Star neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo will return to the witness stand for a disciplinary hearing into two surgeries he performed that left patients with catastrophic brain injuries.
Dr Teo previously gave evidence he doesn’t regret the surgeries because he believed at the time they were the best thing for the patients.
The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) hearing resumes in Sydney on Monday after a several week break due to scheduling.
A panel of legal and medical experts is examining Dr Teo’s conduct, including whether he adequately informed his patients of the risks involved.
A panel of legal and medical experts is examining Dr Charlie Teo’s conduct
Both of the female patients had terminal brain tumours and were given only weeks or months to live.
Following the surgeries they were left in essentially vegetative states and passed away soon after.
The 65-year-old has so far been defiant in the face of heavy questioning from commission counsel, Kate Richardson SC.
Last month, Dr Teo admitted it was clear from the results of the surgeries he did something wrong, but says he believed the outcomes could have been much better.
‘I did the wrong thing. I obviously did the wrong thing by the patient,’ Dr Teo told the inquiry.
‘Did I intend to hurt her? Absolutely not.’
Controversial neurosurgeon Charlie Teo will return to a disciplinary hearing to face questions over two surgeries he did that left patients with brain damage
Both of the patients’ husbands told the inquiry they were given the impression by Dr Teo the women had a good chance of significant improvement in their conditions.
‘We never got the discussion that it could go badly,’ one of the husbands said.
‘Charlie Teo had told my wife … if she didn’t have the surgery by Tuesday, she would be dead by Friday.
‘That was why my wife made her mind up that she wanted the operation.’
Previous hearings have drawn large crowds of supporters for Dr Teo including former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh, and boxer Anthony Mundine.
Throughout the disciplinary hearing process Dr Teo has continued to operate on patients under additional oversight imposed by the commission.
The inquiry, overseen by Judge Jennifer Boland, will run until Wednesday.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CELEBRITY SURGEON CHARLIE TEO
December 24, 1957 – Charlie Teo born in Sydney, the son of Chinese- Singaporean immigrants
1981 – Graduates from University of Sydney with a bachelor of medicine and a bachelor of Sydney following his education at Sydney’s elite Scots College
1982 onwards – works in general neurosurgery at Sydney Royal Prince Alfred Hospital before moving to the US for 10 years where works in Dallas, Texas and Arkansas, where he becomes Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery
1990s – Teo returns to Australia to work in Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital and founds the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and the Charlie Teo Foundation
2000s – His fame spreads and he becomes a regular on TV and on the social pages of newspapers
2011 – He is awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for services to medicine as a neurosurgeon
Charlie Teo returned to Australia in the 90s to work in Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital and founded the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and the Charlie Teo Foundation
2019 – Urologist Henry Woo goes public with concerns about Mr Teo’s work and the number of Gofundme campaigns raising cash to fund surgery by him, sparking a series of newspaper articles, TV investigations and complaints.
2021 – NSW Medical Council conducted a special hearing into Mr Teo which banned him from conducting operations with special written approval from an experienced neurosurgeon, which he says he’s been unable to get because of the onerous restrictions on the approving surgeon
August 2021 – The Health Care Complaints Commission launch an investigation over two more complaints
September 2022 – HCCC hearing due to take place but is postponed.
October 2022 – Three new complaints against Mr Teo are made to the HCCC
February 13, 2023 – Mr Teo will face the HCCC over five complaints
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk