A long list of celebrities, entrepreneurs and sports stars have thrown their support behind Dr Charlie Teo as he fights to save his career.
Dr Teo is being investigated by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) over complaints two tumour operations left patients with catastrophic brain injuries.
The controversial physician has also been restrained by the NSW Medical Council from operating without the approval of another doctor since August 2021.
But his many well-known fans – including neurosurgeons – have not shied away from publicly expressing their support for him as the HCCC inquiry continues in Sydney.
Singer Jimmy Barnes, actor Bryan Brown, billionaire miner Bryan Brown and ABC chair Ita Buttrose are just some of the high profile figures Dr Teo can count on in his corner.
Neurosurgeon Charlie Teo (left) and his fiancee Traci Griffiths arrive for a Health Care Complaints Commission Professional Standards Committee inquiry, in Sydney on Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Jimmy Barnes (pictured) has spoken in support of controversial brain surgeon Charlie Teo
Celebrities
Actor Bryan Brown said the surgeon is always there when asked to support a cause and Dr Teo’s Brain Cancer Research Foundation has raised more than $50million.
Rock singer Jimmy Barnes said he is grateful Dr Teo helped ‘some dear friends of mine when nobody else was willing to take that risk’.
Tim Farriss of INXS pointed out: ‘Brain surgery takes a person with absolute courage and self-confidence to perform, and sadly, that can easily be construed as cockiness or ego.’
Mary Coustas, the actor best known for playing Effie in TV show Acropolis Now, said she knows people whose lives have been saved by the surgeon.
‘He changed outcomes that very few people can,’ she told the Sunday Telegraph.
Comedian Lawrence Mooney said Dr Teo had been ‘fearless’ in helping so many people, while legendary entertainer Engelbert Humperdinck said his friend is ‘a genius surgeon’.
Actor Bryan Brown (pictured) said Dr Teo is always there when asked to support a cause
Business people
Billionaire miner Gina Rinehart said she had ‘witnessed first-hand his compassion, kindness and dogged perseverance in his attempt to keep my beloved goddaughter alive to spend that extra, valuable time with her children before she passed away with metastatic cancer’.
ABC chair Ita Buttrose said Dr Teo has given her brother Will ‘the gift of life’.
‘When Will was battling terminal cancer and then developed a brain tumour, Charlie operated when doctors in my brother’s medical team wouldn’t because, what was the point, he was dying,’ she said.
Ms Buttrose’s brother lived for several months longer than expected, making it to his son’s wedding and his own 62nd birthday.
Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond pointed out that Dr Teo ‘has worked tirelessly over the last 30 years in raising over $50million for cancer charities.’
Pub and hotel baron Justin Hemmes said he has known the surgeon for almost two decades and always found him to be ‘incredibly generous’ with his time and care for people.
‘I’ve been fortunate to meet families whose lives have been changed forever in the most positive way as a result of Charlie’s work,’ he said.
Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart (pictured) said she had ‘witnessed first-hand’ Dr Teo’s compassion
ABC chair Ita Buttrose (pictured) said Dr Teo has given her brother Will ‘the gift of life’
Sport stars
Former cricketer and Australian of the Year 2004 Steve Waugh said Dr Teo ‘performed a lifesaving operation when my wife Lynette suffered a stroke.
‘He has always been available to help my family and friends whenever a medical issue has arisen, and he does so with total commitment.’
Surfing Australia chair Layne Beachley, a seven-time world champion, said ‘Charlie is a good friend who, in my opinion, does not deserve the malicious treatment he is receiving.’
Fellow surfing legend Kelly Slater and World Surf League champion said his father was given another year of life after he was operated on by Dr Teo.
Ex-Test cricketer Brett Lee described Charlie as ‘instrumental’ in changing lives for the better.
Surfing Australia chair Layne Beachley, a seven-time world champion, said Dr Charlie Teo ‘does not deserve the malicious treatment he is receiving’
Former Test cricketer Brett Lee (pictured) said ‘Charlie has been instrumental in changing the lives for the better of a number of my friends’
Doctors
Melbourne neurosurgeon Ales Aliashkevich said he found Dr Teo ‘very reasonable and down-to-earth’.
‘His recommendations were always well-balanced and aligned with the patient’s best interest,’ Dr Aliashkevich told the Daily Telegraph.
Neurosurgery professor Ralph Mobbs said the ‘biased negativity and vilification’ of Dr Teo has been ‘relentless and unnecessary’.
David Bihari, an Intensive Care Specialist at Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital, said that the pair had looked after many patients in the ICUs after their brain surgery.
‘I consider Charlie to be a brilliant brain surgeon, a kind and considerate person, and a great colleague to work with,’ he said.
Politicians
Former Labor, Liberal and National politicians have also come out in support of Dr Teo.
Morris Iemma, who was Labor premier of NSW from 2005-2008, said the surgeon has ‘always presented as a good guy’.
‘When a member of my family needed help, Charlie did not hesitate to lend a hand,’ he said.
Peter Collins, a former NSW Liberal leader and Health Minister, said ‘Charlie has dedicated his career to taking on the hardest cases.
‘Inevitably not all of those are going to work out, but if I received disastrous medical news I would want Charlie Teo in my corner.’
John Barilaro, a former Nationals MP and deputy premier of NSW, described Dr Teo as ‘an iconic Australian’.
‘He does not deserve the relentless and malicious accusations and allegations that are being thrown his way simply for standing head and shoulders above the crowd.’
Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro (pictured) is one of the many people backing Dr Charlie Teo
Dr Charlie Teo tells hearing he knows more about brainstem tumours than ‘almost anyone in the world’ as he’s grilled about two surgeries that left patients with catastrophic brain injuries
Star neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo has defended performing two surgeries that left patients with catastrophic brain injuries, saying he has more expertise in brainstem tumours than almost anyone in the world.
A Health Care Complaints Commission inquiry is investigating the circumstances surrounding the operations, including concerns patients were offered false hope regarding their chance of survival.
Appearing before the commission in Sydney on Thursday, the 65-year-old disagreed with fellow neurologists Professor Bryant Stokes and Associate Professor Andrew Morokoff, who told the inquiry there was no benefit in operating on one of the patients.
Dr Teo differed to them on whether one of the patient’s tumours had spread to the left side of the brain, saying in his opinion it had not, making it operable.
‘My opinion was this was focal. Their opinion was this was diffuse. When I did this case I was hoping that I was right,’ he told the inquiry.
Dr Teo was grilled by the commission’s counsel Kate Richardson SC about why he disagreed with the evidence of the other experts
‘I even said to the family, ‘If I’ve got it wrong it could be terrible. If I’ve got it right it could be great’.’
Dr Teo was grilled by the commission’s counsel Kate Richardson SC about why he disagreed with the evidence of the other experts.
He said he would not expect them to know as much about brainstem tumours as he did because it wasn’t their specialty.
‘It’s not just reading a brain scan, it’s the nuances of a ‘sub-sub-speciality’,’ he said.
‘I have more experience with brainstem tumours and surgery thereof than almost anyone in the world.’
At times the controversial surgeon became frustrated by Ms Richardson’s questioning.
‘I don’t blame you for being confused … but it’s what I do for a living,’ he told her.
The inquiry heard Dr Teo told the patient she had a five per cent chance of a devastating outcome such as death, locked in syndrome, or complete paralysis.
‘Five per cent risk of a bad outcome, means a 95 per cent chance of a reasonable outcome,’ he said.
‘The only reason you would not go home is if she had a bad, devastating outcome – which she did. That five per cent.’
The renowned surgeon said he naturally reflected on his methods after having his judgment questioned by others
Dr Teo (pictured, with supporters on Thursday) was restrained by the NSW Medical Council in August 2021 from operating without the approval of another doctor after an investigation by the state’s health care complaints commission
‘When you judge a tumour as being surgically resectable and you get a bad outcome there is no one to blame but yourself,’ he said.
‘Of course you’re going to reflect on your rationale.’
In the case of the other patient, Dr Teo told her if she didn’t have surgery by the following Tuesday she would be ‘f***ing dead by Friday’, her husband told the hearing.
During the 2019 surgery, the woman received a frontal lobectomy in which a significant portion of her brain was removed – something her husband told the committee was not disclosed before the operation.
Medical consent experts Paul Komesaroff and Chris Ryan told the hearing risk needed to be conveyed to patients to allow them to make informed consent.
On Wednesday, Assoc Prof Morokoff, Prof Stokes and another neurosurgeon, Professor Paul D’Urso, told the inquiry it was common during operations to remove healthy brain tissue without first informing the patient.
‘I think every brain surgeon in the country would be guilty of not declaring they take out normal brain tissue when they remove a brain tumour,’ Prof D’Urso said.
‘You’d have nothing else to do other than have neurosurgeons in your commission if that was the line you took.’
Dr Teo was restrained by the NSW Medical Council in August 2021 from operating without the approval of another doctor after an investigation by the state’s health care complaints commission.
He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Source: Duncan Murray for Australian Associated Press
