topic Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon in TV and Movies

Netflix's Bad Surgeon

Northray — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 13:05:44 GMT

Wow. What a good documentary. I can't believe there are people like this guy in the world. Rotten and prideful to the core. I feel so so bad for his patients. How they trusted him. And how the media and medical world praised him to the skies. Ignoring so many red flags just to save their reputations.

To me, it illustrates that the system in all industries is broken. Even at the highest levels. How entities would rather protect the status quo, their power, and prestige over the welfare of human beings.

The whistle-blowers are heroes.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

Natureluvr — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 13:30:10 GMT

I think I may have read a book about this a few years back. It both terrified and angered me!

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

millieshops — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 14:24:36 GMT

@Northray One of the reasons I'm quite happy to be old is that I fear for the future of journalism and without lots of intense research journalists, we have little idea what's really going on. I don't know who the doctor is in the documentary, but no, I wouldn't be at all surprised. Disgusted, dismayed, for sure but I've lost whatever naivete I ever had in this century. I'm not sure when I started to watch, but I know once I started watching American Greed, very little surprises me. Maybe if I thought I knew someone really well, that person could surprise me by acting totally different from my expectation of them.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

Terrywu — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 14:26:42 GMT

I also enjoyed the documentary. I recalled when that story was on Datline. He was so heartless.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

granddi — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 15:31:28 GMT

For many years we lived in a rural town of 20,000. It was well known by insiders in the community that a surgeon had a substance abuse problem as well as alcoholic. It was known by the corporate hospital, other medical persons, as well as his staff.

It was only when his personal life fell apart that he closed his practice and left town. I dont know exactly how the medical board was alerted but he got a 6 month license suspension. During that time he did surgery in Mexico.

He was protected because of the revenue he brought to the hospital and because he was a local guy. But I cannot explain why the other doctors and medical folks protected him.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

Northray — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 19:17:08 GMT

Hi Everyone, so yeah this guy a Swiss, was protected by people on the Noble Peace Prize committee. Sweden's Karolinska Institue and a host of other notable world hospitals and organizations.

I suppose I am naive in thinking countries check other countries, especially in the medical world. This was not a little no-name doctor practicing in Mexico or here in the US. This man practiced anywhere and everywhere. World hospitals were honored to have him. Everyone was caught up in what they thought was a huge leap in stem cell use.

But what truly surprised me was the cover-up on a global level. And even his "sentence" was a slap on the wrist. There were two American papers, the New York Times being one of them, that did do a write-up about him but it was ignored. There is also a romance between himself and an NBC journalist who falls for his charming persona. She does eventually bring him down along with the other whistle-blowers.

I felt though that she was still harboring a thing for him.

Anyway, yeah, we are on our own here people. Researching a doctor, checking his creds and all of that still doesn't guarantee you are getting a good doctor. If I got a doctor backed by the Nobel Peace people, I'm thinking I'm golden. But nope.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

Mindy D — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 22:23:13 GMT

This was a podcast before Netflix made it into a movie. Dr. Death, Season 3. Benita Alexandra, his former fiancé,spills the beans about how she caught on to his fraud and discusses all the details. It's still available on all the podcast platforms.

There is also a good article about him in Vanity Fair online from 2016. It's not the complete story but it does discuss some of his frauds. The research done for the VF article, including direct calls to the institutions, disputes some of PM's professional training. Some of his disputed training is noted in the article about him in Wikipedia. He's not exactly Mr. Truthful, involved in planning a wedding while still married and telling his fiancé that he met with The Pope and that The Pope would be coming to the wedding. He also told his fiancé that Andrea Bocceli would be singing at their wedding. He told her he had worked on The Obamas, The Clintons and Elton John.

His name is Paolo Macchiarini. He lacks a conscience and is cruel. He should be behind bars. The very tiny bit of legal trouble he got into after causing deaths and suffering to patients and deceiving countless people is a tap on the wrist. I think he can still practice medicine, but he was finally sentenced to 30 months in prison this past June in Sweden.

How in the world no medical staff members ever tried to read his publications, just out of interest, and then found nothing is sheer luck for PM. How no one checked to see if his implants were medically cleared in these countries is a mystery. No one checked for publications about his stem cell growing techniques on his implants, Only one man in the miniseries looked for his publications. The Swedish hospital makes me so angry. They did nothing to check up on his prior patients or his medical implants including his animal studies (which were nonexistent).

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

spumoni99 — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 04:50:25 GMT

I listened to the podcast about him, very scary and hopefully I can't remember they got more check and balances for surgeons.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

LTT1 — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:26:07 GMT

@Northray @spumoni99 @Mindy D @granddi @Terrywu

Watching this series now.

Very shocking.

Paulo Paolo Macchiarini

Thanks for the recommendations I will be listening to that podcast and reading that article.

I agree, this guy belongs behind bars and has not conscience. And that is the very definition of a psychopath.

Involving new technology.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

Terrywu — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 01:31:52 GMT

There is currently onPeacock an 8 episode series on Dr. Death. It is a dramatized series on the same doctor who was the subject of Bad Surgeon. Mandy Moore has the role of his fiancé.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

qvcfreak — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 13:47:34 GMT

@Terrywu wrote:
There is currently onPeacock an 8 episode series on Dr. Death. It is a dramatized series on the same doctor who was the subject of Bad Surgeon. Mandy Moore has the role of his fiancé.

I just finished watching this series and I couldn't believe everything he got away with.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

San Antonio Gal — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 15:03:59 GMT

The Netflix documentary was really good and held my interest until the end. Highly recommend.

Re: Netflix's Bad Surgeon

KKWA — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 01:04:38 GMT

@Mindy D What I wondered was where did he get so much money. He didn't seem to be working that much, traveling all over leading double lives.