolos victims thus reveal how they got conned by him, with his former lover television producer Benita Alexander at the front and center. Los Angeles But in October 2017, the attorney general's office announced that a crime could not be proven, because the patients might have died anyway. For the respect of privacy, his wifes identity is not revealed on the internet. Donald Trump Paolo Macchiarini traveled to Illinois to operate on toddler Hannah Warren, who was born without a trachea in 2013. The Macchiarini scandal claimed many of his powerful friends. New York They reopened the case in 2020, this time charging Macchiarini on lesser counts of aggravated assault and severe bodily harm. Surely, he got away with so much because he was considered an exception to the rules with more than a whiff of the Nobel about him. There was another reason to be daunted too: historical assumptions that tracheas werent transplantable. 2023 Warner Bros. Texas Gerdin determined that Macchiarini committed scientific misconduct, but leadership at the Karolinska Institute ignored the findings and cleared Macchiarini. In the months and years following their respective surgeries, all of them except Dmitri Onogda have passed away due to post-operative complications. Dressed in a white lab coat or in surgical scrubs, with his broad, handsome face and easy charm, he certainly looked the part. 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. We will send you a maximum of two emails in, We will be in touch to remind you to contribute. He additionally claimed that former patients also included Bill and Hillary Clinton, and thenPresident Obama. The grant ended in spring 2017. Articles in this area are retracted 2.4 times more often than the average for biomedicine, and over half of these retractions are due to fraud. According to Macchiarini and his colleagues, her artificial organ was well on the way to looking and functioning liked a natural one. As Selena ran from the room, Yolanda Saldivar shot her in the back. For other cases, though, doctors say the approach seems promising. The theory was simple: let the body do most of the work. In 2019, an Italian court said he had forged documents and abused his position, charges unrelated to his trachea work. (LogOut/ Thousands of people in the United States alone develop trachea problems each year from burns, birth defects, tumors and extended intubation on ventilators. 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. And difficult to jump off. Colleagues accused him of manipulating his results, even warning of the harm caused by these so-called regenerative windpipes. The court had to apply the intentional indifference standard for the assault charges, he says, which is difficult to prove. Support for Macchiarini remained strong, even as his patients began to die. I thought, If they do a transplant for everything, they should do a transplant for trachea, she recalled. Karolinskas leadership expected big things from their superstar, things that would bring prestige and funding to the institute. Though Macchiarini was in the public eye, he was able to sidestep the usual rules and regulations. 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." Ground-breaking work on synthetic organ transplants made Paolo Macchiarini one of the most famous doctors in the world. Dr. Genden said Dr. Macchiarinis rise and fall profoundly affected his own path. Likewise the secretary-general of the Nobel Committee. Macchiarini is known for his research fraud and manipulative behavior. The surgeons defense attorney, Bjrn Hurtig, said his client was considering an appeal. 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. The court heard testimony in the case between 27 April and 12 May. Benita was loyal to and supported Paolo when his professional life took a dark turn. They also cited a loophole known as compassionate use. Unfortunately, due to complications, she passed away either around Christmas of that year or in the first few months of 2009. Dmitris graft had started collapsing six months into his surgery as well, but he managed to get it successfully removed and is now living with a tracheostomy. As it turned out, Macchiarinis patients werent all at deaths door at the time he treated them. Chinese balloon photos Benita Alexander on attending Paolo Macchiarinis criminal trial in Sweden Alexander said she attended Macchiarini's trial for closure, seven years after she was unknowingly caught in a fraudulent romance with him, and for justice for his patients and for their families. July 21, 2022 Examined 9:54 Whats next for Russia? Euan Ward reported from London, and Christina Anderson from Bastad, Sweden. New Jersey Still, noting that previous attempts didnt show documented success, he cautioned that longer-term results were needed before the technique should be embraced, adding, Lets see how it works and how you can do it in more patients.. Born in 1977, this Colombian living in Spain woman suffered from tuberculosis-damaged airways. 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In addition to his partner of over 30 years, he also had a special next woman. 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. Macchiarini, they claimed, wasnt really doing clinical research. Ms. Sein speaking with Dr. Eric M. Genden Sr., left, who developed the pioneering procedure, and Dr. Sander S. Florman, director of Mount Sinais Transplantation Institute. Because mucus would clog her tube, she was constantly suctioning, constantly worried about her airway, and it becomes overwhelming, Dr. Genden said, like being held down in a swimming pool. But they found prosecutors didnt prove Macchiarini was indifferent to the injuries or suffering that the surgeries might cause, the standard required for aggravated assault. Not just that, Paolo was also entangled in several other controversies. Benita first met Paolo at the bar at Bostons Mandarin Oriental hotel in February 2013, when she was helping coordinate an interview for an NBC special on regenerative medicine. Yet because of the ensuing complications, she had to receive a tracheoplasty in April 2011 and another cadaveric trachea graft in 2018. 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. We now know that wasnt true. The next morning, with the donor and Ms. Sein in adjacent rooms, a team of over 50 medical personnel assembled. 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. At the time, Macchiarini was working at Swedens Karolinska Institute, which awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine every year. The only question was how long it would take weeks, months or a few years. Meanwhile, Macchiarinis career soared. Investigations by the hospital and the Karolinska Institute revealed that issues with Dr. Macchiarinis work had been covered up. According to the Times, Macchiarini seen below in a 2017 interview on Swedens TV4 Nyheterna performed 20 tracheal regeneration procedures across Europe and in the United States but hid the fact that the transplants were failing. Jakarta The trachea has been characterized as a simple tube, but its very complex, Dr. Delaere said. 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.. Bangkok They allowed Macchiarini to continue his work as a visiting professor with a research lab. An unhappy result of this is the rise of pseudo-scientific therapies. By the time the program aired, in mid-2014, the couple were planning their marriage. In other countries, more of Macchiarinis patients died after receiving one of his artificial windpipes. 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. The procedure involved replacing a damaged trachea with a plastic replica that had been soaked in the patients stem cells. A good example is the NBC documentary A Leap of Faith. 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In the first couple of years at Karolinska, he put plastic airways into three patients. Colorado There he reinvented his technique. KI commissioned surgeon Bengt Gerdin, a professor emeritus at Uppsala University, to investigate the issue. Largely confined to her Bronx apartment, she needed home health aides and had to quit her career as a social worker for pregnant women. Filipino MMA fighters The first successful direct transplant of a trachea is a medical milestone that could help thousands of people with airways damaged by ventilators and other causes. Guided by a high-powered microscope, he used surgical thread half the diameter of a human hair. LONDON It sounded like real-life science fiction a 3-D printed organ, a groundbreaking artificial windpipe, built in a laboratory and made to order. In place of clinical data, there are gushing testimonials. The couple set a date: July 11, 2015. Last year, however, the dream soured, exposing an ugly reality. Another was a Russian mother named Julia Tuulik, per BBC News. But Benita stood by her man and, she said, tried to help him through a tough time. But for now, lets focus solely on his medical patients, shall we? Paolo Macchiarinis most notable patient is Claudia Castillo. Born in 1977, this Colombian living in Spain woman suffered from tuberculosis-damaged airways. In 2018, KI finally released the findings of its second investigation, which confirmed he had committed misconduct. No one is more powerless than a patient with a disease, said Dr. Gerdin. Andemariam Beyene, for instance, had recurrent cancer of the windpipe but, aside from a cough, was still in good health. "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. The Vatican confirmed that he had never been the Pope's doctor. The court said the penalty was a suspended sentence, but did not specify how long the sentence would be if imposed. This guy mutilated people., Between 2011 and 2014, Macchiarini implanted artificial windpipes in at least eight patients in Sweden, the United States, and Russia. With his methods still under fire in the West, he continues to work in Russia. Dr. Genden examines the new trachea by inserting a scope in a hole he left in her neck, which hell eventually close. It relieved a little bit of burden from him.. A White House source confirmed that Bill Clinton had never met Paolo. It is fitting that Macchiarinis career unravelled at the Karolinska Institute. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Selena died in a hospital due to a loss of blood and cardiac arrest, two weeks before her 24th birthday. Was he conning his patients, his colleagues and the scientific community? Las Vegas Benita was also growing concerned about the cost of the wedding. We have, for example, a growing list of scientific celebrities who have committed major stem cell fraud. I dont want to live like this, she concluded. 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. BRAVE Combat Federation China Although all three patients eventually died, Dr. Macchiarini was not directly accused of killing them. Apparently, her graft detached soon after, causing an infection, and because of difficulties in breathing, she had to be admitted into emergency a total of 13 times. Gerdins report, released in May 2015, concluded Macchiarini was guilty of misconduct, but university administrators rejected that conclusion 3 months later, arguing Macchinarini and his co-authors had satisfactorily countered the issues Gerdin raised. 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. 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While many in Sweden expressed disappointment at what they saw as the leniency of the sentence, given that prosecutors had asked for five years in prison, the verdict nonetheless represented the culmination of a stunning fall from grace for a once high-flying surgeon. Kevin Belingon He did this by chemically stripping away the cells of a windpipe taken from a deceased donor; he then seeded the bare scaffold with stem cells taken from Castillos own bone marrow. Stem cell clinics have sprung up like weeds, offering to treat just about any ailment you can name. Keep up with your favorite shows delivered to your inbox! He convinced the Karolinska Institute that this could make them famous, and they just let him do it. Hwang, Obokata and Macchiarini were all attracted to the hottest regions of stem cell research, where hope for a medical breakthrough was greatest. According to The New York Times, Macchiarini is an Italian surgeon who was found criminally liable this June for causing felony bodily injury to a Turkish woman named Yesim Cetir, a patient who had received one of his 3D-printed windpipes and later died. But the judges decided that, because the initial prognoses for Andemariam and Lyles were so grim without surgery, Macchiarini could not be held criminally responsible in those cases. I have to expose him.". She was wearing a blonde wig, and her nervous laughter is audible on the video they shot. Stem cell brain implants could 'slow ageing and extend life', study shows, offering to treat just about any ailment you can name, Pregnant women's stem cells could treat osteoporosis, say scientists. 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. Gerdin says the conviction on one count still shows that health care doesnt stand above the law. 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.