Inside Aussie neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo’s controversial career

One of Australia’s top surgeons is facing backlash over the costs of his operations, but this isn’t the first time he has faced criticism.

You would think being one of Australia’s most renowned neurosurgeons would earn you endless praise, but it appears a massive amount of scrutiny also comes with being at the top of your game.

Charlie Teo is hailed by many as one of the best brain surgeons in the country, and yet throughout his career he has faced constant criticism — often from his own peers.

Most recently, Dr Teo’s six-figure surgery prices have been called into question, with University of Sydney professor of surgery Henry Woo questioning the costs on Twitter.

“Something is seriously wrong if a terminally ill girl with a brain tumour has to raise $120K to have surgery Dr Charlie Teo has offered to do for $60-80K,” he wrote on Twitter.

“If it was valid surgery, it could/should be performed in the public system under Medicare.”

Prof Woo said he found it “disturbing” how many crowd-funding campaigns mentioned Dr Teo’s name.

Something is seriously wrong if a terminally ill girl with a brain tumour has to raise $120K to have surgery Dr Charlie Teo has offered to do for $60-80K.
If it was valid surgery, it could/should be performed in the public system under Medicare #auspol https://t.co/8s7L5mcuAZ

— Henry Woo (@DrHWoo) May 24, 2019

This is not the first time the neurosurgeon has been at odds with other medical professionals.

Dr Teo is renowned for performing surgery on patients other surgeons have deemed inoperable. As a result some critics have accused Dr Teo of offering “false hope” to patients and also recklessly endangering lives on the slimmest chances.

Some doctors have even gone as far as to refuse to refer patients to Dr Teo.

Dr Teo has spoken often about the culture of bullying and harassment in Australia’s surgical profession, claiming many doctors let their ego get in the way of caring for patients.

In an interview with Studio 10 in 2016, the surgeon claimed the Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick was refusing to let him operate on an 18-month-old child dying from a brain tumour.

“I have to battle. There’s day-in and day-out administrators, other doctors who feel like they have the final say and I don’t have the final say,” he said.

Dr Teo has always maintained that it should be up to the patients and their parents, not the doctors, to choose what risks should be taken.

Dr Teo has defended his high surgery costs. Picture: Jonathan Ng

HOW MUCH DOES HE EARN?

It is unclear exactly how much Dr Teo earns from his surgeries each year, but Australia Australian Taxation Office data released in 2016 showed male neurosurgeons had the best paid job in the country.

According to the data, neurosurgeons made an average of $577,674 a year.

Updated data from PayScale, a website that provides information about salary and benefits, also shows the average salary for a neurosurgeon in Australia can range from $281,000 to $546,000.

WHY IS THE SURGERY SO EXPENSIVE?

After Prof Woo called out the massive amount of money being raised by patients to pay for Dr Teo’s surgery, the neurosurgeon appeared on the Today show to defend the costs.

He said that while some patients do have to pay more than $100,000 for surgery the , the majority of that money doesn’t go to him.

“It is in a private hospital, which is accounting to their shareholders. They have to make a profit,” he said.

“So, for example, that $120,000 bill that Henry Woo is talking about, $80,000 to the private hospital. $40,000 then gets dispersed among not only the surgeon, the assistant, anaesthetist, pathologist, radiologist, radiographer.”

He said that after everything was divided up he ended up earning $8000.

Dr Teo explained that the majority of the costs of his surgeries go to private hospitals and he only sees a fraction of the amount. Picture: Jamie Hanson

Surgeries will also differ in price depending on their complexity, with some taking an hour and half, and others up to 16 hours.

If people who live outside of NSW want to access Dr Teo’s surgery they wouldn’t be covered under the public health system.

This means they would be forced to have it done under the state’s private system, resulting in higher fees.

But Dr Teo says he does offer some interstate patients another option that would allow them to get the surgery for free.

“I say to them, ‘Listen, if you can get your neurosurgeon from your state to invite me to your hospital, I will operate free of charge in the public system with benefits not only to you but will benefit hopefully the whole neurosurgical community where they can learn my techniques’. Have I ever been taken up on that offer? Never,” Dr Teo said.

“All they need to do is swallow their ego.”

DR TEO’S OTHER VENTURES

Apart from performing lifesaving brain surgery, Dr Teo also runs a brain cancer foundation and has appeared on a number of TV shows.

He launched the Charlie Teo Foundation in 2018, which prides itself on being not-for-profit foundation with a low-cost administration model to ensure the majority of funds go to those who need it.

Dr Teo caused controversy when he walked away from another brain cancer charity he set up back in 2003, citing the huge amount being spent on administration costs as the reason.

The aim of this charity appears to reflect Dr Teo’s approach to his professional career.

He launched his current brain cancer charity in 2018 after walking away from another foundation.

“This Foundation is all about radical thinking, about funding brilliant, original minds to go where no researcher has gone before,” reads a description on the charity’s website.

“We are committed to empowering great thinkers and giving them the best chance possible to affect real change for patients and families.”

Along with running his own charity, Dr Teo is known to devote three months a year to educating neurosurgeons from developing countries such as Peru, Indonesia and Vietnam, and treating children with neurological conditions in those countries.

He is also no stranger to being in front of the camera and has appeared on numerous programs throughout his career, including Australian Story, Last Chance Surgery, Q&A and 60 Minutes.

But he has recently landed his first weekly television role in SBS’s new reality program Medicine or Myth?

The show revolves around people pitching their homemade treatments for various health issues, leaving it up to a group of professionals to assess how well they actually work.

Dr Teo leads the panel, along with family and women’s health expert Dr Ginni Mansberg and associate professor in immunology Ashraful Haque.