hairlaw

Bill, If you don't mind my asking, how much have you spent on HT's? Your hair looks beautiful, and you were originally very, very bald. Just curious what I should plan l/t if I want your outcome and have your genetics. Thanks!

Thanks though, both of you!!! I know 1,800 isn't that much but I guess because my balding area is confined to the area in front of the ear, I was hoping for more coverage. I was also concerned because originally I was scheduled for 1,500 but they were able to yield 1,800 sand part of me feels I'd have the same result if I didn't check the maximize graft box. I don't care about the extra cost if it got me more grafts, but if not, that's an extra few grand.

I wanted to do 2,800 or so to get to the ear range, which I think would've covered everything (my crown isn't as bad as my frontal hair) but this clinic which is known as being conservative refused to do that area, because patches are still very thick and they were concerned there'd be shock loss to the general area. Was just confirming it was 1,800. Again, if I told you about my Tijuana experience you'd flip out.

1.) Is this really 1,800? 2.) Is it normal for the surgeon to leave after the scar, and basically let the technicians control everything all day 3.) Is it normal for the technicians to change every hour? My concern is some spots were hit over and over, and others were not for a potentially uneven result.

Bump?

I may be paranoid because of my first experience so I'm hesitant to call out the doctor. I also think the new hairline looks good. I'm just upset because I shelled out about 10k for FUT and know so much was untouched and that best case scenario, I'm going to have an island. I also don't know why they kept on rotating technicians in and out.

Backstory - First Hair Transplant: When I got my first transplant, I did no research and made a big mistake by going with the cheapest available - Dr. Alessandrini of Renovate Medical Center in Tijuana, Mexico. I was a NW3, and wanted 3,000 grafts. He charged me $3,000 and it seemed like a great deal. Long story short, he took advantage of my lack of knowledge. I got about 300-500 grafts around the front of the hairline in random order with no density (the technicians were 16-year old kids), and I've used Toppix to cover it because it looks ridiculous. I found out after Alessandrini was arrested by the FBI about a decade ago for medical fraud, and he changes his name and the name of his medical center every few years. Most of the grafts were lost during the session before they could be implanted because the technicians hadn't really done HT's before. There was a lot of yelling, and "oh my god" in Spanish so there were probably about 2,500 taken but most fell on the floor or came out before i left the doctor's office. I was scared for my safety to raise concerns in Mexico as they wouldn't even let me keep my phone one due to concerns I might be with law enforcement. Backstory - donor area and scar Alessandrini doesn't do follow up care so he staples the scar which makes it huge. He also actually used donor area from the crown. As I have MPB, the transplanted hairs were naturally thinning and when my balding worsens, my scar will be exposed. The good news is because Alessandrini didn't know what he was doing, my good donor area was untouched. 2nd Hair Transplant - Respected Doctor on this Website: My 2nd hair transplant was with a very reputable NYC surgeon whose name I will not disclose yet, because if my concerns are unjustified, I don't want to levy any accusations. Basically, he said the original HT hairline was idiotic - it's not even unnatural - the grafts were just placed in random intervals and it was unnaturally low. Unfortunately, because he'd have to scar me to remove them, we needed to work with that hairline. He was also hesitant to do too big of a session, because he estimated I only have about 3,800 grafts remaining and he was also afraid of shock loss due to the fact that despite being a NW4, the hair remaining in that region and the crown is very thick. I would have preferred a 3,000 graft session but this doctor was opposed to it. He was in favor of a 1,500 session maximum, and commented that we could do 3,000 and he'll make more money but that's not what's best for me. That went a long way with me. Another surgeon wanted to do a fixed $12,500 session and commented we'd do around 2000-2200 grafts but refused to give a graft #. He proposed doing a session to around the NW4 by the ear lobe which appealed to me but he didn't have the same reputation. (It was hard to find any info about him). So I scheduled the session the same day as the consultation for a week later as it was the only available session for a few months. I paid for 1,500 grafts upon arrival and really wanted to hit the gap between my hairline and the rest of my hair as the island bothers me the most. The doctor was gung ho on fixing the hairline but ensured me we'd hit that island. Early on in the session, the doctor said there was good news - they could harvest 1,800 from the strip that was taken and I happily agreed. During the session, it felt like they were only doing my temples and not the middle or the gap and sure enough from looking afterwards, i don't see how this is 1,800 and feel like maybe I have been lied to. I've attached pics and am hoping I could get this forum's insight into whether this is 1,800. Also, the doctor never really came in during the procedure (which is what happened to me in Mexico) and only the technicians were doing most of it. They kept on rotating technicians, which troubled me as I feel like they kept doing the same spots over and over again. But everyone said the result looks very good - I'm not sure so am relying on you guys for judgment. Thank you! So my questions are 2-fold 1.) Does this look like 1,800 grafts? 2.) Does this look like good work? My sense is that there is not much density at all behind the hairline and for such a limited area, there should be more.

This is a fake post. Alessandrini is not a doctor and lost his medical license in the FBI sting. I had to spend 10k having what Alessandrini did redone and the scar is massive. The broken english makes it obvious you are ith the clinic. Again, my wish is not to hurt his business, just make it obvious he is not a doctor and should not be trusted giving HT's. You can pay him, but don't let him touch your scalp. He is not qualified to do so.

I am not bafred from saying that different surgeons have different post up strategies, and that post-op care or discussion is not included with Alessandrini's surgeries. In America, it is and you're encouraged to follow up with your surgeon. With Alessandrini, you're not and this is not the policy so if you value post up care or the ability to contact your surgeon after the surgery, Alessandrini is a bad choice. Alessandrini also does not provide a graft count or tell you how many grafts you'll get. You're paying for the surgery, not a specific graft amount. Alessandrini also does not customize your surgery. Regardless of what's discussed, you can't veer from the line at the front of the scalp. Unlike American hair transplants, which always go from the crown forward, Alessandrini only will do the hairline for the first procedure. If your balding is more advanced, you should preschedule a follow up transplant or you will have a huge island. You may also consult with Alessandrini about the possibility of removing the grafts so your surgery consists of (1) transplant and (2) removing the transplant, which can be a better result because you will be where you started plus a scar. You will also not have anesthesia for most of the procedure - this may be for your own health. By having surgery with Alessandrini, you consent to him taking your photo for marketing purposes - you will have to tilt down so only the hairline shows up in the picture. If you don't want your picture taken for marketing purposes, it's not the right clinic. It's a great place for a hair transplant if you're NW1/2 and just looking to restore a partly receding hairline. It's not a clinic for crown loss, thinning, NW2.5 or higher or for those who want to be able to talk with a doctor for post-op care.

For legal reasons, I am barred from posting, but what I will say is this: If you pay for any procedure in Mexico and feel something is sketchy, don't give it the benefit of the doubt or assume you're racist for having these suspicions. At the end of the day, 2,000-5,000 is not a small amount of money, and maybe it's even your life savings, but your intuition when it comes to any kind of surgery is the product of millions of years of evolutionary history. You're not nervous about shaking someone's hand or being somebody's friend. You're nervous about them performing surgery. Your intuition is probably right, and you have to keep in mind that Mexican clinics have historically been more prone to fraud and life changing mistakes by a margin of between 75 and 300:1. A 1:30000 risk here, according to the data is a 1:100 risk there. It's also an unfair burden to the surgeon to go through with it. The surgeon wants your money, but gains nothing from you having a bad result or dying. By going through with it, you're making them do something they're just as nervous of doing. If they're not a doctor or experienced, your result will be ridiculous. You may have hair in random spots or have a strip of 3000 grafts taken for literally 15 or 20 grafts placed in random intervals. You will then have to have surgery to remove these grafts and you pay more for that then the first surgery so you ultimately spend 5,000 on top of your 2,000 and 3,000 to be in the same boat but with a gigantic scar and inability to get future transplants. It's unfair to both you and the doctor to have the procedure done. They don't want to disfigure you anymore than you don't want to be disfigured so read b/w the lines, and don't force them to risk your life. Would you let a guy outside a 7/11 cut you open with a scalpel? No, so don't be irresponsible and ask someone else to just because you paid them money. It's unfair to them, and risky to you.

Old site has much higher google ranking so you only see the 2015 posts. Patients don't come back on, because they're embarrassed to have gotten scammed.

I was worried about cartels but concluded they made it safer, because it seems likelier that they would harm someone who harms an American than harm them themselves. Today, an American today under 30 likely has nowhere near enough money to make harming them a good business move, because at the very least an investigation will be a brief pain in the butt. The cartels near the border are so wealthy that they probably make it safer for Americans - the cartels in Tijuana and Juarez are two of the five most profitable businesses in the world. To be honest, it is much more likely that the clinic has connections to cartels, which I think is why only four people have written about their experience - there's no positive ones, but there are also only 4 bad ones despite this operating for 10+ years. Honestly, my MPB probably started early because I'm hot-headed. I think it's at least 50-50 I'm on some list. As a lawyer, I figured the incentive structure would be the same because these Mexican clinics are all right by the border, are written in English, use US phone numbers and send drivers into the US to drive patients there. I'm not giving personal legal advise, but the US probably has jurisdiction, and even if they can't enforce a money judgment precluding their ability to solicit US business is tantamount to closing them down. There's also the same business incentives - marketing, reputation, trust, etc. Since then the biggest thing I've realized is these doctors could just change their names. Even if their license is pulled, they could just assume the name of another doctor. For example, Alessandrini's original last name seems to have been Perez. There's another Dr. Alessandrini who is a hair surgeon at Vida and is clearly not the same guy. I read somewhere that they were brothers, but Vida Medical claims there's no relation whatsoever. Whose right? I have no idea. Even the business name Renovate Medical Center is not appearing as a Mexican business - the corporation is still Hospital Bajanor. All money orders to Hospital Bajanor, not Renovate. Hospital Bajanor was implicated in the FBI sting that led these doctors charged with criminal fraud in the US. The corporation is still under Hospital Bajanor, and the payments are all made to Hospital Bajanor. Not to scare others from coming forward, but you have to wonder how they're still operating in Mexico under the same trade name if they're not paying off someone, because at the very least it's a pain in the ass for the Mexican government - what is it, $40 to register a new trade name? The level of enforcement is so poor that these clinics do not even to register a new corporation for $40 after they're shut down by the FBI. I don't want to ruin anyone's business, because my being ripped off doesn't justify the business being bad. You can scam one person, and not others. My only suggestion is that when people talk to a Mexican doctor they run a comprehensive google search to see if it's a real name or not a real name. At the end of the day, even if I sued or other people came forward to speak up, all they would do is change the name. As much as I want to be to optimistic, if the FBI couldn't even motivate the main people it arrested in 2003 to incorporate a new name for $40, who can? Unfortunately, the only affect of this is that it will harm the Dr. Alessandrini with VIDA Medical Care, another HT surgeon who at least has no US criminal record. If Dr. Perez could become Dr. Alessandrini P. then there's no reason he can't become Dr. Cooper A.P., Dr. Cooper P. or any other of the billion possible names of his choosing.

It's not the forum's fault for me going there. If I would have run some simple searches of the doctor's name and the company I would have found the criminal charges, the fraud, etc. This forum does show up first, because it's much more informative than yelp and other review sites. The people like me who sometimes lurk this site, but never post avoid thinking about their hair loss. By posting on this, you're accepting a problem, which is good but you're also more likely to make the problem bigger than it is - it's hard to be confident when you focus on imperfections. However, HT appeals to us lurkers because it's a quick fix. We also don't see baldness as life changing so for a few thousand dollars it's a good idea. In a sense even though we don't wear a hair piece, we never fully accept our hair loss - at best, we don't think think about it. The pay 3k and don't think about it route is appealing, and we want it to be good so this post reall just makes us think - "oh, it's a legit mexican establishment. good." We never get to the bottom half of the first page of google. With me personally, my hair loss is strictly recessionary. Finasteride filled in my thinning crown that was once thinning and it's thick to the point I can brush the hair forward with the only people noticing being NW3's or balder. I've been interviewing for jobs, and most men past 40 are NW3's or balder. I think the way I handled hair loss suggests dishonesty, and I also didn't have the guts to wear my hair like George Costanza - I am in a very conservative and more conservative people stll don't accept the shaved head white guy look. I now have an island so I'm considering paying to have the grafts surgically removed. I can prove Alessandrini instructed the nurses to only fill the front of the hairline and create an island. I can't prove why, but I think Alessandrini wanted to make sure there was a return visit. My natural demeanor and how I come across presents as slow and dim witted, because I had major pronunciation issues as a child despite always being 2 grade levels intellectually. After high school, I was very good at poker by literally just playing dumb, and this further reinforced the disconnect. I also made a killing teaching standardized exams simply because of the presumption that this slow witted guy with a brooklyn accent got a great score, he must know the tricks. The more simplistic the conversations are, the dumber I appear. I lied about understanding Spanish because I figured there was no benefit in admitting I did, and from the first minute I met him he was saying his hair is the result of 2 hair transplants performed by his clinic - IDK if this is a lie or not as he does not look less bald than in pictures from 10-15 years ago, but might have had transplants earlier. Regardless, the focus on what we could do at a second and a third transplant before laying out the first was odd so I figured I wanted to know what the hell was going on without him knowing I knew. I specifically focused on my insecurity about a developing island in my hairline, and how I wanted to fill the back in before the front. The fact he specifically told the nurses to only do the front "and not touch the back for a separation" was either to hurt me or to make him more money. He's a scam artist, not a psychopath so it's got to be the latter. I hope this is a PSA. HOSPITAL BAJANOR, DOCTOR CARLOS GILBERTO ALESSANDRINI PEREZ, AKA DR. PEREZ, AKA DR. CARLOS, AKA DR C.G. ALESSANDRINI, AKA DR. ALESSANDRINI, AKA. DOCTOR GILBERTO, AKA 70% OFF DOCTOR, AKA "BEST HAIR TRANSPLANT IN TIJUANA", AKA RENOVATE HAIR CENTER, AKA RENOVATE MEDICAL IS A SCAM, AND FOCUSED ENTIRELY ON SHAKING DOWN THE PATIENT. THE WORLDWIDE OATH ALL DOCTORS TAKE "THOU SHALT DO NOT HARM AND LISTEN TO THE PATIENT" IS NOT HERE. DO NOT GO. IF YOU GO, EVEN IF YOU PAID THE DOCTOR'S MAIN GOAL IS TO MAKE YOU COME BACK MORE AND MORE - TO BE MORE DESPERATE. How do I know this? He instructed the nurses to make an island on the hairline in Spanish after I said I was insecure about this, and tried to schedule another transplant before telling me a graft count (which he still refuses to do). On top of this, he instructed me to stop taking finasteride for 6 months or "it will compromise the implant". What other explanation could there possibly be? DR. C.G. ALESSANDRINI P. AKA FBI FRAUDSTER OF HOSPITAL BAJANOR and RENOVATE MEDICAL CENTER Dr. Carlos Alessandrini AKA DR. CARLOS PEREZ is a scam artist.

To some extent, Mexico always presents a risk, but most Mexican clinics have mostly positive reviews or at least one positive review. Alessandrini hadn't even paid people to make up fake positive reviews - it's all negative. If you can point to any positive review, I'll change the comment. However, Alessandrini isn't concerned about reputation. The whole marketing is to get you down for 70% off HT prices. You wind up paying about 10-15 a graft. I paid acc to a HT surgeon here - $18 a graft - I had slightly under 200 for $3000. I was promised 3000. You keep your mouth shut, and get over the border. Bare in mind, for $18 a graft they weren't put in by medical professionals - just kids. I have a giant scar (about 4x size of regular FUT so further hT's aren't really possible but Alessandrini suggested using other areas of the head and that's he's a real expert). So for $18 a graft, i have a bunch of grafts in random intervals on the scalp. For 400% of American prices, you'd at least expect the grafts to be well organized and placed. Transplant process was about 40 minutes followed by attempts at scheduling subsequent procedures. He gives you a big hat, and tells you you can't remove it for 48 hours - he doesn't want you to see the grafts after. You pay with cash, no traceable money is accepted. To my knowledge, researching this for now 2 weeks and speaking with approx 20 former patients, not one got even 35% of the grafts they paid for. All feel they've been scammed. Alessandrini's not even supposed to talk to American potential clients according to the FBI case. It's possible he pled down, but I seriously doubt he's a doctor. Another Alessandrini in Tijuana often has complaints come to him that are intended for this Alessandrini. His last name is Perez, Alessandrini is an assumed middle name. Alessandrini reached out to express discontent with my reviews, which is why I removed the murder accusations - these are from a few very profoundly negative reviews. My experience is it's a scam no question, and one that's gotten him arrested by an FBI sting. However, I can't confirm any patients have been killed by him. Just because a patient goes missing during a HT operaiton doesn't mean it's the doctor who is responsible. All I can attest to 100% is your money's gone if you go. He doesn't even take check or anything traceable, because he knows you'll dispute it when you get back over the border. I think once you paid, you really have to take it up as a loss. Even if you come back safely, you're going to have a ton of blood loss because we're about people as young 16 being pulled in to cut open your scalp. You're not gonna able to have another hair transplant after going with him so it's really much better to take the loss. It's not a clinic - it's a scam. What anyone who paid should keep in mind is you shouldn't get "your money's worth". This isn't a doctor - my advise was to stop using finasteride thereafter as well as rogaine anywhere near the scalp, bec it will affect the grafts - keep in mind there were 150 grafts randomly placed around my forehead area to create an island. You're told the island will be fixed on latter transplants. I think the intent is to keep you coming back for more HT's every 2 or 3 months for years. If you go you are just a sucker - and he's going to try to make where you didn't transplant balder and balder so you keep coming back. It's not a "well, I'm not a doctor but I'll do the best I can." It's a, let's see if i can knock this American for 30k. The conversations in Spanish - if the patient claims to not speak Spanish are about how much money they think you have and Alessandrini's extramarital affairs and sexual exploits - the man's not Brad Pitt, and it's kinda gross.

To provide an update (because I relied on this forum when making my decision), my experience with Dr. Alessandrini is that he's a scam artist. He told me to sign up for an extended FUT for 3,000 grafts. I got under 300 grafts. After arguing with him, i quickly learned how stupid that was after googling him revealed that ALESSANDRINI HAS A FEDERAL CRIMINAL RECORD IN THE US FOR FRAUD, FBI ARRESTS ,OUTSTANDING WARRANTS IN MEXICO AND HAS BEEN SUSPECTED OF MURDER. IT'S NOT JUST THE HAIR TRANSPLANT - YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER! AGAIN, YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER IF YOU GO. IF YOU PAID, FORGET IT. DON'T GO. SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Metro -- Six Tijuana doctors arrested in sting - that's his First FBI Arrest for Fraud in 2003 - it's not the only action that's been taking against him, but the FBI releases are just very public and very easy to find. There are add'l fraud charges on a fairly routine basis for 20-years. No post-op check, he basically said if I send more and come back he'll talk to me - otherwise i'm out of luck. In 2003, Dr. Alessandrini in an FBI sting for fraud - over here : He makes you pay in cash bec checks are "complicated" - the reason he defrauds every patient. There are no positive reviews of him whatsoever. If you complain at the clinic, your life may be endangered. There are 0 positive reviews from his patients on the internet - you will find none from post 6 mo's op, and there are a volume of responses attesting to the scam. Keep in mind that there's some intimidation, and people are less likely to post a bad review about Alessandrini because they're afraid. Even so, you will find bad review after bad review. If you sign up with Alessandrini, don't go - consider it a loss. Your life is not worth it - the man has been in prison and is not supposed to even communicate with Americans per his court order. Feel free to PM fro more info.