Kirurgen Paolo Macchiarini åtalas för grov misshandel efter misslyckade operationer

Gelli menar att fallet måste genomlysas, dels för att undersöka om regionen har agerat felaktigt och dels för att utröna om Macchiarini verkligen utförde den forskning som transplantationerna av luftstrupar krävde.

I Florens gjorde Macchiarini 150-180 operationer under de tre år han var anställd och fem av dem var luftstrupsoperationer.

Men enligt Federico Gelli är det svårt att utröna vad som hände vid operationerna.

– Tyvärr dog tre av patienterna, en vet vi ingenting om eftersom hen kom från ett annat EU-land och ytterligare en lär vara mycket sjuk – det verkar som hen ligger i koma.

"This e-mail is dedicated to all of you who made this possible. This is a very special shout out to two amazing people, that without God leading the way, Christopher's surgery would never have taken place. Our family calls them "Batman" and "Robin", also known as Dr. Paolo Macchiarini and Mr. Alex Roberts (our adopted family). Most of you know the story about how my husband (a physician) and I contacted Dr. Macchiarini back in June, 2011 when all hope for surgery in the U.S. was exhausted. Well, Dr. Macchiarini is the only surgeon in the world performing this kind of surgery, and he is excellent! We could not have asked for a better doctor, especially for Chris. He is extremely direct, just as most surgeons, but there is a side beyond the normal patient/doctor relationship. We had to trust someone half way across the world with our brother's life, there had to be a true connection. Dr. Macchiarini is extremely knowledgeable about Adenoid cystic Carcinoma (ACC), Christopher's type of cancer. He has worked with many patients that have the same illness, so his experience is beyond what we could have anywhere. Dr. Macchiarini travels the world helping people and he deserves a lot of prayers in his mission of helping others. Now, Alex. The man behind the scenes to most of you, but to us the lifeline to getting us to Stockholm. Christopher and Alex have developed a great friendship through this journey, we even spent some time with Alex in Stockholm while he was visiting Chris. Alex and Dr. Macchiarini used their power to help make this surgery happen now. Alex, Dr. Macchiarini and another former Dr. Macchiarini patient, Luis Coronas have established a foundation called "Change a Life-Regenerate a Life"
http://www.regeneratingalife.wordpress.com
The mission is to bring about Stem cell awareness (educate) around the world and to help those with illnesses like Christopher's who cannot be helped anywhere else. Thank you Paolo and Alex!"

In 1996, according to the same Wikipedia page, Roberts was sentenced to five years in jail for charges “involving organized crime ties including money laundering, extortion and racketeering”, time which he says he served from 2001 to 2006.