Doctor's Responsibility

[CuriousJungleGeorge]

If the results of a procedure are not good, is it the physician's responsibility to remedy them at no additional cost to the patient; or is the patient expected to understand and accept there are no sure things in this kind of treatment, and that further work will have to be paid for?

 

(This thread is not composed out of frustration with any doctor; I simply wish to read what the general sentiment is around the topic.)

[phil mascallpen]

From a strictly legal sense, unless a doctor has been negligent and not met expected standards of care, you do not have much recourse.

 

But IMHO the better the doctor and the higher his success rate the more likely he is to make things right with a free second procedure. The reason is that their failures are such a small percentage that from a cost perspective it will not harm them much and from a reputation perspective it is vastly more important to make things right than not. That's why clinics like Feller, H&W and Shapiro have such great reputations. They almost always do the right thing for their patients.

 

On the other hand a doctor who has a low success rate is less likely to do this for the same reasons in reverse. Their reputation with educated patients is already bad and they turn out so many mediocre results that they wouldn't be able to spend the time fixing them.

[Megatron]

^ perfectly said

[Time to do something]

I had very low growth on my first HT. Because of that the doctor did a second one free which also produced very low growth. I had the first and second procedure checked by other doctors who agreed for the amount of grafts I was supposed to have had it was not close to where it should be. I complained long after the second HT and indicated that the results were as poor as the first HT. I requested a partial refund and was denied the request. The doctor said he did not know what I was basing a request of a refund on. I told him it was lack of growth. Dr. Shapiro learned of my unfortunate situation, felt sorry for me and offered a free procedure which was done in November. I already see hair surfacing and it hasn't even been three months yet.

[Sparky]

Thats because Dr Shapiro is a top doc and a great humanitarian.

[CuriousJungleGeorge]

Originally posted by Time to do something:

I had very low growth on my first HT. Because of that the doctor did a second one free which also produced very low growth. I had the first and second procedure checked by other doctors who agreed for the amount of grafts I was supposed to have had it was not close to where it should be. I complained long after the second HT and indicated that the results were as poor as the first HT. I requested a partial refund and was denied the request. The doctor said he did not know what I was basing a request of a refund on. I told him it was lack of growth. Dr. Shapiro learned of my unfortunate situation, felt sorry for me and offered a free procedure which was done in November. I already see hair surfacing and it hasn't even been three months yet.

 

Do you believe it was poor work done by Dr. Epstein that resulted in bad growth, or that the outcome was simply from ill luck?

 

Also, do others feel, in a case such as Time to Do Something's, the physician should have offered a refund (even if only partial)?

[Time to do something]

In my case I have no idea what the reason for the poor growth was. I remember communicating with someone else who had the same issue with the same doctor around the same time I did and says he went elsewhere and had great results. I can tell you that in under three months I see hair surfacing and did not see that with my first two procedures. Of course I will not be able to make a judgment until the one year point. What really upsets me is the grafts that didn't surface are lost forever.

[TheEmperor]

Did this get resolved on HTN? Is Epstein still a member?

 

I remember the long thread about a year ago where his membership was in question at HTN.

 

It makes me cringe when I pause to think of the long term hardship a wasted 5000 grafts will cause. Some large % of those grafts did not grow; depending on your Norwood class, this will impact your ability to have a good restortion.

 

Adding to that the downtime and financial considerations, it is quite scary.

 

I'm sure after a second round of no-growth with the same doctor, things are very touchy. I doubt Epstein ever acknowledged a lack of growth, only that he was providing the second procedure gratis to help you out. If a doctor actually admits a _mistake_ was made, it opens up a can of worms from a legal perspective.

 

I have never met a doctor (in any field) who was able to admit he made a mistake. This has unfortunate implication on the patient's ability to receive proper care. The original doctor, in essence, is arguing against the patient and unethical treatment from a doctor will really drain a patient. emotionally.

 

I hope your situation gets worked out.

[Time to do something]

No, as far as I know Dr. Epstein is no longer a coalition doctor on this website. I have gone through nearly three years of hell. The excitement I had with my first procedure was indescribable. Then nine months into it to realize that something wasn't right and to have that confirmed by other members on this site when I posted photos and other doctors who looked at me was stressful to say the least. I felt like I'd had my heart ripped out. I felt a sick feeling in my stomach. Epstein offered to do a second one free. Then when very little came out of that I was beside myself. Dr. Ron Shapiro read the posts about my situation and offered to do a third procedure free of charge. I sent photos of my results to Dr. Epstein but he didn't believe there was anything wrong with the results and refused even a partial refund. If it weren't for Dr. Shapiro I honestly don't know what I'd have done since my resources were depleted and Dr. Epstein felt he has done an adequate job. Of course it has been just under three months since my procedure with Dr. Shapiro so I can't judge the results yet but I do see hairs surfacing which I never saw this early in my previous procedures. Even if this doesn't work out the idea that Dr. Shapiro who had no interest or involvement in my situation would clear out his valuable time when he could have had a paying patient in the chair to try to make me whole again speaks volumes about this man. I might add that after I had this terrible experience I did more extensive research to find the absolute best hair transplant doctor out there so if I were ever in a position again to have another procedure I'd know who to go to. I had it narrowed down to three then two then I had four close friends compare the hairlines of the two finalists. They all chose Dr. Shapiro. To my amazement the top doctor who I'd have paid to go to if I could have afforded it offered to perform a procedure for free. I was absolutely blown away and my mood picked up to a point I hadn't felt in months. I pray by the end of the year this will have all worked out. The finasteride is scaring me a little bit but that is another topic.

[TheEmperor]

aluable time when he could have had a paying patient in the chair to try to make me whole again speaks volumes about this man. I might add that after I had this terrible experience I did more extensive research

 

Do you have any pics?

[Time to do something]

Yes, I have plenty of photos which I posted while all of this was going on that caused a firestorm on this site. I don't want to rehash all of that again. I'm just glad I was able to find a quality, caring doctor who provided me with a HT free of charge.