An article from news.com.au by Rebecca Sullivan
LAST July, Fiona Nation was driving her
husband James back from hospital after receiving the all-clear from doctors
about his thyroid cancer, when he started to vomit and experience severe
headaches.
He was readmitted to a different
hospital closer to home and doctors soon diagnosed the 47-year-old with stage 4
glioblastoma, a malignant form of brain cancer.
“It’s the worst you can get,” Mrs
Nation, 50, told news.com.au. “The doctor said ‘it’s in his brain stem and it’s
inoperable, he’s got eight weeks to live’.”
Mrs Nation started Googling
“glioblastomas survivors” and read about a young girl from Euroa, Victoria who
had survived a benign brain tumour, even after doctors told her it was
inoperable. Her surgeon was Charlie Teo.
The 58-year-old neurosurgeon is
famous for operating on brain tumours that other surgeons consider inoperable
or too high risk. His patients come from all over the world to visit his
neurology centre at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney.
His radical approach has drawn
criticism from some in the surgical profession, who argue he is a “cowboy” who
offers “false hope” to dying patients, and many doctors will refuse to refer
their patients onto Dr Teo.
Mrs Nation booked an appointment with
Dr Teo, but it was six weeks away. She asked her husband’s surgeon at The
Alfred Hospital in Melbourne for a formal referral.
“He laughed and he flat out said no,”
she said. “His mouth turned up and he said, ‘I’m not even going to bother with
that man. I won’t give you a referral’. He just had this look about him as if
to say, ‘Oh, not another one’.”
Mrs Nation demanded access to all of
her husband’s medical files, scans and reports.
“I gathered everything and wrote a very
soppy card to Charlie and said ‘please look at this’. If there is absolutely
nothing we can do, please let me know. I knew he was my only option.”
She got a call from one of Dr Teo’s
associates on a Wednesday, and on the following Monday Mr Nation was lying on
Dr Teo’s operating table at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney.
“Charlie was awesome. He said, ‘OK
James. This is a deadly disease. You will die from it. But I feel confident
that I could make a difference and buy you time’. He was very upfront,” Mrs
Nation said.
“He said, ‘I’ll tell you now that 70
per cent of my patients come through, but 30 per cent are left paralysed. You
need to make a decision. It’s a very risky operation. So it’s totally your call
James’. And James said he wanted him to have a crack.”
Dr Teo removed 95 per cent of the
tumour in Mr Nation’s brain. Following a seven-hour operation, he pulled
through without any paralysis.
After originally being given eight
weeks to live, he is still alive seven months later.
Mrs Nation’s account of medical
professionals who refuse to refer their patients onto Dr Teo echoes the
neurosurgeon’s own claims earlier this week that doctors are letting their egos
get in the way and are putting patient’s lives at risk.
He said the hospital is refusing to
let him operate on an 18-month-old child who is dying from a brain tumour.
News.com.au spoke to dozens of Dr
Teo’s patients who say their doctors discouraged them from seeking treatment
from the popular brain surgeon.
Other friends and relatives have
expressed their anger and sadness for patients who have been paralysed or died
after Dr Teo operated on them.
Critics have labelled Dr Teo a
“narcissistic egomaniac” and a “sociopath” who charges exorbitant fees — up to
$80,000 — for procedures in his private practice.
Kelly Barry, 38, from Adelaide, was
diagnosed with brain cancer at age 27 and given six months to live. Her doctors
told her the tumour was inoperable.
“The tumour in her brain was as big
as an apple,” her father George told news.com.au.
“It got to the stage where she
couldn’t string words together properly and her vision was impaired so she was
running into doors all the time.”
When Mrs Barry asked to be referred
to Dr Teo, her doctor said: “You’re wasting your time going to see that man.
Nothing can be done.”
Mr Barry said: “The doctor walked
around the room like a zombie and said ‘This is how your daughter is going to
come out of surgery after seeing that cowboy’.”
The family eventually got in touch
with Dr Teo who successfully removed the tumour. Mr Barry believes Dr Teo’s treatment from
other surgeons comes down to “total jealousy”.
“He can do things that they can’t do.
I would put my faith in Charlie for anything. He’s the most humane person I’ve
ever come across.”
Mrs Nation says most surgeons want to
ensure their “success rate” remains high. Taking on risky procedures with a
high chance of death puts that in jeopardy.
“They’re all concerned about their stats. It’s all about being able to
say they have a 95 per cent success rate. They don’t want to take on cases that
could lower that.
“It’s like they’re saying, ‘If we
don’t have a guaranteed successful outcome, don’t try’. “How dare they not give me and my family the
chance? Our children have spent an extra birthday each with James. We’ve had
Christmas, Father’s Day, our anniversary and Valentine’s Day.
“How many patients have to die
because these egos are not put aside? They don’t want to operate on someone and
then fail. These men and women have these huge egos that are not in the best
interest of their patient.”
Dr John Quinn, the head of the The
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons surgical division, says surgeons have
the right to refuse treatment if they believe it could harm the patient or if
it goes against their moral judgment.
“While patients have the ability to
refuse treatments, surgeons also have the ability to refuse to treat,” Dr Quinn
said.
“Patients often want things done that
are going to harm them and the surgeon will not operate if they think the
operation is going to be futile.”
Dr Quinn says disagreements between
surgeons about the decision to operate are uncommon, but do happen “from time
to time”.
“Not everyone is going to agree with
everybody. The patient is free to seek out a second opinion if they’re not
happy with the advice. Sometimes patients choose not to have the treatment
that’s recommended by surgeons for whatever reason, and that’s fine.”
Dr Quinn acknowledged the medical
industry does have a bullying problem, particularly between “those in power and
those with less power”.
“We’re trying to get rid of that and
we’re trying to change our culture, but it’s a very difficult thing to do.”
