I thought this was pretty interesting so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

It would be interesting to get a doctor's input not necessarily the lawsuit, but the subject of whether or not their knowledge of a patient's disease like HIV determined by a blood test would prevent them from performing a procedure.

http://www.comcast.net/article...716/US.Hair.Lawsuit/

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I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

wow! really interesting. i like the language "denying someone treatment". A good lawyer should be able to argue that there is no medical treatment involved as HTs are simply cosmetic and are not "treating" any health concerns.

But the reality is that aside from perhaps a questionnaire, few if any HT doctors conduct a test beforehand to establish whether or not a patient has a blood borne decease.

As such most (perhaps all?) HT Doctors practice in a way that assumes the worst case condition exists and perform HTs using appropriate "best practices" in the presence of sharps and blood.

Would love to hear if Doctors here feel potential HIV exposure is part of the HT landscape and only one more job related hazard that comes with the territory of being an HT surgeon/tech.

Certainly I imagine that more than a trivial percentage of men with MPB who are concerned with their looks are gay, so we could infer that there must be a sub-population of those with HIV that go on to seek HTs on a regular basis (in addition to a sub-population of straight men who have also become infected).

On the one hand you wouldn't want to deny someone with HIV the opportunity for an HT.

On the other hand we know that some fatigue is common(especially so in mega sessions involving thousands of needle pricks). The odds of a stray stick will eventually catch up with you no matter how careful one is. Should a tech or Doctor be put at such risk for the sake of someone's looks?

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That's exactly right. Even the reputable doctors I've spoken to that require blood tests prior to a procedure still operate under "worst case conditions", thus, minimizing their risk of exposure to any communicable disease. The question then ibecomes, is there a safety issue (significant or otherwise) if clinics perform hair transplant surgery on a patient with a communicable disease?

It would be interesting to hear the opinions of doctors on this.

Of course, the above link may not tell the full story. For all we know, the patient wasn't a proper candidate for the procedure and was denied the procedure for other reasons.

Best wishes,

Bill

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Remember, true beauty radiates from within, not from the skin.

I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

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All doctors treat all patients with the assumption that something could be transferred. All physicians, dentists, or who ever deals with patients fluids must adhere to infection control standards set forth by OSHA requirements. This means gloves, masks, and eye protection. If aerosols or splattering is produced, smocks and head covers are also required.

You cannot turn patients down for having a disease. The only defense this physician has is that a HT would not be recommended for this patient for "x" reason.

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Agreed. But that will put a great burden on the Doc since it is doubtful anyone ever gets turned away except perhaps for inability to pay.

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Interesting....I'd be curious to hear Dr. Feller's view on this, particularly since he has been quite outspoken when digging into the layers and language of HTs -- "treatment", "cure", etc.

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It should be up to the doctor to decide on whether he wants to perform surgery on a patient with a life-threatening, communicable disease. Doctors have the right to turn down patients just as patients have the right to decline the services of a physician.

Wow this is a tough one, but the law says you cannot deny treatment to a patient simply because they are HIV positive.

Pretty standard. The only option left for the clinic is to challenge the actual law as unconstitutional or show why in this particular instance the law should be amended to not include cosmetic surgery.

It will interesting to follow this story--but I 100% understand the hesitation regarding HIV positive patients---there is no room for error.

I can see both sides and it is a tough one.

Jason

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