Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife is a three-part documentary series on Netflix that follows the rise and spectacular fall of Dr Paolo Macchiarini, who swept to fame with his revolutionary alternative to organ transplants.
In 2011 Macchiarini was feted all over the world when he came up with ground-breaking surgery that replaced the windpipes of desperately ill patients with plastic alternatives bathed in their own stem cells. He performed the surgery in numerous countries, and it seemed that it would change organ donation forever as it proved that synthetic organs could be used.
In both his personal and professional life charismatic Macchiarini achieved a god-like status and he claimed to be friends with the likes of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin and even Sir Elton John.
It turned out the surgeon was a compulsive liar, manipulator and fantasist whose patients suffered excruciating deaths and whose fiancé, the journalist Benita Alexander who met him while putting together a story about his work, was left shattered by his deception.
“His nickname was ‘the super surgeon’ and he was adored and adulated,” says Benita. “Everybody was fooled by this man. I was engaged to a monster.”
The series includes testimony from his victims’ families, his former colleagues and those who fought to bring him to justice. Here’s everything you need to know about Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife on Netflix…
Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife release date
All three episodes of Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife launches worldwide on Netflix on Wednesday, November 29, 2023.
Is there a trailer for Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife?
Yes, there's a Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife trailer which you can watch here or below.
The trailer shows Macchiarini’s former colleagues discussing whether he was a conman or someone who could revolutionize surgery and save countless lives.
It also features his fiancé Benita Alexander, who was left broken by his lies. “Was this guy a superhero, a super surgeon and the love of my life or was he a dangerous conman and a killer?” she asks.
What happens in Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife
Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife explores how Macchiarini appeared to the world to provide the future of transplant surgery.
In 2011, he set out to revolutionize regenerative medicine by implanting plastic windpipes into desperate patients. But his patients kept dying and it later emerged that he’d lied about his research.
In his private life, Macchiarini also spun a web of lies to his fiancé and his claims that he was the private surgeon to a host of famous faces, including Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, also turned out to be false.
The series follows those who finally brought Macchiarini to justice and earlier this year a Swedish appeals court sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in prison for gross assault.
