After making his name in the field of stem cell research by revolutionizing windpipe surgery and operating on people such as Pope Francis and the Obama family, renowned "superstar doctor" Paolo Macchiarini has been fired from his employer, Sweden's prestigious Karolinska University (KI), due to scientific negligence and lying on his CV.
"It is impossible for KI to continue to have any cooperation with Paolo Macchiarini," said Mats Engelbrektson, human resource director for the university. "He has acted in a way that has had very tragic consequences for the people affected and their families. His conduct has seriously damaged confidence in KI."
Macchiarini is denying the allegations, claiming that he does "not accept any of the findings of the [Karolinska] Disciplinary Board. I have instructed lawyers and will be taking immediate steps to restore my reputation."
In 2008, Macchiarini conducted the world's first transplant using a windpipe created partly from the patient's own stem cells. Although numerous scientists criticized the procedure, its approval by regulators in the UK and Spain allowed him to carry forward with it.
However, this year he was accused of using patients as live guinea pigs by continuing to use his new method in operation despite it showing little to no sign of being effective. Six of the eight patients that received his synthetic windpipe transplant have died since the operation.
Last month, the doctor was accused of lying about his academic experience on his CV, claiming to be part of a "highly classified group of doctors from around the world who cater to the world's VIPs."
Following the publication of a paper with Macchiarini as co-author, medical journal The Lancet suggested that Karolinska retract it given the situation surrounding the once heralded doctor.
"For a country [Sweden] that takes its contribution to global science so seriously, this situation is simply unacceptable," said editor Richard Horton. "Indeed, for many of the protagonists in this conflict, it would be helpful if some drastic action could be taken immediately to dissipate the crisis or even make it disappear. Retraction of the paper might be one such action."
A Karolinska spokesperson says that an investigation is currently being conducted on Macchiarini's misconduct and that it will also take Horton's article into consideration.
"The first step in this process is to request an official statement from the Central Ethical Review Board's expert group for misconduct in research," the spokesperson said said. "If the article is to be retracted before any decision regarding scientific misconduct, the co-authors must agree on that decision and jointly demand a retraction."
