Censorship In The Hair Transplant Industry Is A Real Problem

[Melvin- Admin]

In my time as a moderator and associate publisher of this community, I have seen censorship, you guys would be surprised how many members contact us asking to remove all of their posts because they're being sued. Most of these clinics/ surgeons are not well-known, we've even been sued several times ourselves, freedom of speech isn't free, but its necessary. I'm glad that I belong to a forum that truly keeps a free and open environment where surgeons and patients are held accountable for their actions and words. The more messages I get in my inbox, the more I see that we are becoming the minority in this industry.

Censorship In The Hair Transplant Industry Is A Real Problem

[dust78]

Really appreciate this post. Thanks for your work!

[duchaine]

Thanks for your work, Melvin!
You are a great person!

[LaserCap]

Melvin,  There are truly millions out there with little to no knowledge of this industry.  In one way or another we've been guided to it by circumstance or choice.  Years of interacting with doctors and clinical staff has given us the experience and knowledge to help humanity. In an industry where there is no "police" we are very much needed.  Thanks for your ongoing work and allowing us to share our points of view.

[Melvin- Admin]

7 hours ago, LaserCap said:

Melvin,  There are truly millions out there with little to no knowledge of this industry.  In one way or another we've been guided to it by circumstance or choice.  Years of interacting with doctors and clinical staff has given us the experience and knowledge to help humanity. In an industry where there is no "police" we are very much needed.  Thanks for your ongoing work and allowing us to share our points of view.

It's very important to have guys like you on the board, who have years of experience in this industry. 

[karatekid]

Wow I didnt know it is so common... So how those lowsuites end? 

[Melvin- Admin]

52 minutes ago, karatekid said:

Wow I didnt know it is so common... So how those lowsuites end? 

We can’t divulge that information because we’d open ourselves for another lawsuit, suffice to say were still here. Upholding patient freedom of expression.

[karatekid]

ho wow I just happened now to encounter a video on youtube of someone that had 2 procedures with a very reputable surgeon (not HRN member) and had bad result, he published it in the italian forum, and then was threaten by the clinic itself, plus his post got deleted by the forum admins.  He also got messages from other users which described the same thing happened to them...

Anyway this is very scary,  how can I even know now if my research is based on a complete bias data? This is very alarming

Edited February 7, 2020 by karatekid

[ITA]

50 minutes ago, karatekid said:

 

ho wow I just happened now to encounter a video on youtube of someone that had 2 procedures with a very reputable surgeon (not HRN member) and had bad result, he published it in the italian forum, and then was threaten by the clinic itself, plus his post got deleted by the forum admins.  He also got messages from other users which described the same thing happened to them...

Anyway this is very scary,  how can I even know now if my research is based on a complete bias data? This is very alarming

 

@karatekid HRN is the only ethical and genuine forum that I have known so far, I know what you are talking about, I know very well that the Italian forum to which you refer and which you have heard of, corresponds to the truth.  Therefore the search must be carried out exclusively on HRN.

[killa]

On 2/4/2020 at 11:26 PM, Melvin-Moderator said:

you guys would be surprised how many members contact us asking to remove all of their posts because they're being sued. Most of these clinics/ surgeons are not well-known, we've even been sued several times ourselves, freedom of speech isn't free, but its necessary.

I'm glad that I belong to a forum that truly keeps a free and open environment where surgeons and patients are held accountable for their actions and words.

But this is whats confusing to me. On  another thread someone said clinics pay to get reciommended on this site. This is forever confusing cuz this is supposed to be a forum to help people make wise decisions  without any external influence. Now youre saying this site gets sued???

This is mind-boggling now. Thought this site was an independent forum that kept clinics from manipulating people's buying decisions by protecting them. If this is true then I cant trust anyone on here. I thought this forum was different.  Hope i'm wrong about this.

[Melvin- Admin]

2 minutes ago, killa said:

But this is whats confusing to me. On  another thread someone said clinics pay to get reciommended on this site. This is forever confusing cuz this is supposed to be a forum to help people make wise decisions  without any external influence. Now youre saying this site gets sued???

This is mind-boggling now. Thought this site was an independent forum that kept clinics from manipulating people's buying decisions by protecting them. If this is true then I cant trust anyone on here. I thought this forum was different.  Hope i'm wrong about this.

Our recommended doctors sponsor the forum. We’re very transparent about this fact. However, our recommendations are not set in stone, and we only recommend surgeons that we feel do quality work and uphold high-ethical standards.

Under no circumstance will we allow a hair transplant surgeon to censor a patient on our forum, regardless of who they are. Just because we choose to recommend a surgeon does not mean that they have any control on how we run the forum. We’ve removed surgeons before who we found to be unethical, and yes these surgeons have sued us for it. We were also sued by Dr. Armani, because we didn’t remove negative threads.

We are an independent forum, while we do have our recommendations, we allow anybody to post their results, regardless if the surgeon is recommended or not. I recommend several surgeons who have no affiliation with us, like Ferreira, Lorenzo, to name a few. We want an environment where anyone can post, whether good, bad and even ugly.

Now, having said that, we don’t allow surgeons to game the system. Meaning, we don’t allow surgeons to pay patients to post, to give any other financial incentives to post, or allow them to pretend to be patients. We are strongly against these actions, and we may ban surgeons from the forum for doing this. 

Lastly, do you really think every single person on here is insincere? I’m very transparent, and yes I work for the forum, but I always say, don’t take my word for it, talk to real patients. I posted on here for years before becoming a moderator, and even now, yes I’m paid, but this is my passion, not my job. I still work a full time job and live a normal life. I’m not riding around in yachts and drinking champagne. 

[killa]

  

20 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Our recommended doctors sponsor the forum. We’re very transparent about this fact.

Under no circumstance will we allow a hair transplant surgeon to censor a patient on our forum, regardless of who they are. Just because we choose to recommend a surgeon does not mean that they have any control on how we run the forum. We’ve removed surgeons before who we found to be unethical, and yes these surgeons have sued us for it. We were also sued by Dr. Armani, because we didn’t remove negative threads.

We are an independent forum, while we do have our recommendations, we allow anybody to post their results, regardless if the surgeon is recommended or not.

Wowwww. Theres no truth anywhere not even on the net. From what I know whenever a forum or organization is funded by a group of professionals or companies usually theres opportunities for abuse. Happens all the  time no exceptions.

Which brings me to this crucial incident. Someone I've talked to before who was on this forum until a few years ago said he was blacklisted from contacting certain doctors because he voiced very strong opinions about specific clinics and doctors. At first I didnt want to believe him though a part of me was convinced he was telling the truth. Wont name him so dont ask. What he told me next was a big shocker I ddint think was real. He said this forum sent his contact info to different doctors that sponsor this site and thats how he got blacklisted from visiting any of those doctors. Now that you admit to the private funding  of this site I have no choice but to believe him 500%. This is wild. I'm really silenced now.

So whenever you voice your 1st amendment freedom of opinion about a clinic not only do you run the risk of getting banned or blocked, but you also get blacklisted by clinics from ever treating you.

No offense with what I'm gonna tell you but I got to say it so we're on equal footing given what you wrote. I respect you as long as you respect me. Thats how I roll in life. I like the forum I'm new but have visited it for many years without going on it. I'm no troublemaker at all. Anyone of my friends or relatives  who know me will tell you  I'm open and  curious about things and finding out how they work.  I research and ask lots of questions. If I got to criticize someone   I'll do so with absolutely no fear in my heart but respectfully. But if I ever get mysteriously blacklisted or blocked by certain clinics for reasons which make no sense like the dude I mentioned I'm gonna trace that here to this forum.  I'm saying this with a lot of respect to the forum. keep in mind I know what its like being blocked from certain areas in society with  my background. So I dont play when it comes to that. Just letting you know to protect myself. Appreciate your honesty and much respect.

[Melvin- Admin]

First of all, I work a full time job, I have a life and a family, and I do this because I want to help other balding guys. I don’t have the time to send over 40 doctors, some random guys information. Even if I wanted too, the idea doesn’t even make any sense. Why would we do that? 

Google our name and you’ll see we’ve been in over a dozen lawsuits, preventing patients from being silenced on this very forum. These are facts, which can be proven. You’re making accusations based on hearsay and conspiracies.

Let’s dissect this accusation, how would we even have his information? We have nothing more than an email address and an IP address. Do you think we’re also a group of covert hackers that can hack computers too lol.  That person was probably hard to deal with, and most likely blacklisted himself through his behavior. 

If we banned people for saying negative things, why would we fight lawsuits to preserve the right to host these threads? There are several members on this forum who have had negative things to say about our surgeons and they post everyday.  You just joined two weeks ago, but looks like you got everything figured out. 

I really don’t care if you believe me or not, I’ve been a member of this forum for over 6 years and I participated, and shared my journey way before I became a moderator, if you think it’s all a conspiracy, then I’m not gonna try and convince you otherwise. 

Best wishes,
👋🏼