Famous neurosurgeon Charlie Teo makes ‘significant’ pay-out to patient left partially paralysed after brain tumour operations

A controversial neurosurgeon has been forced to pay out an ‘increased amount’ after an operation that left a patient partially paralyzed.

Charlie Teo and the Center for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Incorporated reached an out-of-court settlement with patient Grant Schultz on Friday following the surgeon’s treatment for an “inoperable” malignant brain tumor.

The settlement did not include an admission of liability.

Mr Schultz suffered a seizure at his Queensland home on November 25, 2015 and was taken to Toowoomba Hospital where a mass, later diagnosed as anaplastic astrocytoma, was discovered in his brain.

The 40-year-old was referred to a radiotherapist and a medical oncologist before being told a month later that the tumor was inoperable.

The Supreme Court of New South Wales heard that Mr Schultz sought alternative advice from Dr Teo on January 19, 2016.

Dr. Teo told the patient that he was a candidate for a resection, and that his procedure would give him a longer life expectancy.

The operation continued six days later, on January 25, 2016.

Mr Schultz claimed the surgeon told him to keep radiation therapy or chemotherapy as an ongoing treatment ‘up his sleeve’ for when the tumor inevitably worsened, the judgment said, but this was disputed by Dr Teo and Judge Cavanagh confirmed there was there was no documented evidence of the advice given.

According to the verdict, he had partially recovered and was able to resume his normal life as much as possible after the operation, including returning to work.

Grant Schultz (pictured left, with wife Julieann Schultz, right) suffered a seizure in November 2015 that led to the discovery of the mass in his brain before his consultation with Dr Teo in January 2016

However, by February 2020, his condition had deteriorated.

Mr Schultz then underwent further resection of the tumor at the Prince of Wales Hospital on March 4, 2020, where he suffered a stroke mid-surgery that left him with left-sided hemiparesis.

This left him unable to use his left hand and led to memory and cognitive problems.

The judgment stated that in the patient’s primary case, it was alleged that he should have been advised to commence radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy after the initial surgery.

“It was the claimant’s case that this is standard practice and that Dr Teo breached his duty of care by failing to provide that advice,” the judgment said.

‘Plaintiff states that his life expectancy would have increased if he had undergone such an alternative therapy after the resection.’

Mr Schultz also claimed that in 2019 it was not possible to detect the progression of the disease.

One of the factors in the settlement was Mr. Schultz’s life expectancy, which was expected to be less than a year.