Can you sue a doctor?

[Royal_tiger]

I had gotten a hair transplant done by a physician who trabsplanted about 650 grafts a year ago. I am Norwood 3. Unfortunately the results were not that satisfactory and after hammering my complaint the surgeon again transplanted 250 grafts last week at no charge. Frankly I don't know the result it will produce.

 

So assuming the revised HT does not produce satisfactory result can one sue a surgeon?

 

Has anyone gone through this kind of frustration/anguish and what did they do?

[Royal_tiger]

I had gotten a hair transplant done by a physician who trabsplanted about 650 grafts a year ago. I am Norwood 3. Unfortunately the results were not that satisfactory and after hammering my complaint the surgeon again transplanted 250 grafts last week at no charge. Frankly I don't know the result it will produce.

 

So assuming the revised HT does not produce satisfactory result can one sue a surgeon?

 

Has anyone gone through this kind of frustration/anguish and what did they do?

[NW]

Short answer...No

 

Best hope is correctional work.

[poet]

I was left with a very large and painful scar, and had my life risked because the doctor cut close to an area where my skull was damaged, and I got a skin infection. I researched it and even with these circumstances most thought I can't sue. If I ever get wealthy and it's still possible I'll definitely try to sue, but for now I'm sitting tight. It's a hard fight to win.

[Guest]

sure you can sue. whether you win the lawsuit is a different story ......

[Royal_tiger]

Thanks to you all. It appears that there really is no recourse. From that perspective, it appears that I was lucky enough to get the additional work done free of charge.

[Shed Harris]

NW is right, don't set yourself up for more disappointment. Hypothetically (and this is the pessimist in me), say you do get a lawyer - he/she will probably want like a $2000 retainer right up front. Guess what? They'll suck that up before they even set up a court date, and probably $2000 more before you even step into a courtroom. At that point you'd be almost halfway to a repair/enhancement procedure with a reputable clinic instead of helping pay some vulture's country club dues.

 

I'm sure there isn't one person in here that doesn't feel for you man. If I were you, I would try and document my experience so far (including pictures) and post it in this forum. A bad experience is just as important in here as a good one. There are many people in here that can relate and can provide experienced guidance. You may not be as bad off as you think. This place is free. I believe it would be a wise investment of your time. Hang in there, I wish you nothing but the best.

 

Chaos, panic and disorder...my work here is done.

[arfy]

It IS possible to sue a HT doctor successfully, although it can be hard. There is usually 2 year (or less) statute of limitations on a malpractice lawsuit. Sometimes it can take years to figure out that you've been damaged, because it takes a long time for a HT to grow in. The statute of limitations is too short for HT.

 

If you have a good legal case, I suppose many lawyers will not charge a fee, but instead work for a percentage of whatever you are awarded (or settle for). That would be the ideal situation for many guys...

 

Besides malpractice, I believe it may be easier to win a suit for "false claims" made by a doctor. If you are a patient and your doctor makes a lot of promises to you, you should ask him to put them in writing, especially if they are promises that are made in order to sell you on a surgery ("I guarantee you'll look great!" Oh really?) Document any graft estimates that the doctor tells you that you'll need, etc. Keep a record of all letters and emails, and maybe even keep a journal documenting your HT problem.

 

I heard that NuHart lost a class action suit, and that Bosley is being sued by some state's attorneys or attorney generals. There have been other doctors who have been sued, who have settled out of court.

 

So it can be done! It isn't always easy to sue, especially for bad artistic skills. You probably can't sue for a HT that just looks mediocre.

 

However, you might have a good legal case if your grafts did not grow! That is the basic premise behind a HT, after all.

 

If you had a bad experience with a doctor, I don't know if you should go back and give him a second chance. You have a limited amount of donor hair and can't afford to waste any.

[Guest]

well 650 grafts are not going to make a huge difference. a norwood three requires much more then that. Also for him to then give you another HT for only 250 grafts? Something is not making sence.

 

Matthew

[Magoo]

I can't think of any circumstances where I'd be prepared to have further surgery with a guy who's proved inadeqate in the past.

 

Two points occur;

 

1. 250 grafts will make little difference so why bother. If he's offering 250 as part of a deal to do say 1000 grafts, I'd be particulalrly sceptical.

 

2 While the surgery might be free, your grafts are valuable. If this boso wastes more of them, you'll never get them back.

 

If you're not going the legal route, my advice would be to cut your losses and go someplace else. It may take you a while to get the money together, but wasted donor hair can never be replaced.

[arfy]

I agree with Magoo, I don't know why you would go back to the doctor you were unsatisfied with. Also, I think the doctor's plan to do less than a thousand grafts is senseless, if it is done with a strip excision.

 

Yes, HT doctors can be sued. I read that Dr. Brandy lost a 400,000 dollar lawsuit. More evidence that scalp lifts are horrible and should be avoided like the plague:

 

"1996 -- In September, Michael Potkul, 33, won a $400,000 malpractice award against surgeon Dominic A. Brandy in Pittsburgh. Brandy had convinced Potkul that he could give him a nearly full head of hair by surgically (in six operations) grabbing the hairy back of his scalp and stretching it over the thin-haired top of his head. Potkul suffered such pain and depression by the fifth operation that he attempted suicide."

 

Here is a great article about suing doctors... Even though it refers to LASIK eye surgery, the article could just as easily be written about suing a HT doctor. The article discusses many points of interest worth reading, like false advertising, that the legal disclaimer you sign does not excuse malpractice or false claims by the doctor, poor post-surgical follow-up (in my case, the post-surgery follow-up examinations were done by the salesman, NOT by Dr. Puig), the statute of limitations, etc. According to the article, the "false claims" angle may be the way to have a successful lawsuit, rather than a straight-ahead malpractice lawsuit, where you have to prove the doctor made obvious mistakes that other doctors usually would not make.

 

http://www.surgicaleyes.com/CanYouSue.htm

 

If you had a bad HT experience, you should complain to the state medical boards, but remember that the state medical boards are made up of OTHER DOCTORS, who are not in the habit of busting each others' balls, unless somebody dies in the operating room. A doctor can even show up drunk, and a one time offense is not going to get him in trouble with the state medical board... the doc needs to show up drunk repeatedly!!!

 

This problem of bad doctors is not limited to the world of Hair Transplants, but a lot of crooked doctors are attracted to opening a HT clinic because it is CASH ONLY business with no red tape from insurance companies, fast turnover, easy to perform, etc. The only way to fight back against these doctors is to hit them in the only place it hurts... in the wallet. Lawsuits are the only way that you can really make an impact on a doctor, in my opinion.

 

[This message was edited by arfy on November 23, 2003 at 07:48 PM.]

[arfy]

By the way, Dr. Brandy lost a 400,000 dollar lawsuit for doing a series of scalp lifts on a guy, and someone else recently posted that Dr. Brandy doesn't do scalp lifts any more.

 

Coincidence that Brandy stopped doing scalp lifts after being sued?

 

I don't think so!!!!

[Ken belanger]

What is a scalp lift?

 

Is that like a Male Pattern Reduction (MPR)?

[arfy]

A scalp lift (aka hair lift) is a more aggressive version of a scalp reduction. An even bigger amount of bald scalp is removed. Of course, you need to make up for that missing scalp somehow, and the doctor does that by pulling the scalp up from all over the back and sides. It requires detaching the scalp from your skull, by cutting the connective tissue that holds your scalp on.

 

Guys who have had scalp lifts often have their hair pulled way out of position, so that the hair on the nape of their neck ends up too high, and there is too big of a hairless gap around their ears etc. I've heard of patients who have ended up with a permanent look of "surprise" on their face. Think about cutting away a big area in the bald zone, and then pulling and stretching up the donor fringe area and trying to make it meet in the middle. It's just a bad idea.

 

If you have gotten a bad HT, it is possible to undo it, to a certain degree, or in some cases have a complete recovery (example- Jotronic). But with a problem scalp lift, it can be very hard to correct. You've changed the positioning of your entire scalp.

[Ken belanger]

Sounds like something Bosley and Dr. Paul Straub would offer.

 

It's right up their alley.

 

Stories like that make me want to hurl.

 

How many lives have these guy destroyed with this B.S?

[Royal_tiger]

The reason I went to the same surgeon for additional grafts was mainly because he was willing to do it for free. As a good gesture, I thought he deserved an opportunity to correct the problem.

 

Should this does not produce acceptable result (I am already skeptical), I don't think I would go for HT. If I do, it won't be the same surgeon no matter what. However, my experience highlights the prevalence of incompetent "guys" in this industry.