Almost 100,000 people have signed a petition urging for brain surgeon Dr Charlie Teo to be invited to operate in public hospitals across Australia.
The Sydney-based neurosurgeon has been embroiled in a public spat with surgical colleagues after a 12-year-old patient was forced to crowdfund $160,000 for life-saving surgery.
But Dr Teo, 61, fired back, saying he would happily do the surgeries for free if Australia’s healthcare covered the costs.
He told the Today show he needed to be invited to perform the operations by neurosurgeons in the public system but they were too proud to do so.
Almost 100,000 people have signed a petition urging for brain surgeon Dr Charlie Teo (pictured) to be invited to operate in public hospitals across Australia
The family of Amelia ‘Millie’ Lucas (Pictured), from Perth, raised over $150,000 online so they could afford Dr Teo’s surgery for a malignant brain tumour.
‘I say to (patients), ”Listen, if you can get your neurosurgeon from your state to invite me to your hospital, I will operate free of charge in the public system with benefits not only to you but will benefit hopefully the whole neurosurgical community where they can learn my techniques”. Have I ever been taken off on that offer? Never.
‘All they need to do is swallow their ego.’
Supporters have rallied behind the controversial doctor, lobbying for government officials to invite Dr Teo to operate in the public system.
‘Dr Charlie Teo is a medical genius, yet he is vilified by his peers in Australia,’ the Change.org petition read.
‘At present he has not been invited to operate in any public hospitals in Australia, so those that need his expertise have to pay to go into a private hospital.
‘It’s time the government who are paying all these doctors told them to get their egos in check & not only invite Charlie to their hospital but learn from him. It’s time for the people of Australia to back Charlie Teo.’
The petition, which was launched on Monday has been flooded with 85,3600 signatures in three days from supporters backing the cause.
‘My little girl is fighting brain cancer with no further treatment on offer. Dr Teo can offer hope where others cannot’ one supporter wrote.
‘His expertise and love of medicine should be available to all Australians,’ wrote another supporter.
The petition was addressed to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, WA health Minister Roger Cook, Premier Mark McGown and Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt.
Dr Teo hit back on Tuesday, acknowledging Professor Woo had brought up an ‘important issue’
Amelia ‘Milli’ Lucas went into a six-hour surgery this month in a last-ditch attempt to remove her brain tumour and prolong her life
Dr Teo has threatened to leave the profession since the ‘relentless and vicious’ criticism over the cost of his surgery.
‘When the distractions become too great and I can’t give my patients what they deserve, I will call it quits’, he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘They will eventually get me. I know that sounds a bit fatalistic but I think it is probably true. A lot of good people have gone down to the system’.
The world-renowned doctor has made a name for himself over the last decade by taking on inoperable cases and offering brain cancer patients a second chance at life.
He made headlines after agreeing to perform a risky operation on 12-year-old Amelia ‘Milli’ Lucas that could have left her with permanent weakness in one side of her body, or at worst, coma or paralysis.
Speaking after the operation last week, Teo admitted the procedure was one of the ‘more difficult’ that he’s done in his career.
After being criticised for accepting crowdfunded money, Dr Teo defended his price, blaming Australia’s ‘excessive’ private health system, ABC News reported.
He said he personally only gets $8,000 from each surgery.
‘The difference between (the) public and private cost of medicine needs to be discussed,’ Dr Teo said.
‘But what you have to remember is that of that $120,000 [charged for surgery] most people think it all goes to me, and that’s not the case at all.’
He said while $80,000 goes to the private hospital, the remaining $40,000 was shared between the assistant, anaesthetist, radiologist, radiographer and intensivist.
WHO IS CHARLIE TEO?
Charlie Teo is a Sydney-based neurosurgeon and director of the Centre for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery at Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick.
The doctor has garnered international media attention for his reputation to take on ‘inoperable’ or high-risk cases.
Dr Charlie Teo
Teo has been praised for his practices but has also been the subject of criticism for his ‘controversial methods’ and for offering patients ‘false hope’.
Among his notable patients is Australian pianist Aaron McMillan, 30, who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor in 2001.
Dr Teo successfully removed the tumour, but it unfortunately returned two years later and led to McMillan’s death in 2007.
Teo also treated 2UE radio broadcaster Stan Zemanek during his battle with glioblastoma in 2006.
Teo spent ten years working in the US after claiming he was unable to secure work due to his ‘bad name in Australia’.
The surgeon has defended his methods saying he is willing to extend patients’ lives if they are not ready to give into their illness.