At a press conference today with his lawyers, Macchiarini denied he had any intent to harm the patients. He claimed his colleagues and supervisors all approved of the surgeries.
And said, “In the operating room we were 20, 25 people. What surprises me is, why I am here alone?”
He said his only regret was accepting KI’s job offer in the first place.
In 2016, the Swedish government dismissed the board of the KI after an investigation showing it was negligent when it hired Macchiarini. And allowed him to operate on patients. Sweden’s University Chancellor Harriet Wallberg, who was heading up the KI at the time of Macchiarini’s surgeries was also fired.
The high court will decide whether to hear the case. If the sentence is upheld, Macchiarini is likely to serve two-thirds of his sentence, in line with Swedish sentencing standards.
