Neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo drove Ubers to pay bills as HCCC restricted his practice
When they were kids, now-famous neurosurgeon Charlie Teo would pretend he was Superman or G.I. Joe and swoop in to save his big sister when they played, she reveals.
NSW
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Annie Teo is the big sister but, ever since her brother Charlie was little, he has been the one looking out for her.
When they were just little kids, the now-famous neurosurgeon would pretend he was Superman or G.I. Joe and swoop in to save his big sister when they played in the backyard.
The “placid” little boy who lived in Picnic Point never lost his kind nature and desire to save people, according to his older sister, who is devastated by the “character assassination” he has faced.
For the final three days of her brother’s hearing before the Health Care Complaints Commission’s professional standards committee, Ms Teo sat front and centre, armed with a sign: “Why are you treating my brother like a criminal?”
“I hate the fact they are doing this to my baby brother,” she said. “It is so hurtful seeing all he has ever wanted to do — to be kind, helpful and gentle — be put into question.”
She also said the suggestions made in the hearing that he charged high fees for surgery went against his track record of performing surgeries free of charge on countless occasions.
“This suggestion that he is money-obsessed and charges too much is nonsense. He is a humble man,” she said.
“I have seen him break down over his patients.
“He still has passion. I hope for a good outcome while he is still able to operate.”
— by MADELINE CRITTENDEN
DEVASTATED TEO FORCED INTO UBER DRIVING AS BILLS PILED UP
Devastated Teo forced into Uber driving as bills piled up
A defeated Dr Charlie Teo said there was nothing more devastating than watching his daughter cry as people, without any real knowledge of him, “slagged off” his character, destroyed his reputation and took away his livelihood.
As the decision on his surgical future in Australia looms following an eight-day medical misconduct hearing, the embattled neurosurgeon has begrudgingly resigned himself to the fact he may never operate again in Australia.
While he insisted he’s “not crying poor”, having very low income over the past two years, while temporary restrictions have effectively banned him from operating, the cost of legal representation and a mortgage had taken its toll.
He reluctantly confirmed reports that he was forced to drive for Uber to pay the mortgage last year. He said “the majority of work spent overseas is voluntary and often I have to absorb the travelling costs myself”.
“It’s a small price to pay to do what I love doing and at the same time, helping the less fortunate.”
In an exclusive interview with The Saturday Telegraph, Dr Teo compared his situation to that of trailblazer Earl Owen, the first person in the world to successfully reattach a severed finger.
Dr Teo said future and current specialists who thought outside the box and were prepared to take risks to save their patients, would now recoil.
“It’s a sad day for Australian medicine,” Dr Teo said.
“Therefore it’s a sad day for the Australian public if a doctor who’s been practising in Australia for 25 years, with a background of an unblemished 10-year career in the USA and with a clear record of saving the lives of thousands of patients with brain tumours, can be shut down like this
“Sure I might swear, make politically incorrect jokes and I make mistakes, but at the end of the day I can somehow take out tumours that no one else either wants to tackle or doesn’t have the skills to treat.
“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?”
In 1970 Dr Earl Owen disobeyed orders from the management of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, now The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, which had refused to let him proceed with the finger-reattachment surgery.
The operation was successful but the next day Owen was dismissed. He went on to work at Prince of Wales Hospital, where he became head of the hospital’s microsurgery unit.
“The repercussions of what has happened to me are far-reaching and pretty devastating for both myself, my family and the medical profession, but most importantly Australians who need medical help,” Dr Teo said.
It was widely 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 surgical decision-making at the Health Care Complaints Commission hearing (HCCC).
“I’m confident it wasn’t because they think I’m terrible. I’m pretty sure it was because they knew better than to speak out publicly for their own professional survival,” he said.
“That’s why they wouldn’t do it and that makes me very sad.”
Kate Richardson, SC, representing the HCCC, submitted that Dr Teo lacked insight, had failed to obtain proper informed consent, had lied during the tribunal, used inappropriate language and slapped an unconscious patient to rouse her.
The commission is calling for Dr Teo to be reprimanded and have further conditions placed on his medical certificate over his treatment of two patients who died.
Dr Teo described the move as a “de facto suspension of his licence to perform any tumour surgery” and may spell the end of his career in Australia.
“The submission mandates that I have to get permission to do any brain tumour operation.
“Even when I get permission I have to show the literature to support my recommendation for surgery. That effectively means that any surgery that is innovative and pioneering can’t be done because, by definition, there is no current evidence to support it.
“In other words, in my case, no brain stem surgery.”
On Wednesday the HCCC submitted that any letters of support from doctors and patients should be disregarded. They received hundreds.
“To listen to them talk about my immoral motives for surgery, my callous character, my lack of empathy, my motivation by money, was devastating,” the 65-year-old said.
“Patients got up and walked out, my sister had to walk out. My partner Traci, my daughter Nikki and many supporters were in tears witnessing the toxicity and character assassination.
“No one knows better than my daughters the sacrifices I have made over the years, the family events that I have missed, the many times I didn’t spend with them to address the needs of my patients.
“So to sit back at the end of my career and hear people saying such despicable things about me was soul-destroying for them and myself.”
Despite the exposure of the two complaints, set against 11,000 successful surgeries performed by him over the past 35 years, Dr Teo is still in demand for his expertise both in Australia and overseas.
This month he will assist surgeons in other countries for both Australian and overseas patients.
The writer of this article is a former patient of Dr Teo.
— by CYDONEE MARDON
Cydonee Mardon is a former patient of Dr Teo
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