In 2016, news broke that surgeon Paolo Macchiarini cheated with research and results of transplants with artificial trachea. It was noted after whistleblowers alerted KI's management that Macchiarini's research did not seem to be right.
The whistleblowers believe that they have always been subject to reprisals and that they never had the opportunity to defend themselves.
- Karolinska has invested all its powder on trying to throw us in different ways. And probably that kind of reprisal will be lifelong, ”Oscar Simonson told SR.
When Macchiarini was dropped for research fraud, the whistleblowers were also dropped, as they were considered to have participated in the research. Three of the researchers who reported Macchiarini for research cheating were blamed last year by the Karolinska Institute. It was considered that they should have detected the errors earlier.
This is despite the fact that the whistleblowers believe that Macchiarini mislead the research community and its co-authors.
Today, the whistleblowers will send a request to the Justice Chancellor. They are requesting compensation, totaling just over SEK 180,000 together, and partly that KI's decision on their part in the research fraud can be reviewed by the court, Ekot reports.