"The Macchiarini case" is closed
After a long trial, the charges were dropped from the famous transplant specialist
Margarita Paimakova, Vesti
The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm made a decision according to which the surgeon Paolo Macchiarini was found innocent of scientific dishonesty and the unsuccessful outcome of the treatment of three patients with an artificially grown trachea. Experts considered that the sad result was not the result of incompetence of the medic.
"Both I and my team members are innocent," Macchiarini has repeatedly stated. "We did not falsify, embellish or conceal anything."
Macchiarini was at the head of the team that transplanted artificial tracheas to three patients at the clinic at the Karolinska Institute. These patients have survived tracheal cancer or have lost a vital organ during the side effects of other operations.
The artificial organ was made of a polymer base, on which tissues obtained from patients' own cells were built up. The stem cells would eventually develop and create a functional trachea around the skeleton.
The first patient lived 2 years after the operation. The second patient died a few months after the transplant (the causes of his death are hidden). The third patient has been in intensive care since the transplant, since August 2012.
In August 2014, several doctors at the Karolinska Institute filed an official complaint against Macchiarini, stating that the descriptions of positive dynamics in his six scientific papers omit the description of complications from medical records. They also appealed the results presented after studying the technology on animal models. Scientists also raised the question of whether appropriate ethical permits were obtained for such operations.
An independent investigator, Professor Emeritus of Surgery at Uppsala University, Bengt Gerdin, reviewed the case and concluded that there were significant discrepancies between existing medical records and published results. He also stated that there were serious doubts about the ethical legality of the operations. However, he left this investigation to the Swedish authorities.
As a result, Macchiarini's refutation of the investigator's report was taken into account (Gretchen Vogel, ScienceInsider: Artificial trachea researcher responds to a misconstruct report, as well as additional testimony from doctors working outside Sweden who observed some patients. According to experts, the statements submitted by Macchiarini and his co-authors challenge the main criticism of the plaintiffs and Gerdin, and there is no reason to doubt the scientific dishonesty of the transplantologist.
However, the experts involved in the investigation note that Macchiarini's work does not meet the high quality standards of the Karolinska Institute. The medic and his team will need to review their methods of conducting clinical trials and treatment.
According to Macchiarini himself, he is currently conducting a number of clinical trials in Russia and is trying to improve the technology.
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31.08.2015