In June 2014, per the Karolinska Institutet, Paolo Macchiarini’s research was questioned for the first time by a Belgian researcher. Two further reports of scientific misconduct were filed later that year, questioning whether Macchiarini was overestimating how functional the tracheal implants were in reports. Following this, the Karolinska Institutet, where Macchiarini had been working since 2010, called for an external opinion on the situation in addition to their own ethics committee investigation. In 2015, the internal ethics committee cleared Macchiarini of misconduct. However, the external investigation found he was at fault for not accurately reporting research. The ethics committee stood by their decision, but so did the external investigator, who voiced his concerns to Vice-Chancellor Anders Hamsten.
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Macchiarini didn’t just lie about the success of his windpipe surgeries. The disgraced surgeon also lied about several other unrelated issues. His girlfriend at the time, investigative journalist Benita Alexander, spoke to ABC News about how Macchiarini affiliated himself with the Clintons, the Obamas, and even the Pope. Alexander shared how Macchiarini told her he was “tight” with the Clintons and even played tennis with Bill Clinton, later adding the Obamas to the network he was supposedly in. Macchiarini then told Alexander that he had become a private consulting doctor for Pope Francis, and even said that the Pope would officiate their wedding. Eventually, Alexander became suspicious, and discovered that everything was a lie.
