Thoracic surgery and regenerative medicine
Paolo Macchiarini: Synthetic trachea transplants, 2011 to 2023
Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Misconduct found Dismissed by Karolinska Institutet in 2016, found responsible for research misconduct in 2018, and sentenced to two and a half years in prison by the Svea Court of Appeal in 2023, a judgment that stands after the Supreme Court refused leave to appeal.1,3
Papers
| Paper | Action | Date | Reason stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tracheobronchial transplantation with a stem-cell-seeded bioartificial nanocomposite: a proof-of-concept study (Jungebluth and colleagues) The Lancet, 2011 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31558-72 | Retracted | July 2018 | The notice said the Karolinska Institutet report concludes there was scientific and ethical misconduct and requests retraction of the paper, as quoted by Retraction Watch. |
| Autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells as treatment in refractory acute respiratory distress syndrome Respiration, 20151 | Retraction requested | 30 January 2018 | Karolinska Institutet found him and three co-authors guilty of scientific misconduct over this article, in a decision of 30 January 2018. |
Investigations
- Karolinska Institutet Staff Disciplinary Board, 23 March 2016Decided to dismiss him from his temporary researcher post.1
- Karolinska Institutet (President Ole Petter Ottersen), 25 June 2018Found seven researchers, including him, responsible for scientific misconduct concerning six articles in The Lancet, Biomaterials, The Journal of Biomedical Materials Research and Thoracic Surgery Clinics.1,2
- Solna District Court, 16 June 2022Convicted him of bodily harm in one case, acquitted him on two charges, and gave a suspended sentence.1
- Svea Court of Appeal, 21 June 2023Sentenced him to two years and six months in prison for three counts of aggravated assault related to transplants on three patients.1,3
- Supreme Court of Sweden, 30 October 2023Did not grant leave to appeal, so the Court of Appeal judgment stands.1
Response
He denied criminal wrongdoing and said We did the transplant in good faith (Associated Press, June 2023).3
Sources
- Karolinska Institutet, The Macchiarini case, timeline (30 October 2023)
- Retraction Watch, The final verdict: Lancet retracts two papers by Macchiarini (6 July 2018)
- Associated Press (via KSAT), Swedish appeals court ups surgeon's sentence for harm during experimental windpipe transplants (21 June 2023)