PIXABAY, DEBORABALVESThe artificial organ researcher who was fired from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute earlier this year has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of two of his patients, upon whom he performed artificial trachea transplants, according to Swedish prosecutors. After years of ethical inquiries into his research and clinical practice, Paolo Macchiarini was informed last week of the criminal investigation that may end in formal charges of involuntary manslaughter. The investigation will likely center on two patients Macchiarini treated in the U.S.: one a 2-year-old girl who died in 2013, several months after the procedure; the other, an adult male in Baltimore, who died in 2011, three months after his surgery.
“Of course with the accusations that were made against me last year the prosecutor has to investigate, and I have been very happy to give them any information that they need for that investigation,” Macchiarini told the Associated Press in an email.
If Macchiarini is charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter, he could face between six months and six years in prison.
