Neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo’s personal and professional battles
He has dedicated his career to fight brain cancer, particularly in children, but neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo has faced his own personal and professional struggles.
NSW
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He’s been called a maverick and a rebel as well as being described as controversial and brilliant.
Dr Charlie Teo’s high-profile medical career as a neurosurgeon has drawn many critics and supporters for saving or prolonging the lives of patients with brain cancer — where he has operated on brain tumours deemed inoperable by other neurosurgeons.
He’s known as one of Australia’s best neurosurgeons with more than 11,000 operations under his belt, working locally and abroad, as well as training neurosurgeons from all over the world.
But his career has been plagued with controversy, leading to a Health Care Complaints Commission disciplinary hearing in February 2023.
In August 2021, the NSW Medical Council barred Dr Teo from operating in Australia without supervision following a joint Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes investigation which revealed he had charged some families large amounts of money for operations that injured his patients.
He strongly denied these accusations and adhered to the restrictions which stopped him from performing high-risk surgeries without written approval.
In July 2023, Dr Teo was found guilty of professional misconduct and reprimanded, with the Professional Standards Committee placing restrictions on his registration.
We take a look at Dr Teo’s life from being a boy born to immigrant parents in Australia to his extensive medical career — and personal life in between.
Early life
Charlie Teo was born in Sydney on December 24, 1957 to Chinese-Singaporean parents, Elizabeth and Phillip, who migrated to Australia in the early 1950s.
His father pursued a medical career while his mother was a nurse.
He and his older sister Annie were raised in Sydney — first in a rented apartment in Mosman before the family moved to a house in Picnic Point.
His parents divorced in 1969 and Dr Teo has referred to how his mum “sacrificed any semblance of luxury in her own life to give me every opportunity to make mine better”.
He attended Scots College before going to medical school at the University of New South Wales, working a variety of jobs along the way including being a milk-run boy, gardener, apprentice mechanic, bartender and bouncer.
He graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. He began his medical career in paediatrics before specialising in neurology and paediatric neurosurgery.
Personal life
Dr Teo met his wife Genevieve Agnew when she was a nurse at the hospital they worked at. During their marriage they had four daughters — Alex, Nicola, Katie and Sophie — and lived in the United States for 10 years where Dr Teo worked as an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Chief of Paediatric Neurosurgery at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
In his Australia Day address in 2012 he said: “We (Genevieve and I) decided to return to Australia for lifestyle reasons and for our children’s heritage. We both wished for our children to be Australian and to grow up in Australia.”
He split from his wife in 2018 but only publicly confirmed their separation in 2020.
Dr Teo has been dating former patient Traci Griffiths since 2020.
They met when she sought medical advice from him around 2011 when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour and it’s believed he operated twice on Griffiths — who is a retired model-turned-reiki practitioner, “vegan activist” and fitness influencer.
They became firm friends following her second procedure through mutual friend Michelle Leslie before their relationship developed after his separation from his wife.
From May 2022, speculation arose the couple was engaged as Griffiths began using the hashtags #myfiance and #ilovemyfiance in her social media posts but the couple have not publicly confirmed this.
Career
Dr Teo is considered a ‘maverick’ of his profession.
While he practised in paediatrics early on in his career, he decided to become a neurologist, mostly working on young patients with brain tumours.
He worked all over the world — including his 10 years in the United States and also trained other neurosurgeons overseas in facilities including the Barrow Neurological Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University and Harvard University.
He is consistently invited to lecture and operate as part of international neurosurgical programs as a visiting professor in countries including Germany, Sweden, Spain, China, Vietnam, Jordan, South Africa and Cuba.
He also has published articles in a number of peer-reviewed medical journals and authored two books, as well as undertaken pro bono work as a visiting surgeon at a number of overseas hospitals.
He gained a reputation for taking on operations which other surgeons classed as inoperable after developing a minimally invasive neurosurgery technique.
He has worked at a number of different hospitals across Sydney including Prince of Wales Private Hospital, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, St George Hospital and Sydney Children’s Hospital.
Dr Teo set up the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation in 2003 to help raise money for research but in 2017, he sensationally quit the charity over the size of its administrative overheads eating up into donation money.
He then founded the Charlie Teo Foundation in 2018 and is director of the organisation.
“For over 30 years Dr Charlie Teo AM has been instrumental in the development, dissemination and acceptance of the concept of keyhole minimally invasive techniques in neurosurgery,” the foundation’s website states.
“Dr Teo strongly believes that a surgeon’s responsibility to his patients shouldn’t end after surgery. In keeping with his desire to find a cure for brain cancer, he has raised over $35 million that has been used to fund research scientists both in Australia and internationally.
“Dr Teo dedicates time every year to pro bono work in developing countries, for which he has been recognised with awards from Rotary International. This includes the Paul Harris Fellowship for contribution to World Health. He has been a finalist in the NSW Australian of the Year awards in 2003 and 2009.”
He was named a Member of the Order of Australia in 2011 and a year later, gave the Australia Day Address to the nation.
He also addressed the US Congress in 2013 to talk about the need for more brain cancer research.
From 2000, he became the director at the Centre for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery.
Medical ban
Dr Teo first came under intense scrutiny following complaints from other surgeons and families of some patients who went public, accusing Dr Teo of giving false hope and demanding cash payments upfront before operating.
He denied the accusations.
Three cases were brought to the attention of the HCCC that led to the Section 150 tribunal, which took place in February 2023.
In August 2021, the Medical Council of NSW banned Dr Teo from performing high-risk surgeries without the written approval of a second independent neurosurgeon.
Dr Teo was willing to accept the terms but qualified neurosurgeons were reluctant to take on the role of independent reviewer, meaning he couldn’t perform any surgeries in Australia.
His accreditation at Prince of Wales Private Hospital was also withdrawn in 2021.
Over the past two years the controversial doctor has defended his actions.
In September 2022, Dr Teo gave The Sunday Telegraph an exclusive interview about his surgery restrictions.
“I think the worst thing that’s come out of my persecution by jealous colleagues and vilification by a particular media outlet, is the fact that this has sent a very clear message to young and innovative neurosurgeons who may have been willing to step outside the box,” he said at the time.
“The message is loud and clear that, if you offer contrary second opinions and don’t toe the party line, we’ll come gunning for you.”
He has received public support from celebrities as well as his patients and their families since his ban.
Former cricketer Steve Waugh and his wife Lynette attended the first day of Dr Teo’s hearing in Sydney. Dr Teo removed a large blood clot from Mrs Waugh’s brain in 2006.
Boxer Anthony Mundine and former cricketer Gavin Robertson were also there to support the surgeon.
In October 2022, Today host Karl Stefanovic came out in support of Dr Charlie Teo, who was the subject of media stories by Nine Entertainment’s 60 Minutes and the Sydney Morning Herald.
Stefanovic is an ambassador for the Charlie Teo Foundation along with Nine heavyweights Ben Fordham, Peter Overton, Richard Wilkins, Alex Cullen and Jim Wilson.
In the 60 Minutes report, Dr Teo was accused of charging families of two children with brain cancer large fees to operate on them, which he categorically denies.
After the 60 Minutes episode aired, Dr Teo also went on A Current Affair to address specific accusations which he blasted as “abhorrent and disgusting”.
While he admitted he had made mistakes in his career, he said the idea that he was just in it for the money was totally false.
“If someone is trying to portray me as some money-hungry bastard that was operating and hurting children based on money, that’s what I want to correct. It’s not that case,” Dr Teo told ACA host Tracy Grimshaw.
Families have been paying tens of thousands of dollars to fly to Spain where the controversial brain surgeon had been operating since the restrictions were introduced.
In July 2023, Dr Teo was found guilty of professional misconduct.
Family in the public eye
In 2019, Dr Teo’s daughter Nicola was charged with dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm where she was allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road when she collided with former Comanchero boss Jock Ross’s motorcycle in Lower Macdonald.
After numerous court appearances where she eventually pleaded not guilty, prosecutors dropped all charges against her in 2021, just before her trial was due to begin.
The other withdrawn charges against Ms Teo included backup offences of negligent driving, not keeping left of a dividing line and not giving particulars to police.
His former wife and daughters have publicly supported Dr Teo’s brain cancer charities over the years, appearing at numerous events raising money for research.
Dr Teo said he and Genevieve remained friends after they split.
Originally published as Neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo’s personal and professional battles
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