Trial in Sweden starts in case of stem cell tracheal transplants :: WRAL.com
STOCKHOLM – An Italian surgeon who made headlines in 2011 for having performed the world’s first stem cell tracheal transplant at Sweden’s leading hospital was brought to justice on Wednesday accused of aggravated assault against three of his patients.
Stem cell researcher Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, once considered a leading figure in regenerative medicine, is credited with creating the world’s first trachea, made in part from a patient’s own stem cells.
In December 2018, Sweden decided to resume a previously closed investigation in three cases. Additional written evidence was obtained and more interviews were conducted with individuals in Sweden, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the United States and Spain.
The former surgeon appeared at Solna District Court on Wednesday but is not expected to testify until Friday. His defense lawyer, Björn Hurtig, believes that Macchiarini’s former employer, Sweden’s prestigious Karolinska Institutet, should be held accountable, says SVT.
Macchiarini was fired from Karolinska Institutet in March 2016 for violating medical ethics after being accused of falsifying his CV and distorting his work.
When Macchiarini’s first tracheal transplant was reported in the medical journal Lancet 2008, it was hailed as a breakthrough in regenerative medicine. Macchiarini’s new airways – partly made with stem cells from the patient – were considered to herald a new era where new organs could be manufactured in the laboratory.
Despite an independent commission in Sweden that found many problems in Macchiarini’s work, the Lancet has so far refused to withdraw the study.
Macchiarini had previously denied the allegations, saying they were false.
He operated on 20 Macchiarini patients to provide them with an artificial trachea – from countries including Spain, Russia, Iceland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Critics say Macchiarini went against medical ethics for performing dangerous procedures without proven benefit and that he made descriptions of his patients’ conditions.
In 2019, an Italian court sentenced Macchiarini to 16 months in prison for forgery and abuse of office.