‘No medical literature’ to support Dr Charlie Teo’s brain tumour surgery: Experts

Dr Charlie Teo allegedly slapped an unconscious patient to rouse her after she failed to wake up from a surgery in which he removed a large chunk of her brain, a conduct hearing has heard.

Neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo allegedly slapped an unconscious patient across the face to try and rouse her after she failed to wake up from a surgery in which he removed a large chunk of her brain, a conduct hearing has heard.

The woman, in her 60s, was left in a mostly vegetative state following a 2018 brain surgery in which Dr Teo performed a “radical resection” to relieve pressure in her skull.

A hearing before the NSW Medical Council was shown an MRI of the woman’s brain after Dr Teo’s operation, which indicated the surgeon had cut out a large chunk of crucial brain tissue, along with 50 per cent of the aggressive and late-stage tumour.

Three expert witnesses — neurosurgeons Dr Andrew Morokoff, Dr Bryant Stokes and Dr Paul D’Urso — agreed it was “one of the largest” removals of brain matter they had seen.

Dr D’Urso said while it was “unorthodox in modern times” the removal of healthy brain tissue — while excessive in this case — was common in most neurosurgeries.

Neurosurgeon Charlie Teo arrives for a Health Care Complaints Commission Professional Standards Committee inquiry on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“It’s standard practice, every neurosurgeon would be guilty of not declaring they take out normal tissue to access a brain tumour,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s a little bit, sometimes an excessive amount …. That’s what we have to do.”

Dr Morokoff said he believed the surgery was not a “radical resection” with “incidental” removal of brain tissue.

“It is correct we take normal brain around a tumour but in most cases it’s incidental and doesn’t change risk profiles,” he said.

“This is not just a resection, this is a huge part of normal brain that was removed and would substantially increase the risks.”

The complaint related to the patient also stated that Dr Teo slapped the unconscious woman across the face as a way to try and wake her from her unconscious state while her family was present.

Each of the expert witnesses agreed this was “totally unacceptable”.

“That’s actually assault,” Dr Stokes said. “Totally inappropriate.”

Charlie Teo and his fiancee Traci Griffiths leave the Health Care Complaints Commission in Sydney on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire

In relation to a complaint lodged by the family of a second woman who did not wake following a surgery by Dr Teo, the neurosurgeons agreed there was “no benefit” to the operation given the risks.

The woman was diagnosed with a high grade brain stem glioma in 2018, and sought treatment from Dr Teo, who told her he could extend her life.

The woman, however, was left in a vegetative state following the surgery, a risk her husband on Monday told the hearing was expressed as “low”.

The Health Care Complaint Commission’s Kate Richardson SC asked Dr Morokoff whether the risks of death or morbidity outweighed any benefit of the surgery.

“Yes, I think so,” Dr Morokoff responded.

“Do you see any benefits from a radical resection of this (woman’s) tumour?,” Ms Richardson asked.

“I don’t,” Dr Morokoff said.

Dr Stokes said the only benefit would be reducing the “bulk” of the tumour to follow up with chemo or radiotherapy, however the risks again outweighed the benefits.

Professor Michael Murphy — a member of the Professional Standards Committee asked both experts how long a surgery like the woman’s would take, with both indicating “about four hours”.

The hearing heard Dr Teo’s surgery on the woman took less than two hours, beginning at 9.12am and finishing at 10.55am.

“(That’s) too quick is my view, but Dr Teo is a very skilled surgeon so I can’t comment on that,” Dr Stokes said.

“It should have taken me four hours … He’s a very slick surgeon.”

Dr Stokes was highly complimentary of Dr Teo however, saying he was a “very accomplished surgeon in my opinion”.

Outside the hearing on Wednesday morning, Dr Teo told waiting media it had been “soul-destroying” to sit through the hearing, and that he was only ever acting in his patients’ best interests.

“It’s just terrible. It’s terrible. It’s soul-destroying,” he said.

“I’ve devoted my life to my patients. I mean, you don’t survive 35 years in the game doing the world’s most difficult brain tumours if you don’t care for your patients.

“I’m not denying that I have had some bad results,” he said.

“But they’re trying to paint me to be some sort of money-hungry, reckless, non-compassionate doctor. I just love my work”.

The hearing into Dr Teo’s conduct continues.