Re: Bosley

[mike thomas]

I no longer will be talking to bosley, i thank everybody for their replies to me. I am thinking about contacting Dr. Epstien or Dr.Bernestein, they seem to be one of the top doctors in HT. what do ypu guys think?

[mike thomas]

I no longer will be talking to bosley, i thank everybody for their replies to me. I am thinking about contacting Dr. Epstien or Dr.Bernestein, they seem to be one of the top doctors in HT. what do ypu guys think?

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Mike,

 

I think you are on the right track in going beyond TV infomercials and digging for the real deal. Welcome to our forum and congratulations on getting out of TV Land.

 

Virtually everyone visiting this forum has probably paid serious attention to his or her share of Bosley TV infomercials. When I saw my first Bosley infomercial over 15 years ago I thought I had just found the Moses who was going to deliver me from the slavery of hair loss. His infomercials, tapes and brochures became my ten commandments and I reviewed them before bed like a devout follower. Yes, I had seen the promised land of flowing hair and sprouting follicles.

 

Fortunately being a struggling filmmaker without money gave me plenty of time to sleep on it.

 

To make a long story short, I eventually found Dr. Ron Shapiro and follicular unit salvation.

 

Since becoming entangled in the cult of hair restoration, I've met Dr. Lee Bosley on several occasions at various hair transplant meetings. In person he is Marcus Welby, Moses and your kindest grandfather rolled into one - just like he is on TV. So given our long time relationship on and off TV, I found it very interesting to read Dr. Bosley confiding to the New Yorker in the recent January 9th, 2006 issue that "I have my regrets, in retrospect. I got to the point where I felt pretty guilty doing it."

 

Apparently since selling the Bosley Medical Group four years ago to Japanese wig maker called Aderans for $40,000,000, he now feels comfortable in recounting how horrible hair transplantation was in the early days. Some how his candid comments reminded me of Robert McNamara's recent confessional interviews in which he apologized for his part in orchestrating the Vietnam War. Strange what old age will do to a man.

 

In this New Yorker article Dr. Bosley described his early work in the 1960's by saying "If it grew at all, it was in different directions ??“ clumpy, bedraggled, three hairs of out of a plug . . . if there was any hair growing at all it was a success ??“ it was ??“ look it's growing! ??“ and it looked like crap."

 

So how did a company who by its founder's own admission provided results that "looked like crap" become the largest hair transplantation company with ninety two offices? The answer is lots and lots of TV.

 

According to the article Dr. Bosley worked his way through medical school in Omaha by "selling pots and pans door to door". So apparently he learned a thing or two about sales.

 

With the power of TV, even sub pare results would not stand in the way of success. After all, this was in the days before the interactive Internet in which hair loss sufferers like you could talk back. With TV - perception could over come reality and still largely does.

 

Dr. Emanuel Marritt, a famous hair transplant surgeon who is now retired, explained it in the following way ??“ "You have a population of patients who are emotionally extremely vulnerable, willing to pay anything. And you have a doctor with a mountain of advertising debt who needs to break even. It's a conspiracy of two: a patient who doesn't want to hear what he really needs, being operated on by a doctor who doesn't want to tell him."

 

The article states that today the Bosley Medical Group is "both the world's most successful transplant company and among the most maligned." The article points to Bosley Medical Group's many lawsuits. For more detailed information visit the Bosley Medical Violations Site.

 

Apparently Dr. Lee Bosley who in the article is described as the "self-anointed Renoir of transplantation" is still plugging away (so to speak) in the back office for a fee that is twice the regular Bosley price. Despite selling the Bosley Medical Group he retains an office and with over 38,000 hair transplant procedures to his credit, he is ready to take on number thirty eight thousand and one.

 

His TV fans will no doubt sleep better knowing that some lucky morning they may begin their day as his patient.

 

Since you are no longer mesmerized, it sounds like you will not be reserving your place as patient number thirty eight thousand and one any time soon. Sleep tight and don't let the late night hair infomercials bite.

 

Pat

[PCC]

Hi Pat,

 

Very thought provoking and articulate discussion on Bosley, as always. I actually was weighing very heavily going to them back in the mid 90's. One of my previous Drs had wholeheartedly endorsed them as the best in the business. He claimed to know them well as an old friend from med school had apparently worked for them. He sincerely felt they had the knowledge, skill, and experience to get me where I needed to be and I trusted his advice.

 

Back then their location in Boca Raton, FL did not exist and the closest to me would have been Atlanta. This basically served as a regional headquarters for the whole Southeast.

I can't remember who the staff surgeon was.

 

I saw Dr. Bosley's famous infomercials and ordered the video and brochure. I had some initial suspicions as the proceedure was described in a manner that made it seem easy and almost fun. Also, male patients depicted looked as if they were going in for a massage and the female nurses and techs were all gorgeous and voluptuous. Nevertheless, the information said all the right things.

 

Due to the geographical issue I kept putting off going to them. I eventually saw the ground breaking expose on NBC's "Dateline" and years later discovered this site. Although I certainly regret some of my decisions in my hair restoration journey, I am relieved I never became a Bosley statistic.

 

By the way, doesn't Dr. Bosley look a lot like the actor Robert Conrad (of "Baa Baa Blacksheep" and "Wild, Wild West")as they have both gotten older.

 

Phil

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Phil,

 

Dr. Bosley always did remind me vaguely of some actor. And now that you mention it Robert Conrad of "Baa, Baa Blacksheep" is who I was thinking of.

 

Now I'm always going to imagine him and a squadron of Bosley physicians dive bombing in tight formation on to a bald head painted with a target :-)

 

Thanks, Pat