Opinions divided over fresh Dr Charlie Teo claims
Neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo has once again been on the receiving end of harsh claims from past patients in a brutal expose by 60 Minutes.
The renowned brain surgeon has made headlines multiple times in the past for his achievements – such as when he flew from Perth to Sydney to perform a lifesaving operation on then 14-year-old Amelia “Milli” Lucas after she raised $170,000.
However, Dr Teo has continued to face backlash, with some families who’ve dealt with the surgeon criticising him for the high price of his services.
Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes program interviewed several of Dr Teo’s past patients, one of whom spoke about the "false hope" given to his family when dealing with the surgeon.
Michelle Smith was only 19 when Dr Teo operated on her to remove a brain tumour that was causing her severe epileptic episodes.
Ms Smith and her mother told the program that Dr Teo claimed that the removal of the tumour would be “easy” and after the operation “everything is great”. The program went on to state that Dr Teo soon told Ms Smith that she was able to stop taking her epilepsy medication but as the years went on she experienced worse seizures.
“The seizures got worse…I lost my employment, I’d had a few jobs here and there,” Ms Smith said.
“I had a seizure behind the wheel and hit two parked cars, writing off three cars.”
Later in 2014, Ms Smith had another scan for her brain, after which other doctors claimed that Dr Teo had operated on the wrong side.
“The previous operation was done on the wrong side of the brain and that’s why the normal brain tissue was removed, it was nowhere near the tumour,” Ms Smith continued on the program. “To find out that he didn’t even touch it, I just felt violated in a way. I trusted him.”
Dr Teo defended himself saying that he “never, ever” operated on the wrong side of the brain and that the approach he used was well documented to reduce the risk. “Ms Smith awoke in excellent neurological condition and was seizure free at her post-op visit,” he said.
A decade after going under the knife of Dr Charlie Teo to remove a brain tumour, Michelle Smith made a horrific discovery; the neurosurgeon had actually operated on the wrong side of her brain. #60Mins pic.twitter.com/YnBCqhCDfz
— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) October 23, 2022
A colleague of Dr Teo's, Dr Michael Donnellan, backed up Teo's claim, telling the The Daily Telegraph that "there is a big difference between a wrong side surgery, versus a contralateral approach — or approach from the opposite side — to a tumour that is close to the midline of the brain.... This is a well recognised and reasonable approach,” he said, adding he had seen Dr Teo choose that method multiple times with good results.
This, however, did not stop Ms Smith from suing Dr Teo in 2019 for professional negligence. The case was settled out of court.
Another of Dr Teo’s patients examined by the 60 Minutes program was Prasanta Barman’s young son Mikolaj who was diagnosed with a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) - a difficult brain tumour to treat.
The family sought the help of Dr Teo who they say informed them that there was a “very high likelihood of (a) cure”.
“If all goes as planned, the surgery should be curative, as we should be able to remove the entire thing. This means that prognosis would be excellent,” Dr Teo’s office said in an email in 2018.
However, two other neurosurgeons informed Mr Barman that his son’s tumour was inoperable.
This led Mr Barman to once again ask Dr Teo about his stance and his response remained unchanged and that he would operate.
Mr Barman paid Dr Teo the $80,000 required for the operation and 30 minutes before the operation he said that he might not be able to remove the entire tumour.
After surgery, young Mikolaj was bedridden and unable to walk, talk or eat on his own. He died less than a year later.
“There was no hope. For a DIPG, there is no hope. So why give the false hope in the first place?” Mr Barman asked.
Dr Teo has defended himself against these claims, explaining that there are some good and bad outcomes no matter the situation.
“Once you start exploring and looking for advancements, you are going to get some bad outcomes, some terrible outcomes, which I have had,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“You are also going to have patients that do very well, that get more months or years on their lives and get to enjoy life.”
Images: Facebook/60 Minutes