Sweden's prestigious Karolinska Institute (KI) has fired "superstar doctor" Paolo Macchiarini for exhibiting conduct incompatible with KI's employment standards, including reportedly lying about his scientific achievements.
The announcement released on Wednesday states that Macchiarini will be relieved of his duties as a researcher and will be informed that his contract has been revoked.
HR manager Mats Engelbrektson says it is impossible for the institution to have any more dealings with Macchiarini. He adds that the doctor has done things that resulted in tragic effects for the affected individuals and their families.
"His conduct has seriously damaged confidence in KI and for research in general," he says.
Reasons For Termination
In a press statement, the Nobel Prize-giving body enumerated several reasons for its decision to terminate Macchiarini. Among these reasons include failure to truthfully disclose his extra-occupational activities, supplying false data in his curriculum vitae submitted to the institution, demonstration of scientific negligence and breach and damage of KI's principal values and reputation through his work at Kuban State Medical University, where he worked as a surgeon.
Macchiarini's Career At KI
Macchiarini is a trachea surgeon who has revolutionized how artificial windpipe operations are performed. Between 2011 and 2012, he was able to conduct three surgeries that involved seeding the patients' own stem cells at the Karolinska University Hospital.
One of those patients is still in the hospital, while the other two have since succumbed to death.
In 2013, KI announced that it would cancel its contract with Macchiarini as a surgeon and instead would keep him as a basic researcher in regenerative medicine. The institute also approved his outside job as a surgeon at the Kuban State Medical University in Russia.
Macchiarini's Downfall
The tip of Macchiarini's iceberg started to crack in June 2014, when allegations of his misconduct started to rise more prominently. These include his purported exaggeration of the success of his artificial trachea surgeries in numerous scientific publications. However, KI cleared him of scientific misconduct charges in August 2015 and instead said that his work was not able to comply with the required level of quality.
The issue reached its pinnacle in January when a television documentary called The Experiments suggested that Macchiarini implanted a plastic trachea in a woman without a life-threatening illness, when in the past, the doctor had claimed that he only attempts this procedure in patients with life-threatening conditions.
Macchiarini's Response
Despite the public announcement of KI about his termination, Machiarrini does not plan to give up without a fight.
"I do not accept any of the findings of the Disciplinary Board," he says. He adds that he has directed lawyers to take prompt actions to bring back his reputation.
