Banned brain surgeon Charlie Teo forced to turn away patients

Banned brain surgeon Charlie Teo has expressed frustration at not being able to help desperate patients who are begging for the last chance ‘miracle’ operations he has become famous for.

Some patients are even willing to fly around the globe to be treated by Dr Teo, who has gained fame and notoriety from taking on operations other surgeons won’t.

For the past 15 months Dr Teo, 64, has not been allowed to operate in Australia due to restrictions placed on him by the Medical Council of NSW after three complaints. 

Dr Teo revealed that despite the effective ban he was fielding ‘daily’ phone calls begging for his help.

‘It’s very difficult not to get an overwhelming feeling of frustration and sadness when they’re crying on the phone, saying “We just want your opinion, my son’s dying”,’ Dr Teo told the Daily Telegraph.

‘And, you know, quite conservatively, at least five patients a week could be cured, or their lives could be extended, with further surgery.’

One woman told the newspaper she had wanted Dr Teo’s opinion whether her dying son could be saved and was devastated he couldn’t deliver it. 

Dr Teo said he referred the cases coming to him to other neurosurgeons he believes could help but they are often stopped from operating by their hospitals.

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 said he feels ‘frustrated’ and ‘helpless’ with patients still begging for his help despite the restrictions

Under the restrictions, which Dr Teo said he was willing work under, he cannot perform surgeries without the written permission of another brain surgeon.

However, he has not been able to find a surgeon to give him such permissions in Australia. 

Dr Teo’s willingness to contradict the advice of other surgeons, his high media profile and flamboyant lifestyle have made him a subject of much controversy. 

He has long maintained that he is a target of ‘persecution’ by ‘jealous’ colleagues and subjected to media ‘vilification’. 

Dr Teo argued that this pattern was revealed in the three complaints made about him, where he performed surgeries other doctors called ‘inoperable’ and did not lead to good outcomes. 

‘I think it’s a very sad day for Australian medicine if doctor who are pushing the envelope in accordance with patient wishes are ostracised, vilified and crucified,’ Dr Teo said.

‘In all of these three cases the medical literature supported my recommendations to operate.’

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, where the cost is enormous, 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.

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)

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.

Dr Teo is believed to have taken part in operations in South Africa, Spain and Switzerland.

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.

Dr Teo operated on a tumour in the back of a young Melbourne man, Billy Baldwin, from whom he removed  a brain tumour when the man was a boy, in July in Madrid (Pictured, Dr Teo, left, with Billy Baldwin)

In July this year, Dr Teo also attempted to ‘save the life’ of young Monica Lopresti in Madrid, after an MRI scan returned a shock diagnosis of a benign cystic tumour in her brain.

‘No-one else was good enough to touch my child but Charlie,’ wrote her mother Christina Lopresti in an emotional social media post praising Dr Teo.

‘After meeting him I was in total awe of his kind caring nature. Charlie agreed to operate and save my child’s life.’

The celebrated but controversial surgeon operated on a young Sydney woman and a young Melbourne man in Madrid, Spain (Pictured, Dr Teo, left, during a brain operation in Spain this year)

Sydney mum Christina Lopresti’s emotional post over Dr Teo’s help for her stricken daughter

Ms Lopresti said the family had previously lost ‘a young husband’ to GBM, which is Glioblastoma, a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumour.

‘The only problem was he couldn’t operate [on Monica] in Australia. He wasn’t allowed to,’ Ms Lopresti said.

‘Thanks to so many of you, many strangers who helped us raise money to get Monica to Madrid. Yes you heard right. Madrid.

‘Spain love him and adore him. They see the brilliance in him.’

Christina Lopresti, who described herself as a ‘widowed mum’, raised $120,760 to fund brain surgery for her daughter, whom she described as ‘my best friend’.

The condition of Monica Lopresti is not known. 

In another case Dr Teo operated on a tumour in the back of a young Melbourne man in July.

His father, Alistair Baldwin, paid Dr Teo and other neurosurgeons at Hospital Universitario Fundacion Jimenez Diaz $70,000 to operate on his son, BIlly, The Age reported.

‘It’s the last thing you worry about,’ Mr Baldwin said of the cost.

It is understood Dr Teo removed an aggressive brain tumour from Billy Baldwin when he was a child. 

Christina Lopresti, who described herself as a ‘widowed mum’, raised $120,760 to fund brain surgery for her daughter, Monica (Pictured above, Ms Lopresti’s fundraising page)

At the time the family was advised to seek palliative care options for Billy due to his anaplastic ependymoma. 

He was left deaf in one ear but is now 20.

The Medical Council of NSW contacted Dr Teo’s medical indemnity insurer after it was alerted Dr Teo was working overseas.

It is also understood to be considering alerting Spanish health authorities to the restrictions on Dr Teo’s medical registration.

The NSW Medical Council ruled last August that Dr Teo must now obtain written support from an approved neurosurgeon before performing certain types of brain tumour surgery.

Hospital Quiron de Torrevieja (pictured above), near Alicante in Spain, is one of the hospitals at which Dr Teo has been performing surgery

‘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.

The career setback came after he separated from his wife of 30 year, Genevieve. The couple have four children.

In an exclusive statement to Daily Mail Australia in 2020, Professor Teo said the couple ‘separated over two years ago but remain great friends.’ 

Spanish neurosurgeon Marcelo Galarza, who said he had performed two surgeries with Dr Teo, said the Australian doctor was ‘the first surgeon’ in the operations

Spanish neurosurgeon Marcelo Galarza said he had performed two surgeries with Dr Teo at Hospital Quiron de Torrevieja near Alicante last month.

He confirmed the Australian doctor had gained a temporary permit in Spain.

‘Generally, he is the first surgeon, and I am usually the assistant,’ Galarza said. ‘The patients are Charlie’s [Teo].’

Dr Teo is also understood to have operated on Italian and American patients in Spain. 

In another case, Dr Teo operated on a man in South Africa in 2022.

A woman from Pretoria 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.

‘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.’

Among the complaints made about Dr Teo were that from a woman who received surgery from him in 2003 but claimed later he had failed to remove the tumour and had operated on the wrong side of her brain.

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.

Dr Charlie Teo could be set to marry his model partner and former patient, Traci Griffiths, who has been leaving subtle hints on her Instagram page the pair are engaged

The pair have been frequently spotted attending public events together, working out and wearing outrageously funny costumes for fancy-dress parties

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.

Following the split from his wife in 2018, Dr Teo found love again with a former patient, Traci Griffiths, 47, a model and vegan advocate.

The world renowned surgeon was rumoured to be engaged to Ms Griffiths, whom he treated in 2011, after she was spotted with a ring on her finger last year. 

Dr Teo denied the speculation insisting the pair had made no plans on marrying.

Ms Griffiths has indicated otherwise by uploading photos of herself alongside her brain surgeon boyfriend with the tags ‘#ilovemyfiance’ and ‘#myfiance’.