I first saw Teo ages ago when he was interviewed and had his portrait painted on that Anh Do show. Even then I noticed a rampant ego and a chip on the shoulder.
If that was his biggest (alleged) fault, this thread wouldnāt exist. Does anyone really care if heās arrogant?
An arrogant doctor takes bigger risks and the bigger the risk, the more likely it ends up in a catastrophic loss of life. If a doctor becomes so arrogant that they start doing procedures that have little to no chance of succeeding, without properly informing clients, Iād say thatās a major issue.
Heās got a whole load of more faults, but they would stem from the fact that heās arrogant.
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They made a show on a doctor like that. Was quite successful and popular from memory.
I preferred this
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Lucky you. Iām waiting minimum 4-6 weeks for my preferred GP.
The medicare one Iām not sure is a valid argument. If you donāt want to die, not having the govt chip in because itās not a cookie cutter operation fine by me. Itās essentially high risk/reward elective life saving surgery.
The point quoted above however, is critical. You cannot give people false hope. If you are not saying āthe chance of success is under 10%ā, and then do not explain what that actually means to them is a huge issue. On the flip side, these people are looking down the barrel of the gun and they very could well be only hearing what they want to hear. This shit should be documented, agreed to and signed off on. If itās not he is a fucken idiot.
The cost of the surgeries is a red herring. I am assuming insurance is not involved in any way at all. He would have a big team of specialists involved in both the lead up and during the surgery (along with anaesthetists during). When itās a regular surgery your insurance company and medicare are covering most of these costs. Of course the guy is still getting paid, but using that argument against the guy without breaking down those costs and explaining them is purely relying on rich vs poor + they killed Kenny outrage.
Edit; just read the actual link. I think the crowd funding aspect is a little off too - if youāre in the public system youāre at the mercy of itās availability. Go private and the world is your oyster. If you donāt have the insurance (which does not cover 100% anyway), you need the cash. The surgery might cost $40k, but if you need to be there for 3 weeks post surgery that is going to run that figure up massively.
I think the point is that other doctors have been indicating that his surgery charges are extremely high
Could well be. There are a few figures thrown around there - e.g. 40K for surgery, 80K for hospital etc. A colonoscopy costs like $2.5-3k in a private hospital. That is about 15 minutes of having something stuck up your butt, and about 3-4 hours in total. So cutting someoneās brain open for 8 hours to potentially save their life for 40K seems pretty cheap IMO.
Those familiar with usual levels of remuneration would consider this distribution likely improbable.
This is a great line in the article to catch your attention, but he doesnāt actually prove it anywhere. What is it being compared to, given no one else is doing these surgeries? Is the comparison something the government is willing to co-fund? They arenāt like for like are they, outside of it being the same field of medicine?
Dr Teo states the cost of the private hospital care is $80,000 but private hospitals say that it is half this.
For what exactly? Is it just for the surgery, or is it for the potential weeks in hospital afterwards? Have a chunk of your brain removed in the morning and you arenāt exactly getting discharged that afternoon. Wouldnāt the hospital also charge the patient directly, rather than the surgeon? Not exactly sure how that is relevant other than to link it to the āomg people are raising $120K and shouldnāt beā line he then proclaims.
I have no doubt that the Lucas family are genuine and honest in their dealing, but when donations are being made to crowdfunding campaigns there needs to be transparency about exactly where these funds are going and who is financially benefiting. This is very much in the public interest.
The initial crowd funding was asking for $50K or something. Teo offered to do it for between 60-80K. The family were clearly intending to cover the rest.
My first tweet read: āSomething must be seriously wrong if a terminally ill girl with a brain tumour has to raise $120,000 to have surgery Dr Charlie Teo has offered do for $60-80K. If it was valid surgery, it could/should be performed in the public system under Medicare.ā
Soā¦they werenāt trying to raise $120K at all, just because they did (200K in the end) - does not make that the goal. Given they likely had a 30-40K shortfall, of course people were going to donate more. Then there is recovery, ongoing bills associated with medication etc. Not to mention replacing any savings they might have already used.
Also, donāt you think if they could have gone through medicare and it was a viable option they would have? Pretty sure they didnāt want their young AF daughter to kick the bucket and were doing anything they possibly could to avoid that.
āOn a search on GoFundMe for Charlie Teo, there are 113 campaigns listed that mention him as the surgeon for which donations are sought to pay for his services. I find this really disturbing,ā read my second tweet.
For someone who states there needs to be clear evidence for outcomes, and that data needs to be collected and reviewed he sure doesnāt mind scouring the web for a number of GoFundMe pages linked to Teo, without actually providing any data as to what they might be raising funds for, itās simply ādisturbingā. Why?
I am not trying to defend Teo, just trying to see it from both perspectives here. The more I read it the more it comes across as a complete hatchet job.
Unless youāre a doctor though, you really donāt have much to say on the matter of pricing? Iām literally repeating what other doctors have actually said. In any case, a colonoscopy takes about 3hrs, including coming out, which includes anaesthesia and a hospital bedā¦ That would take up the majority of the costs, youāre probably spending maybe $500-$1000 on the actual doctor and the report.
Youāre making assumptions that the assumptions made by the hospitals are incorrect? Again, not a doctor, but iād assume the level of recuperation on most brain surgeries will be fairly similar. The risks that he seems to take, is cutting close to major structures in the brain etc. I really donāt think a journalist would have walked up to a hospital and said āTeo charges 80k for a hospital stay after brain surgery, do you think thatās a lot compared to a hospital stay if someone has a splinter.ā
The comparison would be based on similar procedures and taking into account the fact that only he can do it. For instance, my lab is the only one in the country that can currently do a test. The test is a variation on a test that is currently done across the country with a fair few differences and gives a different data set. The old test is generally $150 and I charge $200. If I was to charge $500, iād say a whole bunch of people would be justified in being unhappy as to the high chargeā¦
Sorry, thought you were referencing the article. The doctors/specialists set the pricing - the hospital charges what they chargeā¦correct. Teo can charge what he wants, if people will pay it then they will pay it. Their other option is to do nothing where it costs $0 but they will die a whole lot quicker?
Yeah, it was just an example. Who is to say they arenāt cutting out a chunk of brain that will mean you need to re-learn how to walk or do other basic functions that requires you to stay in hospital for a period of time was all I was getting at. Simply stating āhe said it costs $80K when it doesnātā without any qualification is dodgy.
Just like the article makes assumptions on cost, he hasnāt provided any detail (which is my issue) except to lead us to believe the hospital is calling Teo a liar. Are we comparing apples with apples, is Teo giving a long term cost vs a hospital short term cost. We just donāt know - because the article is poorly written.
I am just meant to assume this? Or he could back up what he is saying with some fact based detailā¦
If you build in a tonne of risk into that second test maybe you can charge $500? 
I wishā¦ The second test isnāt mandated by government and weāre pushing it from a point of view that companies should be doing their own due diligence. Isnāt working too well. But the test revolves around some fairly massive contaminants that are consistently in the news. Companies and government still has a limit to how much they want to pay. They know how much is outrages because, despite the fact that weāre doing something completely different, thereās still comparable processes, at least ones that allow people to calculate cost.
I have none. Heās not important enough.
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Iāve been ignoring this thread, but after tonight Iām happy to give him a go as SFC coach.
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If only our coach and players had a brain to operate onā¦
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Well the complaints were upheld and heās been reprimanded and under conditions.
I suspect he will have taken nothing from the process.
Saw him at Sydney airport a few days ago, camera crew in tow as he read the departures board.
Was he headed to Bali while awaiting the verdict?
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Well, a spots just opened upā¦