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Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife - How far can your trust go?

 


I just finished the Netflix documentary Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife, and I must say: it's shocking! In theory, we know everyone can be bad, even our doctors, but watching it is quite different.

The documentary is about the world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. He claimed to cure patients by inserting a plastic trachea into them. This plastic tube would be bathed in stem cells and, in theory, become a living organ.

The reality was quite different, and what's most scary is how the medical community itself couldn't spot him before. He literally was able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, with no one to stop him.

Bad Surgeon, Bad Person

His total disregard for human life, particularly the life of his patients, gives you the chills, but he wasn't a better person, personally speaking.

He had a family in Barcelona; he seduced a reporter to get good publicity and a dead patient's mother to avoid (or try to avoid) further complications in court. They all believed him to be "the one". They all fell in love.

How is it possible?

While I understand the desperation of having a loved one dying, many doctors saying there's nothing they can do and then one saying, "I will save this person.", I have a hard time understanding how other people around him never noticed the major red flags he gave in both professional and personal life.

Besides his absolute, almost scary confidence, the only explanation would be that a famous name and a title lower your defenses…

Red Flags

Watching Bad Surgeon from the comfort and peace of my home, it was easy to spot some red flags that could eventually help someone going through a crazy situation like this one.

  • Mystery — a mysterious person is only interesting as a movie character. When someone doesn't like to be questioned, it is time to worry. He didn't accept any questions or doubts from his girlfriend, co-workers, or even the family of the patients. 
  • Big gestures - Huge romantic trips, weddings in the Vatican, personal friendships with world leaders… I mean, it is weird, isn't it? He could have good connections, but this was too much, and the story of the secret medical network... was a little too much.
  • Many phones — Why would a man need so many phones if he wasn't hiding something? His explanation was more plausible here: he needed one for each country he works in, but still… a red flag.
  • Handling the wedding alone - Who do you know that wants to plan a whole wedding by themselves? Especially someone as busy as he always was? 
  • Patients and family mattered… before the surgery — He was a delight to be around, worried and explaining everything to the patient and the family… super available. And then, the surgery was performed, and where was Dr. Macchiarini? Well, he was probably finding his next victim… No surgeon in the world does a complicated surgery (even more an experimental one) and disappears after finishing it. 
  • Performing experimental treatments in patients who don't need them to survive - It is expected that the first human patients in a trial are people with severe conditions. Situations where the person would die, so it makes sense to try a desperate measure. It wasn't the case with all Macchiarini patients. In fact, one girl had a problem that mainly affected her socially. There was no reason for him to risk her life.

Too Good to Be True

When something seems too good to be true, it generally is. Despite the intricate web of lies and cover-ups, several red flags were raised that at least medical and ethical committee professionals should have noticed.

Paolo Macchiarini wasn't punished as he should have been, and that's disgusting. His patients had terrible deaths (I will spare you the descriptions), and he still has his medical license. The whole system is broken.

Bad Surgeon is a good documentary. It's a bit shocking, but I totally recommend it. It should be watched as a cautionary tale. Again, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.


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