Su Netflix it has been available since yesterday Bto surgeon: the Paolo Macchiarini case. Documentary series on surgeon Italian born in Switzerland e became famous for artificial trachea operations. An excellent professional, a pioneer in his specialization with satisfied customers and generous word of mouth. Until the perfect machine jams.
Paolo Macchiarini, who is the Bad surgeon of Netflix
Born in 1958, Macchiarini graduates in medicine and surgery at the University of Pisawhere he worked as an assistant from 1990 to 1992. Over the years he collected various experiences abroad, which led him to travel between Alabama, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain. Up to in Russia.
He entered in 2010 to be part of Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Medical University and center of excellence which, being also the seat of the committee that designates the Nobel Prize winners for medicine, gives them an automatic certificate of excellence.
Within five years, Paolo acquired a reputation as a genius, as a professional capable of revolutionizing medicine. The story, however, takes a different turn when the colleagues begin to investigate some suspicious deaths linked to trachea transplants. In fact, they discover that Macchiarini does not carry out tests on animals beforehand. Despite this, Karolinska is on his side. She only pushed him away in 2016, following a documentary on the surgeon’s expertise.
Paolo Macchiarini. (Netflix)
Bad surgeonthe plot
To tell who Paolo Macchiarini is in Bad surgeon And Benita AlexanderAmerican journalist for NBC who went from the idea of making a documentary on the surgeon to marrying him.
Macchiarini indeed – During shooting – he showers her with attention, gifts, luxurious trips. He courts her even though he is a very busy man, always travelling implant synthetic tracheas lined with stem cells. While she lives in New York. So they meet when they can, but soon the marriage proposal arrives.
In the meantime, he would like her next to him in Barcelona, where Macchiarini has his headquarters: a dream villa that he shows to Benita in several videos. The ceremony she plans is a fairytale celebration celebrated by Pope Francis in Castel Gandolfo, in front of unknown guests such as the Clintons, the Obamas and Elton John. Yes, because Macchiarini claims to be part of a secret group of doctors close to the Holy Father, and also to several Heads of State.
Benita Alexander in “Bad Surgeon: the Paolo Macchiarini case”. (Netflix)
From the fake wedding with Benita Alexander to the story with Ana Paula Bernardes
During the preparations, however, inconsistencies begin to appear. Meanwhile Benita is unable to see the house where she should go to live with Paolo and her daughter. In fact, there is always an unexpected event, an intervention or an urgent flight.
Then doing some research, the Pope is busy on the appointed wedding day. In short, the wedding is a farce, there is no booking or deposit payment. More Paolo is already married. It is also reasonable to be suspicious of the gifts: the engagement ring, passed off as a jewel studded with diamonds, is actually worth less than 1,000 dollars. But then, asks poor Benita, who is this Paolo Macchiarini?
“Bad Surgeon”, Paolo Macchiarini and Benita Alexander. (Netflix)
Together with a journalist friend, Benita gradually dismantles the house of cards until identifying Ana Paula Bernardesanother victim of the surgeon. Ana unfortunately meets Paolo in 2010in Florence, following an accident involving his son Danilo who died shortly after the operation performed by Macchiarini.
Even if he ends up on trial, Paolo begins to court Ana. Which, incredibly, she gives in to becoming pregnant. To then discover the nature of her lover by reading an article on Macchiarini published by Vanity Fair in 2016, titled «The VIP surgeon who used money, love and the Pope to defraud an NBC producer».
“Bad Surgeon: the Paolo Macchiarini case”, Ana Paula Bernardes. (Netflix)
Bad surgeonthe ending and the review
In 2016, a documentary aired in Sweden that shook public opinion. The figure of Macchiarini is told, underlining his failures in the operating room, in particular on three patients. Karolinska interrupts the collaboration and “in the end the case of the three Swedish patients landed in court”the series continues.
The trial begins in 2022, which ends with a prison sentence of two years and six months. But the surgeon appealed to the Swedish Supreme Court. «Macchiarini sold dreams», says one of the journalists interviewed, “but he wouldn’t have succeeded without buyers”. For his part, he continues to deny any wrongdoing and has decided not to participate in the docuseries.
Bad surgeon: the Paolo Macchiarini case traces the profile of a man who embodies at times the role of the luminary, at others that of the narcissistic swindler. A self-confident man who knows how to convince anyone with the superhuman charm of a divinity, as his patients define it.
The affair around him, however, is much more serious. In addition to hurt and deceived women, there are deceased patients and a community – the scientific one – called to ask several questions. If it weren’t for this non-negligible detail, the series would remain confined to the category of sentimental products.
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