Two cardio-thoracic surgeons risked their entire careers, having worked tirelessly to reach the pinnacle only to be a sacrifice to save tens of thousands from suffering a miserable fate. They admit to losses of trust among their colleagues, losing a marriage and their dreams turning to uncertainty. If it wasn’t for their brave, selfless and risky heroics the world wouldn’t have a clue to the hidden layers of the play-pretend surgeon Paolo Macchiarini.
Patients who refuse to lose hope, look towards the light. A light that’s bleak; a father, a child, a mother, a college student are some of the few who had their lives ended all too early. They all believed in a miraculous healing world for the suffering. But, science doesn’t carry us unrealistically far into the future, it too has its limitations. We dream first, we plan, our actions execute them, for the greater good or the far worst. We all like to aspire for a free world of betterment, yet not everybody can achieve this. Charming, manipulative, seductive, operational, criminal mastermind and underdog of the dark side of healthcare-that’s Paolo Macchiarini in a nutshell. He had a ticket to enter the surgery job, a fake document stating that he had completed his undergraduate degree in medicine from Italy. His victims were unhappy with the treatments and were bed-ridden until death. He would go on to fill his resume delivering and impressive array of subjects and fields under his belt of expertise. His surgeries would be performed in Russia. A married man who kept up his antics of a marriage to a NBC news reporter. Relationships can be emotionally deceiving, all the truth lies hidden underneath that trust we give.
The Karolinska Institute: desperate for the next clinical breakthroughs that would grant them a Nobel Peace Prize. Sacrifice can halter more mistakes. A Nobel Prize in Medicine is what they wanted, and a Nobel Prize is what they got knocking at their door. It’s not Paolo’s ‘work’ but his interests. They match perfectly with what the institution is seeking for. Stem cells, they are so mesmerising; the potential of what they have to offer especially in regenerative medicine. At 2010, Paolo Macchiarini was everybody’s ‘most wanted’ man, for surgeries of course. Andemariam Beyene, a father, a husband, an Eritrean man and a Geology student. Under the name of Karolinska, he operated a never seen before, heard and attempted operation. He was diagnosed with an almond-sized, slow-growing tumour on his trachea. Anti-social Personality Disorder (ASPD) are individuals who lack emotional empathy, an inflated ego of one’s importance and a love for charming their way into people’s pants. Beyene is one of the many victims of Paolo’s failed surgeries. Patients who have zero options of treatment; a manipulated-dream is what makes risks seem like a slim chance of a favourable outcome. The scope of stem cells is beyond one’s imaginations, there was a lot of funding provided around the time Macchiarini was part of the ‘research’ faculty for the ‘trials’ of a trachea regenerated from stem cells. Even today, how many of us stop to think of that one ‘qualified, respected, and educated’ member of the societies’ elite, think and question the morale of their ethics?
There was a massive bleed due to injury to the pulmonary artery. Colleagues scrambled in OR to fix the problem. Mr Adam Ciralsky, an Investigative Journalist dials for a query on whether a course on Masters in Biostatistics was ever taught at the University. If it wasn’t for that one team member who pulled through to close up the bleed, Beyene would’ve already been dead with his synthetic trachea. Paolo gave up and left the OR: this one bleed close-up is what made Beyene’s operation a huge success. Childhood, trauma, stress, genetics and brain chemistry play a role in the developmental process of this disorder. It was the assistant cardio-thoracic surgeon who saved his life. Let’s go all the way back to the first ‘successful’ claimed operation by Paolo. Oscar Simonson and Matthias Corbascio are the two cardio-thoracic surgeons who had played a part in the whistle-blowing for an investigation into Paolo’s scientific works. A 2011 Lancet research paper reads “Tracheobronchial Transplantation With A Stem Cell Seeded Bioartificial Nanocomposite: A Proof of Concept Study.” In reality, Beyene’s operation consisted of a plastic-like pipe stitched and attached to where his own trachea was, it was a crazy sensationalised story. Evidence as a power of its own, proving is another thing all together in its entirety and Macchiarini knew all too well of this tactic, it never gets old in the scientific community; regenerative medicine was no exception.
Benita Alexander was the NBC reporter, just carving a path for herself in her career who was fooled into believing a marriage with Paolo was going to be officiated by the Pope. High status and powerful roles that facilitate control over society are what attracts ASPD patients, like flies drawn to a light source in the darkness. The first ‘successful’ tracheal operation was done by Paolo was on a patient by the name of Claudia Castille. They also extortionate power through the mastery of human emotions, a lie, it’s a gift to exert more control, more power, over victims; victims to them are people who are easy to fall for the lies they feed. It was done by tracheal donation. Ciralsky realised that this man’s qualifications were not just dubious but fake. I mean who gets a Fellowship and Masters during the same year?
On July 2008, Paloma Cabeza, a patient, a wife and most importantly now a mother, was scheduled for an appointment with Macchiarini. Paolo’s lies have taken a hold over patient’s health outcomes and put to shame the once-trusted healthcare and research industry. She recalls him being tall, demanding and controlling of her health. Adam Ciralsky knew something didn’t sit right when he was told of the love story between a NBC reporter and Paolo Macchiarini, this motivated him to investigate the con-artist/surgeon! Fortunately for Paloma, Mrs Castille warned her of Paolo’s care and she knew what decision she had to make, a choice that would effectively safe her life and put her in the hands of a good doctor. ASPD individuals could be anyone, anywhere, and anytime. “Compassionate Act” are the words used for an experimental treatment/surgery that is aimed at providing care for a patient where there no currently available treatment and management options for the disease.
Paolo’s first fall from the Superhero Surgeon Squad was when Ciralsky’s blog-writing and Vanity’s magazine edit did a feature on his ‘false’ surgeon life and married life and the treatments that were not at all therapeutic! He was finally made to testify face-to-face of the heinous crimes he committed not just as a surgeon but also as the god of death, deceit and lies.
Credit: Dr Death: Cutthroat Conman (A Peacock Documentary), ABC.
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