Do you trust me?
[groans]
I need to get her away from me.
I found a surgeon in the States who might be
able to help because I can't.
It's finally fucking happening.
I already have a song.
I picked out the first one.
"May There Always Be Sunshine."
[speaking Swedish]
I was wary when you first reached out to me.
Some ethical rules are meant to be breached,
especially in service of the truth.
Yulia sends her greetings.
She's back home with her new trachea.
[gasping] Something's not right.
It hurts.
He's killing people.
Maybe, but at the end of the day,
you don't have any proof of what you're claiming.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[tense music]
♪ ♪
Is somebody going to interrogate me?
What's up? - This way.
This way where?
What the hell is going on here?
[speaking Swedish]
[in English] Don't say a word, okay?
Let's go.
[police siren wailing]
[buzzing]
Hey.
You're up early.
I'm meeting Aubrey.
And her dad?
Yeah.
Do you want me to walk with you?
No.
Okay, well, have a great day at school.
I love you.
Love you too.
[door clicks shut]
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
Holy shit.
A claim has been made--
a breach of internal confidentiality.
What does that even mean?
They're claiming we shared privileged
patient information.
Who the hell is they?
Well, right now, they are the police.
So far, no charges have been filed.
But they didn't even question us.
That doesn't mean they won't.
They held us in a fucking police station overnight
over doctor-patient confidentiality?
Which is a criminal act in Sweden.
You could face prison time.
This is a joke.
[sighs]
Why are you so goddamn breezy?
Because Ana is right. This is a joke.
Our process was beyond reproach.
We had permission from the patients' families.
We kept names and identifying data anonymous.
They don't have a case against us.
You don't seem to understand.
You're right, Nathan.
They just held you in a fucking police station overnight.
You sent your report to 13 board members
at Karolinska, handed it over, hard copies.
How the hell do you think that info landed
in the hands of the police?
It seems to me Karolinska wants you silenced.
These are scare tactics. Hedley tried this before.
They're not just scare tactics.
There are real laws cited here.
If they want to find something to charge you with,
they'll find it.
And we would win.
Even if you do win,
an institution like Karolinska could tie you up
in legal battles for decades if they have to.
That could bankrupt you, destroy your reputations.
Where would your careers be then?
Jesus Christ. This is insane.
Listen to me.
They made a show of bringing you in.
It's very important that you do not speak to anyone--
no press, no colleagues, no one.
I'm talking to you, Nathan.
Fine.
You two will have to hand over your passports.
What? No, I can't.
- This is insane. - I have to go.
I have to go back to Russia.
What? Why?
Yulia Tuulik.
Paolo told me he performed the surgery on her.
You can't leave right now.
She's sitting there with a bloody time bomb
in her throat.
I have to get it out of her.
And replace it with what?
Another tracheostomy, something.
Assuming he didn't remove a fucking lung.
She's healthy. I can fix this.
You shouldn't be leaving the country.
Then let them arrest me.
♪ ♪
Three blocks-- three blocks, okay?
You're cutting it close.
The deadline to print is in like--
Seriously, Percy. I'm a journalist.
I know when the deadline to print is.
Come on. Okay, I'm two blocks.
Are you east side or west side?
- West. - Seriously?
Just cross the street. Come on.
[dramatic music]
Okay, I'm here.
I'm here. I made it.
You did.
This new source-- it better be good.
♪ ♪
[cell phone ringing]
[laptop dings]
[cell phone rings]
Hello?
You see this shit?
How can I possibly see what you're seeing?
This little warrant they've sent out for us.
"The three doctors, after various verbal warnings,
"will appear before the Karolinska board
to defend their findings."
We're being summoned.
It's a fucking tribunal.
After everything we uncovered, after all the shit
that they put us through, that goddamn butcher
is still out there cutting, and we're the ones on trial.
It's not a trial.
Oh, like hell.
Have you heard from Ana?
No.
I think they're watching me.
- Who? - I don't know.
There's a car that's been parked outside my building
for the last day and a half.
Nathan, try to, you know, chill out.
Chill out?
Now, good night.
[sighs]
[soft music]
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
Hey, Burt.
Dr. Gamelli, how are you?
You know.
Lucky I look good in stripes.
Yes, I heard about the whole ordeal.
Wait till you read the report.
The shit he got away with, it's nuts.
I don't need to read it to know it was a mistake.
What are you talking about?
You should retract before you make the situation any worse.
What situation am I making worse?
We have spent our entire careers in this institution.
You and I both came here to find something better.
And now your actions--
no one will take Karolinska seriously ever again.
Our reputation, our funding will fade into dust.
You watched Yesim Cetir wither away.
You saw what he did to her. - This isn't about one patient.
This is about hundreds of people's jobs,
all of their patients.
I can't believe you're taking his side.
His side is our side.
You didn't just go behind the back of the board.
You blew the whistle on all of us.
You have no idea what we found.
Well, it doesn't matter now.
You've caused an uproar.
Whatever your report uncovers, whatever truth there is,
it's just a whisper up against all this noise.
You should have handled this another way.
Any other way.
♪ ♪
[tense music]
♪ ♪
Fuck this.
[engine revs]
♪ ♪
[doorbell buzzes]
[speaking Russian]
[in English] - Yes, of course.
I'm looking for Yulia Tuulik.
[speaking Russian]
Is that Sasha?
Who are you?
I'm a friend, a doctor of Yulia's.
Is she here?
[speaking Russian]
I was hoping to speak with Yulia
about her operation.
If you want to speak to Yulia,
you will need a phone line to heaven.
I'm so sorry.
You seem surprised.
The rest of the doctors didn't seem to care so much.
Was--was there any pain?
[chuckles]
There's no such thing for my Yulia.
My daughter was strong.
She'd fight and fight.
But that thing in her throat...
Would you mind telling me what happened?
She had the cough, terrible cough.
The things she would spit up--
blue stitches, blackness.
And her skin, it smelled.
Like rotting meat.
She would spray perfumes, all those lotions,
but you could still smell it coming from inside of her.
The death.
The trachea decayed inside of her body.
She just wanted to sing to him.
Oh, she did sing.
She did.
[soft somber music]
♪ ♪
[both speaking Russian]
- [singing in Russian]
[singing continues]
[breathing shakily]
[sobs]
I only got, like, two hours of sleep.
You slept?
I used to love coming to this place.
Sorry. Sorry.
I'm here.
Thank you.
Yulia?
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
The allegations against Dr. Macchiarini,
as outlined in the report dated October 4, 2014,
and submitted to this board
by doctors Gamelli, Lasbrey, and Svensson,
are serious in nature.
At Karolinska, our reputation speaks for itself
and must be above reproach.
As such, any claim of scientific misconduct
must be evaluated and considered
in the strictest possible terms.
Doctors, you may proceed.
♪ ♪
Did you have any specific questions or concerns
about the report or--
More of a novel, really.
428 pages.
It's all there.
Most of it, anyway.
We actually gave you the abridged.
- [clears throat] - Right.
So, to summarize, three patients,
all implanted with biosynthetic tracheas
that Macchiarini misrepresented as viable for transplant
based on the claim that these organs
had been successfully tested-- they hadn't--
and that the procedure itself was grounded in science.
It wasn't.
In the case of Mr. Lyles--
Whose transplant you performed, Dr. Lasbrey.
I assisted, yes.
You also assisted at Mr. Beyenes' surgery.
Is that correct? - That is correct.
As well as that of Ms. Cetir.
If we want to go around the room,
I think we can agree that all of us
bear some degree of responsibility
for aiding and abetting Dr. Macchiarini, no?
Mr. Beyenes' successful transplant
was the focus of a prominent research paper
published in "The Lancet"?
Correct.
Of which you, Dr. Svensson,
and Dr. Lasbrey were coauthors,
ranked one of the ten most important studies
in regenerative research.
That's quite the achievement.
Any other rhetorical questions?
I find it interesting that none of you
voiced your reservations
about Dr. Macchiarini's work until now.
I did.
Yes, Dr. Gamelli.
We're all aware of your personal misgivings
towards Dr. Macchiarini.
I doubt you're aware of the half of it.
We were all led to believe that Dr. Macchiarini's work,
though experimental, was substantiated
in legitimate research.
From an outside perspective, it may appear
that you chose to benefit from Dr. Macchiarini's
reputation and achievements
until it no longer served your interests.
From any perspective, the man falsified
information knowingly.
He misrepresented delusions of grandeur as scientific theory.
He lied to his patients.
Why are we talking about anything else here?
I'm not a doctor, so please forgive my ignorance.
But it's my understanding that these patients
were terminally ill.
If there was hope, however slight,
that the procedure gave them a chance to survive,
what was the harm in trying?
Mengele felt the same way.
[people murmuring]
The patients agreed to these procedures.
Under false pretenses.
They were aware of the risks involved.
No, they weren't. They couldn't have been.
Look, the bottom line is,
these were experimental treatments approved for use
through compassionate care laws in the service
of saving lives.
And how did that bottom line work out for you, Provost?
It doesn't matter if a surgery
is experimental or not if you don't have ethical approval,
which he didn't.
The use of TGF Beta-3, in itself, is criminal.
TGF Beta-3?
The cytokine compound Dr. Macchiarini deployed
in his stem cell formulation.
There's a section dedicated to it, I believe,
around page 140, 150?
- 155. - 155.
Oh, my God.
They haven't read it.
You know, we really did try to keep this professional.
Professional?
You've been accused of violating
doctor-patient confidentiality, sharing privileged information.
Professional by focusing our report
only to include Macchiarini's patients at Karolinska.
Or did you think there were only three?
Keziah Shorten, 20 years old.
She died six months after receiving
a cadaveric transplant in London--
choked to death.
She's the one that Paolo used
to justify all of his work here.
Thank you, Dr. Gamelli.
This is hardly the time or the place to--
Then we get into his greatest hits.
Ande Beyene, his trachea rotted inside of him.
Then Christopher Lyles-- he had six months
to live when he arrived.
We cut that luxurious prognosis in half.
Then Macchiarini heads off to the U.S.,
where he uses these surgeries
to ask the FDA to give him approval to operate
on Hannah Warren in Chicago.
You'd recognize her from the TV.
She was two years old, never left her hospital bed.
Are you finished?
No, he's not finished, so neither am I.
We welcome him back to Karolinska with open arms,
where he proceeds to butcher Yesim Cetir,
22 years old.
She's in the U.S. now, holding on to life by a thread.
Then the global expansion.
He operates on Yulia Tuulik in Russia.
She had a son.
He watched her coughing up rotting plastic and flesh
until she died last week.
And he got away with it.
[soft tense music]
He got away with it because it took time
for these implants to fail.
He got away with it because he promised money
and prestige and a Nobel.
He got away with it because we let him.
It's easy for us to forget what it's like to be a patient.
Imagine you're 22 with a hole in your neck,
or your kid can't breathe on her own,
or the cancer is terminal.
And so you go to the doctor, and you're just--
you're desperate and vulnerable,
and you're just looking for someone to tell you what to do.
And they trust us because we take an oath to protect them.
Part of that includes telling them the truth
because we all want to believe a miracle is possible.
But he saw that in his patients,
and he took advantage of it.
He gave them hope.
He sold them the promise of a new life, and...
They trusted him.
And now they're dead.
The man experimented on human beings!
He violated every principle of medical ethics
and human decency for which we have laws,
and we're all to blame.
We all could have done more, including me.
But, right now, we don't have time to soul search
because he's still out there practicing medicine.
And so we owe it to our patients and to ourselves
to hold that man accountable.
Otherwise, none of us deserve to call ourselves doctors.
♪ ♪
- Should we just walk? - To yours?
Any fucking place but here.
Doctors, a word.
Look, this has certainly gone quite a ways.
But there are still forks in the road.
Why the fuck are you talking in riddles?
Okay, look, I'm sure you've read Dr. Macchiarini's
response to your report.
Were mistakes made?
Possibly.
But there is still a way out.
Look, papers get retracted, diagnoses reversed,
inquiries withdrawn.
And the alternative?
Well, in the unlikely event that the board chooses not
to press charges...
without the support of the institution,
without funding,
do you understand what would happen to your careers?
It's up to you.
I wanted to be a fighter pilot.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
I felt a need, a need for speed.
[laughter]
I wanted a bakeshop.
Do you bake?
No, no.
Not me, my ex.
She would make--oh, the things.
The things, what do you call them?
She made rhubarb, passionfruit, matcha.
Oh, fuck, what do you call them?
Anyway, she would bake, and I would manage,
whatever that means.
But as fate would have it,
"Ana Lasbrey, welcome to Oxford."
I wanted to be a rock star.
both: We know.
[laughing]
Mm.
Macarons, that's what they're called.
- Ah. - Oh, so delicious.
I should call her.
Uh... I don't think you should call her.
- No? - [mumbles]
And at the end of the day,
what was the point of any of it?
Oxford, residencies, internships,
scholarships, student loans, fucking ramen for breakfast--
I mean, it is, objectively, a miserable line of work,
and yet--
It's impossible not to wonder what it says
about us to choose it.
The anxiety, the 48-hour shifts,
the utter absence of a social life.
Ah, yes, but look at us now,
on the right side of history, a clear conscience,
and so extremely unemployed.
[laughter]
[speaking Swedish]
What? Shelabetsh--
- Albet-- - De arbetslosa.
The arbetslosa.
[laughter]
Oh, fuck.
Why is it so hard to do the right thing?
[groans]
Where are you going?
Home, to pack.
There's nothing keeping me here, is there?
Anyway...
It's not like I ever want to see you people again.
Nonsense, you love us.
[chuckles]
You know, it's funny.
I was wondering when one of us was gonna ask.
Ask what?
Where the fuck is Macchiarini?
[speaking Russian]
[in English] - Maybe English is easier.
I wasn't aware we had an operation scheduled.
Da, I'm implanting a biosynthetic trachea today.
But I haven't prepared--
I prepared the trachea myself.
I need you to keep working on the catalog expansion,
the new organs.
Of course, the work is happening.
But I thought we might wait after Miss Yulia.
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
We're falling behind schedule.
We need a breakthrough if we want
to secure additional funding.
There is a German TV crew filming a special here.
When the world sees what we're doing--
"Miracles."
Exactly.
Miracles.
Don't you have work to complete?
Yes, sir. Of course.
♪ ♪
So imagine if, instead of waiting for months or years
for someone to donate an organ, you go to the supermarket
and say, hey, can I have a new liver?
- Incredible. - Yeah.
It's never been done before. It's the future.
So you are creating new body parts?
Yes.
Yeah, yeah, like Dr. Frankenstein.
Or God.
So...
[speaking German]
[in English] - So-so-so from here to there?
- Mm-hmm. - Okay.
[both speaking German] - Okay.
[in English] The work I do is not easy.
Innovation is never easy.
But I do believe that we don't evolve
from a place of comfort.
Maybe the Earth is not the center of the universe.
Maybe disease is caused by germs.
Those were revolutionary ideas once.
I want to change the way we think about how
we repair the human body.
That's how we change the world.
And what inspired such a revolutionary piece
of technology?
I don't know.
But when I look at it--
this was the first model.
Do you see?
It's a cross.
You actually suffocate when you're crucified.
Not many people know this.
But without air, we're just dust.
And maybe this is its purpose, my purpose, the will of God.
You believe you were divinely inspired?
[laughing] No, no, no.
No, but I do keep my faith in mind.
So you are a religious man?
Yes, I am.
You know, the Pope has these red shoes,
and I also have a pair of red shoes that I wear in surgery.
They were a gift from my mother.
Your mother must be very proud.
Yeah, I think so.
She keeps a portrait of San Luca in her house,
you know, the patron saint of surgeons.
Surgeons, bachelors, and butchers, correct?
You mentioned earlier that your work wasn't easy.
This medicine, I hold it on my shoulders.
I have to keep pushing it up the mountain.
Some mornings, I wake up in my hotel
all alone, away from my family.
In fact, I spend most of my year like that.
And this can be difficult-- sleeping in hotels,
on pillows that never feel quite--you know?
My patients are my priority.
Room service for dinner, sometimes just the minibar.
Maybe there's a movie on TV
in a language that I know, maybe not.
Sometimes I wake up alone, and I don't know where I am.
This could change the world. The will of God.
And it's difficult. It's difficult.
It is truly difficult,
and no one truly understands that, no one.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[clears throat]
But, to answer your question, the work I do--
is it easy?
No, it's not.
But to save someone's life--
that is my purpose.
♪ ♪
[speaking Russian]
[phone ringing]
[speaking German]
- [speaking German]
[cell phone dings]
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[alarm ringing]
[speaking Swedish]
Oh.
[speaking Swedish]
[soft sentimental music]
♪ ♪
So what do you think?
Suspensions, licenses revoked, death penalty?
I think there's a possibility I may still be intoxicated.
You guys see the news vans outside?
What vans?
Something's different.
Who is that?
That's Ebba Blomberg.
She runs-- - The Swedish Research Council.
All right, as many of you already know,
the report that is the focus of this hearing
has been leaked, and an article referencing
its contents was published this morning to public outlets.
Due to the increased public attention,
the Karolinska board has decided
to hand the investigation over to a third party.
Ms. Blomberg and the Swedish Research Council
will assume charge of the review from here.
Let's please begin.
Let's please turn to page 143.
143.
There was a question about the shift
from POSS-PCU to pure PET materials
without additional testing in place.
Perhaps I am still intoxicated.
What the hell was that? Our report was leaked?
Did he say leaked? - What does this mean?
Oh, my God.
"Love, Lies, and Human Experimentation:
a Celebrity Surgeon Exposed."
Listen to this, near the end.
"Macchiarini has been credibly accused by a group
"of colleagues at Karolinska.
"A whistleblower's report details
"Macchiarini's long history of scientific misconduct
"resulting in the death of at least two of his patients.
"Add these claims to the history of lies
"and deceit in his personal life,
"and we are painted a picture of a man
who is wholly untrustworthy, perhaps even sociopathic."
Oh, my fucking God.
The news vans out front.
Outlets are picking this up.
American outlets.
Sweden is pissed.
[chuckles]
Well, that's it.
You saw them in there.
Karolinska can't stand behind him anymore.
Did we do it?
It seems this woman did it.
Who the hell is Benita Alexander?
[laughter]
"The Pope?" Sorry, it's all caps.
"The Pope? She seriously believed that?
What a fucking idiot."
I mean, it's fair.
Hold on, hold on. This one's good.
"Was this bitch drunk or something?"
- Uh, you think? - Yeah, you were.
And a little crazy. - Drunk and crazy.
We all got to be something, right?
Yeah. Oh, what about this one?
"How could she let that man near her daughter?
What a terrible mother."
[soft jazz music]
- All right, you know-- - No, no, no, no, no.
I'm not even...
Have you heard back from Lawrence?
Oh, no.
I mean, yes, I did.
It was a no.
Oh.
I'm sorry.
God, you would have been perfect for that job.
Yeah, they're all gonna be no, Kim.
- What do you mean? - I'm un-hirable.
- Oh, stop it. - It's true.
Turns out no one wants to hire a reporter
who slept with their subject,
especially when that subject turned out to be a con man.
Oh, well, you know the golden rule.
both: You don't fuck your sources.
Right, they should put me on the poster.
Yep.
♪ "The More You Know" ♪
[both giggling]
I mean, I knew it was going to be hard.
But some of this, I just didn't expect.
You getting symptoms of regret?
I'm having symptoms of wondering
whether it was worth it, whether any of this
is ever worth it, you know?
Put yourself out there.
Tell the truth.
Fuck.
Why is it so hard to do the right thing?
But you did.
We'll see.
[cell phone ringing]
Hello?
Yes, this is he.
I see.
Thanks.
Thank you for calling.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[knock at door]
Do you know what you want for dinner?
Whatever.
What did you think about the article?
There's no point in pretending.
It's on the internet.
You should see what people are saying.
I know what they're saying.
I believed him too.
I have been trying really hard to figure out
how to explain all of this to you,
what was real, why he lied.
But I just don't think we're ever going to know,
and we have to be okay with that.
But it doesn't even matter because as long
as I have you, kiddo, I'm good.
[soft music]
People can say whatever they want.
You kinda kicked his ass.
We did, didn't we?
Yeah.
I'm proud of you.
♪ ♪
I love you.
I love you too.
- Benita? - Allison?
- Yeah, hi. - Hi.
Sit, please.
Thank you for meeting me.
Yeah, of course.
Your message was a little vague.
What can I do for you?
I'm an ad exec at IPG-- a good one.
I read people.
I can tell the public what they want before they even know it.
Then I give it to them.
And six months ago, I was conned
by my fiancé--
former.
It was like this fog all around my head
just wrapping up the truth and the lies until it all just--
I didn't have anyone to talk to, be honest with.
And then I read your article.
You just told it.
You put it out there, haters be damned.
Well, there certainly are haters.
Who gives a shit?
You're owning your story.
When I read it, it just made me feel...
seen, I guess.
Well, if it could happen to you,
and it happened to me, at least we're not
the only ones, right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Actually, would you be interested
in me telling your story?
Yeah.
All right, yeah.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Is it okay if I record this?
Sure.
Okay.
All right, so...
[chanting in Swedish]
Crowds have gathered today to hear
the verdict of the Swedish Police investigation
into celebrity surgeon Paolo Macchiarini,
who has been accused of medical misconduct.
Officials are hoping for an indictment
to be issued today in the case
that has taken the global medical community by storm.
My daughter.
I'm so sorry.
[indistinct chatter]
[apprehensive music]
♪ ♪
Hello.
After months of investigations and deliberations,
we, along with the Prosecutor General,
are prepared to announce our findings.
We have found that there was a clear and real
scientific misconduct that took place--
negligence and surgical misadventures--
during Dr. Macchiarini's tenure here in Sweden.
However, we do not have the grounds
to charge Dr. Paolo Macchiarini with any criminal conduct.
[crowd murmuring]
In our conclusion, in terms of the criminal law,
there are no grounds for legal liability.
This investigation has now been closed.
It's Wednesday.
Hump day happy hour?
First pint's on me.
What about the second?
The second is on you.
I can't get it. I can't afford it.
The fifth is on me.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[reporters clamoring]
♪ ♪
"I'll be back." It must be, it must be.
I don't know, man.
What do you think it is?
Yippee kayak, motherfucker?
Yippee ki-yay.
He's very serious about these things.
Please don't get him started.
- I'm with you. - No, no, no.
Don't argue on this with me.
Sure.
[laughter]
He didn't win.
Not really.
No?
I'm glad we did it, though.
Me too.
Yeah.
But if you could go back, if you found a DeLorean
right now, would you do it again?
Oh, absolutely fucking not.
[laughter]
But that's the thing.
Science is not perfect, right?
Far from it.
But, for some reason, we think that
the medical system can be.
And we can't fight the system because we're all a part of it.
So I suppose all we can do is this:
fight for it.
And that's why you stayed, right?
I guess you're right.
Aw, well, that is lovely, Dr. Svensson.
Such a sap.
I really--I can't with this.
Where do you think I get it from?
Who, me?
- "We owe it to our patients"... - No.
"And ourselves to hold that man accountable."
both: "Otherwise, none of us deserve
to call ourselves doctors."
Come on. All right.
[laughter]
You know, there is something that's been bugging me.
We were so careful.
Fucking hard copies-- who the hell leaked the report?
I suppose we'll never know.
Let's just be thankful that someone did.
- Skol. - Skol.
Skol. both: Skol.
[glasses clink]
[soft dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪