Controversial neurosurgeon Charlie Teo has admitted he may never practice surgery again in Australia and revealed he was forced to drive Ubers due to the financial fallout of a costly legal battle.
Dr Teo, 65, is awaiting the outcome of an eight-day medical misconduct hearing at the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC), which is investigating two surgeries he performed that left patients with catastrophic brain injuries.
The patients, both female – designated Patient A and Patient B – had terminal brain tumours and were given only weeks or months to live.
They were both left in vegetative states and passed away soon after Dr Teo performed surgery to remove their tumours.
Dr Teo said he was ‘not crying poor’, but legal fees and a mortgage had put financial pressure on him, and as a result he had been forced last year to drive Ubers to make ends meet.
Dr Teo said he was ‘not crying poor’, but legal fees and a mortgage had put financial pressure on him, and as a result he had been forced to drive Ubers to make ends meet
In 2021, he was restrained by the NSW Medical Council from operating without the approval of another doctor after an investigation by the state’s health care complaints commission.
‘The majority of work spent overseas is voluntary and often I have to absorb the travelling costs myself,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
‘It’s a small price to pay to do what I love doing and at the same time, helping the less fortunate.’
The embattled surgeon said the hearing ‘slagged off’ his character, destroyed his reputation and took away his livelihood.
Dr Teo, 65, is awaiting the outcome of an eight-day medical misconduct hearing at the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC)
He also said it was ‘a sad day for Australian medicine’.
‘If the medical governing bodies are able to destroy my ability to save lives, what does that say for anyone in the future who wants to be an innovator or pioneer and push the envelope for their patients?’
The hearing, which concluded on Wednesday, is investigating the circumstances surrounding the two operations, including concerns patients were offered false hope regarding their chance of survival.
Dr Teo has admitted it was clear from the results of the surgeries he did something wrong and he believed the outcomes could have been better.
‘I did the wrong thing. I obviously did the wrong thing by the patient,’ Dr Teo told the inquiry.
‘Did I intend to hurt her? Absolutely not.’
It was reported this week that Dr Teo could not get the public support of even one Australian neurosurgeon as he desperately tried to defend his character and medical practice.
‘I think they don’t want to be seen as a Charlie Teo advocate because it has polarised the neurosurgical community,’ he said.
The embattled surgeon said the misconduct hearing ‘slagged off’ his character, destroyed his reputation and took away his livelihood
Previous hearings have drawn large crowds of supporters including former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh and boxer Anthony Mundine.
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The former Australian cricket captain attended Wednesday’s hearing, describing Dr Teo as a ‘good guy and a great Australian’.
Both of the patients’ husbands told the inquiry they were given the impression by Dr Teo the women had a good chance of significant improvement in their conditions.
‘We never got the discussion that it could go badly,’ one of the husbands said.
‘Charlie Teo had told my wife … if she didn’t have the surgery by Tuesday, she would be dead by Friday.
‘That was why my wife made her mind up that she wanted the operation.’
Allegations against Dr Teo include that he failed to properly inform the patients of the risks involved with surgery, failed to gain proper patient consent, slapped one of the patients in the face and used unprofessional language during consultations.
The commission is calling for Dr Teo to be reprimanded and have further conditions placed on his medical certificate.
A four-person Professional Standards Committee will deliberate on a decision.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CELEBRITY SURGEON CHARLIE TEO
December 24, 1957 – Charlie Teo born in Sydney, the son of Chinese- Singaporean immigrants
1981 – Graduates from University of Sydney with a bachelor of medicine and a bachelor of Sydney following his education at Sydney’s elite Scots College
1982 onwards – works in general neurosurgery at Sydney Royal Prince Alfred Hospital before moving to the US for 10 years where works in Dallas, Texas and Arkansas, where he becomes Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery
1990s – Teo returns to Australia to work in Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital and founds the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and the Charlie Teo Foundation
2000s – His fame spreads and he becomes a regular on TV and on the social pages of newspapers
2011 – He is awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for services to medicine as a neurosurgeon
Charlie Teo returned to Australia in the 90s to work in Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital and founded the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and the Charlie Teo Foundation
2019 – Urologist Henry Woo goes public with concerns about Mr Teo’s work and the number of Gofundme campaigns raising cash to fund surgery by him, sparking a series of newspaper articles, TV investigations and complaints.
2021 – NSW Medical Council conducted a special hearing into Mr Teo which banned him from conducting operations unless he obtained special written approval from an experienced neurosurgeon, which he says he’s been unable to get because of the onerous restrictions on the approving surgeon
August 2021 – The Health Care Complaints Commission launch an investigation over two more complaints
September 2022 – HCCC hearing due to take place but is postponed.
October 2022 – Three new complaints against Mr Teo are made to the HCCC
February 13, 2023 – Mr Teo will face the HCCC over five complaints
