Dr. Matt Leavitt of MHR adoringly featured in "Men's Vogue" magazine.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Dear forum members,

 

I recently heard that Dr. Matt Leavitt, the head of Medical Hair Restoration (MHR), was featured adoringly in the spring 2006 issue of "Men's Vogue" magazine. This forced me to do some thing I would normally never do ??“ pick up a copy of "Men's Vogue". After all, isn't GQ troubling enough?

 

The writer of this article entitled "bald ego" is Robert Sullivan and he describes "follicular unit transplantation" as "a kind of transplantation that's like a heart transplant but with hair." He then describes Dr. Matt Leavitt of MHR as "one of the best, his methods state of the art."

 

After diagnosing the writer as a class 5 or 6 in baldness (i.e. completely bald across the top of the head) Dr. Leavitt recommended a session of 1,500 grafts. Given that the writer sported the shaved head look he decided to pass on hair transplantation. But he did write that "If I was, I would probably go to Leavitt ??“ he seemed to be a great hair restoration guy".

 

The writer then goes on to describe Matt Leavitt as "five feet ten inches tall, with cheerful brown eyes, a healthy complexion that belies his 46 years, and, most crucial, a full head of dark, flowing hair ??“ hair that if it were a story would be a Greek epic. . . . " Is it just me, or does this "Men's Vogue" writer have a crush on Matt?

 

What a shame that Mr. Sullivan's research did not seem to go beyond the information fed to him by Dr. Leavitt and MHR. Apparently he did not think to do any research online or visit any forums on the topic.

 

If you have any feelings about this kind of "journalism" I suggest you email Robert Sullivan's boss and supervising editor - Ned Martel at ned_martel@mensvoguecnp.com Feel free to also call him at 212 286-7528.

 

I know I'll be emailing Mr. Sullivan's boss to suggest that his writers read beyond the press release the next time they present a story with potentially life long consequences.

 

Feel free to post your emails to Ned Martel (ned_martel@mensvoguecnp.com)by replying below. I expect they will be enjoyable to read.

 

Now please excuse me while I dispose of this "Men's Vogue" magazine. I really don't want to get caught with such metro sexual nonsense lying around in my home.

 

Thank God we can trust the media to dig for the truth.

 

Pat

 

P.S. Funny just a couple of months ago Dr. Bosley was featured in the New Yorker magazine. These journalists sure dig deep when doing their research. To read the highlights of this Bosley article on this forum click here.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Dear forum members,

 

I recently heard that Dr. Matt Leavitt, the head of Medical Hair Restoration (MHR), was featured adoringly in the spring 2006 issue of "Men's Vogue" magazine. This forced me to do some thing I would normally never do ??“ pick up a copy of "Men's Vogue". After all, isn't GQ troubling enough?

 

The writer of this article entitled "bald ego" is Robert Sullivan and he describes "follicular unit transplantation" as "a kind of transplantation that's like a heart transplant but with hair." He then describes Dr. Matt Leavitt of MHR as "one of the best, his methods state of the art."

 

After diagnosing the writer as a class 5 or 6 in baldness (i.e. completely bald across the top of the head) Dr. Leavitt recommended a session of 1,500 grafts. Given that the writer sported the shaved head look he decided to pass on hair transplantation. But he did write that "If I was, I would probably go to Leavitt ??“ he seemed to be a great hair restoration guy".

 

The writer then goes on to describe Matt Leavitt as "five feet ten inches tall, with cheerful brown eyes, a healthy complexion that belies his 46 years, and, most crucial, a full head of dark, flowing hair ??“ hair that if it were a story would be a Greek epic. . . . " Is it just me, or does this "Men's Vogue" writer have a crush on Matt?

 

What a shame that Mr. Sullivan's research did not seem to go beyond the information fed to him by Dr. Leavitt and MHR. Apparently he did not think to do any research online or visit any forums on the topic.

 

If you have any feelings about this kind of "journalism" I suggest you email Robert Sullivan's boss and supervising editor - Ned Martel at ned_martel@mensvoguecnp.com Feel free to also call him at 212 286-7528.

 

I know I'll be emailing Mr. Sullivan's boss to suggest that his writers read beyond the press release the next time they present a story with potentially life long consequences.

 

Feel free to post your emails to Ned Martel (ned_martel@mensvoguecnp.com)by replying below. I expect they will be enjoyable to read.

 

Now please excuse me while I dispose of this "Men's Vogue" magazine. I really don't want to get caught with such metro sexual nonsense lying around in my home.

 

Thank God we can trust the media to dig for the truth.

 

Pat

 

P.S. Funny just a couple of months ago Dr. Bosley was featured in the New Yorker magazine. These journalists sure dig deep when doing their research. To read the highlights of this Bosley article on this forum click here.

[the B spot]

Great Info Pat!!!!!!!

 

It is journalism and information like this that continually reminds us that the fight is not over..... In addition, it also serves to bolster the notion that we need to keep posting our results and experiences everyday, so we can continue to help "save" fellow suffers!!!!!

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Forum members - Below is the email that I sent to Ned Martel at Men's Vogue. I encourage you to email him your opinion and advice as well.

 

 

"Ned,

 

When I called you today regarding my concerns with Robert Sullivan's recent article on Hair Transplantation you said you were too busy to discuss the issue. Apparently Robert Sullivan was also too busy to verify the accuracy of this article.

 

To those like me who have had a hair transplant and who share our experiences on hair loss discussion forums, it was very apparent that Mr. Sullivan's research did not transcend the depth of a press release and a meet and greet with Dr. Leavitt.

 

If Mr. Sullivan had done even a remedial amount of research on any hair loss discussion forum regarding the actual reality of Dr. Leavitt and MHR (Medical Hair Restoration) I suspect he would have written a much different and more accurate story.

 

Given that hair transplantation has life long consequences, such press release journalism in which self serving promotional information is presented to the general public without verification, is very dangerous.

 

I encourage you to visit the Hair Restoration Discussion Forum and click on the "Find" button and enter "Leavitt", "MHR" or "Medical Hair Restoration". You will then get hundreds of posts going back over five years that reference Dr. Leavitt and or MHR. Most of these posts will be by their actual patients who are sharing the reality of their experience rather than the hype presented on TV and in press releases.

 

Access to our forum is very easy to find and would have been found by Robert Sullivan if he had done a simple search for "hair transplant" on Google, since our web community and forum, the Hair Transplant Network is the first website listed.

 

I hope that in the future if you present articles about medical procedures to the public that you will do at least a minimal amount of fact checking and verification.

 

Patrick Hennessey, Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network"

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Thanks B Spot. But I am concerned that as useful as this forum is that too many hair loss sufferers are not finding it and are instead finding only the mass media hype.

 

Anyone have any suggestions on how we can get this community and forum referenced in the next big national hair restoration feature story?

 

It seems like these journalists consult only physicians and never the patients when writing stories about hair transplantation.

 

Pat

[bezane]

Good letter Pat. But now the whole thing has sunk in and it's more deeply depressing than that.

 

The way the journalist went about his work, it can only be one of two things: off the shelf journalism needed quickly to fill a gap asssigned by an equally slip shod editor, or secondly, a "paid" piece of "advertisement" masquerading as a "story." Let's hope it's the former, and in which case, would in and of itself be a catastrophe. And before anyone thinks the latter doesn't happen I would beg to differ. I do freelance writing and you'd be amazed to know that I'm often offered press releases to doctor into 250-1000 word stories. No lie.

 

But, the story you tell Pat is the way most men are going about choosing a doc. Crazy but true. What a shame. What a sham.

 

And the last and more troubling thing, in the new age of what is termed "drive by media," can we all stop and start to accept that the constant repetition of news throughout the day, same story over and over, is probably selected and reported in much the same way. Whether it's a slant on Iraq or the emerging economy of China. But it shouldn't matter because celebrity stories have become the lead ins for most newscasts and programs.

 

Shame on them. Shame on us for buying into it. Thanks Pat. I will read it and write in about it.

[bezane]

Pat,

 

I've thought before to email you privately about this, but here it is on the forum.

 

While I think it would be a tricky endeavor, meaning there's two ways to go (infomercial or reality show), but I think with the onslaught of reality TV and late night paid programming, that producing a video or TV show version of this forum would simply put an end to it all.

 

If in infomercial form, the coalition would come up with the money to produce the show, and airing it would be discussed by members. I know this is a painful way to go because it would in the end be an advertisement, although I will steadfastly deem it a public service. It would also cause the coalition surgeons to be booked solid with over a year waiting list. My surgeon is four months already!!!

 

The other way is to pitch a reality show around Hollywood. In a way it would be scandalous, and that just might fly with iconoclastic producers. Part of that show just "might" touch on bad HT work, celebrity speculation, but in the end it would be a documentary of following before and afters into people like Hasson. And also running ads to find recent "victims" of the infamous butchers. There's many shows now covering plastic surgery but HTs take too long to materialize so are often ditched for breast augmentations which happen to be my favorite as well.

 

Pat this could work and it's all YOURS to make it work. I do know a bit about pitching ideas in Hollywood. Do it. Expose the crooks and coax the kings to show it off.

 

The article in Vogue makes me sick.

 

The show you can do can cover so much, including the absolute emotional torture which convenes when hair starts to fall out. Even D. Keene admitted to me that she never realized how lives can be changed and it was mostly a non vanity application.

[the B spot]

Pat, Bezane, I would like to take it a step further, and perhaps try to crash some of these clinics on film, while we make calls, etc... Maybe show up at consults with a camera crew just to listen to the pitch..... I dunno Pat, this could be pretty helpful...... fun as well!!! Great Idea Bezane!!!!

[hairbank]

Bezane and B-spot,

 

Wow! Some great ideas. As much as we all enjoy learning and sharing in the forum "in private", maybe it's time to take it to the next level (Pat's call, of course)??

 

Bezane's post really hit home with me..........I'm amazed at the number of people who listen to the media (or read) and think it's Gospel. Under the surface, there are so many things that have been (and are) misrepresented.

 

In the HT industry, for those of us that have been following it awhile, there has been such a change for the positive. The improvement in technology and technique have been nothing short of spectacular. Especially in the last few years. The refined results that can now be achieved sometimes in one pass used to take 2-3 sessions at a minimum. The quality of work (provided you research your doc) is astounding.

 

Sadly, at the same time, the MHR's and Bosley's of the world capitalize by pouring funds into their advertising budget instead of using the money for a much needed overhaul of their operation in order to provide quality work. They're still out there providing subpar results to poor suckers who don't research as they should. It's tough, advertising is powerful and many can be taken in as we see MHR and Bosley are still around and seemingly profitable.

 

I guess the driving force in my mind is the thought of how this site, and the invaluable information contained here, could be distributed and shared across the U.S. What a great thing! So many have been negatively affected by poor results from MHR, Bosley and the like.

 

B's idea about a camera crew would be soooo much fun! It would be nice to share some stories from victim's of shoddy chain HT clinics or subpar surgeons.

 

What do you think, Pat?

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Guys, Thanks for your support and suggestions. In the past, I did fund the production of educational TV spots that some physicians did pay to broadcast in their local areas. But ultimately TV has been too costly to fund.

 

Thus I think that good publicity in the national media may be our most cost effective solution for getting large scale exposure.

 

MHR and Bosley spend millions on their national TV and media campaigns. But this community only has a fraction of this to invest in promotion and most of these funds are already being used to pay for online pay per click advertising.

 

Bezane, I do think the reality TV thing could be tapped into perhaps. I did also fund the taping of a patient from before, during and after surgery. But we still need to complete the editing of this mini documentary.

 

Perhaps one of the cable channels could document a patient's transformation.

 

Anyone know a great PR firm that could get fired up about generating press for this community? After all, what a unique story it is that patients have banded together to use the Internet to help each other find the best treatments and physicians.

 

Hell, I think its an even better story than why Dr. Leavitt is "a great hair restoration guy".

 

Any suggestions for how we could generate Press?