Charlie Teo’s war: The Sunday Telegraph’s response to insulting ‘sob story’ claims

The Sunday Telegraph’s special report on acclaimed neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo revealed a doctor in limbo and unable to operate. But other media have since painted it as a ‘sob story’. Here’s why they could not be more wrong.

It has been suggested in other Sydney media that our special report last Sunday into neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo and the current holding pattern that stops him from operating was some kind of ‘sob story’.

The inference being that we are biased towards Teo because our reporter was operated on by him many years ago (a fact we have covered in depth previously and still proudly point to on our website).

It is both an insulting claim and a ridiculous one.

How a 3000-word feature that focuses on people losing their lives to brain tumours, includes four separate case studies and records all the complaints Dr Teo is fighting against can be called a sob story says more about the motivation and intentions of those making the claim. There is obviously a personal gripe at play.

Neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

We have received countless messages of support since our story from people who have credited Dr Teo with saving, prolonging or changing their lives.

There have been less than a handful of negative comments and none of these people have been willing to talk on the record about any complaints.

Dr Teo in his Sydney office. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

We would certainly be open to running stories on them if they were.

It’s patently clear that we support getting Dr Teo back operating and saving lives.

We make no bones about that.

But we are not blindsided to the risks his surgery involves and indeed made the complaints against him very clear last week.

But as we report today, we think the situation as it stands is not equitable and needs to be looked at by the medical authorities and the government.

While other media snipe from the sidelines and refuse to acknowledge mistakes in previous stories they have written, we are only interested in one thing – helping people who are in an otherwise hopeless, desperate situation.

There’s nothing ‘sob story’ about it.