badluck

Hello again to the forum and to Dr. Feller, I find it unfortunate that this post has taken such a turn. I hope that we can make it more positive. I would like to offer further clarifications. The most striking statement in Dr. Feller's last post is that I refused to be faxed or mailed a copy of the waiver in a telephone conversation. This is puzzling to me and I do not recall any phone conversation and just to be sure, I checked my phone records from February when I first contacted Dr. Feller's office up until June when I turned the matter over to a lawyer. I only have a record of a 1-minute call to his office on February 22, 2010, where I believe I left message simply stating that I was concerned over a lack of results. I received a phone call back from Dr. Feller's office the same day where I was instructed to send the photos I had taken to Dr. Feller through email. Since that initial call, I don't have any record of any correspondence outside of email. I certainly authorize Dr. Feller to post the "documentation that show this charge on his part to be completely false" as long as identifying information is kept private - name, number, address, etc. My last email to Dr. Feller was dated March 12, 2010 where I stated that I did not have a copy of the form and if he could make it available. This email was sent less than an hour after his email stating that they do not guarantee growth and that the three options that he stated in a prior email were all that he could do for me. That was my last contact with Dr. Feller. Three months later on May 6, 2010 I sent a detailed email to a NY state lawyer where I stated "Additionally, I requested a copy of the consent form, to which I received no reply from Feller." If there exists documentation showing that I refused a copy of the waiver, then I would be very surprised, but I would absolutely remove this charge from my posts and apologize. If this is the case, and Dr. Feller is concerned over my recollection of the events, then I would hope that he would make this proof available. The three options. With Dr. Feller's permission, I would be happy to print his email in its entirety where he outlines my options. The first was that I accept my unique physiology and do nothing. The second was that I take a chance on him performing a second procedure at a steep discount where he noted that it may also yield a poor result. Also that he could perhaps perform a test patch. The word free was neither directly stated nor implied. The third option was to see another doctor whom he would request a discount for another procedure. However, my entire point is that I would not have gone through with the surgery knowing that there is a 5% chance of failure or even any chance of failure. I couldn't justify spending more money, receiving a second scar, and taking a chance on a positive result after an initial failure. I felt that requesting a partial compensation was very reasonable on my behalf considering the circumstances. As to accusing Dr. Feller of "at least two" criminal activities. I retracted a misstatement regarding being given a copy of the waiver on the day of surgery. Again I apologize for misleading anyone into thinking that you would have purposefully not given a patient a copy of a waiver at the time of surgery. As to the second miscommunication regarding taking the prescriptions before entering his office and signing the waiver, this could have been an exception during the day of my surgery. I do not consider that a criminal act, rather a miscommunication that careful steps could be taken to avoid in the future. I would like to also repeat that an office visit wasn't requested to "verify the assessment of the patient." I would have had no reason to refuse such a thing and everything to gain from continued communication. After I explained to Dr. Feller that I could not justify a repeat surgery, I was simply told that there were no other options and I never heard back from his office. Further, I do not want to attack Dr. Feller's character or personalize the issue. I believe the problem is entirely one of professional communication. I am not trying to "get even." I was hoping for two things to happen with my post. The first was to spread my experience so that prospective patients could have some information regarding a failure of results which doctors seem loath to discuss under the best circumstances. I do note that I am not the only one on these forums unaware of a 5% failure rate. The second was to spur dialogue from Dr. Feller who had been uncommunicative. Dr. Feller, I certainly do not want to cycle accusations and refutations. I don't think that either of us will gain anything from that cycle. I would like engage in dialogue that leads to a solution to these unfortunate circumstances and I will be happy to post of a positive result. Sincerely

Hi Bill, I think you just didn't give me enough time (18 minutes) for the edit. I believe it may be misleading on your part to say that "you made some pretty bold accusations in your first post, all of which, you've now retracted after providing a more detailed explanation." There were two points. One of which was misinterpreted (drug administration), the other that I stated that I wasn't given a copy of the waiver which I acknowledge that I have no way of knowing at this point. I appreciate your feedback. I just don't want the details to be misconstrued. Cheers

Hi Bill, forum members, and Dr. Feller, First, I want to thank you all for keeping this discussion mature and civil. It's a sign that there is a great community here. I can understand Bill's objections now that he's pointed them out and I would like to abide by his rules. I think that some of what I've written has been misinterpreted and that I also misstated an important point. Hopefully this will clear up the two contentious points. The tone of my original post was one of frustration and I'm sorry that my feelings became intertwined with relating the facts. I want to stress again that I do not believe that Dr. Feller had any malicious intent toward me. However, he is there to sell his procedure to prospective patients. If the following explanations and edits to the original post do not meet forum rules, then please let me know so that we can solve any issues. The first point, "that he drugged you prior to discussing and having you signing a standard consent form for surgery". I never stated that Dr. Feller drugged me. I apologize if that was in any way insinuated as that was not my intention. I stated that he wrote a prescription for Valium for the day of the surgery. I stated that I also talked to his office before the day of surgery to check whether it was safe to combine that with a Xanax for anxiety and I was given an "ok". I also stated that I was not told to take the drugs in the confines of the office and I took the drugs before entering his office. I have edited the original post to make that more obvious. I will repeat that I do not believe Dr. Feller had a malicious intent to drug me before signing a waiver. The second point, "that he withheld a copy of this consent form which is a violation of NY state law." I originally stated "On the day of the surgery, after you've taken the recommended Valium, you will sign a medical waiver. You won't be given a copy of this waiver. And if you ask for it later, you won't hear back from Feller. Only after hiring a lawyer was a copy of the waiver produced." This was misleading to write and I have edited it. In all honesty, I don't know whether or not I was given a copy of the waiver on the day of surgery. I can state that I did not have a copy of it with the post surgery information concerning care of the surgery area. It is certainly possible that I lost it during travel of some other time after the procedure. Also, this was the experience of my surgery and I should not have made it sound as though it was a procedure in place for all patients that "after you've taken the recommended Valium, you will sign a medical waiver". I have edited this sentence also in the original post. However, I do stand by the second half of my statement that when I requested a copy of the waiver (March 2010) I received no response from Dr. Feller's office until I had a lawyer request it formally (June 2010). Whether it was an oversight or not I don't know. But that is what happened. Below is a copy of my last email to Dr. Feller where this request was made and which was left unanswered. I would like to urge Dr. Feller and all HT doctors to consider making some improvements to the patient understanding of the procedure in the following ways: 1) there exists a potential for no results or results with very little yield in the 4-5% range for strip HT (these numbers were posted by Dr. Feller in response to a follow-up question on my thread in another forum, along with the statement "most doctors don't want to admit they have any patients who've experienced cosmetically insignficant results.") 2) a medical waiver is either discussed and signed before the "non-refundable" deposit is paid, or that the "non-refundable" deposit can in fact be refunded if the patient disagrees with statements made in the medical waiver. No patient should feel compelled to sign a waiver because they have laid down a non-refundable deposit. 3) the patient is made aware that pre-surgery prescriptions are to be taken inside the office and that ample time will be given before surgery for prescriptions to take effect. I would give Dr. Feller permission to send my photos and professional notes to another professional HT doctor to review, but I am not inclined to have him share such personal information on a public forum. I'm not trying to censor anything, but I do want to retain privacy. However, I don't understand what the relevance of this information is since I am not arguing against Dr. Feller's professional work, only his communication to the patient of potential null results. I absolutely invite Dr. Feller to give his side of the story as long as he retains my personal privacy (meaning to leave out my name & photos). Thus far, I haven't received any communication from him since my last email in March. Additionally, if Dr. Feller would like to contact me to work out an amicable solution then I will be happy to chat with him. I felt very limited in options after he did not respond to my effort at communication which prompted the retainer of a lawyer. I honestly have no personal bad feelings toward him. I do object to some of the procedures that he has in place including: communication of the possibilities of a lack of results, and communication of the administration of drugs on the day of surgery. >>>>> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:27:38 -0500 Hi Dr. Feller, This is unfortunate news. I relied upon your website for information and I am not able to find any mention of the possibility of low to no growth. I don't rely upon online forum posts for medical information. Could you make available a copy of the consent form? I don't seem to have a copy. XXXXX >>>>>>

Hi Dr. Feller and to the forum, I appreciate the thoughtful comments here. I'm happy to answer questions and to help clarify any points that I made. I would like to stress that I am not faulting Dr. Feller's medical ability, to this I have no way of evaluating if there was a problem during the procedure or if I have some unique physiology. That is not my point of contention. I do not believe that Dr. Feller was maliciously or intentionally misleading. However, I do believe that there were was a severe communication problem and Dr. Feller should have much better practices in place for when cases such as mine arise. A few points from Dr. Feller's post that I would like to reply to: Firstly, I can absolutely accept the possibility of a lack of results. The trouble is, I was not notified of this possibility before surgery through anything other than the vague statement on Dr. Feller's waiver. I was not notified that "extenuating reasons like preexisting conditions, prior surgeries, or medications" could cause no results. Nor was I notified that for some patients the "physiology of the patient simply won't permit a significant result". I was not notified verbally in the consultation nor was I notified in writing. If such a document does exist with my signature, then I will absolutely concede that point. The closest expression of such problems with the patient is contained in the waiver stating "results may vary". Is it possible that I was told of such a possibility during the consultation? I can only state I am not one to spend thousands on a procedure with a questionable outcome and I certainly would have paid attention to such a statement. I stand by my contention that I was not made aware of such a problematic result. Second, at no time had I "refused to visit for a follow up exam". I scheduled an appointment and returned to Dr. Feller's practice to have the staples removed at the required time. Dr. Feller was not present. I received no call, email, or any suggestion for scheduling a follow-up exam. I am curious, how long after the surgery is a follow-up exam recommended and what is involved? Third, I was explicit in my nervousness about the exam and about taking medications prior. I was given a prescription by Dr. Feller for valium for the day of the exam. I took this before entering the office along with a Xanax to be sure that they would both "kick in" and ease my nervousness. I called Dr. Feller's office prior to the exam to make sure that this would be ok and that the addition of the Xanax wouldn't be a problem. At no time was I told that I was required to take the medication at the office nor that I would be signing a waiver on the day of surgery. I can unequivocally state that I was indeed medicated before "preop discussion and consent declaration". Fourth, "without even a quick post op visit there isn't much more can I offer than I already have". I was never offered a "quick post op visit" during any of the exchanges with Dr. Feller's office. At no point was I ever confrontational with Dr. Feller. All of this discussion was via email and is documented and there is absolutely no mention of this. These are the facts to the utmost best of my ability. If I have made a mistake, then I will be the first to admit it. There are a number of replies stating that I have no excuse not knowing that my outcome was a possibility. I will take blame for apparently not researching the procedure more thoroughly, but I don't understand how you can fault someone for taking the information that they are given by a trained professional in a consultation setting as the facts that one would need to know before having a procedure. With this logic, you must also blame the victims of the large Toyota recall last year even though the manufacturer simply did not disclose that they knew there was a problem. The victims would have known had they done more research, correct? I believe the analogy illustrates my point. I do not see the point of producing photos on a public forum. Dr. Feller acknowledged the lack of results after he saw photos that I sent to him (doing my best to maintain the same angle and lighting as before the procedure). He never questioned the photos and if he had I would have been happy to come in so that he could exam the surgery area himself. This was not requested. If he would agree, I would be happy to copy our email correspondence on the subject here which I believe would answer any questions that the forum may have regarding our communications. I am very happy that there are plenty of positive results with Dr. Feller and his associates on this forum. However, the measure of a man is taken by how he handles himself when things go wrong, not when they are right. Sincerely

Edited: 1) To change a misstatement that Dr. Feller did not provide a copy of the waiver at the time surgery. I honestly do not know one way or the other, only that I could not find a copy. 2) To clarify that in no time do I believe Dr. Feller "drugged" me into signing a waiver. I do not believe that nor did I ever. 3) To change the tone and make this more into what I personally experienced rather than to portray that this experience is the rule Here is a lengthy FYI for everyone contemplating an HT and/or using Dr. Feller's services. Everything I write is absolutely factual to the best of my ability. If Dr. Feller and associates contend against anything that I've written then they can feel free to reach me: they have my phone, email, and address, as well as my lawyer's. I would be *more than happy* to speak with them. To make a long story short: HT is not a guarantee, and the salesmanship I witnessed was unsettling. The details: I went in for a minor HT to fill in a thinning crown area on 1/29/09. The surgery seemed to go perfectly smoothly by Feller's own admission. I contacted the Feller office February of this year concerned that I was not seeing any new hair growth and I also forwarded photos of the current growth in the transplant area. Feller wrote back, acknowledging the lack of growth and stating "Unfortunately some people have a physiology that simply won't permit good growth after a transplant. It is rare, but at this point you seem to be one of them." I was given three options: 1) Do nothing. 2) "Take a chance and come back for another procedure into the crown for which I will offer you a STEEP discount." 3) Seek another doctor. This was a surprise that was to hear. My email response is attached at the bottom of this post. I read Dr. Feller's extensive website: Hair Transplants New York / New Jersey, Long Island and International both before and after the procedure and I could not find any mention of a possibility of a "null" result. I met with Dr. Feller for the initial consultation where he explained how thick the transplant area would grow, but he did not mention the possibility of a null result. I was required to take a blood test for HIV/Hepatitis before the surgery (mine was all negative, as I suspect almost everyone's is, no problems there). On the day of the surgery, I took the prescribed Valium, signed a medical waiver. I was either was not able to find my copy of the waiver after the surgery or it was never given. When I requested it later, I didn't hear back from Dr. Feller. Only after I hired a lawyer was a copy of the waiver produced. In the waiver the closest that I and my lawyer could find to an admission of not getting the results anticipated is this passage: "Potential Complications: Results may vary. While every effort is made to provide you with the finest restoration possible, individual factors seen and unforeseen may lead to variations in results and procedures from patient to patient." Under the effects of Valium (and a low-dose Xanax in my case, as my regular doctor prescribed a handful to ease medical anxiety when it comes to having blood drawn, etc. Feller et al was well aware that I would be taking one along with the Valium to ease my nervousness) and AFTER a substantial deposit was required, I was given the waiver to sign. Was I told "results may vary" before plunking down thousands for "non-refundable" deposit? No. Was I told "results may vary" while I was even in a non-drugged state of mind? No. I felt that I was sold a bill of goods no mention of the fine print. The big question that I asked myself and that EVERYONE CONTEMPLATING HT SHOULD ASK THEMSELVES: If there is a chance of spending thousands of dollars, enduring a rather uncomfortable medical procedure, enduring the crusting scalp for several weeks after the procedure, wearing a hat to work and everywhere else for a month to hide a scabbing, red, shaved scalp - all for nothing. Would I have said no? If I had known this was even a possibility, I would not have gone through with the HT. It just isn't worth it. I'm living life just fine. Keeping my hair short, but still long enough to be styled. I have the same small balding spot that I've had for years. It seems to be halted by the Propecia that I started on five years ago. I'm ok with it. At this point Feller's insurance service is talking to my lawyer. They're doing all they can to dissuade me from pursuing this by lengthening the process - which means adding to my lawyer fees. Of note, the agency said that another patient had recently brought up a similar complaint but decided not to pursue after seeing the waiver. I can only conjecture that their lawyer suggested that it would be an expensive process and the plaintiff gave up hope. I wonder, just how many others decided not to pursue recourse against this kind of salesmanship also? The response I sent to Feller is below. Their response was that I signed a waiver. I then asked for a copy of the waiver and I never heard back until hiring a lawyer on retainer. This is my personal story that I hope is informative to others considering HT. > > 3/12/10 > > > > Hi Dr. Feller, > > I appreciate the detailed reply. I am, however, very disappointed in the > > options available. Taking a chance on another surgery, even a test patch, > > isn't an attractive option after the time and discomfort involved from the > > previous surgery. I am really surprised to discover that my lack of results > > are even a possibility with an HT. > > > > To me, my only viable option is to request some sort of compensation of the > > procedure fee. I understand that you can't please everyone with HT results, > > but I consider this beyond being dissatisfied with how the new growth turned > > out - rather there is hardly any growth to speak of. > > > > Please let me know your thoughts on this. And know that I'm simply reaching > > out as a gentlemanly solution. > > > > Best, > > XXXXXX > > XXX-XXX-XXXX