A celebrated brain surgeon who has been banned from operating in Australia unless he gets approval from a second independent neurosurgeon has hit out at ‘jealous’ colleagues.
Dr Charlie Teo, 64, is unable to operate without written approval from a fellow surgeon due to restrictions placed on him by the Medical Council of NSW after the body received three complaints.
Dr Teo told 2GB radio host Chris Smith he had ‘had enough’ of the ‘effective ban’ after 15 months and said he would be happy to perform life-saving operations in public hospitals free of charge to save kids lives, but no one will let him in.
He said ‘jealous’ colleagues were stopping him from performing his ‘miracle’ surgeries.
‘It’s gang warfare,’ he said. ‘It’s purely based on professional jealousy. Even a governing body has said that I’m a competent surgeon.’
Renowned neurosurgeon Charlie Teo, 64, is unable to operate without written approval from a fellow surgeon due to restrictions placed on him by the Medical Council of NSW after receiving three complaints
Dr Teo told 2GB that one of his receptionists had broke down into tears while speaking to a mother who had begged the surgeon to operate on her child.
‘The bottom line is, it’s a pretty desperate situation, it’s sad, it’s wrong,’ he said.
‘It all started from nameless, faceless, cowardly people who went to the media, made allegations and made up stories about me to try and destroy my reputation.
‘If I’m as bad as surgeons say I am, if I’m offering people false hope and false promises, come out and say it… and put a face to the allegations.’
He said he still has a licence to operate as an independent surgeon outside of Australia, but at home surgeons were ‘ganging up’ and refusing to let him work.
The surgery restrictions were placed on Dr Teo following three complaints about his conduct and approach, two of which are still under investigation.
Dr Teo still has his licence to operate as an independent surgeon outside of Australia, but he said at home, surgeons were ‘ganging up’ and refusing to let him work
Under the restrictions, which Dr Teo said he was willing to work under, he cannot perform surgeries without the written permission of another brain surgeon, something he blames on the ‘jealousy’ of his colleagues.
Dr Teo’s willingness to contradict the advice of other surgeons has made him a high profile figure across the country.
He has long maintained that he is a target of ‘persecution’ and has been subjected to media ‘vilification’ over the last few years.
Under the restrictions, which Dr Teo said he was willing to work under, he cannot perform surgeries without the written permission of another brain surgeon – something he blames on the ‘jealousy’ of his colleagues
So in demand are Dr Teo’s services that patients have been willing to fly overseas to be operated on by him, or for him to oversee their surgeries.
Under those circumstances, Dr Teo said he waived his fee.
One surgery Dr Teo supervised was on Natalie O’Brien, whose family had been told the tumour was inoperable because it was the centre of her brain.
Only Dr Teo said the surgery was possible, which left Natalie’s dad Scott to raise the hefty sum for the operation to take place, which it did on July 26.
Despite other surgeons telling the O’Brien’s that Natalie would die on the operating table, the operation was completed in Europe and she is back in Australia.
A woman from Pretoria, a capital city in South Africa, said he removed a dangerous brain tumour from her husband.
‘Dr Charlie came to South Africa to remove my husband’s brainstem glioblastoma together with Dr Chris Profyris,’ she wrote.
Celebrated but now-restricted brain surgeon Dr Charlie Teo operated on a young Sydney woman, Monica Lopresti in Madrid, Spain (pictured, Christina Lopresti with her daughter, Monica Lopresti)
‘They did what no other surgeon was willing to do and we’ll be forever grateful to these two surgeons. The best with such good hearts.’
Dr Teo is believed to have taken part in operations in South Africa, Spain and Switzerland despite being banned in Australia.
It is understood the Medical Council of NSW has enquired into Dr Teo’s overseas surgeries and is poised to alert Spanish authorities to its concerns.
The Medical Council of NSW contacted Dr Teo’s medical indemnity insurer after it was alerted Dr Teo was working overseas.
‘If the written statement does not support the practitioner performing the procedure(s) the practitioner cannot recommend or perform the surgery,’ the statement on his registration states.
Dr Teo has previously said an enemy he labelled ‘The Mole’ was determined to paint him as a ‘money-hungry sexual predator’ and sabotage his career.
An allegation surfaced in September 2019 that Dr Teo had told a nurse ‘while you’re down there…’ as she bent down to pick something up.
The neurosurgeon admitted he made the ‘bad joke’ but said it had been taken out of context and the nurse in question had been with him for 12 years, was like a ‘sister’ and the pair always joked around together.