High-profile neurosurgeon Charlie Teo has appeared in a video with controversial conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxxer Pete Evans – amid explosive allegations that the hotshot doctor operated on the wrong side of a patient’s brain.
The Australian brain tumour expert spoke with the disgraced chef and My Kitchen Rules judge about the potential benefits of medical marijuana in a newly released video of a podcast originally recorded in 2019 for his Evolve Network website.
Dr Teo was slammed by a prominent medical expert for giving Evans legitimacy by appearing on his website, even if he didn’t agree with his views.
Associate Professor Ken Hughes, president of Friends of Science in Medicine – an organisation that opposes non-evidence-based alternative medicine – said it was ‘unfortunate’ Dr Teo associated himself with Evans.
‘It was a pity to see Charlie Teo associated with Pete Evans, who is notorious for his views on alternate medicine,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The last thing Pete Evans needs is some validation from a neurosurgeon – particularly from such a prominent one.’
Disgraced former My Kitchen Rules judge Pete Evans has pushed dangerous conspiracy theories about coronavirus, such as denying it is real and opposing the vaccine
Evans largely rejects modern medicine – like life-saving vaccines – and has been slapped with fines of more than $80,000 for trying to profit from fraudulent Covid-19 treatments online.
Dr Teo, 62, on the other hand, uses scientific research and modern pharmaceuticals to save the lives of cancer patients who would die without his help.
But the video surfaced while Dr Teo is facing a ban from practicing as the Medical Council of NSW convenes an ‘immediate action panel’ and has placed restrictions on him performing certain procedures.
Despite their contrasting views, the pair enjoyed a 47-minute chat covering topics ranging from the 5G network and whether mobile phones cause cancer, to joking about politicians smoking marijuana before debating in parliament.
Evans believes the absurd theory 5G towers somehow played a part in the spread of Covid-19 and was subsequently barred from social media for spreading false health advice among impressionable Australians.
Conspiracy theorist Pete Evans at a protest against Covid vaccines in Sydney
Dr Charlie Teo while being interviewed by Pete Evans in 2019, with the video of the podcast only recently released
When he tried to ask Dr Teo about 5G towers, the surgeon strategically steered the conversation towards scientific evidence.
‘5G – have you got any thoughts on that topic?’ Evans asked.
‘No, I’m not an expert on 5G, 4G, or the physics of electromagnetic radiation – I’m an expert on brain cancer and that’s all,’ Dr Teo said.
The doctor explained that old fashioned ‘brick’ models of mobile phones from the early 1990s emitted large amounts of cancer-causing electromagnetic radiation, but modern phones don’t emit anywhere near as much and are totally safe.
‘These days, thankfully the trend is to hold [phones] away from your head, text message – plus the energy emitted from these phones is significantly less than the old bricks,’ he said.
Charlie Teo with his daughter Nicola. Dr Teo offers life-saving surgery to people with brain tumours
Pete Evans with Nicola Robinson. Evans is an antivaxxer and conspiracy theorist
When Evans asked Dr Teo about his studies into medical marijuana, he gave an example of his only experience with the substance – at a house party in Glebe, in Sydney’s inner-west, when he was a young man.
‘There was a very good-looking girl there smoking dope and I think I wanted to impress her, so I sat next to her and she goes, “do you want a joint?”,’ he recalled.
When Dr Teo declined, the girl asked if he took drugs – to which he lied and said yes, so he agreed to eat a hash cookie.
‘This is someone whose body is incredibly pure – never once taken a drug, I ate this hash cookie and I was off my face,’ he said.
‘I had my motorbike with me, and I got on the motorbike to ride home and the road was all over the place and I was disoriented, so I had to leave the bike there and walk home.’
He went on to explain that he was conducting clinical trials into the use of medical marijuana and cannabidiol(CBD) oil to see if it could shrink brain tumours – and went into the research with ‘an open mind’.
Charlie Teo relived the moment he took drugs for the first time. He has not touched any drugs or alcohol since
‘I didn’t know anything about it,’ he said.
‘I’ve never smoked, drank alcohol, my body is a temple and I treat it with a lot of respect so it’s not as if I had a background in cannabis.’
The medical trial was announced in 2018 and has not yet concluded.
Evans and the surgeon joked about sprinkling CBD oil on the breakfast of his colleagues who blasted him for conducting the studies.
‘Maybe cannabis is their gateway to looking at life differently,’ Evans said.
‘A few little drops in their breakfast,’ the Dr Teo joked.
‘So [marijuana] could be a magic plant after all,’ Evans continued. ‘I get this picture of parliament sitting around and for them all to have a smoke before they go in there.’
Dr Teo was unable to contain his laughter at first, before his tone changed and he said: ‘Oh my god, oh my god can you imagine that? It could really change the whole face of the planet. I like it.’
Daily Mail Australia contacted Charlie Teo for comment.
Pete Evans at a march against mandatory Covid-19 vaccines in February this year
On Saturday, Dr Teo was accused of operating on the wrong side the brain of Sydney woman Michelle Smith, who was 19 in 2003 when she went to the high-profile surgeon to get a tumour removed.
According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, specialists who reviewed the MRI scans 12 years later accused Dr Teo of removing healthy brain tissue from the wrong side of her brain.
But the celebrity surgeon hit back at the ‘slurs’ on his professional reputation on Sunday, and said he has ‘never operated on the wrong side of the brain in my entire career’.
‘I was not given the opportunity to answer these slurs,’ he told the Sunday Telegraph.
‘If I had been given a chance to address the allegations I would have welcomed the opportunity.’
Dr Teo explained that the surgical technique used when operating on Ms Smith required approaching the tumour from a ‘difficult location’ to reduce the risk of the procedure.
He also said Ms Smith knew the tumour had not been entirely removed during the operation, but Dr Teo said he was not aware that her seizures had returned until she filed a lawsuit against him in 2019.
The case was settled out of court.
Dr Charlie Teo and his model girlfriend and former patient Traci Griffiths, 46, attended the Rebel Ball Reimagined at Doltone House in Sydney on May 2
The NSW Medical Council has ordered Dr Teo to provide proof that he has explained the financial costs and risks to patients before operating.
He is also not permitted to perform certain operations until he obtains written approval from a fellow neurosurgeon.
The restrictions follow the Medical Council of NSW calling on Dr Teo to attend an ‘immediate action panel’ last week.
The neurosurgeon accepted the directions and said he has always consulted with a colleague, often from a leading medical school.
As apart of the Council directives, he will retrospectively review outcomes of surgeries with a colleague.
Evans has been involved in a litany of controversies that got him slapped with fines and bans from social media platforms.
As well as the fine for selling fraudulent Covid-19 treatments online, he had also been fined $25,000 for trying to sell his so-called BioCharger for $15,000 a pop on Facebook.
He insisted the device could cure Covid-19 and protect users from infection – but had no evidence to support those claims.
Despite the first fine, the craggy-faced conspiracy theorist continued to try to sell the light to the unwary, along with a string of other fake treatments.
Dr Teo credits his ‘big personality’ and the fact he trained in the US as the reasons his colleagues were quick to dismiss him
In May, he was hit with another $79,920 in fines for advertising the BioCharger and several other unapproved and totally ineffective treatments
He also advertised two oral medicines, static magnet products and hyperbaric chambers to breathe pure oxygen in a pressurised environment.
Evans falsely implied the products were endorsed by health professionals, but he has now been ordered to remove the posts, and to cease all adverts for them.
The former reality TV star has also been permanently booted off Facebook and Instagram for sharing misinformation and conspiracy theories.
He has repeatedly made posts opposing Covid-19 vaccines and masks, and falsely claimed in a podcast that the coronavirus is a hoax.
Evans was a judge on My Kitchen Rules between 2010 and 2020, and had more than one million Facebook followers until his forced exit.