DR TRUE

[tony71]

I just wanted to post about my experience with Dr.True. Back in Decemeber 95 I visted his office in Betheasda, MD and there was another doctor there and talked to me about the procedures.

 

So in Jan.96 I went in for my first procedure and had around 300 grafts, then the next year I have another procedure. From 96 till 99 I had four procedures and a total of 2300 grafts.

 

Now to get to the point, Dr True assured me that with my final procedure that I will have a full head of hair, I did tell him what my expectations were and he assured me that it would be met. After the 4th and final procedure there was no difference and infact I had lost more hair.

 

I made another appointment into his office since I was upset and wanted to talk to him. I reminded him that he told me that I would pretty much grow all my hair back and his answer was that my hair is fine hair and thin and because of that I did not get the results, I told him that with all the experience that he claims to have how come now he tells me this and not the beginning of the entire procedure over the years?

 

He didn't have anything to say and he offered to do another procedure, I told him if I do the procedure and if I 'm not happy with the results I would then want a refund and he agreed to this and there was another new doctor in the room at the time of this conversation.

 

I told him I would think about it and let him know, the next week I called the office and went in and the new doctor was there and he told me that Dr.True won't be on the MD office anymore and will be in the NYC office. So he was the one that would be performing the procedure, I told him that I would want something in writing that if I am not happy with the 5th procedure that I would get a refund and he told me that he or Dr True never said such a thing!

 

The bottomeline is this, I had 4 procedures and back then I was young a 24 year old depress and want to get my hair back and this man promised me that I would grow my hair back the way I wanted it and that never happened.

 

I just want to make sure that anyone that goes see this Dr.True better make sure they do their homework or just keep away from him and find another doctor that will be upfront and honest with you.

[tony71]

I just wanted to post about my experience with Dr.True. Back in Decemeber 95 I visted his office in Betheasda, MD and there was another doctor there and talked to me about the procedures.

 

So in Jan.96 I went in for my first procedure and had around 300 grafts, then the next year I have another procedure. From 96 till 99 I had four procedures and a total of 2300 grafts.

 

Now to get to the point, Dr True assured me that with my final procedure that I will have a full head of hair, I did tell him what my expectations were and he assured me that it would be met. After the 4th and final procedure there was no difference and infact I had lost more hair.

 

I made another appointment into his office since I was upset and wanted to talk to him. I reminded him that he told me that I would pretty much grow all my hair back and his answer was that my hair is fine hair and thin and because of that I did not get the results, I told him that with all the experience that he claims to have how come now he tells me this and not the beginning of the entire procedure over the years?

 

He didn't have anything to say and he offered to do another procedure, I told him if I do the procedure and if I 'm not happy with the results I would then want a refund and he agreed to this and there was another new doctor in the room at the time of this conversation.

 

I told him I would think about it and let him know, the next week I called the office and went in and the new doctor was there and he told me that Dr.True won't be on the MD office anymore and will be in the NYC office. So he was the one that would be performing the procedure, I told him that I would want something in writing that if I am not happy with the 5th procedure that I would get a refund and he told me that he or Dr True never said such a thing!

 

The bottomeline is this, I had 4 procedures and back then I was young a 24 year old depress and want to get my hair back and this man promised me that I would grow my hair back the way I wanted it and that never happened.

 

I just want to make sure that anyone that goes see this Dr.True better make sure they do their homework or just keep away from him and find another doctor that will be upfront and honest with you.

[MrJobi]

Hi

 

I'm sorry to hear that.. Ironically, my experience was totally the opposite with Dr. True. He was upfront, honest, and told me that I would need future procedures..2 HT's later, I could not be happier and will probably be getting a final one late this year.. 95 is over 10 years ago and the technologies available were much different as well as the expectation levels. With that being said, if you were sold a poor bill of goods, I can certainly empathize.

 

Good luck in the future.

[tony71]

I understand 95 is ten years ago and things have chanaged, the fact of the matter is he told me things I wanted to hear instead of telling me the facts and when all things were said and done then he tells me that the reason I didn't get the results was that I had fine hair.

 

He could have told me this from the beginning that I won't be getting a full head of hair and that my hair is fine (thin) but he told me that I would be with the final results.

 

He was just a happy surgeon with an extra 13k in his pocket.

[Mark H]

The technique and technology 10 years ago must certainly have been less advanced.

 

You seemed to indicate in the first part of your post that you ended up with less hair than before the surgeries is that right?

 

Dr. True's response seems to be that you didn't get the best results because your hair is fine, which implies a result that is less than you wanted, but more (coverage) than you started with.

 

Can you clarify that?

 

Its plain that you feel you've been led down the primrose path. There are three possible explanations: 1)He misled you, 2)You misled yourself, and 3)There was some of both.

 

Don't get angry about the above, I'm just laying it out as best I can.

 

Apart from your clarifying where your surgeries left you, it would be helpful to get Dr. True's perspective, and I hope he posts a response.

 

mark h.

[the B spot]

I would like to point out that Dr. True has been doing HT full-time since 92, so he should have had a good grasp on what could be achieved using whatever current method he employed. Perhaps Dr. True was overzealous and promised you something a little better. Then again, it could be that your thought process only allowed you see the "best case scenario." I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Question: Have you contacted Dr. True recently? I would think he would jump at the chance to see you and possibly transplant additionally as you represent the "middle ages" of hairtransplantation. I am eager to find out how this plays out. I will not pass judgement on Dr. True, however, as I think whatever faults in his work have been cleared up, otherwise Pat would have tossed him a long time ago.

[Guest]

Do you have any pictures you can post?

[nikkop23]

Yes, pictures would help. I'm sure Dr. True would never have promised you a "full head of hair", as that is an unrealistic goal given any state of HT technology, today's included. From all accounts, True seems like an honest doctor, and True/Dorin have great feedback ever since they've been associated. It seems that all this shit about Dr. True goes back to his association w/ Dr. Elliot, whose work that I've seen is pretty awful. I'm sure True wishes he could shake off the past association and is always evasive about it when questioned (as evidenced by threads on another board). Nevertheless, Elliot trained him and so the stigma persists. I don't think I'd trust True with a full-head session (NW5-6), but then again I probably wouldn't trust anyone but H&W at this point if I needed that much work. That said, his hairlines seem really good, much better to my eye than Feller's fully reconstructed ones. Anyway, I'm rambling.... Hope Dr. True enlightens us w/ a response.

[tony71]

Originally posted by Mark H:

The technique and technology 10 years ago must certainly have been less advanced.

 

You seemed to indicate in the first part of your post that you ended up with less hair than before the surgeries is that right?

 

Dr. True's response seems to be that you didn't get the best results because your hair is fine, which implies a result that is less than you wanted, but more (coverage) than you started with.

 

Can you clarify that?

 

Its plain that you feel you've been led down the primrose path. There are three possible explanations: 1)He misled you, 2)You misled yourself, and 3)There was some of both.

 

Don't get angry about the above, I'm just laying it out as best I can.

 

Apart from your clarifying where your surgeries left you, it would be helpful to get Dr. True's perspective, and I hope he posts a response.

 

mark h.

 

I started with more hair, he did say that I may lose some hair due to the shock which I was ok with. He told me that I would basicly get the full coverage that I wanted and it would be the way it was before my hairloss.

 

He was the one that misled me, with all his experiences he could have told me from the start what I should expect, specially when he knew what my expectations were.

[tony71]

Originally posted by the B spot:

I would like to point out that Dr. True has been doing HT full-time since 92, so he should have had a good grasp on what could be achieved using whatever current method he employed. Perhaps Dr. True was overzealous and promised you something a little better. Then again, it could be that your thought process only allowed you see the "best case scenario." I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Question: Have you contacted Dr. True recently? I would think he would jump at the chance to see you and possibly transplant additionally as you represent the "middle ages" of hairtransplantation. I am eager to find out how this plays out. I will not pass judgement on Dr. True, however, as I think whatever faults in his work have been cleared up, otherwise Pat would have tossed him a long time ago.

 

I haven't contacted him since the last time I was in the office with the new doctor who was rude. He lied straight out that he or Dr.True never said anything about a refund if the final procedure was not to my expectation, when in fact Dr.True said he would in front of him.

 

I don't think I want to contact Dr.True, why would I want to have someone that lied to me do the procedure?

 

I have since then turned to Farrell system and it has been 5 years now and I couldn't be happier.

[tony71]

Originally posted by mr. joe:

Do you have any pictures you can post?

 

 

I will try to see if I can find some pictures, I shave the front and back of my head since I use a system now so taking a picture now wouldn't help.

[Guest]

Hi Tony71,

Can you tell us a little more of your history? How old were you when you started your surgeries? What was your hair loss like at the time? Are you thinking of repairs? Thanks

[nikkop23]

Tony, who was the other rude doctor?

[JakeVig]

This is an all to common story with HT patients. They undergo a HT to with unrealistic expectations to restore their once youthfull hairlines. I imagine your story would be very common in places like Bosley where they have untrained sales people armed with dubious photos being paid commission to get you in the chair. Dr True has had some negative feedback during his tenure with Dr Elliot so this story is not unconceivable. Though I have to ask after 4 previous transplants of what sound like mediocre results why would think that the next one would restore a full head of hair? Despite him telling you what you wanted to hear, did you see any photos or patient results with the results you expected? Though I would imagine it would've been a lot harder to weed out the truth in the mediocre age of HT's without the Internet being as prevelant as it is today.

 

Your story is also troubling in the fact that you underwent multiple HT's in a short period of time as a young hairloss sufferer. Were you on propecia at the time? are you on propecia now?

 

In a time when many people are moving away from hair systems to HT's are you happier with your system? What NW are you now and would you consider another HT in future?

[nikkop23]

Even more troubling is the fact that you might be here ultimately to pimp Farrell hair systems, which you do on another hairsite. And you've mentioned them already here.... I think True is doing solid work now and haven't heard any complaints about him since True/Dorin joined forces. All these horror stories seem to be from young patients who took the plunge during the medieval era. Looking at your before pics on the other site, I can't imagine Dr. True having any problem taking care of that entire area w/ today's technology. IMO, Dorin is the one to watch for the future.

[John_in_NC]

Originally posted by tony71:

I have since then turned to Farrell system and it has been 5 years now and I couldn't be happier.

 

Of course you couldn't be happier than with a rug on your head. Are you serious or just getting paid to plug his systems?

[tony71]

Originally posted by mr. joe:

Hi Tony71,

Can you tell us a little more of your history? How old were you when you started your surgeries? What was your hair loss like at the time? Are you thinking of repairs? Thanks

 

I was 24 when I started the surgery, now I', 34. My hairloss wasn't that extensive at the time, I could style it. It was alittle thin.

 

I'm thinking of doing another surgery or two to make it full, hopefully. I wouldn't say it would be a repair, because he did not do any damage.

[tony71]

Originally posted by nikkop23:

Tony, who was the other rude doctor?

 

I forgotten his name, the first time I met him was when he was in the room with Dr.True, he didn't say much.

 

The next time I met him again was when I went to make plans about the surgery and thats when I found out that Dr. True wasn't going to be performing and would not be at the MD office anymore.

[Mark H]

Hey gang,

 

I think Mr. Joe has the right idea. He's asked some important additional questions, and others have asked for pictures.

 

It seems to me we should get as much information as possible before we dismiss either Tony71 or Dr. True.

 

I'm fairly new here, but I don't think I'm being gullible in observing that Tony71 appears to be someone that is hurting from an unhappy experience, and not just a drive-by spammer. If he hasn't yet given all the information, he is responding to questions.

 

As long as he's willing to respond to questions and provide more information, I don't think there is any harm here. If this turns out to be something other than a legitimate complaint, or if his complaint is off base that will come out by and by, eh?

 

This site should protect the reputations of doctors, but if we do so as a matter of course, we're merely a cheering section, and not good ombudsmen.

 

I recall someone posting a very negative response about their experience with Hasson & Wong...I think it was. The doctor responded thoroughly online, and subsequently the complaint was dropped and _fully_ apologized for.

 

Without predicting a similar outcome, shouldn't we give Tony71 some benefit of the doubt as long as he appears to be responding in good faith, just as we're giving that same benefit to Dr. True, who has yet to respond?

 

mark h

[tony71]

Originally posted by JakeVig:

This is an all to common story with HT patients. They undergo a HT to with unrealistic expectations to restore their once youthfull hairlines. I imagine your story would be very common in places like Bosley where they have untrained sales people armed with dubious photos being paid commission to get you in the chair. Dr True has had some negative feedback during his tenure with Dr Elliot so this story is not unconceivable. Though I have to ask after 4 previous transplants of what sound like mediocre results why would think that the next one would restore a full head of hair? Despite him telling you what you wanted to hear, did you see any photos or patient results with the results you expected? Though I would imagine it would've been a lot harder to weed out the truth in the mediocre age of HT's without the Internet being as prevelant as it is today.

 

Your story is also troubling in the fact that you underwent multiple HT's in a short period of time as a young hairloss sufferer. Were you on propecia at the time? are you on propecia now?

 

In a time when many people are moving away from hair systems to HT's are you happier with your system? What NW are you now and would you consider another HT in future?

 

I saw some pictures, but what really sold me was this guy that worked in the office named Bob, he was very nice guy. He had gray hair, and they showed me his before and after picture and I was sold on that alone.

 

One thing I noticed, the office always changed either the doctors or the employees, so you would never know who to expect for the next visit.

 

And I have never tried propecia, don't think I really wanted too either.

I never wanted a system, and I always told myself I would rather be bald than have a system but going through the HT and the bad experience, I wanted something to work, I tried Toppik for awhile and that was a mess and after a while I decided forget it!

 

Then I found this other hairloss website, and started to read and do some research on the systems. I flew July of 2000 to LA, and went to the office where they had the systems, while I was waiting I saw 2 guys walk in and I would have never known that they had systems, I was pretty much shocked. Anyways I met the consultant and one thing that I noticed, he never pushed me to buy the system, he even had one.

 

Anyways to make a long story short, in November 2001 I got my system and I got so many compliments from people that didn't know it was a system.

 

It has been 5 years now and to be honest I really want to have my own hair back, just don't want to deal with the cleaning of the systems every week, to time consuming for me.

[tony71]

Originally posted by nikkop23:

Even more troubling is the fact that you might be here ultimately to pimp Farrell hair systems, which you do on another hairsite. And you've mentioned them already here.... I think True is doing solid work now and haven't heard any complaints about him since True/Dorin joined forces. All these horror stories seem to be from young patients who took the plunge during the medieval era. Looking at your before pics on the other site, I can't imagine Dr. True having any problem taking care of that entire area w/ today's technology. IMO, Dorin is the one to watch for the future.

 

This is the first time I have posted about my issues with Dr.True, I have never promoted Farrell on another site other than the time when I got my system which was back in November 2001. Infact the only reason I'm on this site is to do some research on HT and if there are any new treatments. All I'm saying is, if he had been upfront with me, I would have been alot happier infact I may have never gone through it.

 

Trust me, I would do anything to regain alittle more hair to cover up and burn the systems.

[tony71]

Originally posted by John_in_NC:

Originally posted by tony71:

I have since then turned to Farrell system and it has been 5 years now and I couldn't be happier.

 

Of course you couldn't be happier than with a rug on your head. Are you serious or just getting paid to plug his systems?

 

Ok, I admit I was happy the first 3 years, someimes Im happy but when I have to go through the cleaning and once a year sending it to cali to get a new front that has turned into alot of hassel for me.

[tony71]

Originally posted by Mark H:

Hey gang,

 

I think Mr. Joe has the right idea. He's asked some important additional questions, and others have asked for pictures.

 

It seems to me we should get as much information as possible before we dismiss either Tony71 or Dr. True.

 

I'm fairly new here, but I don't think I'm being gullible in observing that Tony71 appears to be someone that is hurting from an unhappy experience, and not just a drive-by spammer. If he hasn't yet given all the information, he is responding to questions.

 

As long as he's willing to respond to questions and provide more information, I don't think there is any harm here. If this turns out to be something other than a legitimate complaint, or if his complaint is off base that will come out by and by, eh?

 

This site should protect the reputations of doctors, but if we do so as a matter of course, we're merely a cheering section, and not good ombudsmen.

 

I recall someone posting a very negative response about their experience with Hasson & Wong...I think it was. The doctor responded thoroughly online, and subsequently the complaint was dropped and _fully_ apologized for.

 

Without predicting a similar outcome, shouldn't we give Tony71 some benefit of the doubt as long as he appears to be responding in good faith, just as we're giving that same benefit to Dr. True, who has yet to respond?

 

mark h

 

Mark,

 

thanks for the post. The only pics I have are poloroid pics , I guess I took them one night before going out clubbing, I took it before and after putting the toppik just to see the difference for myself.

 

And I still do have my consultation papers with Dr True office from 1996, when they had an office in Bethesda, MD. Maybe I can go to Kinkos and have that scanned.

[nikkop23]

Cool, Tony. Thanks for your reply and good luck w/ yr research here. Hope we hear from Dr. True soon.

[the B spot]

Tony, I would like to say thanks for not getting defensive or ignorant over the comments others have made. Each response I have read contains valid issues, and you took the time to respond in a timely, professional manner. Again, I think Dr. True will find it hard to live down his association with Elliott, but I think you should contact him, just to see what his response is. I and many others would find that interesting to be sure. Also, it might help to dash an email out to Pat, as he is always open to these type of situations. Good Luck and let us know how this plays out.