Participating ISHRS physician members offer eligible
candidates free corrective surgeries
CHICAGO, June 26,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine dealing with hair loss
and thinning for years, trying to camouflage sparse areas of your
scalp and becoming increasingly desperate for help. You decide to
finally act and get a hair transplant, only to unknowingly stumble
upon a fraudulent, illicit hair transplant clinic luring patients
in with low prices, accommodations, travel, and even tour packages,
coupled with misleading information. In this instance, you find
yourself – like countless others – a victim of a fraudulent,
illicit hair transplant clinic.
Now in its fourth year, the International Society of Hair
Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) is hosting its annual "World Hair
Transplant Repair Day" on November 11,
2024. This worldwide event is part of the ISHRS's Fight the
FIGHT (an acronym for Fight the Fraudulent, Illicit, and Global
Hair Transplants) global consumer awareness campaign designed to
educate and help people who have been victims of this widespread
practice.
These victims have little recourse for the permanent damage done
by unlicensed individuals who either lack the training or are not
authorized to perform surgery even under the direct supervision of
a licensed physician. The ISHRS encourages them to reach out
individually to participating volunteer ISHRS physicians through
the campaign's website, HairTransplantRepairDay.org, for a chance
to receive a pro bono corrective hair transplant procedure. Since
its launch in 2020, the number of ISHRS participating physician
members has grown to dozens of members around the world.
"The ISHRS is committed to educating the public on the dangers
of black-market hair transplants, as our members have seen
countless cases of hair loss patients completely devastated by
their results in the hands of unqualified, unlicensed
professionals," said Bradley
Wolf, MD, FISHRS, president of the ISHRS. "When performed by
a qualified physician trained in the science and art of hair
restoration surgery, a hair transplant offers natural-looking,
permanent results that are virtually undetectable. Nothing else
even comes close."
Dr. Wolf explained that the number of fraudulent, illicit hair
transplant clinics around the world has increased over the years
and remains a popular form of medical tourism. According to results
of a 2022 member survey conducted by the ISHRS, 51% of ISHRS
members reported Black Market hair transplant clinics in their
cities. In 2021, 5.4% of hair restoration patients sought treatment
to repair previous surgery from offices where the physician did not
perform the surgery, up from 4.2% in 2019.
As part of the ISHRS's commitment to educating the public about
the real dangers of these black-market hair transplant clinics, the
Fight the FIGHT website offers numerous educational materials in 10
languages, including patient educational live streams from
various countries in different languages that patients can access
as archived replays to educate themselves on how to avoid being a
victim of a black-market hair transplant. In addition, numerous
patient case studies document victims' real-world experience in the
hands of fraudulent, illicit hair transplant clinics and the
lasting ramifications of their deforming surgeries.
Results of hair transplants performed illegally can include
permanent visible scarring, infection, thin patches of hair, bald
spots, and over-harvested donor areas that can be very difficult to
correct. In cases where damage can be fixed, patients will often
require more than one corrective procedure.
"While there is no easy fix for the type of extensive repairs we
are seeing in patients who have been victims of black-market hair
transplant clinics, we encourage everyone who is considering hair
restoration surgery to consult the Fight the FIGHT website for
resources including what to consider before choosing a surgeon and
an explanation of the multi-step corrective procedures that are
required if you find yourself a victim of an unscrupulous
procedure," said Shady El-Maghraby, MD, MSc, FISHRS, chair of
the ISHRS Fight the FIGHT Subcommittee. "Our goal with the Fight
the FIGHT campaign is to reach patients in need of repair who
otherwise have no recourse in getting a corrective surgery from the
original clinic, offering them the hope that they desperately
need."
One ISHRS member from Belgium
describes a recent devastating experience of trying to repair a
botched beard transplant from a black market clinic who ultimately
took his own life. "A young 24-year-old patient of mine committed
suicide in the prime of his life. He was seduced by the promise of
finally having a beautiful beard. Especially as the prices offered
are so attractive. The decision was made – he would go to
Turkey for the operation he'd been
dreaming of. Unfortunately, like thousands of others before him, he
realized that the 'operators' were not only unqualified, but the
surgery was not even performed by a doctor – resulting in a
depletion of his donor area. Sadly, he is another victim of the
black market," said Jean Devroye,
MD, FISHRS.
The ISHRS is committed to patient safety and continually strives
for the best outcomes for all patients, offering members superior
education and training to improve their techniques. To help ensure
patients have the information needed to make informed decisions
about who performs their hair restoration surgery, the ISHRS urges
potential patients to ask the following questions, as well as
questions regarding costs, risks and short- and long-term benefits
and planning:
- Who will evaluate my hair loss and recommend a course of
treatment? What is their education, training, licensure, and
experience in treating hair loss?
- Who will be performing my surgery, what role will they play,
and what is their education, training, licensure, and experience
performing hair restoration surgery?
- Other than the licensed physician, will anyone who is not
licensed by the state (or country) be making incisions or cutting
my scalp to obtain grafts during my surgery? If so, please identify
this person, explain his or her specific role and why this person
is legally permitted to perform surgery without a license.
- Is everyone involved in my surgery covered by malpractice
insurance?
For more information or to take part in this worldwide
educational campaign and event, contact
fightthefight@ishrs.org and visit
www.HairTransplantRepairDay.org.
#HairTransplantRepairDay
About the ISHRS
The International Society of Hair
Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) is a global non-profit medical
association and the leading authority on hair loss treatment and
restoration with 1,000 members throughout 70 countries worldwide.
Above all, the ISHRS is dedicated to achieving excellence in
patient outcomes by promoting the highest standards of medical
practice, medical ethics, and research in the medical hair
restoration industry. The ISHRS also provides continuing medical
education to physicians specializing in hair transplant surgery and
is committed to delivering the latest information on medical and
surgical treatments to consumers suffering from hair loss, and most
commonly from androgenetic alopecia – male pattern baldness
and female pattern hair loss. It was founded in 1993 as the first
international society to promote continuing quality improvement and
education for professionals in the field of hair restoration
surgery. For more information and to locate a physician, visit
ISHRS.org.
About the Survey
Conducted by Relevant Research, Inc.,
of Chicago, IL, USA, the ISHRS
2022 Practice Census is a compilation of information provided
solely by participating physicians. The information published in
this survey was developed from actual historical information and
does not include any projected information. The margin of error for
the sample is within plus or minus 6.1 percent at the 95 percent
confidence level. For a full reprint of the ISHRS 2022 Practice
Census Report, visit Hair Restoration Statistics.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fourth-annual-world-hair-transplant-repair-day-aims-to-educate-assist-victims-of-fraudulent-illicit-hair-transplant-clinics-302183393.html
SOURCE International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery