The Health Care Complaints Commission is attempting to extend the restrictions on Charlie Teo's medical licence, claiming the neurosurgeon is not credible and has changed his evidence throughout disciplinary hearings.
The celebrity neurosurgeon is fighting two complaints made to the commission, concerning two female patients who never recovered after Dr Teo attempted to remove their brain tumours.
On the seventh day of hearings in Sydney, barrister for the commission, Kate Richardson SC, accused Dr Teo of changing his evidence throughout the hearings, asking the New South Wales medical council panel to dismiss the surgeon's version of events as not credible.
In closing submissions, she told the panel Dr Teo's witness statement indicates he told one of the patients, a woman in her 40s from Western Australia, that her tumour was "tectal" — in the roof of the brain stem.
But she said Dr Teo changed his evidence, after hearing another neurosurgeon witness say that removing such a tumour carried a "60 per cent risk of death".
"He was being untruthful and deliberately trying to sidestep evidence of his own experts, which was so damning when it comes to the risks he proposed," Ms Richardson said.
"Dr Teo should not be accepted as a witness of credit.
"His evidence should not be accepted unless it's corroborated by other material."
Dr Teo is currently unable to operate in Australia without the written permission of a fellow neurosurgeon, and Ms Richardson said she would be recommending that ban be extended.
She also accused Dr Teo of changing his evidence about where he operated in the woman's brain.
The West Australian woman's husband told the hearings last month, Dr Teo had indicated he would stick to one side of his wife's brain during the operation, to avoid a "terrible outcome".
But under cross examination, Dr Teo said he did indeed cut into both sides of the brain, explaining he was trying to remove the whole tumour.
Ms Richardson said Dr Teo changed his evidence once the panel received the post operative MRIs of the woman's brain, which clearly show where the surgery was performed.
"He could no longer maintain the position that he had stuck to one side of the brain stem," she said.
"He was not frank with this committee."
Under questioning from his own lawyer earlier in the day, Dr Teo said he might have gone "one or two millimetres" across the midline of the woman's brain.
"That's enough to damage a patient when you're doing surgery in this area," he said.
"I mean, I've clearly gone too far somewhere."
Outside the hearing, Dr Teo was once again greeted by former patients and supporters, carrying signs.
He told the media any bad outcomes from his surgeries were unintentional.
"It's not through malice. It's not through neglect. It's not through malpractice. It's just that we try our hardest. And sometimes things don't turn out for the best," he said.
