User reviews

I've heard her story and seen her personal footage before, the real story here is about a horrible doctor and the families this surgeon gave hope to. Id like even more information about the legacy of the patients he killed and the colleagues that tried to stop him. The story I want to hear more about how insanely hard it is to stop a bad doctor and what happens to those who try. Why do hospitals get forgiven for covering for a physician who kills. How can this be prevented in the future. The story of romantic heartbreak is interesting but they are not of equal measure. There is more than one ego featured here.

I was utterly engrossed in this story. But the third episode, during which Dr. Macchiarini is publicly discovered as a fraud in his professional and personal life, ends abruptly and without answering most of the questions the documentary raises. Did the filmmakers run out of money, interest or time? They spent endless hours interviewing Benita Alexander and telling every detail of her personal story. They were conscientious about giving time to his peers at the Karolinksa Institute who risked their careers and reputations, and the Swedish documentarians who researched the story methodically for over a year. So then, why do they give the viewer a "wrap-up" that is neither expository nor analytical? They give us a few black screens with an epilogue that only focuses on Dr. Macchiarini's subsequent court cases in Sweden. While the results are initially disappointing (subsequent appeals make them seem more just...maybe), the viewer is sidestep giving the viewer any resolution that reflects the material presented throughout the documentary. The problem with the documentary is that Dr. Macchiarini's story, specifically the damage he did to his patients and the complicity of the medical establishment, was NOT the focus of the documentary as it should have been. He committed crimes. He was a reckless and narcissistic doctor who broke myriad rules in medicine. The tragedy of this story should have been his professional hubris and the danger that "superstardom" in medicine creates. Honestly, the documentary's focus on the women - their "shattered" lives - was a poor choice. Was it for ratings? There was certainly enough medical intrigue that the jilted lover angle wasn't necessary. And, indeed, the amount of time spent on the personal relationships angle of the documentary should have, at least for consistency, given a recap of all the individual women who were duped. I could imagine them considering a reality TV style "tell all" show. Thankfully, they did not do that. But they also failed to give the viewer something that resolved all the troubling questions they touch upon throughout the documentary when they do focus on his professional work. I found myself craving a table that listed every statement or assertion about him with a "true or not". For example, related to important medical issues, did Dr. M. have all the accreditations he said he did? Did anyone find animal research that preceded the implants in humans? What is the backstory of the development of the plastic trachea? Who signed off on it and where? Were they prosecuted? Is he still working somewhere? I realize not all of these are True/False questions but they should have been answered if the documentary makers were even remotely interested in exposing a medical charlatan. I think the documentary makers had an obligation (given the Netflix hype and surprisingly positive reviews) to deliver on more facts to complete the story.

Doctor Paolo Macchiarini has devised a new live changing, life saving surgery for people needing artificial windpipes, stem cell infused transplants, unfortunately all is not as it seems.

I'll be honest, I didn't exactly get captivated by the first twenty or so minutes of episode one, it seemed like it was going to be a domestic ding dong, however I'd urge you to stick with it, when the actual story breaks, it's a shocking watch.

Episode three was absolutely shocking, as was the operation on Julia, I found that video actually quite upsetting, what a monster.

I'm not quite sure how you'd describe Paolo, a sociopath perhaps? A man with a definite god complex, definitely a convincing and very dangerous man.

You have to feel sorry for his intended wife, although choosing a journalist wasn't perhaps the brightest move, Benita was always going to uncover the truth.

Very well made, and well put together, I liked that it was three episodes long, and that they didn't drag it out.

8/10.

I live in Denmark and have seen the swedish documentary that is mentioned in episode 3. And to be honest, that one is so much better. I don't understand the overwhelming focus on him cheating and lying to the women. Is it awful? Yes. But that happens every single day...

This is a surgeon who disregarded every single.. He.. I don't even have the words for what he did.

The Karolinska institute who is responsible for the Nobel price, chooses to back him up. Why is that not investigated more? Why don't they dive into that?

What was he doing before he "invented" this groundbreaking device? What were his accolades? Why did everybody just trust him?

But no.. Out of the three hours they used on this documentary, they spend half of it on his girlfriends.

They could have done SO much with this. I still want people to watch it, but if you have access to the Swedish one, watch that one instead.

9 stars for exposing this story.

This is a story about a man who is a sociopath, a highly skilled con man, who is also a surgeon. He has delusion of grandeur and his arrogance is off the scale. To summarize this all - he is mentally deviated.

Now, the main question is how his fellow surgeons and assistants and nurses and other staff had remained oblivious of the true nature of his surgeries. Not a word is said about stem cell collection and its subsequent application to the plastic tracheas. Stem cells collection is not a simple process. So was it done or not? Documentary is silent about it. That is why it is unclear how the entire team of medical professionals at Karolinska (and in Russia) went along with assisting the implantation of plastic tubes, as if they were operating on dummies, not living and breathing human beings. I refuse to believe they didn't know what was happening.

As for the women, nothing is new here.

Imagine a child who was taught by those around him to believe that who or what he is is unacceptable, repulsive and deserving of deep unrelenting shame. He fashioned for himself an alternate reality and alter ego where he is the hero, flawless and beyond reproach. Grossly overcompensating for his innate sense of defectiveness, his sole aim in life is to evade his belief that he is deeply unlovable by striving to achieve the adulation and recognition of others by all means necessary, even if it means costing lives and leaving a trail of destruction. One could say that Macchiarini is in a psychic prison of his own making, unable to break free from being a wretched automaton driven by his insatiable ego because he cannot stand to face his mistakes and therefore has to commit to his own con or risk utter obliteration.

There are millions of Paolo Macchiarinis walking amongst us. As much as this Paolo Macchiarini would love to think that he is an exceptional human being and just short of godliness, he is not. As egregious and intelligent as he was to make it as far as he did, he also had help from those around him who saw him as a fast ticket to fame and fortune. A Paolo Macchiarini who was not fatally shamed in childhood could have used his intellect for good. Instead he has destroyed lives and continues to live in his fantasy world. He might have only received a sentence of 30 months in prison, but he has already been sentenced to a lifetime of self-hatred and self-delusion. The documentary would have been more complete with a look into his formative years and testimonies from those who knew him before the ignominious events at the Karolinska Institute.

OMG these women.... Embarrassed for my gender yet again.

First there's the supposedly intelligent, accomplished journalist who lets herself get drawn into an insane web of lives, quits her career, pulls her kid out of school, and plans to move overseas without any idea where she's actually going. Smart, no??

Then there's the other dingbat in Italy whose son dies after being operated on by this psychopath of a surgeon. You would think she would sue the dude, and get the word out about his malpractice, right? Nope! She starts scruing him instead. What kind of woman starts a love affair with the sketchy psycho surgeon who killed her son? I mean, seriously? But he flew her first class and took her to nice restaurants, so that's what matters!

UGH!!!!

I had previously listened to the podcast "Dr. Death" about the story of Paolo Macchiarini, and I was hoping for the same in depth coverage from this documentary. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed.

While I completely empathize with Benita, as she was conned by a narcissistic sociopath, this story isn't about her. But the series made it about her.

This should have been a series that focused on the lives that were destroyed by Paolo and all of the collateral damage that he caused. It should have described the horrendous suffering and pain that his subjects endured before their inevitable demise. It should have highlighted the brokenness of our healthcare systems globally. What a missed opportunity. This is coming from a RN in the United States. Sorry Netflix. Missed the mark on this one.

I feel horrible for these families . I also have personal experience with the bad docs . However - the laws are built to protect docs and patients go unheard .

There are many patients out there with silent voices who are alive but harmed in many ways with no one to compensate them for their loss. Laws need to change to better protect patients . This is why medical malpractice patient boards or groups exist . Very few lawyers are interested in malpractice law for a reason depending on the state . It's because they know it's an uphill battle with very money return for them .

I agree with another reviewer about other docs knowing what was happening and saying nothing . It wasn't only him .

This documentary is unsettling but also well-crafted. Particularly powerful is witnessing the stories of the Swedish doctors and their struggle to expose fraud. These are heroes saving lives, highlighting the difficulty of standing up against corrupt individuals with power and influence.

They also delve into the fraudster's ego, providing insight into a dark and narcissistic mind. Rarely has psychopathy been portrayed as effectively as in this documentary.

This dark and psychopathic behavior is the driving force throughout the documentary, culminating in the exposure of all the lies. It's well-executed.

What is less commendable is the considerable focus on a female journalist and her extreme naivety in her relationship with the death doctor. It comes across more like a poorly scripted reality show, where unstable and less intelligent individuals do anything for validation. She should have been protected from herself. Moreover, the victims and their families deserve much more than having the story revolve around her.

The most frightening aspect is how the leaders at Karolinska Hospital obtained new jobs, and especially the lack of self-awareness on the part of the journalist, who was deceived even though there were many red flags, and where her integrity was clearly at risk concerning her job.

Total disgust for the doctor and more so for the Swedish govt / justice system to let go of him so easily

What pain must have all those patients gone through along with unspeakable suffering ...slow death , torture and deceit by the very man who gave them false hope to live.

More horrific is the fact that so many believed in the concept of a plastic tool to be the answer for lethal diseases ???

How did he manage to maintain such opulent lifestyle was the on,y thing left unexplained in this documentary

I do hope that this nefarious , arrogant , narcissistic evil man who lives in denial of his unforgivable crime be sentenced to death .... So that the medical practitioners get a strong message.

Narcissism, twists, terror, and an ignorant lover are some of the elements that make up this wild real life horror story. Some of the post operation footage with the patients truly is disturbing and heartbreaking. It makes you wonder how people can get away with such things, and how no one seemingly requires any validity of "breakthrough" methods and practices.

This documentary series could have been another couple episodes, going into the doctor's past and uncovering more there, as well as looking at the medical institute in Sweden.

A thoroughly entertaining documentary, and the title lets you know who the main characters are here. Whether you agree or not with highlighting the doctor's girlfriend/fiancé, she does offer some interesting insight and makes for a good narrative.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mini documentary series and found it a well-made case study of a narcissistic psychopath.

I don't understand those reviewers who complain about there being too much focus on the women he duped. For me, that was all part of the tapestry of his character and his modus operandi. He acted in a similar way in both his professional and personal life, slowly weaving a web of lies with his narcissistic charm, and this was the point of the entire documentary.

I don't see that the journalist Benita glorified him in any way at all, she was just describing how she fell for the manipulations and lovebombing of a narcissist. This is, sadly, a very common thing, as narcissistic psychopaths can be extremely charming and fool people very well. That is the entire point.

All in all, an intriguing and well-balanced character study that is excruciatingly harrowing to watch. You can feel your gut wrench as the extent of his is scheming is slowly revealed, just like it probably was for his victims.

"Bad Surgeon" does one thing above all - shock.

Throughout the entire documentary, you ask yourself how Paolo Macchiarini was able to kill patients negligently for so long with a clear conscience and shamelessly lie to their faces, and how he was able to manipulate the people around him so that he was still highly praised for his "innovative medicine".

The picture of Paolo Macchiarini, who is nothing more than a narcissist who was completely indifferent to the lives of his patients, is painted very nicely here.

Even after his cruel deeds were exposed, Paolo was not aware of any guilt and always took the position that innovations in medicine would require sacrifices.

For my taste, however, they spent too long on Paolo's private life. Yes, it is certainly important to emphasize that Paolo not only deceived people in his job as a surgeon, but also lied to and manipulated people in his private life, but I don't need to know the entire course of his relationships for that.

However, other aspects, such as how Paolo achieved this high status in medicine or how he concealed and falsified everything, are neglected.

Nevertheless, the documentary series is good and serves its purpose.

The story seems to focus more on a woman who was looking for a show piece of man to boost her image. Sometimes when someone seems to good to be true thats because they are. This is a perfect story for women to learn from. You are not a princess and no knight in shining armor is going to sweep you off your feet, shower you with jewels and provide you the fairytale you imagined. This is why women are so lonely today, unrealistic expectations. Look for a true good guy, not someone to build your imagine and social media profile.

So sorry for all the patients that were victimized by this fraud Dr. Unfortunately there are plenty of frauds still in practice today across the country. Also sorry for legitimate Dr's who are harmed by so many clowns in medicine today.

There were MULTIPLE opportunities to vet this sociopath from his path, second of all the "journalist" who became his girlfriend. When did world famous medical institutions stop rigorously vetting their surgeons/staff?!?!?!? It's no suprise that American journos like the gf featured in this "doc"umentary just stop asking questions. Especially when charmed by charming men. Glad she wasn't CIA and in charge of government security. Too much willing suspension of disbelief on the part of EVERYBODY. That's how sociopaths operate.

When a reporter relies on "Google searches" for her facts, we as a society are in deep trouble. My (now ex) husband's attorney pleaded with me: "Please don't ever be mad at me!" because I had researched my (now ex)'s wife and busted her.

Eighteen years later, I busted my (now ex) husband's infidelity by a simple internet search. And an NBC journalist is saying she was blindsided??!?!?!?!?

While this is better than the first doc, I still can't believe this woman is a competent journalist that fell for this blindly. Also, I remember thinking the first time I saw this story all I could think about was how he could've done better. Honestly, hot, wealthy, world-renowned, bad boy surgeon? That's the best he could do? He couldn't managed to land someone attractive? Even his first girlfriend was attractive when he conned her. I guess it probably made it easier to manipulate a woman when she's an unattractive narcissist appearing to be in it for the name-dropping and money. At least this version of the doc actually goes over the unethical aspect of medicine and lack of benevolence over malevolence and vanity.

I'll start by saying that the romance fraud was actually laughable, particularly for an intelligent, world class journalist who met the Paolo doing a story on him. She should be ashamed that she let her journalistic integrity fly right out the window because he threw romantic magic dust at her and she was in such a trance that she was unable to do even the minimum amount of background checking to see if he was who he claimed to be;not even a Google search. Yet, she thinks the real story is about her romantic entanglement with a married man and a doctor of fraudulent and criminal conduct;a murderer. Interestingly, when the New York Times story emerged concerning his scientific misconduct, her mind went to pondering whether she was still getting married.

Once the story progressed beyond Benita's shallow perspective, I realized that what at first seemed like the backstory story was really the suck, criminal and immoral tale of a mad scientist. I'm so sorry for the families who lost loved ones only to later have the pain amplified by the unconscionable acts of a mad scientist.

The heroes were obviously the scientists and doctors who called out his work and the journalists who researched and told this sordid tale. Well done.