Another Scathing Report Causes More Eminent Heads to Roll in the Macchiarini Scandal

The scandal surrounding Paolo Macchiarini, the former star surgeon who became famous for his pioneering trachea transplants, has prompted yet another round of resignations and firings at the highest levels of Swedish higher education. On Monday evening, Swedish Minister for Higher Education and Research Helene Hellmark Knutsson said she had dismissed the country’s chancellor in charge of all public universities, Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, following the release of a sharply critical report by an independent commission that examined the Karolinska Institute’s (KI’s) hiring and management of Macchiarini. Wallberg-Henriksson was vice-chancellor of KI in Stockholm, a position comparable to that of a university president, when Macchiarini was hired, and played a key role in his recruitment.

The minister also announced that all remaining KI board members who were active during Macchiarini’s tenure would be replaced. Five had already stepped down, including chairman Lars Leijonborg, who resigned Friday after receiving the panel’s report.

The affair continues to threaten the credibility of the world's most prestigious scientific award as well. Today, the Nobel Assembly—which chooses the winner of the prize for physiology or medicine—asked Wallberg-Henriksson and another...