A Swedish court has found an Italian doctor guilty of causing bodily harm to patients after he performed synthetic trachea replacement surgery on them.
63-year-old Dr Paolo Macchiarini had risen to fame in 2011, after claims of performing the world's first synthetic trachea replacement procedure.
The procedure, which was hailed as a breakthrough in regenerative medicine, allegedly came during his tenure as a surgeon at Stockholm’s Karolinska University hospital.
However, soon after the procedures his claims came under fire following reports that at least one patient that he'd performed the procedure on, wasn't critically ill at the time of the surgery.
Dr. Macchiarini and his colleagues reportedly performed eight such synthetic trachea transplants from 2011 to 2014 – three in Sweden and five in Russia.
All three transplant recipients from Sweden reportedly died, but their deaths were never directly linked to the surgeries. Four of the five patients in Russia allegedly died as well.
The Karolinska University Hospital put an end to all trachea transplant surgeries in 2013, and reportedly refused renewal of Dr Macchiarini's contract of employment.
Two papers by Macchiarini which were published in The Lancet medical journal were also retracted in 2018.
The prosecution in this case argued that the three procedures in Sweden counted as assault or bodily harm through negligence because the doctor had deliberately ignored "science and proven experience."
The Swedish court found the doctor guilty of causing bodily harm through negligence in one case.
“The dire conditions of the first two patients' health justified the procedures at the time. But before operating on the third patient, the first two procedures should have given the surgeon reason to pause before proceeding with another."Excerpt from Judgment
The doctor will serve a two-year suspended sentence, which means he will be on a two-year probation period and if he were to commit a crime during this period, the court is likely to re-evaluate his sentence and quantum of punishment.