I Had a Hair Transplant, But I Have DUPA!

This is my story. I went to Dr. [name removed] because my front was thinning more than the rest of my hair. The doctor recommended 2489 grafts in the frontal 1 inch. He lowered my hairline because he said it was the sexy look and at 26 years old, that was a good look. After 9 months, the hair in the front was still very thin so the doctor told me to have another transplant. I purchased another 1804 grafts which did not appear to have grown out after another 10 months. I went back to the doctor and he told me that I needed more grafts. The area that he took the grafts from was very, very thin after the second transplant. I did not feel comfortable with this recommendation, so I went to another doctor to get a second opinion. He told me that I have DUPA and that the entire hair on my scalp was thin and see through. My scar is very visible. This second doctor told me that I should not have had the surgery and that I was in a bad place to do anything but wear a wig. So I went to a wig place and the wig was totally unnatural. The hair on the top was thick, the side hair was not covered by the wig and looked transparent. What do I do? Is there a place to complain about my surgical care? Do I go to a lawyer and if so, how do I find a good lawyer?

It sounds pretty clear that by having Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA), you were never a candidate for surgery. Hair transplant surgery in men such as yourself is a disaster and no you will probably always show this deformity. It seemed that the doctor must have needed your money and did not care about your welfare. First of all, I would like to see you, possibly get pictures from you so that I could ascertain for myself if you had DUPA. I would try the use of dutasteride (only if you really have DUPA), which would be an off-label use of this drug. I have seen some men with DUPA get a response from finasteride, but high doses of dutasteride may have value. The problem with this drug is the issue of sexual drive and low sperm counts from its use. These would be things we would have to talk about and you certainly should not consider having children anytime soon if you try this route.

Your recourse includes:

1. Complaint to the medical board of your state.
2. Seek out a lawyer by going to the state bar for assistance in finding one.

The courts are generally not victim-friendly when dealing with hair transplants, because they do not see significant damages so the monies collected in the few cases that went to court have been pretty low. For the readers out there, please keep in mind that the doctor you choose should be ethical, honest, and competent. Try to identify the larceny in the doctors before you bet your appearance on someone you don’t know and can’t research.

I would be happy to help you, but we must first somehow meet.