I have been asked to respond to the dissatisfaction expressed by my patient in the thread above. Unfortunately I am precluded by federal and state privacy laws from commenting on any social media sites regarding patient concerns. I always encourage patients to contact me directly to schedule a confidential meeting in which any and all issues can be discussed fully in an effort to reach an amicable resolution. I would like to make some general comments however.
I take the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of any patient very seriously and most personally. In fact some of the posted comments are quite hurtful to me. The fact is when any surgical procedure is performed the patient and surgeon must both accept the potential for a less than 100% perfect result, and complications or a less than perfect result do sometimes occur . It is the ethical and caring way a complication is managed by the surgeon in concert with the patient that defines professional conduct and an appropriate doctor patient relationship. There are few hair restoration surgeons who have a higher sensitivity than I for those unfortunate individuals who have had poor results or outdated hair transplants. As a plastic surgeon I have prided myself in having had the privilege to restore the self esteem to those individuals who were essentially ‘scalp cripples’ because of previous unnatural looking results or other problems associated with their hair restoration procedures.
This on line community is a fantastic source of information for hair loss suffers and I endorse it’s role. In the spirit of education I would offer the following advise to those who have been involved with this thread or for future readers. First, make sure you and the surgeon are completely on the same page with regard to goals, risks, and expectations before agreeing to any procedure . Second, if there is anything unexpected with regard to the result or post operative course, maintain a close connection to your original surgeon, he ( or she) more than anyone (other than the patient) wants the best result and outcome as well. Finally, the on line community, and especially on line physician representatives should consider that there are always two sides to every coin before passing judgment on unilateral anonymous internet postings and claims. I appreciate the time those have taken to read and consider my comments above.
James E Vogel, MD
