Pics from HT with Dr. Bauman (updated with Dr. Bauman pics)

[k10]

I am writing this thread to reflect my current thoughts. I spoke to Dr. Bauman today and he offered to do another FUE Neograft procedure to fill in the scars. He assured me that 900-1200 grafts could easily be obtained from my donor area. I am hesitant to do another procedure with him at this time since I do not know the results of my 4th HT. I will continue to document my growth with the last procedure.

 

What I do know is the last 3 HTs I have had with Dr. Bauman. I will document the facts as I know them. Also Dr. Bauman gave me a more accurate account of grafts taken so I want to pass that along in fairness to him. I wanted to pass along photos he took of me throughout the years, I emailed him on 1-19-2010 about my photos and my concerns and he didn't respond so I posted the pics I have. After speaking with him today 2-3-2010 he apologized and said he was out of town but he would get me the pics I requested.

 

Here are the facts as I know them. The 1st procedure was on 11-1-2005, I had 1800 grafts according to Dr. Bauman, and he said that I had from 500-800 grafts put in my crown. The cost was $10,300 according to my invoice. The first procedure he did not use a tricophidic closure.

 

My 2nd HT I received 2000 grafts according to Dr. Bauman on 05-8-2007. The cost $9,900 according to my invoice. I did 2 hyperbaric chambers costing a total $400.

 

My 3rd HT I received 1600 grafts according to Dr. Bauman on 12-15-2008. The cost was $8700 according to my invoice. I did 4 hyperbaric chambers which cost $900, I purchased an X5 Hair Laser for $299, and one shampoo $16, one conditioner $16, 60 tablets of Viviscal $75 and 84 tablets of Appearex Biotin $32. The total for that invoice was $10,112 according to my invoice.

 

My 4th HT (FUE Neograft) I received 1500 grafts for $20,000 and 751 single grafts for $7,510 on 11-18-2009 according to my invoice, I did 4 hyperbaric chambers and the total cost of my invoice was $28,530.62. As stated previously I do not know the full results of my 4th HT because I am 11 weeks into it. In total I have had 4 Hair Transplant surgeries by Dr. Alan Bauman, according to the graft numbers he gave me today I have had 7651 grafts and have spent $58,842.62.

 

I have attached all my pics from the 1st HT to the 4th HT. The pics are not great; I don't really have too many pics after the 3rd procedure. I will just show you what I have and you can form your own opinions.

 

I have added some photos Dr. Bauman sent me. They are from before any HTs until after HT3. Somewhere around 5400 grafts.I thank you for your time and support.

 

 

 

[hairthere]

There's no doubt about it: Bauman butchered you. It's shocking to see work like this still being done, especially from a doc that has such a high profile. I really cannot understand it. Hopefully a top doc will take some pity on you and cut you a break--you definitely deserve it after what you've been through man. Best of luck.

[phil mascallpen]

k10 you must get a lawyer. He butchered you and threw in the insult of suckering you 4 different times and stealing 60K from you. 60 K to get butchered?

 

Get a lawyer before any statute of limitations expires. It's clear that in this day and age that what happened to you falls well below the standard of care. And then he has the nerve to not even answer your e-mails?

 

Please please please contact several lawyers. You have a chance to get your money back and perhaps general damages also. Do not wait because the sooner you do it the better your chances are.

 

I genuinely hope one of the doctors from this site can help you and wish you well.

[k10]

I haven't looked into any legal matters, I don't even know where to start with all that, I don't know any lawyers so if you know some please pass it along. Right now I am just trying to find a top doctor who can help me out.

 

I tried posting this exact thread on baldtruth and they listed it as a complaint and took it off. I don't understand why people cant post the bad HT experiences so others can read it to make informed decisions.

[Sparky]

Just google for lawyers local to you, I reckon he wouldnt stand a chance against this considering the evidence is on your head. HT docs are not above the law.

[BigBill1234]

How does the back of your head look with the longer hair?

[k10]

I don't know how it will look with long hair yet, I will post my pics at 3 months to update the photo album. I just know the FUE left me thinner in the back so the coverage wont be what it use to.

[..]

it would seem u have had no yield at all from the first 3 hair transplants, but now having 3 thickish strip scars to show for it, the top one being way out of the safe zone.

i hope this gets sorted out one way or another.

[Slaps]

Bauman appears to have deliberately disfigured you, i can think of no other rational explanation for this abomination. For the sake of others you must report this to the authorities. Bauman needs to be stopped from doing this.

[k10]

carlcounts1914@yahoo.com

I am still waiting on him to send me pics. I have been asking for feedback and pics from him for a while now. I talked to him today and he said he is working on getting them to me.

 

so what was your outcome with Dr. Bauman, did you resolve the issue? Also are you going to get a repair job anywhere?

[k10]

I am sorry to hear that. So nobody will do work on you until Dr. Bauman releases your medical records? That worries me, so what do you plan on doing?

[phil mascallpen]

runman and k10 you have a legal right to your records. Bauman has to give copies to you free of charge if your goal is to get corrective work done by another doctor. He also has to let you and/or your lawyer view the originals. Here is a good link as a starting point:

 

http://www.floridamalpractice.com/tocmedrecords.htm

 

Before you get any corrective work done talk to a lawyer as it might affect your ability to get satisfaction from Bauman.

 

It seems he is still trying to take advantage of your naivete by threatening you with legal action. You need an advocate who is fully versed in Florida medical law and should start researching the matter ASAP.

[hairthere]

The defamation lawsuit is a bunch of BS. There is no law preventing you guys from sharing your results on a public forum. If I were you two I'd try and band together with as many unhappy Bauman patients as possible and try for a class action suit. A group did that against a Doctor named Gary Hitzig in the northeast and I believe they won.

[k10]

Here is his response: This thread is located at:

(promotional link removed)

 

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************

NK,

 

My staff and I were quite surprised by your posting, considering the consistently good communication we've shared and the care we have provided over the course of more than five years and four procedures, including your most recent FUE procedure we performed for you within the past ninety days and the recent contact you've had with the office this month.

 

For your first procedure in 2005, we opted for a linear harvest as opposed to FUE due to the numbers of grafts we anticipated needing for the frontal and crown area. With each subsequent medium-sized procedure, we discussed the pros and cons of harvesting hair vs. removing previous scar tissue from your donor area and the FUE option. The choices we made together were a result of weighing the goals of achieving the hairline, frontal and crown coverage against the risk of additional scars.

 

Though not an easy decision, if you remember our discussions, in each case we agreed to harvest in a 'new' area because:

 

1. The removal of a previous scar would certainly decrease the number of follicles we'd be able to also harvest during that procedure. (Removal of scar plus transplantable follicles typically yields far fewer than 1000 grafts.)

 

2. From our discussions, your hairline/coverage goals always took precedence over additional scars or scar revisions.

 

3. Your hairstyle has always easily covered the scar tissue.

 

As we just recently discussed, while you were here in the office just recently, there is more than adequate donor hair available to camouflage the scars if that is a goal in the future as well as to touch-up areas of future thinning, if needed. Additionally, I'm confident that all of the hair we harvested was from healthy, permanent areas of donor.

 

In the meantime, as we discussed today, remember that areas of visible scar can be

 

1. Camouflaged in the short-term FUE recovery-phase by using products like Toppik or Derm-match

 

2. Possibly reduced using a scar-revision procedure to reduce their size in the future, or

 

3. Eventually camouflaged using FUE/NeoGraft.

 

My staff and I all understand that you are going through the cosmetically awkward 'in-between' time. Waiting for the growth of the recent transplants and the coverage of the donor scars to occur can be difficult, so patience is needed and we are here for assistance and support 24/7--as we always have been for you over the years. Please let me know any questions or concerns you have.

 

Sincerely,

Alan J. Bauman, M.D.

Medical Director

Bauman Medical Group

***************

[phil mascallpen]

Wow when I look at your before pics in that link and here your hairline was way stronger and slightly lower than after spending 60 grand.

 

Also his BS about not taking the old scar is just that, BS. Any decent HT doctor takes the old scar unless he is doing surgery on someone else's patient and the old scar is in a bad position. But since all these scars are Bauman's that is not the case.

 

When he talks about removing the scar and transplantable follicles yielding less than 1000 grafts he's also full of it. Many of the doctors here routinely remove old scars and get more than 2000 grafts. Dr. Hasson removed some of my old scarring and got ~4700 grafts. And the old scarring was not even from him.

 

And the coup de grace is when he says "My staff and I all understand that you are going through the cosmetically awkward 'in-between' time". Ahhhh yes "Doctor" Bauman, the awkward, 4 surgery, 5 years, experimental graft sucking machine, 3 different donor scars, $60,000.00 'in between' time. Standard procedure and all that, tut tut.

 

k10 wake up and smell the coffee. Then call a lawyer.

[hairthere]

Wow...Bauman really shouldn't be practicing anymore. I wonder how many heads he's carved up like this.

 

K10, for a doc to say you get better yield by producing 3 strip scars instead of taking from the same one is ludicrous. Ask any top doctor. I have never seen anyone do this before.

 

If you do pursue a lawsuit I suggest you get a written consult from a top doctor saying that this approach is ill-advised and not common practice at all.

[harry101]

I am totally dumbstruck to know that after spending more than $50000 you have this result. I don't know what to say!!!!

 

I don't even want to put my opinion about Dr. Bauman here because they are just way too indecent..

 

I am also surprised to see his comments-"Your hairstyle has always easily covered the scar tissue"....HAIRS ARE SUPPOSED TO COVER THE SCAR TISSUE!! DO YOU NEED A MEDICAL DEGREE TO SAY THAT?

 

If I was you my friend, I would drag Dr Bauman to the court and get my money back!

[harry101]

Even if he [Dr Bowman] apologies, it won't bring $50 grands and a clean scarless head back. I strongly feel this lowlife needs ruthless justice. Go after him k10!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Guys,

 

After taking the time to go through this thread and all of the posts, I've had to edit and remove several comments in violation of our terms of service.

 

This is a forum for sharing genuine opinions, experiences and results, not for hate mongering or personal insults. Each of you are entitled to sharing your opinions, but opinions can be shared respectfully without profanity and personal insult.

 

The overlying principle here should be to post comments in the interest of helping the patient. Open attacks on a physician or anyone for that matter isn't constructive in providing patients with the helps they need to move forward.

 

Regarding this case, I too have concerns with physicians harvesting strips in multiple areas of the scalp. None of the three scars appear optimal and the top scar in particular appears to be far outside the universal safe zone. Hopefully these additional risks were discussed prior to surgery.

 

Regarding growth, since you're only at the beginning stages of the 4th procedure, it's hard to really gauge with any degree of accuracy. That said, here are my observations from the previous procedures according to the photos:

 

1. Growth appears less than optimal in the first two procedures (there are no pictures showing the final results of the third, so I can't comment)

 

2. Male pattern baldness appears to have progressed creating a need for more grafts than initially intended.

 

Dr. Bauman has been invited to respond to this thread and the concerns listed here. It will be up to him if he chooses to respond or not.

 

In the meantime, I do hope that this last procedure yields the growth K10 needs to achieve the coverage and density he needs. I'd also encourage him to considering growing the hair on the sides and back of his head longer to see how well his hair camouflages the scars. In another 6 to 8 months, K10 can then decide what, if anything he wants to do moving forward.

 

K10, thanks for sharing your experience with us. I encourage you to hang in there and update us on your progress with the results of your fourth procedure.

 

All the Best,

 

Bill

[k10]

I just received the pics from Dr. Bauman so I wanted to share them with you to be fair to him.

 

This pic Dr. Bauman sent me is from 2005-2009 (before any HTs until after HT 3, around 5400 grafts), I must remind you that as Bill stated I do not know the results of my 4th procedure at this time. I am only a few months post op.

 

I have also updated my original post to include more pics he sent me. Thank you

[windjc]

Originally posted by k10:

I just received the pics from Dr. Bauman so I wanted to share them with you to be fair to him.

 

This pic Dr. Bauman sent me is from 2005-2009 (before any HTs until after HT 3, around 5400 grafts), I must remind you that as Bill stated I do not know the results of my 4th procedure at this time. I am only a few months post op.

 

I have also updated my original post to include more pics he sent me. Thank you

 

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY did you go to this same doctor 4 times?

 

At some point the patient has to take responsiblity for their results. You didn't get good results with the 1st transplant. Your experience with Bauman should have ended their.

 

I don't even know what to say. And you are still talking to him about another surgery. At this point you get exactly what you deserve.

 

Its horrible that the results are this bad. Its sad that you could have avoided 80% of this EASILY.

[Slaps]

'I even had his secretary stop me on the way out the door after the 3rd HT asking for more money. I was shocked. I ask why and she said they got more grafts and was insisting that i pay an additional $2400 dollars before leaving , which i did not.

[/quote

 

I'm sure some of these clinics think there is a correlation between hair loss and brain loss.

[k10]

I have been asked by a couple of people in different forums or by individual email if the 4th HT price was a typo. That is the correct pricing according to my invoice. Further more here is the email I received from Dr. Bauman regarding his FUE pricing.

 

Hello Nate:

 

Thank you so much for the additional emails- I really appreciate you forwarding those to me. The FUE NEOGRAFT is priced a bit differently than a traditional linear harvest mainly because of all the additional benefits such as; no scar, no down-time, quicker healing process, no stitches to remove, etc. The 1st 500 grafts is $10,000 and each graft thereafter is $10. For ex: a 1000 graft session size would cost $15,000 . I hope this information helps and I look forward to following up in August.

 

 

 

Thank you and have a great weekend!

 

 

 

Tara Sikes

 

Patient Services Coordinator

[phil mascallpen]

Originally posted by k10:

The FUE NEOGRAFT is priced a bit differently than a traditional linear harvest mainly because of all the additional benefits such as; no scar, no down-time, quicker healing process, no stitches to remove, etc. The 1st 500 grafts is $10,000

 

Thank you and have a great weekend!

 

 

That's $20 per graft! It would be funny if it were not so obscene.

 

Of course graft has several definitions. Now when I hear Bauman's name I'll think of this definition:

 

graft??‚??‚[graft, grahft]

??“noun

1. the acquisition of money, gain, or advantage by dishonest, unfair, or illegal means, esp. through the abuse of one's position or influence in politics, business, etc.

[EpilepticSceptic]

I think Bauman is trying to be the USA version of Mr. Norton who ran the notorious Norton Clinic in the UK. Sounds really familiar because Norton also offered other types of cosmetic surgery instead of just hair transplants.

 

I'd bet that Bauman probably drives a Ferrari around as well. Docs like him will probably just try to keep the clinic going for as long as they can rake in enough profits to retire the outfit for good. Then they just start up another clinic with a different name to have a new BBB record and a clean slate for the next series of butchery.

 

Obviously there's only one way left to administer justice to hack money fiend surgeons like this -- the old fashioned way!