Why can't a highly celebrated brain surgeon operate in his own country? | 60 Minutes Australia

when it comes to performing highly complicated often life or death brain surgery Dr Charlie Teo makes a proud boast he is the best in the business Full Stop in fact the celebrity neurosurgeon also well known for his exorbitant fees claims to be so brilliant he'll operate on patients who've been told they have no hope their conditions are terminal Tio doesn't lack confidence and a lot of people love him for it but tonight Kate mcclimond the Sydney Morning Herald's Chief investigative reporter looks at another side of Charlie Teo and reveals the Dreadful price some of his patients have paid for believing the hype that he can perform medical miracles [Music] it took a near-fatal car accident for Michelle Smith to make a jaw-dropping discovery I felt shocked I was under the impression that he'd removed some of it a decade earlier she'd had an operation to remove a tumor after the accident a fresh brain scan showed none of it had been taken out as if that wasn't horrifying enough Michelle discovered the neurosurgeon had actually operated on the wrong side of her brain to find out that he didn't even touch it I just felt violated in a way but you know I trusted him [Music] that doctor was Charlie Teo Australia's most celebrated brain surgeon ah well I think I'm the best describing Dr Charlie Teo as a world-renowned neurosurgeon falls short of what this bloke has achieved this is Jennifer six weeks later very cute and she's likely cured foreign teo's self-proclaimed surgical superiority and heroic outcomes have been glorified by the media for years they lionize the motorbike riding Rebel who fearlessly took on the medical establishment courageously operating when others said nothing more could be done I'm great at neurosurgery so what I do is I try and push the envelope more and more while Dr teo's successes have been lauded his failures have troubled many doctors and nurses who've been left to treat patients and their families financially and emotionally crippled from his futile surgeries Dr Teo is now facing a disciplinary hearing over two operations which even he acknowledges had terrible outcomes I know that the two cases you're discussing are bad ah no one can dispute that night we're here from shattered patients who paid a heavy price after Dr Teo convinced them that in his hands Miracles can happen I just said to my mom I want to see him I want him to fix me like many of Dr teo's patients Michelle Smith was convinced the charismatic surgeon she saw on television was the only doctor who could help cure her epileptic seizures caused by a brain tumor in 2003 at the first appointment nineteen-year-old Michelle went along with her mother Anna whilst having his daughter jar and I was in the waiting room with Michelle I heard him say to the person that was accompanying the patient what is your wife's or daughter's life worth and I thought that is a strange comment for a doctor to make when it was Michelle's turn Dr Teo told them they'd come to the best and removing the tumor would be easy it was a doctor that had his feet up on a desk had a yellow snake hanging out of his mouth had a bicycle helmet right to behind him so it was visible he was arrogant he was cool he said you're not going to get better than me Dr Teo then told Anna the best came at a price the operation would cost up to fifty thousand dollars and he repeated the pitch he'd used on the previous patient it just seemed like his selling point what is your daughter's life worth He makes you feel obliged to come up with the money to offer her the best that you can struggle to come up with the money she drained her savings and borrowed the rest from family a month later the operation was performed at the Prince of Wales Private Hospital in Sydney what did Dr Teo say to you when you went for the six-week checkup everything's great you can stop all your meds at the checkup Dr Teo was pleased with his work but as the years went by the frequency of Michelle's seizures increased and she couldn't hold down a job let alone drive a car the seizures got worse I lost my employment I'd had a few jobs here and there I had a seizure behind the wheel and hit two parked cars riding off three cars 2014 Michelle and her mother were completely flawed when a new scan of Michelle's brain revealed that Charlie Teo had operated on the wrong side the green circle in this diagram shows where the original operation was performed by Dr Teo it's clear it's nowhere near the tumor which is circled in red on the other side of the brain the previous operation was done on the wrong side of the brain and that's why the normal brain tissue was removed it was nowhere near the tumor and so none of the tumor was removed in that first operation no I felt like my world had moved off its axes I felt angry more so for what Michelle had gone through it just made me feel like we had been used so he can put another notch of success on his belt and sing his own praises to people and ask the future patients how much their daughter's Sons mothers son-in-law's life is worth [Music] Michelle felt Dr teo's failed surgery compounded by his failure to own up to his mistake had stolen the best years of her life in 2018 she sued Dr Teo for medical negligence and obtained a confidential settlement I did have a few people ask me why I would even waste my time trying to take on Charlie Theo because he's Untouchable and so why did you because no one's untouchable Dr Teo denied that he'd operated on the wrong side of your head how do you respond to that the scans don't lie it's all there maybe he needs to look at them again [Music] thirteen years after the initial surgery Michelle had another operation to remove the tumor this time a neurosurgeon at a Sydney public Hospital operated at no charge and since then Michelle has been seizure free and feels like she's been given a new life but Dr teo's mistake still distresses her a lot of bad memories and a lot of guilt for the expense that the family went through and just the stress that I put them all under wanting this [Music] as you'll see the families of many patients feel profound guilt for buying into the miracle they feel Charlie Teo sold them only to be crushed by the repercussions from his unsuccessful surgeries there should be some regulation to stop this if someone is giving false hope then it's like a scam while Dr Charlie Teo has many grateful patients with good outcomes willingness to operate on tumors that other Specialists have said are inoperable that has caused the greatest controversy I don't get referrals from doctors sure I don't get referrals from emergency rooms or neurologists I get them from purely word of mouth so right easily 95 of my patients have come to me because I've heard about me or they've been rejected by someone else Dr Teo maintains he respects his patients wishes and if they want to take a gamble on surgery that other doctors have deemed too dangerous he's happy to roll the dice but some of the surgeries he offers are like playing Russian roulette with the outcome arguably worse than death I have it that trait of tenacity but sometimes I question my own motivation and my own reasoning as to why I should operate on something that's so inoperable as a brainstem glioma they all die anyway Branson glenom as patients with postm gliomas so I've I've often rationalized to myself that you know well they're going to die anyway why don't we give it a shot Charlie teo's questionable surgeries on inoperable tumors have led to an ongoing investigation by medical authorities last year the New South Wales Medical Council became so concerned about the risk he posed to the public that they placed restrictions on his ability to perform brain stem operations even worse for Dr Teo Prince of Wales Private Hospital where he's worked for years no longer lets him operate Dr Sally told us that we'll get a normal and healthy Nicola's back that's why we agreed with this risk [Music] one of those angry about Dr teo's brain stem surgeries is prasanta Barman an engineer from Assam in India yay in 2018 his much-loved only child four-year-old michelage was diagnosed with a rare brain stem tumor called a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma dipgs is there known are incurable and inoperable the doctors in India were telling that it's not possible it's not operable there is no cure for the APC it is the only tumor in Pediatrics where from the day you're diagnosed you're already considered palliative Mark Kieran is a leading American pediatric oncologist who's trying to find a cure for dipgs the most lethal of childhood cancers where the average life expectancy is 6 to 18 months it's not just a question of if you're going to die it's really when you're going to die so it's the worst of the worst it is the worst of the worst there's no way to cut out the tumor cell without cutting out those normal cells a dipg is diagnosed by an MRI combined with the child's symptoms such as headaches blurred vision and problems with balance it grows in a crucial part of the brain stem known as the pons that links the brain to the spinal cord in a normal MRI this area right here called the pons is the normal structure that controls things like breathing heart rate and the ability to be awake and alert you can see in a child with the ipg how this area is now completely swollen and unfortunately completely surrounds all of the normal cells meaning that if you tried to remove this area you'd be cutting out all of the normal cells in their critical function as well as a neurosurgeon I don't have a role in this cancer it's just it's illogical you know to go in there and think that in the traditional sense of surgery I'm going to take out this tumor like Mark Kieran Professor Mark swordane knows just how deadly dipgs are he's one of America's pre-eminent pediatric neurosurgeons and is focused on finding a cure through drug trials professor swardane says it's well understood in International Medical circles that surgical removal known as resection would be catastrophic given the location of the tumor in the brain stem what harm could resection possibly do to a child death permanent morbidity paralysis inability to preserve vital functions breathing respirations blood pressure heart rate but as far as you're aware there is no clinical or research data anywhere in the world that shows a benefit from resecting these kind of tumors absolutely not it doesn't exist surgeons in India told prasanta Barman his son had a deadly dipg but friends told him about the famous Australian neurosurgeon and in desperation prasanta emailed the MRI scans to Dr Teo emails from Dr teo's office contradicted the previous diagnosis unbelievably prasanta was told the tumor could be removed and michelage cured Dr Teo wanted to operate as soon as possible Dr CEO has reviewed the scans and suggested urgent surgery he said there is a very high likelihood of cure I sent about 10 15 questions and some of these questions were like what is the possibility of cure he said once we can remove the entire tumor he can live a healthy life we showed michelaja's scans to multiple neurosurgeons who immediately identified the tumor as a dipg when told that an unnamed surgeon had offered a resection with the hope of a cure they were horrified even the high stakes of operating in the brain stem if there was the slightest doubt about michelaj's tumor a biopsy prior to the surgery would provide a definitive result if one is troubled by something that's out of Step as you do a biopsy do a biopsy let's get those results and then make a determination about what to do and that's not a difficult Endeavor it's a half an hour operation children usually go home the next day and you pick up the pieces later and make a decision with information we gave him all the reports and we asked him if he need any investigation or any other test which I need to do before I go for the surgery I said no further investigation nothing is required when prasanta asked about the risks of the operation he was told there were many and the tumor was in an extremely critical part of the brain but it was emphasized to him that surgery was the only hope it's important to note though that if my collage does not have the operation then he will likely die from this tumor persuaded by Dr Teo there was a good chance the surgery would cure his son prasanta opted to have the operation for eighty thousand dollars in Singapore instead of one hundred and fifty thousand at Prince of Wales Private Hospital in Sydney he used up his retirement savings borrowed money and friends helped fundraise for the operation before the operation Charlie Teo was paid 40 000 and another forty thousand went to the hospital in Singapore the night before the surgery in this video my collage was chatty and his parents were optimistic he was playing with this his toys and at that time we told him that there will be a big fight tomorrow and there's something inside your brain something inside your head so that bad things will be taken out and after that you will be okay again and he was saying yes I will High Duty and seeing this he was punching those balloons and said I will fight like this Theo only met the little boy for the first time as he was being wheeled into the operating theater it was then that he gave the parents troubling news he said that tumor is in in a very remote area and it's it was diffused and so we may not be able to remove hundred percent of the tumor [Music] prasanta and his wife were worried but it was too late to back out the operation went ahead and it lasted 10 hours Charlie Teo spent just 10 minutes telling prasanta that he'd removed 85 of the tumor and it looked benign however within days the biopsy results confirmed what had been obvious to the other surgeons it wasn't benign it was a dipg as could have been predicted Dr teo's futile and costly operation catastrophically damaged the once happy playful boy who would never walk talk or eat on his own again he was bedridden he cannot move his leg or hands doctor said it's like a positive state the family couldn't afford the mounting medical costs at the Private Hospital in Singapore because my collage was so ill and unable to breathe on his own prasanta spent forty thousand dollars for an air ambulance to fly him back to India [Music] there he languished in intensive care for months in total the family spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars the rest of my collage's short life was spent in a room staring at a ceiling his only means of communication was blinking his eyes do you regret your decision to have the operation yes I'd exactly she spoiled our last 13 months after the operation he was in a bed he cannot play he can just blink his eyes and say yes or no to us to confess yes he will blink his eyes and to say no he will raise his ten months after the catastrophic operation the inevitable happened tumor returned and michelage died when told of his death Dr Teo sent prasanta an email I'm so sorry that you have given him every possible chance to live longer and I would like to reassure you that he has had the most aggressive treatment possible Dr teo's misjudgment that the tumor was low-grade and operable had devastating consequences for little michelage in a statement to 60 Minutes Dr Teo was adamant he would never operate on a dipg because it would be of no benefit to a patient prasanta is still wracked by guilt for what he put his son through today he deals with his ongoing anguish by supporting the most vulnerable in his community The Local School for the Blind there will be some regulation to stop this if someone is giving false hope then it's like a scam there was no hope for the IPC there is no hope so why he give the false hope on the first place foreign 's death another family was facing the dire diagnosis of a dipg their story of Hope is hauntingly similar we definitely come across as you know uh I'm famous and I can help you absolutely you know that came across and it gave us hope two years ago seven-year-old Bella Howard was diagnosed with the same condition as michelage Barman an inoperable and incurable brain tumor known as a dipg as a parent you don't accept death not when it comes to your children um it's to do anything to save them in desperation Bella's father Gene Howard made the journey from the Sleepy New South Wales coastal town of Shoal Bay to Sydney in search of a miracle he thought he found it in Charlie Teo and at first the news was encouraging even though Dr teo's notes indicated he agreed that this is likely to be a dipg he suggested there was a tiny chance it wasn't an aggressive tumor after all Bella's grandmother Maritza remembers this Zoe said we have a one percent chance there that that scan might be a little bit off what was he offering to do for you he could do some cutting or resection work to try and remove some of the tumor the result of that if it goes well you know the possibility of extended life um you know she could live longer he actually said that he said that yeah at this point we were all in tears because we I mean there was no hope then we got this possibility of Hope a doctor will actually there's a doctor out there offering something [Music] Dr Teo had any doubts about the kind of tumor he could have waited for conclusive biopsy results instead he wanted to operate the very next day the Howards leapt at the chance to save Bella however there was a catch the surgery would cost one hundred thousand dollars and fifty thousand had to be in Dr teo's bank account that night yeah it was a shock we were trying to figure out you know how to get it ourselves but even to get a loan it takes weeks um even friends that uh have lots of equity for them to get a loan it still takes weeks felt like we were nearly not going to have it happen and my heart was just dropping every time I thought that I wasn't I wasn't ever stopping until we got that money well I was shocked at the amount Mark ramsland is a friend of the Howard family and their solicitor Survivor himself he was troubled at the haste for the surgery and the extraordinary amount of money that had to be in Dr teo's account that night [Music] my concern initially was the rush why did they have to have an operation in effect overnight why did they have to raise money overnight I was just a little perplexed at how an operation that could save someone's life needed to be contingent on a payment of money the very next day [Music] boss loaned him the money clearing the way for the operation to go ahead the next morning immediately after the surgery Gene was ecstatic when Dr Teo said he'd removed 95 of the tumor which in his opinion was low-grade and slow growing definitely when you take 95 of anything out of anything you're going to be pretty positive about something's future we're really positive this could be good for Bella and it could extend their life by you know ages within days of the operation Dr Teo received the biopsy results Bella's tumor had the genetic markup for an aggressive fast-growing dipg but even then Dr Teo questioned the validity of the pathology results and continued to give the parents hope that his resection had been their best option however distinguished pediatric oncologist Mark Kieran says resection of a dipg is futile and harmful if you asked me is dipg ever a surgically curable tumor the answer is no it can only result in neurologic Devastation and eventual death either from the surgery or your tumor even if you took out 99.9 percent of the tumor surgically which you say is nion impossible anyway it's going to come back is that right that's correct [Music] neurosurgeon Marx Bourdain has never seen or heard of anyone trying to surgically remove a dipg because of the harm it will do to the child so I honestly have not been witnessed to someone trying to resect a classic dipg so I can't tell you because I've never seen it I would predict it's going to be a devastating endeavor when she first came out she was paralyzed yeah left arm left leg and her I think it was a yeah it was a left face um yeah she couldn't move them at all hey Bubba can I get a thumbs up oh that was quick good girl Bella was different Bella had pronounced palsy and she couldn't really walk she couldn't speak like well I couldn't understand her good girl now look at this oh my God the family struggled to repay the money for the operation unlike dozens of Dr teo's patients resorted to crowdfunding for help Bella needed constant Care and Rehabilitation she couldn't stand on her legs in there so physio had to come and and like try and make a walk and and all that the first few days was hard After Time yeah she got there seven-year-old Bella Howard has been in and out of surgery battling an aggressive brain tumor but while the family remained optimistic the cancer was taking its inevitable fatal course on the long drive home to Shoal Bay after Bella's 12-week scan Jean and Sarah received the shattering news Dr Teo told Gene to pull over and get out of the car that's when he told me mate this is really bad the scans come back it's grown probably two or three times as big as what it originally was when Gene hopped back in the car this is a good bird he just shook his head and I just started crying straight away all the way home foreign Bella deteriorated quickly and required 24-hour care doctors at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle north of Sydney had originally given her 6 to 18 months in January 2021 eight months after diagnosis Bella died surrounded by her devastated family yes her dishonoring me I'm slowly watching the tumor she was um shut everything down I said Bella I know you can hear me you'd be um he'd be good up there and um I said there's a there's a good world after here it's probably even better than here and yeah we'll see you one day we stay strong words just can't describe how hard it was to watch my beautiful pillow die a dipg was recorded as Bella's official cause of death however in a statement to 60 Minutes Dr Teo said he has never operated on a pure dipg and has never recommended surgery on such a tumor it is incurable and truly inoperable he said a few months after Bella died medical authorities placed restrictions on Dr teo's ability to perform brain stem tumor operations it does make you think back and go you know how safe was it or um you know what was really going on I mean it was just such a pressuring time to make decisions like that with no help from the public system and no help from anyone really except for the family [Music] you gave them the family lawyer Mark ramsland having read up on dipgs now questions whether there was indeed any point in having the surgery he worries about the rush to operate and whether Charlie Teo gave the Howards all the information they needed to provide proper informed consent if the operation did not have any hope then what was the point why why did Bella have to spend the last few months of her life not being able to walk or speak or function properly those are some of the questions that I had and Gene had a wider the system let that family down and how do you think the system let the family down we have a great Medicare system I was I had an operation cost me nothing we have a great system but there are those that operate outside the system they don't seem to have checks and balances um that worries me [Music] in the private system Dr Teo can operate as a one-man band whose decisions go unchallenged it's a different story in the public health system where there is not only greater scrutiny but a team of Specialists diagnose and chart the best course of treatment for patients with brain tumors Dr Teo has repeatedly criticized these teams I'm not the most politically correct person I'm not very diplomatic but I try to sit in on those mdts the multi-disciplinary team meetings where everyone sits around and looks for consensus but you know it doesn't work it doesn't work because you've got people in there who are incredibly Ultra conservative who will never take a risk progresses quite drastically throughout the world these multi-disciplinary teams that Dr Teo derides are considered best practice for treating brain tumors neurosurgeon Marx wooden says treating brain tumors is not The Preserve of neurosurgeons alone making decisions in cancer and pediatric oncology and isolation is a really dangerous endeavor checks you need balances you need consensus building you need good ideas and the truth of the matter is very rarely do any of these work by themselves so it's a it's a complex puzzle where everything contributes toward the same common goal or desired goal and that's that's pure foreign I work with a team of experts this idea that someone is the smartest person in the room someone is the the best in the country I just don't think that's true 31 she's a vet just finished her event Professor Kate Drummond is the head of neurosurgery at Royal Melbourne Hospital she's running their weekly multi-disciplinary team meeting where neurosurgeons are joined by oncologists neurologists Radiologists and other specialists to work out the best course of treatment in this case for a 31 year old Veterinary surgeon she presented many years ago with this small lesion which I took out awake in radiation and we had to what the experts know is that surgery isn't always the best option depending on the type of tumor and the patient does inoperable mean there are parts of the brain where we really feel that in the majority of cases surgery will lead to intolerable complications very poor outcome and in fact risk to life or Consciousness and those areas I guess are truly the ones we consider inoperable all those [Music] diseases that were once called inoperable I'm going to go through every one of them individually and see if they really are inoperable in my hands [Music] the private system has allowed Dr Teo the opportunity to play God he claims he would be more than happy to operate in the public system but he says colleagues envious of his Superior skills have shut him out if the public only knew the number of children that are sent to their death that I could save it's every day I promise you I can take out all these tumors and they will just refuse I'd rather see the children die than come and come today their egos are too big or they're too fragile or whatever but they just won't won't accept that that I'm doing something different somewhat different 17. Dr Teo let lapse his accreditation allowing him to operate at the Prince of Wales public Hospital even before that his colleagues suggest part of his reluctance to operate in the public system was because he would not be able to charge his extraordinary fees also the validity of his riskier surgeries would have been challenged they bring up this concept of evidence-based medicine but that's ridiculous too because if you are waiting to read the literature before you do an operation of course you're never going to do an operation a new operation because there's no literature to support it the trouble is we're not taught to offer Medical Treatments based on chance or taking a chance however for some of his patients who do take that chance they realize too late that they're condemned to a life arguably worse than death doctors take an oath Do no harm this is done more harm than good emotionally physically and mentally The Strain you put on families when you do operations like this is a lot more than if you would lose someone Australia dozens in the medical profession have told 60 Minutes how the public system has been left to care for damaged patients and their families who are too broken to complain about the Steep price they paid for the Hope Dr Charlie Teo was selling you've got to tell the truth you can't just cover things up cannot be all roses and I'm fantastic and I will do this and I will be able to achieve this you've got to tell the consequences and to me my thing is yes you did the operation yes you took the tumor but what quality of life did you leave him with [Music] Kathy and Joe Leslie enjoyed years of happy travels as Joe's engineering job took them around the world it was absolutely the love of my life [Music] Joe had previously had treatment for a slow growing brain tumor but in 2018 Queensland doctors told him that further treatment was too risky and was likely to leave him blind they're saying if they did operate they would make a vegetable on him they felt that it was that the hair that they would give him the quality of life that he would be left with if he survived the operation would be limited Joe was given two years to live so the family having heard of Charlie teo's surgical skills wanted a second opinion at the consultation Dr Teo assured Joe he could remove the tumor for 35 000 and dismiss concerns raised by the other doctors that it would leave him blind don't worry about that this is me I can do way better than what they can do one of the things that stood out to me was that he basically said that the other surgeons were jealous of him because what he could achieve and they poohooed him and that he was a lot better than what they were saying and he could achieve great things so what was the one thing that your husband Joe was worried about what was the deal breaker he didn't want to go blight he would rather have passed away than go blind that was his big thing and was this deal breaker discussed with Charlie Teo very much so he virtually pushed that aside and said look that's not going to happen you're going to be able to keep your side in both eyes Joe's surgery at Prince of Wales Private Hospital was due to begin at three in the afternoon but due to complications with the previous operation Dr Teo didn't start until nine at night and didn't finish until five the next morning because Teo had to go to Singapore the next day it had to be done then rather than be put off because it's too late at night and that concerned me very much concerned me what was so important that he had to get on that plane and go rather than giving quality of care [Music] what Kathy Leslie didn't know was that Dr Teo was jetting off to Singapore to operate unsuccessfully on four-year-old michelage Barman despite Dr Teo assuring Joe he'd be back at work in no time Joe had serious post-operative complications and was in and out of Hospital in Sydney for six weeks before returning home to Queensland but worst of all he was now blind as Joe ever said to you that he wished he hadn't had the operation he said if he knew what he knows that basically he would not have had the operation he would not and he is very resentful of the fact that Teo just couldn't care less that he left him Joe Leslie lost more than his eyesight his brain damaged confused and requires 24-hour care he didn't have the capacity to provide consent to be interviewed the life he lives now Joe would be horrified the old Joe the Joe that we knew would be horrified what his life has come to he's not a vegetable but his capacity of life is not what it was and it's very diminished extremely diminished the thing I don't like and the thing I really resent is when they tell their patients oh don't go and see Charlie Teo oh no no he's going to give you false hope and they've said to my patients things like well you might have heard about the good cases but you know I can tell you about the bad cases now that's what I resent because all patients have the right to choose themselves who they want to see and what risks they're willing to take Rebecca Anderson counts herself Lucky in 2009 she was fired by Dr Teo as his patient when she tried to discuss what risks she was willing to take to remove her benign tumor nurse at the same Hospital Rebecca was aware of Dr teo's aggressive operating Style pushing the boundaries when it came to removing tumors I said to him Dr Teo when you're operating on me I want you to remember who I am I'm a wife I'm a mother and I'm a nurse and I have children so I just please want you to you know make sure you don't be too aggressive where I'm going to end up not being able to be any of those three things and what was his response uh he said well that's not my style but I'll try [Music] as the date for her operation Drew near Rebecca wanted reassurance that Dr Teo understood her fears about being too gung-ho in surgery he didn't return any of her calls to his office when she ran into him in the hallway at the hospital his response shocked her he basically said I never call anyone back and I never speak to anyone again before their surgery if you didn't glean everything that you wanted from our initial consultation too bad [Music] her sister Alana was waiting to take her home and was appalled by what Rebecca said of her encounter with Dr Teo I interview my patients my patients don't interview me he just looked at me and he said you know this I've just got really bad karma from you so you know what I'm canceling your surgery and as Dr Teo Strode down the corridor yelling over his shoulder canceled surgery is canceled and that was the last I heard from him I was devastated I was absolutely devastated I was in floods of Tears total shock could not believe what had just happened because we've been told over and over again how amazing he is because no one's ever said anything different [Music] Rebecca went on to have successful surgery at a public hospital and what's more it cost her nothing Dr Teo grudgingly apologized after a complaint was made to Prince of Wales Private Hospital but Rebecca is only one to feel Dr teo's Roth when a professor dared question why so many patients were resorting to crowdfunding to pay for Dr Teo surgeries he was bewildered by the response he received I had to literally switch off social media because there was an endless stream of abusive messages [Music] foreign for years Charlie Teo has been happy with the positive side of celebrity [Music] but he has his lawyer on speed dial to shut down the slightest of criticisms I virtually got a full-time lawyer on retainer to fight my battles for me write the letters you know do all that sort of stuff it's just every week the fraternity have been trying to destroy this find some other way of trying to destroy me it's terrible yeah Dr Teo has long said his colleagues have it in for him you know all about giving people false hope and charging too much money and it's all [ __ ] petty stuff and so I don't know I don't know what it is but you're right I mean I'm hated by my colleagues there are very few doctors who actually respect me or like me most of them hate me with abandons [Music] far from being jealous other doctors are deeply concerned not just about the false hope and excessive fees but the dire outcomes for many of his patients they're reluctant to speak publicly about Dr Teo after seeing what happened to Professor Henry Wu in 2019 he tweeted about the 113 crowdfunding campaigns to cover the thousands of dollars for Charlie teo's surgeries I thought that these were eye-watering amounts of money to have to raise to treat cancer nobody should have to resort to literally begging for strangers to support the cost of their medical care this is Australia while the professor of Urology thought he was raising a worthwhile public health issue Charlie Teo took it personally claiming Professor Wu was out to destroy him I don't know his intention for bringing the issue up but I think his intention was negative it was vilification of Charlie Teo a later tweet by Professor Wu questioning the one hundred thousand dollar crowdfunding drive for Bella Howard surgery saw Dr Teo call in the lawyers I did pay a price for continuing this discussion in that uh um Dr Teo did commence legal proceedings against me just over that tweet and but also really highlighted exactly why other doctors are hesitant to make comment about um about another practice that might be perceived as critical now the world needs to know that it's just a very unfair while Dr Teo ultimately withdrew his defamation action against Professor Wu clearly the mention of how much the brain surgeon charges struck a nerve in an attempt at damage control Dr Teo tried to play Down the amount of money he personally receives for surgeries 120 000 bill that Henry was talking about 80 000 goes to the Private Hospital forty thousand then it gets dispersed amongst not only the surgeon but also the assistant the anesthesis the pathologist the radiologist the radiographer so it's not that great an amount to each individual person when you get your facts straight let's talk about the fact can I just quickly ask you on that channel what sort of percentage of the pie would you get in that instance well for that particular case I haven't of 120 000 that he talked about I got eight thousand dollars [Music] Dr teo's patients are told they need to pay 50 000 up front Howard's Bill shows that off that amount Dr Teo pocketed 35 000 and on top of that he charged a one thousand dollar administration fee and ensured patients are also told their private Hospital stay will be charged separately I would have done anything for my daughter to get what she needs and uh if she was alive now I need it now I'd still sell my kidney mate that's that's a that's not negotiable families told 60 Minutes of their surprise the Dr Teo insists that only cash is accepted at the initial consultation it was cash only for his first appointment which was eight hundred dollars and it had to be cash otherwise you cash only you had to provide cash [Music] but it's not just the money that Dr Teo charges that caused concerns while Professor Wu is sympathetic to the plight of desperate families he raised the question that has troubled many in the profession where was Dr teo's evidence that his outcomes were better than anyone else's all operations that are considered to be appropriate for a particular condition can be and should be able to be offered in the public hospital system if a cancer specialist has a contrary view to um to what is acceptable treatment then it's incumbent upon them to carry out clinical trials and produce the data to support the work that they're doing and if they do produce that data then even the staunchest critic is going to be won over [Music] while restrictions on his medical license and an ongoing investigation have curtailed Dr teo's business in Australia he is currently playing his trade at hospitals in Spain [Music] but for the families who've witnessed the catastrophic outcome of Charlie Teo surgeries the guilt and anguish will be with them for the rest of their lives yes you did the operation yes you took the tumor but what quality of life did you leave him with now would Teo like to live the life that Joe's living is this the quality of life you want for yourself why do you do it to other people then I don't want any parents to suffer this horrible thing if God forbid if someone's children get this type of disease even if some doctors or someone says there is a cure don't listen Sarah [ __ ] thanks for watching 60 Minutes Australia subscribe to our Channel now for brand new stories and exclusive Clips every week and don't miss out on our extra minute segments and full episodes of 60 Minutes on 9now.com and the nine Now app

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 563,855

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Tom Steinfort, Sarah Abo, karl stefanovic, 60Mins, #60Mins, charlie teo, neurosurgeon, surgeon, surgery, medical, medicine, brain, tumour, science, doctor, australia, celebrity, botched, terminal, kate mcclymont

Id: ZX8i_nhDRvM

Length: 54min 26sec (3266 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 23 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/danrod17]

So I’ve made it maybe half way. The title really undersells what he was doing. The specific tumor is literally inoperable, incurable, and operating will only make things worse. He says he would never operate on that kind of tumor because it’s useless and would lower quality of life. And he did it twice.

[u/Colmarr]

At best, Teo is a pioneer and extremely skilled surgeon willing to take risks that no one else will take.

At worst, he is a rogue so in love with himself (and the money he was making) that he misled families into sacrificing their loved one's little remaining health early and throwing away the financial security of the survivors.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

[u/Not_for_consumption]

He can operate but under conditions. Those conditions are in place because he has been lying to his patients and colleagues about the surgeries he performs. And then he dumps the uncured patients on the public system to manage and someone has to explain that the cancer hasn't been removed, they aren't cured, because the cancer was inoperable and Charlie was lying all along. His conduct is so so far from what is considered acceptable.

[u/alfsdungeons]

Read about this in r/australia and the most popular comments explained just how slim the chances are of complete successes are. You either die from cancer or roll the dice under the knife, although it's a last resort after chemo/immuno/radio. Unless there's an instance of actual negligence then it's pretty much luck of the draw.

[u/neuroprncss]

I don't want to go too much into this, but I've worked in the neurosurgery field for over 10 years and there are certain surgeons who prefer working on "inoperable" tumors because they can be as aggressive as they want with virtually no risk of malpractice because the pt would have died anyway. These types of operations also tend to attract surgeons with little experience who are fascinated by the rare tumor and intricate exposure technique, regardless of whether it will truly help the patient or add to their quality of life. By and large, the resulting neurological outcomes are negative and profoundly disable the patient with little to no added relief from symptoms. A surgeon operated on my grandmother under these circumstances as well and it ended up adding lots of horrible recovery time to a demented patient with many other medical conditions to manage and she died before even fully recovering from the surgery itself.

[u/nyanpires]

In Australia, brain surgeon. Number one. Steady hand. One day, Mafia boss need tumor removed. I do operation. But, mistake! Mafia boss die! Mafia very mad. I hide in fishing boat, come to America. No english, no food, no money. Darryl give me job. Now I have house, American car, and new woman. Darryl save life. My big secret: I kill mafia boss on purpose. I good surgeon. The best!

[u/Christopher135MPS]

Why can’t he operate in Australia?

Because we have a rigorous and compassionate regulator that actually cares about patient outcomes. Dr teo is more than welcome to operate in Australia, however he medical registration currently has some conditions on it. Teo would need to meet these conditions to operate - no one is stopping him from operating other than his own refusal to comply with these conditions:

• 1. When proposing and before performing recurrent malignant intracranial tumour and brain stem tumour surgical procedures the practitioner must obtain from a Council-approved Neurosurgeon a written statement which supports the practitioner performing the procedure(s) in accordance with condition 1(b). If the written statement does not support the practitioner performing the procedure(s) the practitioner cannot perform the surgery. a) The Council-approved Neurosurgeon must:
• be nominated by the practitioner
• be a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, hold current specialist registration in Neurosurgery with the Medical Board of Australia, and have at least 20 years’ experience as a registered specialist in Neurosurgery
• not be employed by the practitioner, have a business/financial relationship with him or be supervised by him

b) The written statement is to advise whether the Council-approved Neurosurgeon is satisfied that prior to the procedure, the practitioner has: - explained to the patient all material risks associated with the procedure(s) and obtained consent - obtained informed financial consent from the patient - complied with the use of systems and plans implemented into his practice for managing any interstate patients

c) The practitioner must maintain a log listing all patients for whom he has obtained the written statement referred to in this condition. The log is to include: - the full name and date of birth of the patient - whether the patient travelled interstate for the procedure - the nature of the surgical procedure(s) - the name of the Council-approved Neurosurgeon who provided the written statement - a copy of all written statements obtained as an appendix to the log, regardless of whether the Council-approved Neurosurgeon supported or did not support the procedure(s) - if the Council-approved Neurosurgeon supported the procedure(s) the log is to also include; the date and time of the procedure(s), all MBS item number(s) billed for the procedure(s); and any complications arising as a result of the procedure(s).

d) The practitioner must forward to the Council a copy of the log within seven days of the end of each calendar month. Before forwarding the log to the Council the practitioner must forward the log to the Council-approved Neurosurgeon to verify the contents of the log.

e) To authorise the Medical Council of NSW to provide the Council-approved Neurosurgeon a copy of the decision which imposed this condition and any other decision or report as determined by the Council.

1. To practise under category C supervision in accordance with the Medical Council of NSW’s Compliance Policy – Supervision (as varied from time to time) and as subsequently determined by the appropriate review body. a) The Council-approved supervisor must: i. be a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, hold current specialist registration as a Neurosurgeon with the Medical Board of Australia, and have at least 20 years’ experience as a registered specialist Neurosurgery ii. not be employed by the practitioner, have a business/financial relationship with him or be supervised by him. b) At each supervision meeting the practitioner is to review and discuss his practice with his approved supervisor with particular focus on:
2. patient selection and advice
3. care following discharge including handover
4. professional behaviour, including but not limited to communication with colleagues and patients, appropriate delegation to Fellows.
5. compliance with the use of systems and plans implemented into his practice in relation to managing interstate patients, pre and post-surgery

c) To authorise the Medical Council of NSW to provide the approved supervisor(s) with a copy of the decision which imposed this condition and any other decision or report as determined by the Council.

1. To submit to an audit of the practitioner’s medical practice, by a random selection of his medical records, by a person or persons nominated by the Medical Council of NSW a) The audit is to be held within 6 months from 24 August 2021 and subsequently as required by the Council.

b) Prior to the audit the practitioner is to provide the Council with the full name and date of birth of all interstate patients who have undergone surgery by the practitioner from 24 August 2021 and subsequently from any date as determined by the Council. c) The auditor(s) is to assess his management of interstate patients, compliance with good medical record keeping standards, legislative requirements and compliance with conditions. The auditor(s) should pay particular attention to: · patient selection · consent processes · post-operative and post-discharge care and handover · use of systems and plans introduced into his practice in relation to managing interstate patients, pre and post-surgery d) To authorise the auditor(s) to provide the Council with a report on their findings.

e) To meet all costs associated with the audit(s) and any subsequent reports.

1. To authorise and consent to any exchange of information between the Medical Council of NSW and Medicare Australia for the purpose of monitoring compliance with these conditions.*

[u/Christopher135MPS]

There’s also a misconception in the public about what inoperable means.

Sometimes it means “you’ll literally die mid operation”. Charlie isn’t operating on these patients.

Sometimes inoperable means “the side effects of this surgery will be so profound there is no point.” For example, if the tumour is deeply involved in the broca or wernicke’s region, significant damage from the surgery will result in the patient being unable to speak/write (broca’s) or comprehend language (wernicke’s). In the broca example the patient could talk, but they wouldn’t make any sense. It would just be word salad. In the wernicke’s example, they wouldn’t be able to understand anything they heard or read.

For a patient who is going to gain 1-6 months from this surgery, the risk of destroying their ability to speak or communicate is not worth the timed gain. This is an inoperable tumour. No one should be congratulated for operating on this patient, let alone taking tens of thousands of dollars from them for doing so.

[u/zephood75]

I remember watching a documentary on him a long time ago and was inspired by his story for years. It's sad to see that he is not what I'd always thought but actually pretty dangerous.