scientist at one of London ’s lead research institutions , University College London , have been criminate of sending experimental medical implants overseas to be essay on people , despite not being approve for habit in humans .
Aninquiry looking into the researchersdeveloping these experimental implant has find that they fundamentally treat people as “ Numida meleagris pigs ” and test out fresh transplant techniques that should have only been used on animate being .
The query came about afterconcerns were raisedabout the relationship between several researchers at UCL and the now - disgraced surgeon Paolo Macchiarini , who conducted massively unethical trials at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden . When he was working , Macchiarini became something of a fame , as he seemingly pioneered the employment of regenerative medicine , work up new air passage seeded with stem cells for patients who had suffered harm .
The surgery was hailed as a world - first and tout as a major succeeder , with Macchiarini conducting the procedure on other patient in the following months and days . What was kept quiet were the significant and distressful ramification that developed take after the treatment , leading to the eventual death of most of the17 patient he run on .
In the Wake Island of this , the university has been drag into the situation as well . The first surgical operation to take spot come across the trachea of a patient replaced with an artificial scaffold seeded with the affected role ’s own stem cells . This scaffold was build by a scientist , called Alexander Seifalian ( dismissed in 2016 for an unrelated face ) , act upon at the time at UCL , but his laboratory was not actually licensed to make clinical - grade devices .
This latest inquiry has find that a whole server of other implant developed out of Seifalian ’s science lab were also used in patients out of doors of the UK , with potentially prejudicial aftermath . One patient living in Tehran was implanted with a plastic graft that bypassed his femoral arteria , which was inveterate infect . This was criticize as being grievous as the bribery itself can become septic and spread the infection , requiring his humbled branch to be amputate . The result of the operation has not been reported .
Another implant that was tested on a human being without other visitation was that of an stilted tear duct , in which surgeons plant a bantam plastic thermionic vacuum tube into the eye of a patient in Zurich . The implant was produce by an ophthalmologist contract a part - time PhD in Seifalian ’s lab .
In his defense team , Seifalain take that these implant were tested on humans without his knowledge , check only of the surgery after it had taken seat and assuming that those involved had receive the necessary permission beforehand .
The report recommends that the case should be reported for further investigation , but stopped short of suggesting investigating into current staff .
[ H / T : The Guardian ]
