‘Dr. Death: Miracle Man’ chronicles the medical malpractice of Paolo Macchiarini
Wondery’s “Dr. Death: Miracle Man” is now in its third season. The wildly popular true crime show has taken the form of different podcast seasons, covering medical professionals who left harm in their wake and destroyed countless lives. The first seasons of Dr. Death were recently turned into a TV show based on the real and disturbing operations of Dr. Christopher Duntsch. Host and medical journalist Lauren Beil investigates this season to unpack another story of abuse, betrayal, and harm.
In the third season of “Dr. Death: Miracle Man,” listeners will hear the story of con artist and surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. The episodes follow TV producer Benita Alexander’s story on how her path crossed with Paolo’s. When reporting on Paolo’s “super-surgeon” story for her documentary, she learns about how he has changed the medical field. At the time, he created a surgery to implant biosynthetic organs in patients.
Benita is smitten with his George Clooney-esque looks and suave personality. They began dating and traveled the world together. Benita suddenly experiences pain on a trip. She underwent surgery a few weeks prior, and learns the wound has become infected. Benita and Paolo went back to the hotel room, and Paolo grabbed Benita’s travel scissors which she thought he was going to use to cut the stitches. After asking if she trusts him, Paolo dabs the area with peroxide and plunges the scissors into her wound. Brutal.
Secrets come to light and listeners will hear how far Paolo went to protect his image and livelihood. Shocking facts are revealed through a series of interviews that speak with Benita, colleagues, patients, and professionals who thought they trusted him. Listeners soon learn Paolo was accused of performing surgical experiments on his patients and he is exposed for fraudulent research in different countries.
In this season, we’ll hear stories, such as an alarmed colleague’s experience with watching Paolo in “surgery theater” for a live biosynthetic transplant operation. He struggled with implanting the synthetic trachea and the patient began bleeding. Paolo became frustrated and exited the operation room. Colleagues took over to finish the 9-hour-long surgery, and the patient was stabilized. Later on, Paolo returned like nothing had happened. This is just one of the many tales of horror that unfold in season 3.
Tune in for new, weekly episodes of “Dr. Death: Miracle Man.”
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