7News Spotlight: July 16

On 7News Spotlight this Sunday, Michael Usher speaks with high profile neurosurgeon Dr. Charlie Teo.

Teo, who previously presented SBS series Myth or Medicine?, was today found guilty of professional misconduct.

Embattled neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo has returned to the operating theatre on the far side of the globe as desperate Aussie patients travel 17,000 kilometres from home to be treated by the only doctor they trust.

For these medical pilgrims, the controversial brain surgeon remains their only hope in their fight to stay alive.

In the most contentious investigation to air this year, 7NEWS Spotlight gains unprecedented access as Dr Teo travels through India and Spain to continue his work on Australian and international patients.

The explosive revelations, to air this Sunday at 8.50pm on Channel 7 and 7plus, come as the surgeon was today found guilty of professional misconduct over two surgeries and restrictions placed on his practising certificate.

Award-winning journalist Michael Usher is with Dr Teo as he learns his fate and addresses his critics head on. No question is off limits as he is forced to confront the controversy surrounding his work.

When it comes to life-or-death surgery, there was one name in Australia that stood above the rest.

Dr Charlie Teo built his career on taking the risks other surgeons wouldn’t, and that earned him a deeply divided reputation. Today that reputation is in tatters.

Still, for many Dr Teo remains their final chance. Now those patients are instead being forced overseas because the surgeon they want is banished from Australian hospitals. Aussies like 34-year-old mum and brain cancer sufferer Elise, who embarked on a high-risk race around the world in her fight to live for her four-year-old son.

Beyond the operating room, we hear from other Australians whose lives have been changed forever by Dr Teo’s surgical interventions – their insights offering a glimpse into the gratitude and hope felt by those who credit him with their second chance at life.

And Dr Teo’s partner and his children speak for the very first time about why the man they love has become the enemy and not the brain cancer he treats.

8:50pm Sunday on Seven.