Mother of son that died from cancer furious at restrictions placed on Dr Charlie Teo

Under fire from unnamed opponents, Dr Charlie Teo has had patients and their families rush to his defence, including many who ultimately lost their loved one.

Queensland mum Katie Moule didn’t get her happy ending. Her four-year-old boy Nate succumbed to an aggressive form of brain cancer and died last year.

What she did get was two extra years of smiles, cuddles and a wealth of memories thanks to a surgeon who wouldn’t stop fighting, wouldn’t stop operating until he ran out of options.

Nate Moule travelled to Sydney five times for Dr Charlie Teo to operate on the tumour. He’s the longest surviving child in Australia to be diagnosed with a deadly embryonal tumour.

Katie Moule is furious that the restrictions recently placed on Dr Teo will mean other mums who face the same crushing prognosis won’t have the same choices of care for their children.

The conditions were imposed after Dr Teo was called to a hearing at the medical council in August following a number of complaints from other surgeons.

Queensland mum Katie Moule said Charlie Teo gave the family precious time with her son Nate before he died last year. Picture: Supplied

Dr Teo’s registration now has a number of conditions, including a requirement to meet regularly with a supervisor and get a supporting opinion from a fellow neurosurgeon before operating on recurrent cancerous brain tumours and brain stem tumours.

“With these restrictions on Charlie, if this happened to another child now, they wouldn’t get the chance at life that Nate did,” Moule told The Saturday Telegraph.

“No other surgeon in Australia would agree to operate so many times. So, effectively if we were in the situation now, it wouldn’t have happened because Nate’s diagnosis was terminal.

“We got to make memories, have fun with Nate, watch him grow in those two amazing extra years. As a parent it was my choice to say yes to surgery, knowing all the risks.”

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Moule said she paid for one of the five surgeries Dr Teo performed.

Charlie Teo’s registration includes a requirement to meet regularly with a supervisor. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Charlie charged us for the first one. He never charged me for any of the other surgeries. And he’s always said from the beginning, ‘I can’t cure your son’.

“He never gave me false information, he never said ‘I can fix Nate’. He said he could buy us good quality time with surgery. And that’s exactly what he did.”

Moule is one of thousands of patients and family members of patients who are angry about the criticism of Dr Teo.

His Facebook page has been flooded with messages of support and 10,000 people have put their name to a petition in support of the world renowned surgeon.

Thirty of his colleagues have signed a letter in support after he was slapped with the medical council restrictions.

Moule said Dr Teo was upfront when he knew there was nothing more he could do.

“After the last surgery last year Charlie said to me ‘I won’t be able to operate again’. He gave it his best shot and when it was time he said he had done all he could do.

Charlie Teo with Nate Moule. Katie Moule said he was always upfront about Nate’s condition and what he was able to do.

“He’s not what people think, he doesn’t just keep operating for no reason. He gave us good quality time, two extra years that we wouldn’t have had. But he also wasn’t stupid, he knew that he couldn’t keep doing this.

“He always told me the risks. We flew back to Queensland within three days of every single brain surgery, I mean that’s pretty amazing.

“He recovered so well from every single surgery.”

Moule said she saw first-hand the disdain for Dr Teo that others in the medical world showed — even to his patients.

“The way they spoke to me, the way they treated me, it was very obvious,” she said.

Moule contacted Dr Teo, without a referral, after the first surgery in Brisbane was successful in removing part of her son’s tumour.

“I knew when the pathology came back and the tumour was still there, that no child had survived this cancer. So I contacted Dr Teo,” she said.

He first operated on Nate in January 2019 at Prince of Wales Hospital.

Nate Moule died last year.

Katie Moule said Charlie Teo played a special role in her son’s short life.

Because the hospital does not have a paediatric ICU, Nate was transferred to Sydney Children’s ICU.

“I was about to walk into ICU post surgery and they told me that they hoped I knew that Charlie wasn’t allowed in their hospital. That was very distressing.”

“They wouldn’t follow any of Charlie’s advice on pre-op care. They just wanted to keep him the night sedated.

“I think within seven hours of that surgery, we were back to our hotel because they were so rude to me.

“Nate got a fever so we went to Randwick Children’s Hospital and they said ‘oh we can’t, we can’t see you, you have to go back to Charlie and Charlie’s hospital’.

“So then we drove all the way to Westmead who said ‘no, I’m sorry, you’re Charlie’s patient, we can’t help you’.

“Then we went to see Charlie’s fellow, Dr Chris Profyris, at his room and he said he thought it was just an inflammatory response and he was trying to get us help.

“Eventually, he got us readmitted to the Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick. As we were going in for the post-op MRI, they said to me … and I’ll never forget it … they said ‘I hope you know the only reason you’re getting this MRI is because your child’s got a fever, because your child is a patient of Teo, you don’t deserve one’.

“When we got the results of the MRI and it looked good, then we flew back to Queensland.”

Moule said she had numerous examples of the frostiness she copped for choosing Dr Teo, but it was the best decision she ever made for her family and her son. “Having a sick child is stressful enough, you know, and to get all the politics and the policies that come with that was pretty devastating,” she said.

“I knew my son was going to die. I just didn’t know when and then I have this doctor who wants to fight for him.

Charlie Teo only charged for one of five surgeries that he performed on Nate Moule, says Nate’s mother Katie. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“But then the system is so stupid that, you know, it’s so hard for him to fight.

“You know he FaceTimed Nate last year before he died, to see how we were. He goes above
and beyond.

“He got him extra years and the most peaceful death you could ever have.

“Charlie was with me, always, always, to the end.”

A spokesman for Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN) said the network was committed to providing compassionate, world-class care to all children.

“SCHN has not received any feedback from the family of Nate Moule regarding their hospital experience and encourages them to contact the SCHN directly so their concerns can be investigated,” the statement said. “SCHN works closely with private hospitals, to support the care of children and young people where clinically required.”

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