![]() Morokoff explained there were other medically accepted techniques to invoke pain in a patient to rouse them that didn’t carry “insulting” social and cultural implications. ![]() Outside the hearing, Teo said the slap had in fact been a tap on the face as an alternative to other methods, which he described as “kinder and gentler” for the patient. “Regardless of the family members it’s entirely unacceptable to slap a patient across the face,” D’Urso said. “I understand why these patients and families opt to have these ‘last-ditch’ surgeries - but I wonder how many would make this same choice were they properly counselled by Dr Teo regarding the high risks for spiralling costs, high-level care needs and a pretty dismal quality of life for the time they have left,” the doctor emailed.Īccording to the Medical Council’s conditions placed on Dr Teo’s registration he must disclose whether a patient has travelled from interstate for the surgical procedure and the nature of the intended procedure.Neurosurgeons Andrew Morokoff, Bryant Stokes and Prof Paul D’Urso unanimously condemned Teo slapping the patient but said his decision to undertake the surgery, while controversial, was not black and white. The doctor said that families “who had scraped together their life savings just to afford the surgery bill” struggled to meet the additional costs. “Patients and families were frequently told they would be ‘walking out the door in a couple of days’ the reality was more often weeks of self-funded intensive hospital care followed by high-level rehabilitation or home-care requirements.” “To me the most heartbreaking scenarios we dealt with on our ward were the families left totally unprepared” for the not always positive outcomes after Dr Teo’s surgeries. One ex-colleague of Dr Teo’s talked of the false hope he gave families. In a legal letter, Dr Teo responded: “Charlie is not aware of any of his patients who have died from cerebrospinal fluid pouring out the nose, this is called a CSF leak and is repairable in most circumstances.”Īsked about his arrangements for post-operative care, Dr Teo’s lawyer replied: “If a patient is unfunded and interstate they are not allowed due to public hospital regulations to have elective surgery in a different state, unless the state where the patient is from documents that no one else is willing to do the surgery then they can be referred to a different public hospital to have the surgery, they are then put on the hospital public waiting list.”Īnother doctor emailed: “As an intensivist in Adelaide, I have on several occasions received patients transferred from Sydney when their loved one never regained consciousness following surgery and then ran out of money paying the intensive care costs in Charlie’s … Prince of Wales.” “Charlie got the word that I was cross and rang me and said he couldn’t treat the patient at the private hospital” because the patient had run out of funds. “The family heard of Teo and paid some astronomical sum of money to have this operation in Sydney”, but could no longer afford to stay in a private hospital. In a previous Herald investigation, a number of neurosurgeons, oncologists and intensive-care specialists in public hospitals across the country raised serious questions about the patients of Dr Teo who arrived to be cared for in the public system once their money had run out. It is understood that the “immediate action panel” was convened following complaints from several interstate neurosurgeons alleging that Dr Teo performed operations which left financially-stressed interstate patients stranded in the NSW public hospital system or that they were sent back home to be cared for by their local health systems. “All conditions on Dr Teo’s registration will remain in place pending the outcome of the investigation by the HCCC or until the conditions are removed by the Council, whichever is earlier,” said a spokesperson for the council. The Medical Council said the current matter which had led to the conditions being placed on Dr Teo have also been referred to the HCCC. Dr Teo also has to show that there is a plan for managing interstate patients.ĭr Teo is already the subject of an investigation by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). The supervising neurosurgeon will determine whether Dr Teo has explained to the patient “all material risks” and has obtained “informed financial consent”.
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