Where Is Netflix's Bad Surgeon Now and How Is He Connected to Mandy Moore's Dr. Death?

When Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife debuted on Netflix at the end of November, it quickly catapulted into the streaming service's Top 10 series. That shouldn't surprise anyone who caught the sordid, three-part docuseries about Dr. Paolo Macchiarini. 

Bad Surgeon has it all: a sweeping romance, a wild con, and a true crime story with a subject whose charisma fooled some of the world's brightest surgeons. Told through the perspective of Benita Alexander, a former NBC news producer who covered and then fell in love with the man, there are plenty of jaw-dropping twists. 

So, is it any wonder that Bad Surgeon is just the beginning of new projects devoted to this surreal story? Read on to learn more about the trending docuseries and where you can watch similar projects, including a new TV drama starring Mandy Moore.

Who Is Dr. Paolo Macchiarini?

Dr. Paolo Macchiarini is a 65-year-old Italian thoracic surgeon and regenerative medicine researcher who shot to fame for his reported lifesaving research with synthetic windpipe implants. He created polymer windpipes and soaked them in a solution of a patient's own stem cells before transplanting them.

He also speaks six languages and has claimed to be the doctor of famous public figures such as the Pope, Barack Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. For years, he worked at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, whose professors select the Nobel prize winner in physiology or medicine.

What did Dr. Paolo Macchiarini do?

While the doctor's methods were reported as groundbreaking in 2011, they were eventually revealed to be completely unfounded. Macchiarini had never properly tested the trachea implants and was accused of fudging the research. Some claimed he used humans as Guinea pigs. 

Macchiarini performed eight such transplants between 2011 and 2014. Seven of the people he performed surgeries on died shortly after receiving their transplants, including a two-year-old girl and a single father.

A woman named Yesim Cetir initially survived her transplant but had to undergo 191 surgeries, including one to remove the plastic tube. She also experienced two strokes and had to have her throat cleared every four to six hours. Eventually, in 2017, she also died. 

More on Netflix:

• The Best TV Shows on Netflix Right Now
• The Best Movies on Netflix Right Now
• The Ultimate Guide to What to Watch in November

What does Bad Surgeon tell us about Dr. Paolo Macchiarini?

In addition to all of the horrifying medical things that Macchiarini was accused of, Bad Surgeon peels back the layers of his personal deceits. Benita Alexander is the leading voice of the docuseries, and she doesn't pull any punches regarding the effects this man had on her life.

Alexander first realized not all was what it seemed when her fiancé (yup, they were engaged) couldn't explain why the Pope was traveling the same month he had reportedly agreed to wed the couple. A whack of lies subsequently emerged, including a whole other secret family.

With the spell broken, Alexander went public with a 2016 Vanity Fair article. Others questioning the doctors' methods followed suit, exposing the reality of the situation. Macchiarini was eventually fired from the Karolinska Institute and went to court for his accused crimes. 

How is Dr. Paolo Macchiarini Involved in Dr. Death?

Once word got out about this doctor, he was the subject of several news reports, documentaries, and podcasts. One of those podcasts was the Wondery podcast, which serves as inspiration for the second season of Peacock's Dr. Death, with the season titled Dr. Death: Miracle Man. 

In the dramatized version of events, Mandy Moore plays Benita Alexander, and the show traces her love story with Macchiarini, played by Édgar Ramírez. As anyone who has seen the Netflix doc or followed along with the real-life events knows, there is a lot to dramatize. However, the series takes some liberties, so even the most well-versed true crime lovers may be surprised at how some things play out.  

The second season also has nothing to do with the first season of Dr. Death, which starred Joshua Jackson as surgeon Christopher Duntsch. That doctor was accused of routinely performing surgery while under the influence, paralyzing and killing some of his patients in the process.

When Does Dr. Death: Miracle Man Come Out?

All eight episodes of Dr. Death: Miracle Man debut on Peacock on December 21. You can check out the trailer below.

Who else is talking about this?

Once you've finished watching Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife and Dr. Death: Miracle Man, you might want to stay on Peacock to check out Dr. Death: Cutthroat Conman. That doc drops the same day as the scripted series and goes even more in-depth via interviews with people who worked alongside Macchiarini.

Where Is Dr. Paolo Macchiarini now?

It was a long journey for the families of those who died after a Macchiarini surgery. The doctor was the subject of a yearlong investigation by Swedish police in 2016. At the time, they found that the doctor was negligent in four of the five cases they looked at because the devices and procedures he used were unfounded. 

However, the Swedish Prosecution Authority could not prove any crimes since the patients may have died had they been given any other kind of treatment. 

Three years later, Macchiarini was sentenced to 16 months in jail for forging documents and abusing his office, but the Supreme Court later acquitted him of all charges. 

Finally, in 2022, new evidence coupled with support from people in more than five countries, resulted in Macchiarini's conviction of causing bodily harm. However, he was also acquitted on two similar charges. 

This past summer, Macchiarini was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, having been found guilty of aggravated assault against three former patients. Today, three of his research papers have been corrected, four are now marked with an expression of concern, and 11 have been retracted. 

To date, Macchiarini has denied any wrongdoing.

Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife is now streaming on Netflix. Dr. Death Season 2 premieres Dec. 21 on Peacock.