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Illustration from the main hearing against the surgeon Paolo Macchiarini (with headphones) in Solna District Court.
1 of 2Photo: Anders Humlebo / TT
The trial of Paolo Macchiarini is entering its final phase. On Monday, the pleas begin at Solna District Court, where the parties will argue why the surgeon accused of assault should be convicted and released.
It is day 13 of the high-profile main hearing, where the prosecution of three cases of aggravated assault will be tried. These are three previous patients of Paolo Macchiarini, who during the years 2011 to 2012 had synthetic tracheas implanted.
According to the prosecutors, the interventions took place “completely contrary to science and proven experience” and violated the law. The patients suffered serious injuries from the operations and suffered very badly before they died, the prosecutors claim.
– The interventions Paolo Macchiarini has made, we claim, have been pure experiments on humans, prosecutor Jim Westerberg said at the beginning of the trial.
“Not alone”
According to the plan, the prosecutors will begin their plea after lunch, where it should also be clear which sanction they see as suitable for the surgeon.
The defense will also plead, at present it is somewhat unclear whether it will have time on Monday or whether Tuesday morning must be used. Paolo Macchiarini has consistently denied the crime and points out that he was not alone in making the crucial decisions about the operations the trial is about. Therefore, he can not be held solely responsible for the current operations, according to the defense.
Not done before
The procedures were performed to save lives, and everyone was aware that plastic throat transplants had not been performed before.
– If you perform an operation or a treatment for the first time on a human, it is not likely to succeed the first time. There are many such examples from transplant history where patients died shortly after the procedures, Paolo Macchiarini said earlier during the hearing.
Facts
The indictment against Macchiarini
In the autumn of 2020, surgeon Paolo Macchiarini was charged with aggravated assault of three of his patients who were transplanted with synthetic trachea in 2011–2012.
In his lawsuit, the prosecutor writes that the interventions took place “completely contrary to science and proven experience” and that it violated the law as “it did not form part of any form of medical care or licensed research study”. According to the prosecutor, the acts must be assessed as serious, among other things as they caused “severe bodily injuries and very severe suffering”.
In the alternative, the prosecutor demands that the surgeon be convicted of causing bodily harm, a felony.
Source: The Public Prosecutor’s Office
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