Charlie Teo accuses peers of 'pure jealousy' after Sydney mum forced to fundraise for radical brain surgery

Sky News AU

11 hours ago

A Sydney mother with a brain tumour the size of a mandarin has been forced to fundraise for a trip to Spain to undergo the radical operation she wants with controversial surgeon Charlie Teo.
The neurosurgeon has lashed his colleagues for refusing to grant him the approval he needs to do the procedure on Tara Boland, 34, in Australia, after restrictions were placed on his registration two years ago.
Dr Teo was banned from performing surgeries like Ms Boland's without written permission from another neurosurgeon endorsed by the Medical Council of NSW, after being found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct in 2023, but he's been unable to secure it from any of his peers.
The specialist also revealed he'd received a rejection from the council after a recent formal request to have the conditions placed on his practice removed.
'I got a total rejection – it's ridiculous,' Dr Teo said.
'It's an absolute travesty. It's tragic and (Tara) is just one of hundreds of patients.
'I have a complete licence to operate by the Medical Board of Australia, so I could operate today, if someone would allow me to operate.'
Ms Boland, from Sydney's northern beaches, was first diagnosed with an oligodendroglioma 11 years ago, aged 23.
At the time, her surgeon removed the rare tumour, but she was warned it would come back.
Last month, a scan detected that it had and this time, it was much bigger.
'This time's probably harder just because I do have the two kids,' Ms Boland said, fighting back tears.
'To go for a check-up and find out it's back significantly, it's hard. It's hard to digest.'
Dr Teo says while Ms Boland's glioma is low-grade, it will eventually turn into a high-grade glioma, so surgery of some form is necessary.
The mum of two says her usual surgeon advised a partial removal and radiation, but only Dr Teo was willing to do a far more aggressive procedure.
'I say (to patients), 'it's unlikely to be cured, all you've got to do is leave one cell behind and it can come back again,' but frankly, there is a very small subset of patients in whom you can do a radical resection and cure them, so I make sure that patients know that and then I leave the decision up to them,' Dr Teo said.
Ms Boland, who heads risk and compliance for a major insurance provider and plays representative OzTag, is now trying to raise $150,000 for the October 24 operation, her flights and hospital recovery of eight weeks or more through a GoFundMe page.
'That makes me the most angry, in the sense where Teo is an incredible doctor, I'm an Australian citizen, I have my private health [insurance], I have Medicare, I should – just like others – have the choice to have the surgeon which we trust,' she said.
'It scares me packing up my family and going over there, and not knowing how long for, when I could be in Australia surrounded by all of my family and in the comfort of my own home. So it's a hard decision, but I know it's the right decision.'
She said Dr Teo had fully explained the risks of the procedure, which include being left mute or with a speech impediment, or paralysed on one side of her body.
'I don't want my children to grow up without a mum and so I need to do anything and everything that I can for longevity,' she said.
Dr Teo says his office receives emails from up to 10 Australian patients a day, wanting his services, but not all can travel to afford overseas.
He has done more than 200 brain tumour surgeries overseas now, mainly working with teams in China and Spain.
Dr Teo said understands why other Australian surgeons do not want to take the risk of performing radical brain surgery.
'A lot of doctors go: 'Well, I could be radical, but boy, it's not going to be good for me, it's certainly not going to be good for my reputation and I'm going to pull my punches, even if the patient has an appetite for risk',' Dr Teo said.
'Is it risky for the patient or is it risky for you and your reputation? And sadly, what's happened to me by the Australian medical governing bodies is a perfect reason why you won't do a radical resection.'
Dr Teo's unsatisfactory professional conduct decision came in the wake of findings from the Health Care Complaints Commission that Dr Teo operated on two patients where the risk of surgery outweighed the potential benefits, and obtained consents from patients considered too 'optimistic'.
The doctor said while he accepted the conditions, he considered it "pure jealousy' of his colleagues that they had so far refused to give him written permission to perform the tricky procedures here.
'Why is it then that every administrator of every hospital where I have applied for privileges have said, yes, we'll take you, but every neurosurgeon has said no,' Dr Teo said.
'If that's not unfair, what is?'
A spokesperson for the Medical Council of NSW confirmed to Sky News that it had rejected a formal application from Dr Teo to have his registration conditions removed, saying it had 'formed the view the conditions should remain in place to protect the public.'
Hairdresser Anthony Hall will hold a 24-hour haircut challenge at Legends Gym in Kensington, in Sydney's south-east on September 6 to raise money for Ms Boland, while Penrith OzTag will host a Tag for Tara fundraiser at Kingsway Playing Fields on October 12, in St Marys, in the city's west.