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Netflix released the story of surgeon Paolo Macchiarini in its crime docuseries titled Bad Surgeon: Love Under The Knife. The documentary covers the story of the crimes of the surgeon exposed by his fiancée, Benita Alexander, on November 29, 2023.
The doctor, who made a splash a decade ago with revolutionary regenerative medicine, has been accused of forging research papers, lying, and patient assault. The charges were brought about after Benita followed up with the case, ensuring the criminal was duly punished.
After multiple convictions and counter-appeals, the last known verdict has sentenced the doctor to two and half years of imprisonment. However, his legal advisors are contemplating another round of appeals to help Paolo avoid reporting to the prison.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the documentary. Reader's discretion is advised.
What happened to Paolo Macchiarini?
After Benita brought Macchiarini’s case to the front and legal procedures started, he was fired from Karolinska Institute, where he worked, in March 2016. The institute selects the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology candidates. According to the Associated Press, the institute accused Paolo Macchiarini of falsifying his resumé and distorting his research.
Prosecutors in Sweden accused him of manslaughter for the first time in 2017. However, the case was dropped due to insufficient evidence. Meanwhile, an Italian court found Paolo Macchiarini guilty of forging documents and misuse of office and sentenced him to 16 months of prison time.
The medical abuse case was reopened in 2020, accusing the surgeon of bodily harm and severe assault. Paolo Macchiarini denied any criminal conduct in the case. In June 2022, Sweden’s Solna District Court dropped two cases but gave a suspended or conditional sentence on the third. While this meant the doctor need not serve prison time, the doctor and the prosecution appealed again.
In June 2023, a five-judge panel of the Svea Court of Appeal found Paolo Macchiarini guilty of gross assault in all three cases and sentenced him to two and a half years of jail time. While his lead attorney planned to appeal at a higher court, the surgeon did not need to report to the prison.
The case that was further heard in the Swedish Supreme Court found the doctor guilty of the three assaults and upheld the sentence of two years and six months prison time. However, there was no clarity about when Paolo needed to report to prison. Sadly, his license has not been revoked.
What is the story of Paolo Macchiarini?
The story of Paolo's criminal work, as presented in Netflix’s documentary Bad Surgeon: Love Under The Knife, gives the perspective of his then-fiancée, Benita Alexander. The former thoracic surgeon, who claimed to be a regenerative medicine researcher, experimented on human patients.
Paolo Macchiarini was touted as an expert in a breakthrough treatment procedure where he transplanted parts of the trachea and windpipe as a curative surgery. Seven of the eight patients who received the synergic trachea transplants did not survive. He was also found to experiment with his procedure on healthy patients unethically.
According to the documentary Bad Surgeon: Love Under The Knife, Benita was the whistleblower in the case when she started noticing discrepancies in his words and claims. While the two were engaged to get married, Benita, the families of the victims, and the colleagues of the “super surgeon” decided to come forward to bring justice to the victims.
Was Paolo Macchiarini married?
Paolo Macchiarini was not married but was engaged to marry Benita Alexander, a former NBC news producer. They were engaged in 2013, during Christmas. However, the bride-to-be realized something wrong when Macchiarini claimed that he used the job of a surgeon as a cover while he was a CIA sniper in reality.
Benita wanted to follow up on the red flags pointed at a pathological liar. On the other hand, his colleagues also raised alarm about his manipulating research outcomes. The law was introduced in 2016 through the efforts of Benita, with support from patients’ families and doctors at Karolinska Institute.
Bad Surgeon: Love Under The Knife dropped on November 29, 2023, and is currently streaming on Netflix.
