Consumer Driven Website Appears on Internet ‘attacking’ Doctors Who are Unethical

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

The ethics of plumbers, contractors, auto-mechanics, and many other have always been questioned. Because there are a few rotten apples in every bucket of apples, that does not mean that all apples in the bucket are rotten. This metaphor applies to plastic surgeons, all professionals including cosmetic dentists and hair restoration surgeons, as well of which I am one of them.  So here is the site I just mentioned:  https://www.angelfire.com/indie/hairtransplant/

Some of my quotes have been used to validate doctors who have been targeted by this website. I will not make any reference to particular doctors or groups of doctors nor endorse this website as a quality source of information. I do, however, hope that everyone researches the doctors that they choose and their research should include: industry bulletin boards, consumer driven websites, and the state medical boards which have records of doctors who have infractions on their medical license.  As a consumer, it is a ‘BUYER BEWARE” problem for everyone wanting to get cosmetic surgery of any type. I see, too often, patients who did not use their common sense when selecting doctors.  I always tell patients to ask the doctor to introduce you to a few of his/her patients so that you can see the quality of the work they do and also to understand something about their humanity.

Suicide in a young man from hair loss reported

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

A balding college student reported that one of his classmates killed himself because he was balding. He apparently left a suicide note connecting his depression with his balding.

This is terrible, but not totally unheard of. In my 26 years in this business, I have become aware of two similar suicides in young men who were so depressed, that they took their own lives. One of these men had hair transplants back in the early 1990s when the pluggy look produced terrible deformities in many men who had those awful surgeries.  I remember him well because he came to see me from Ohio to ask about corrective work.  Although I never did the corrective work I recommended, I got to know him following up with him suggesting that he seek professional help for his depression. I spoke to his mother about his depression.  Unfortunately, his mother called me about a month after his suicide to thank me for getting involved with her son. As a father, my heart felt the tragedy all the more. I went back to my extensive phone records of our conversations trying to see how I might have acted differently to have changed the outcome. The problem was that I was in California and he in Ohio and the phone meetings were just inadequate.

If you are reading this and feel that life is no longer worth living because of your hair loss, please contact me and let’s see if we can find you the help you need.

Clinics that soak you for monthly payments to save your hair

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

There are a variety of clinics, most non-doctor owned and operated, that offer treatment for hair loss on a monthly basis.  These clinics are in almost every country in the world. They ‘sell’ their ‘hair treatments’ as if it is magical and as PT Barnum said: “There is a sucker born every minute”.  None of us like to look at ourselves as the ‘sucker’ that PT Barnum was talking about, but when it comes to your hair and you are young and emotionally attached to saving your hair, logic can evade your actions.  If you are reading this post and are paying some clinic between $300-800/month to save your hair, then you might be one of these people.

Hair grown with progenitor stem cells

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

https://www.businessinsider.com/samumed-wants-to-regenerate-hair-bone-cartilage-2017-3?r=US&IR=T

Here is a snapshot of what they said in the above article: “Your body is equipped with something called progenitor stem cells. These cells are in charge of repairing and replenishing specific organs in the body. For example, a mesenchymal stem cell of the osteoblast lineage can go in and repair bone that’s damaged. That process has something to do with the WNT pathway, a set of proteins that tell these stem cells to spring into action.”

The article, although a bit ‘technical’ will give you the flavor of what is happening with new hair growth in their hands.