Posters that blame the patients for going to bad clinics

[Sofarsogood]

Cat,

C'mon, man.
I have no control whatsoever over these gentlemen's posting privileges.
What type of new innuendo is this?

Did you watch the patient's happy video on the other forum?

I can't sport my hair that short without it being a total HT "tell" due to my mini grafts and strip scars from the 1990s.
Few can under any HT circumstances.
It's a stellar result, imo.
Of course he's wanting for more grafts.

It's an informative little video from a "hair grifter".
I highly recommend watching it.
Keep the sound turned up for the full effect.

 

[BHR Clinic]

Excert from a post made on this thread:

€œThen he went to topscat's clinic for the promotional free work. €

We have no wish or intention to enter into this thread but will make one post simply to clarify one comment made, as above.

We offered in conjunction with this forum, hairlossexpereinces, a Pro Bono procedure to one candidate that would be chosen by the forum members, not the clinic. After voting finished a clear €œwinner € was made and we contacted this person to ask if he would give up one day of the two day offer to another candidate, he duly and selflessly agreed, great credit to him; and we as a clinic also gave another day to the third candidate.

The offer of the Pro Bono by us is something we have done before in other International forums, the intention is to give back to a community that gives to us and hopefully help someone that has be blighted by previous work or simply justified by the forum members. The offers we have made have always been with good intentions and goodwill, with the community as our first priority, €œpromotion or commercial € reasons are not the guiding reasons, far from it. Obviously there is the potential for good public realtions with an offer of this type, but this type of offer can easily back fire, maybe no one feels comfortable with your ability and no one accepts the offer or maybe the candidate is not happy with the result he achieves, paid or unpaid makes no difference if you are not happy.

The Pro Bono offer came with no marketing/comercial/promotional strings attached, the patients were not in anyway under any obligation to post their results once, or continually or for any time frame at all, if they wished to never discuss their case that was totally their right.

From the original Pro Bono thread

http://www.hairlossexperiences.com/view_topic.php?id=638&forum_id=2&page=1

€œThere are no strings attached in respect of marketing or posting of results, if you wish to continue posting your experience that is entirely up to you. This is an aspect Dr. Bisanga believes firmly in and as we have in the past will continue in the future trying to give back to the community. €œ

All three patient have at times updated their cases on this and other forums, some continued others posted their satisfaction up to about 6 months, others decided not to continue, their right, and we just hope in whatever way we have helped them to take the next step in moving forward.

As a clinic we do not make any incentive to our patient €™s to post their results, we offer no monetary discount, or free grafts if someone wishes to post their experience they do because they wish to generally we feel because they too wish to give back to the community that helped them, and again with no duress from the clinic. We do not feel it is correct but do understand it does go on.

To suggest the Pro Bono was on the basis of €œpromotional free work € is incorrect and gives the impression the patients were under obigations to the clinic, which is incorrect. As said we do not intend to comment further so this will be the only post, but if anyone has questions we are happy to reply in private, so either pm or email the clinic directly, [email protected].

Thanks and best wishes to all

 

[Sofarsogood]

Point taken.

Moving forward, I'll make an effort to refer to your contest as "The Pro Bono Contest with the potential for good public relations (as referred to by BHR)".

But honestly, I think that's a distinction without a difference.
Pro Bono = done without fee = free

And yes, I voted for topcat in that contest.

I never criticized the contest.
Just the tactics of one of the winners.

 

[zionaxel]

Just have to 2nd what BHR posted, totally no strings attached .Was a kind gesture end of. Seeing into this in any other way is false, you ask anyone who has dealings with BHR what type of people they are and you get the same answer.

Personally i have never felt comfortable having pictures of myself on the net, i did post after the op but as time went on decided this was personal and want to keep it at that.

My growth at first was slow but after a long while i did get growth even though i admit i wasn ´t sure that i would.So i was worried that maybe it hadnt taken.

Like BHR said it was the forum member ´s who voted, they didn ´t choose the winner.

I will have my next op next Year, there will be a 2 year gap between op ´s.

Anyone who is a repair victim know ´s , everything about this is about emotion, i have to really plan my life around this emotionally, finacially everything.

The People at BHR have made it possible for me to have some hope without the bullshit. I recently had a consultation to plan the next stage.






Lets all be realistic about Hairtransplant ´s, it goes to fixing whats on your head not whats in it..

 

[zionaxel]

Good job forum ´s have edit button ´s, eh...

 

[Sofarsogood]

Yeah, I use the edit button after some reflection sometimes.

Isn't that why it's here?

 

[topccat29]

I have been posting for a very long time well before many clinics were even in business. I have never singled out a clinic in the past and don't plan on doing it the future. I have been calling it like I see it since around 1998 long before many of the new cheerleaders appeared. I understand many do not like what I have to say and wish I would go away but I feel an obligation to try and bring some honesty to the business for my own personal satisfaction.

Since I have been banned a few times and my screenname needed to be changed I was only able to go back to 2003 and even thenI only pulled up a few postings of the hundreds that I have made in the past.

As I have stated my posting style has always remained the same and I have allegiance to no one.
Dr.Carl Bazan (Hair Transplant)

posted by topcat611 [/url], 29.04.2007, 03:37
BTW my post was not clear. I meant to say Dr. Bazan does not seem to be dealing with a full deck, at least judging from some of his prior postings.

To Dr. A, U and W (Hair Transplant)
posted by topcat611 , 04.05.2007, 17:20
Pretty scary, that's why I'm waiting. You really don't know who to trust. Most of these doctors have a few posters who are constantly praising their work, or arguing in their favor. They are former patients, and it's hard to figure the whole thing out.

Where's Boom Boom? (Hair Transplant)
posted by topcat611 [url=http://www.hairsite.com/hair-loss/contact-id-12190-page-0-category-0-order-time.html], 21.09.2007, 15:45

Boomboom, you are making a big mistake taking that crap, you just don't know it. You need to start reading and educate yourself. Forget about what these quacks are telling you. Please don't take this as a personal attack, I just hate to see this happen to someone. Here's a link, if you need more information, just let me know, I can send you in the right direction.
posted by topcat611 http://www.hairsite.com/hair-loss/contact-id-14477-page-0-category-0-order-time.html, 13.10.2007, 17:16

[/url]

 

[topccat29]

[align=center]\topcat
Prolific Poster

Posts: 362
Joined: 10/04/2003 [/align]


I still would like to know, why Gho would waste his time doing transplants, when he is supposedly a researcher, on the brink of one of the greatest discoveries in hair restoration. Logically it does not make any sense.

This is equivalent to a biotech company on the verge of a cancer cure, opening up chemotherapy clinics, until they perfect the final product, it's is absolutely ridiculous.



Dr Armani or Dr Cole? nthmainneighbor (Hair Transplant)
posted by topcat611 http://www.hairsite.com/hair-loss/contact-id-14477-page-0-category-0-order-time.html, 13.10.2007, 17:16

 

[topccat29]

posted by topcat611 http://www.hairsite.com/hair-loss/contact-id-14477-page-0-category-0-order-time.html, 13.10.2007, 17:16



Did you decide to go for a repair or are you still waiting? Just curious, I thought about using Cole, but was getting too many bad vibes?

 

[topccat29]

Let me tell you something about myself as the internet is a little deceptive. I am an extremely nice and generous person and would give someone in need the shirt off my back. Maybe my posting style is a little misleading as I sometimes come off as harsh. But I know this business and I know who and how the players operate and they don €™t play nice.

People that know me know that I don't put up with bullies and as you so eloquently put it, that's how I roll.

 

[Sofarsogood]

Your links don't seem to be working.

I call it like I see it too.
And what I see is a intellectually dishonest attempt to harm an honest, hard working clinic who fixes other "top" docs' work day in and day out.

I don't want you to go away topcat, just admit when you've been wrong and stop trying to harm decent clinics.

Focus on the butchers who are still in business, suckering people into minis/micros, flaps, tissue expansion and scalp reductions.

Those are the villains of this industry.

Not a successful, competing clinic to the one you happen to prefer.

 

[Sparky]

"Just wanted to write you guys about my experience with Dr. clinic. I never got hair transplants there. This should not be seen as a comment on his technique, just as a concerned patient regarding my experience prior to arriving at the clinic.

Over the last 2 years I have read some positive comments about Dr. body hair transplant results. I was impressed with what I saw on you tube, Dr. website, some comments by a patient on here. The commercials seemed very contrived with the choreographed music in the background but anyway ...

I had many emails with Dr. which seemed to have gone well. He was responsive and informative. After considering the costs, time, and the need to shave my head, I decided to move forward with my hair transplant procedure. Having had prior hair transplants, I was long awaiting this procedure to try to correct problems from a prior hair transplant and to better my look.

Things seemed to have been going well until the communication lead to scheduling.
Dr. had agreed to a date by email and asked me to contact his office to schedule an appointment. I tried several times by phone and email without response. Finally after many attempts connecting with the administrator my dates were re-scheduled.
This was disruptive with my work schedule; however, it felt like I had no choice, and I accepted the change. They told me that I could not schedule without 10% deposit.
After I sent the 10% and about 10-15 pages of paperwork with a great amount of legal jargon, my dates were scheduled - this was about 2 to 3 months before the scheduled date.

About a month and a half prior to the procedure,an office person contacted me stating the contract stated that I must pay for the procedure (> $25,000) one month prior to the procedure. This was very different from my prior procedures where I did not pay until the day of the procedure or directly after, but I accepted this as well & was arranging for a loan payment.

Three weeks before the procedure, I was informed by an office person that Dr. would be leaving for a conference for a period of about three hours during the day of my procedure. He would return later in the afternoon to complete the work that day. In addition, one week before the procedure, I was informed that Dr. had an emergency and would not be available one entire morning of my scheduled 3 day visit with him. The office asked me to stay an extra day and leave the following afternoon. They said they would offer me one night hotel stay and a fee for flight change.

I was extremely concerned that Dr. was not commited to his time with me. I had three days scheduled with him, and he had a conference in the middle of the day on one day. The next day he had an "emergency" for the entire morning. I was worried that he would not have his full attention on his work with me. When, I expressed this concern with his office staff, the office staff asked for me not to be concerned. I had also expressed the concern of having to stay an extra day. I asked that Dr. consider compensating me for my additional time with hotel stay for the 4 days and my flight to LA. I received a call from the office staff about 5 days before my scheduled trip to LA stating that they refused to take care of me.

For all of us who are hair transplant patients, awaiting a procedure date is an exciting and anxious time. I was extremely disappointed in Dr. actions. It hurt that he had all the power to change my schedule, put things in the middle of the day when I was under local anesthesia with holes in my head, and have a scheduled "emergency" during my procedure time. It also hurt that just because I raised concerns, they cancelled my visit.

I am a physician. I have never treated a patient this way. My last email to Dr. - "I have not experienced this behavior or disservice in my medical career where a physician schedules a "conference" during the time that he has a surgical procedure scheduled. Has an "emergency" during the time of a scheduled procedure which somehow he already knows about the week before. In addition cancels a procedure a few days before without concern for the patient's welfare, monetary loss, loss in work, and loss of time. You have done me a service by not participating in my care." I have yet to receive a reply from Dr. .

I felt like I was not treated like a human being. I'd hate for any of my patients to feel the way I did. I am still hurt from this experience.

After all this, I still need repair work and am searching for a qualified hair transplant professional who does body hair and treats his patients as a human being and not just $$ instant cash.

Wishing you all well on your journey. Please write me if you can help me."


Took this from another website referring your Dr of choice.

I do actually like a lot of the work that this Dr has done, but with reports such as this, and there have been a few of them, it seems that they maybe bringing the bad press upon themselves a little bit.

I also add that I think that your result was very good and must of changed your life for the better.

 

[Sofarsogood]

Why not also post the docs response to this?
I'm out right now but will do so later if you like.

I could post "complaints" from patients or prospective patients from all the "top" docs. No exceptions.

Cheap shots are easy.

Meanwhile, here is a link to a major repair of another physician by Dr. Umar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjLK-oq2RfQ

I believe this was his testimonial:

"The Physician (Bad Hair Transplant Repair by BHT-FUE

I am a 54-year old physician who, similar to many young individuals, began to experience crown and frontal hair loss in my 20 €²s (1981). At that time, I underwent the generic 2 scalp reductions and HT to the frontal area from the well-known Los Angeles €œmill €, without regard to future balding. As with most poorly planned hair transplants, my baldness progressed shortly thereafter and I had frontal grafts that were too €œpluggy €, an unnatural frontal hairline, hair placed in the wrong direction, scarring in the recipient area, donor scarring, and a depleted donor supply.

Because my hair was long and curly, I was able to somewhat minimize the oddness of these results. However with further balding, things looked weird.
As a result, during some free time, I underwent a flap procedure from a well-established Los Angeles surgeon in 1995. This procedure should never have been done given my low donor hair supply and compromised donor circulation, and I had necrosis (death of the tissue) at the distal ends of both flaps. I did not pursue legal action (which I cold have) but focused my efforts on taking time away from work and undergoing significant repair (scalp expansion) with a highly reputable and kind surgeon in the Bay Area.

Fast forward to this year. Because of free time between career changes and financial security, I was intrigued by the possibility of body hair transplants, although initially a little hesitant and unsure of what the probability of €œtechnical success € would be for me. I spoke with several patients who had successful outcomes with Dr. Umar and decided to €œgo for it € with the proviso that I was truly seeking improvement and not perfection (and with the view that things could not be made worse).

My results, as you can see, could not have been more spectacular. I had no shedding, almost immediate 100% growth in the frontal and mid-scalp areas, and current growth now occurring in the crown. Although my prior odd appearance was not career-limiting, I feel like a new person. I can not say how this procedure would work on others, as it is in its infancy and data on many individuals have not yet been published. But, as a patient and a physician, I felt like I did my due diligence by approaching a terrific and committed physician (Dr. Umar).

Because of time constraints, I also chose not to undergo a €œtest area € (which Dr. Umar recommended) but to have it all done at the same time. For people with need of extensive work from bad hair procedures and no scalp donor supply(and the time and financial resources to do so), body hair transplant offers great hope in the hands of skilled, ethical, and committed physicians like Dr. Umar.

I am also hopeful that physicians who have not had success with this procedure (and readily announce their dissatisfaction with BHT on the web) can collaborate to quantify their experiences and better understand why results may vary with different physicians.

The Physician"

 

[Sparky]

" " contacted our clinic about 2 years ago regarding hair transplant surgery. He has had surgery in the past with other surgeons. He was happy with earlier work but mostly wanted density added using head and non-head hair. I advised roughly 3,600 grafts that could be transplanted over multiple sessions. He stated that he could only afford 1,500 grafts. However over the course of 5 days he changed his mind and decided on 2,100-2,500, and then to 4,000 grafts. He was going to look into financing. In my clinic, 4,000 grafts requires about 2.5 days to accomplish. This meant that we booked 3 days in surgery for " " because we only perform 1 transplant surgery per day.

Prior to any surgery, we send the prospective patient our consent form and other paper work, which is detailed. The forms have a section which allows patients to ask any question and express any concerns regarding the transplantation process, consents, payment terms, booking process etc. We require the patient to read and sign the consent forms before we will accept a deposit.

It is our policy that payment for the full cost of surgery be made 4 weeks in advance of the first surgical date. Why? Because patients have shown up on the day of surgery unable to pay (e.g. rejected credit card charges). It is more efficient and productive to have the payment for surgery completed in advance of the surgery date.

As to " ", we fully disclosed this payment term to him before he decided to schedule a surgery, which was months in advance of the selected surgical dates. If he didn €™t find it acceptable, he was free to go to another clinic. He did not state any reservations in the questions and concerns forms provided him.

Scheduling a surgery date with " " was difficult. At the same time " " was in communication with the clinic staff regarding a surgery date, he was attempting to secure a loan to cover the cost of surgery. His loan request was approved for about half of the total cost. For whatever reason, " " rejected that and let the loan period lapse, saying he would pay for the surgery himself. He still had the option of rescheduling his surgery dates but never did. It was only after repeated efforts by the clinic staff that " " finally committed to surgery dates and allowed us to charge a deposit to his credit card, the dates of January 19th, 20th and 21st. As this process was occurring, this prospective patient requested and was granted a discount on the price for his transplants.

When the time to pay for surgery was due, " " indicated that he was going to contact the loan company to obtain the same loan he had rejected earlier, and that he planned to charge the balance to his credit cards. As the dates for surgery grew ever closer, " " indicated that he was still seeking a loan to pay for his surgeries. He began voicing displeasure with our payment policy, and said that he wanted to pay for his surgeries after they were finished. We continued to indicate that the surgeries had to be paid for in advance, but we were flexible in allowing him extra time (as of January 12th) to secure a loan.

As to the changes in schedule which " " complains about, a local hospital where I have privileges required me to appear on January 19th to renew my i.d. card and take care of other administrative items so that my status would be renewed. We notified " " that the normal 1 hour lunch break would be extended to 2 - 2.5 hours and that this would not affect his transplant. After this was explained to him, he indicated that it was acceptable.

I volunteer the third Thursday of every month in the morning at a dermatology residency program and clinic, running clinics and teaching dermatology residents in training. My secretary was supposed to go into the computer and block out the third Thursday of every month for the entire year on my schedule. Regrettably, this was not done for the new calendar year of 2011. If this information had been entered into the computer, January 20, 2011 would have been blocked out on my schedule.

When I realized the scheduling conflict, we informed " " of it. We told " " that we would start the surgery of January 20th in the afternoon and would open the clinic on Saturday, January 22nd to finish his surgeries if his transplant was not completed by the close of business on January 21st. Note that 4,000 grafts does require 2.5 days to accomplish. Thus it was still possible his surgery would be completed on schedule after starting January 20th in the afternoon. However, we decided that in the event we had not reached our graft total by the time we finished on Friday, we would open on Saturday, we would not rush our work. In connection with this, we also offered to pay for any additional hotel and airfare expenses that " " would incur. It then emerged at this point (one week before the first scheduled surgery date), " " had not purchased an airplane ticket nor had he booked a hotel room.

Nevertheless, " " wanted the clinic to pay for his hotel for the entire stay and to provide free grafts. Further complicating matters was " " €™s new demand that he wanted to complete payment for his surgeries after they were done and after he determined he was satisfied with his results. What is more, a member of my staff revealed to me that the phone conversation with " " was fraught with negative comments directed at her. He stated that being a medical doctor himself, he should not be talking to her but instead to me (a fellow physician). I perform the surgeries, however, my staff are an integral part of the clinic and I rely upon them to schedule patients, no matter what the patient €™s occupation or station in life may be. They are courteous and respectful to all that we have the privilege of serving. After all of this, I decided that it would be best for " " to have his transplants with another clinic. I wish him the best, but I think I have been reasonable under the circumstances described herein.

Incidentally, " " €™s deposit was refunded to his credit card the same day we cancelled his surgeries.
__________________
" ", MD

Yes anyone could bring up complaints about other doctors, but what for? You mentioned your Dr by name, so that's why we are discussing him. TBH this thread has gone off topic now.

My main problem with this is the scheduling of an emergency, you can't schedule an emergency.

Also, although a lot of clinics do demand the full amount upfront, they really shouldn't, a part payment yes, but not the whole amount. I wouldn't be happy with paying that much money to someone upfront.

Also, you shouldn't harvest from the nape for donor hair, the nape isn't safe from mpb.

I do think that this doctor has helped a lot of people to look much better, so don't think I'm picking on anyone because I would go to him before a lot of the other "good" doctors.



Edited because of a spelling mistake

 

[Sparky]

P.S, this isn't a cheap shot, if it didn't happen then I wouldn't of been able to post it.

 

[Sparky]

As someone else stated


"These situations are kind of muddled. I find the truth is usually somewhere between the two stories."

 

[Sofarsogood]

Sparky,

Imo, it was a cheap shot because you initially didn't post both sides of the story. But kudos for doing so now.

Here are the highlights:

" €¦he wanted to pay for his surgeries after they were finished. "

"...we also offered to pay for any additional hotel and airfare expense €¦ nevertheless he wanted the clinic to pay for his hotel for the entire stay and to provide free grafts. Further complicating matters was " " €™s new demand that he wanted to complete payment for his surgeries after they were done and after he determined he was satisfied with his results."

It then emerged at this point (one week before the first scheduled surgery date), " " had not purchased an airplane ticket nor had he booked a hotel room.

What is more, a member of my staff revealed to me that the phone conversation with " " was fraught with negative comments directed at her.

Incidentally, " " €™s deposit was refunded to his credit card the same day we cancelled his surgeries.


Meanwhile, here is another testimonial and amazing repair case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoDih4eXPTg

€œI recently had a mega session with Dr Umar. I €™ve been a victim of bad scalp reductions and strip surgery in the early 90 €™s. I was pretty much butchered, but at the time in my early twenties I wanted to beat the inevitable. Unfortunately, the scalp reductions left me with a giant scar down the back of my head, strip scars, and depletion of my donor hair in the back.

I €™ve had what is called a Z-plasty to fix the direction of the hair in the back and breakup the wide scar. This involved placing two balloon like devices under the scalp that have a port to inject a fluid into it that slowly expands the scalp so that it can stretched to manipulate it and cut out the bald areas. This is done over 6-8 weeks getting injections twice a week.

This method has also been used to expand out someone €™s entire scalp if they are bald on top and create flaps and bring the side and back hair altogether. It €™s not the most fun process. While it dramatically helped the appearance of the scalp reduction scar, there is still some stretch back and you have all the remaining scars from the flap incisions. I had it done twice and that €™s it for me.

The old graphs used on top of my head did not cover enough and created an odd ridging appearance. With the multiple scalp reductions, this created a nightmare. The hair in front got pulled up too high and the hairline gets pulled in. The hair from my temples was pulled back, stretching out that area and over time/nature fell out. I €™m relegated to wearing a hairpiece.

I basically had given up hope until I met Dr. Umar. I had a session with him in July and it offers a lot of hope. He was able to fix the ridging and pluggy look in the front and offers hope to cover and fix the crown, temples, and scars on my head. You will be hard pressed to find too many people with a worse condition than mine, but I believe BHT could be the answer.

I can say after the pain of all the other procedures, Dr. Umar €™s technique was easy. No staples, deep stitches, head expanders, etc. First, the guy is about the nicest guy you can meet. Second, he really cares. Third and most importantly, he is very skilled and I think has the best results and is the most trustworthy person to perform BHT.

My first day there was from 7:30am to 3am with Dr. Umar repairing bad graphs and getting me started in the right direction. The next four days were from around 10am to 2am. I €™m confident in his abilities and I know there are a lot of doubts out there, but if anyone is considering getting a hair transplant I would definitely go with Fue/BHT over strip. With all the incisions/stretching I €™ve had to the back of my head, my scalp will never feel the way it was. If I can save anyone from doing this, then having my case followed may give hope to others and confidence to those considering Fue/BHT. Having been promised results before and read other blogs about pictures and lighting,

I decided to have all my progress documented by an independent plastic surgeon, the one who did both my Z-plastys. He will take the post-op photos and follow my progress of Dr Umar €™s work. This doctor is well respected within the industry, he often speaks at conferences and many doctors serve fellowships with him. He does not perform BHT himself, he does a strip method so he is very interested in monitoring the outcome. This doctor told me every year a BHT doctor says they are bringing some results to a conference to show them off, but it never happens.

Dr. Umar has never met him and welcomed the opportunity to have another doctor monitor the progress. Dr Umar will post the pictures and he can explain my case. As with anyone who posts here, none of this is easy to share, but if I can help someone from making the same mistake and/or a better decision then it is worth it. If this type of forum existed before, I would have been spared a lot of pain. I have a ways to go and will post updates, but I believe Dr Umar is finally the one who can offer me hope and restore some dignity regarding this ordeal in my life. €

Here is a DIFFERENT patient's hairline made up of head and nape hair.
IMO, it looks amazing. And Dr. Umar has written on the subject of nape hair extensively.

 

[Sparky]

You may think it was a cheap shot, but I didn't mean to not post the response, and I posted it as soon as I saw that you had mentioned it.

I also took the time to edit out anybody's name so that only us in "the know" understand who we are talking about.

Like I mentioned in the previous post, i think the truth is inbetween the 2 story's.

 

[Sparky]

I've seen all of the youtube vids by the way, and think that all the repair results made the patient look much more normal.

 

[Sparky]

In the vid you posted, it's not all the same patient, one guy has a scarline going right down the back of his head, where the other one has patchy scars on the back of his head, not the same person.