Complaint about a specific HT doctor

[arlings]

I am a former patient of E. Antonio Mangubat (M) of Seattle, Washington, USA and my advice is whatever you do, DO NOT go to M for any hair transplant procedures!!!! I have described below in detail my horrible experience with Mangubat (M). I’m not a doctor, but below are my recommendations (based on my experience) for treating hairloss.

I know readers of this forum are very concerned and feel down about losing your hair. I felt the same way starting at 18 when it began for me. However, you don’t have to go through my horrible experience with my hair transplant “doctor” (described below)! Not to mention forking over your hard-earned savings to him! Regarding treating hair loss, my recommendation (reasons described below also) is Avodart instead of Propecia.

Very Important: The before/after photos that many Hair Transplant surgeons show you are VERY MISLEADING because:
- Many doctors only show their best top 5% patients, and don’t show you the average result or, as in my case, the bad results.
- The photos are typically low resolution, so may not clearly show the hairline or may be in low light, thereby concealing the thin density and unnatural look of the transplants.


I was also in my mid 20s when I signed up as M’s patient. He suggested that I get 3-4 transplant sessions and 1-2 Scalp reduction surgeries (called “Brandy” procedures after Dr. Dominic Brandy http://www.brandymd.com/ ). The worst decision I ever made in my life was to follow M’s advice and have these procedures done. M left me SCARRED and DISFIGURED!!!! BTW, Dr Brandy was sued in part for performing the “Brandy” scalp reduction procedure: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource. ... ug=2349352

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Arc ... l=GooglePM )

I know this sounds unreal, but anyone who has a consult with M should ask him about the “Brandy” scalp reduction procedure and ask to see before/after photos of Brandy procedures. If he dismisses your request (says you don’t need a Brandy) and refuses to show photos, ask yourself why is M refusing to show his own work? Is he hiding something? If you get to see the photos, look closely (even though he’ll show small Polaroid pics) and you’ll notice a thick straight or horseshoe-shaped scar ¼ - ½ inch from 1 temple to the crown and back to the other temple with no hair growing there. Beware that M may show you “after” photos with the surrounding hair combed over the scars. This is nothing less than totally misleading and a LIE because it doesn’t show the true result which is 1-2 scars 6-8 inches long and ¼ - ½ inch thick in the middle of your head from the temples to the crown!!!! M left me with such a horrible scar and I’ve undergone numerous reconstructive surgeries, spending over $20K, to reduce the scars.

Although M may not recommend a Brandy surgery on you, I mention this procedure for this reason: what does the Doctor care about most: your welfare and your well-being OR the money he’ll make from you?? In my case, without a doubt M only cared about the money! Otherwise he would have stopped himself from doing what he did to me, particularly the 2 Brandy procedures. He didn’t know what he was doing and he didn’t care! So in my opinion, he’s definitely NOT a doctor to be in the care of!

You should also ask M (or your hair transplant doctor) about the scar in the back of your head (the donor area) after any hair transplant procedure. M told me about all my scars that they will eventually “blend” with the surrounding skin and look much less prominent. That was a COMPLETE LIE!!! The scars will be with you for life with no hairs growing in that area ever.

I did a few quick searches and found M in his own words praising the “benefits” of scalp reduction surgery (see below). This kind of surgery (the Brandy procedure) is what left me totally scarred and disfigured!! So much for the “benefits”!!

M’s own words speak volumes on his incompetence and the fact that he’s clueless and oblivious to the harm he’s done to many like me. Here are the links:

http://www.regrowth.com/hairloss-confer ... monday.cfm

The Rise and Fall of Scalp Flaps, Reductions and Lifts

[Tony Mangubat of Seattle, WA is one of the leading doctors performing scalp reductions. "I've noticed in the Seattle area over the last two years a fall in the area of scalp reductions... I was a little disappointed in it, and I was almost upset until I started looking at it in a more objective way... the answer to this question becomes very clear." Dr.Mangubat outlined his feelings on reductions and why he thinks the number of doctors performing the procedure has decreased. "We want fast results, we want a home run.. Managed care has caused an influx of newcomers. The fact is I make more income off of hair transplants than scalp lifting, so from a financial point of view maybe it's not such a bad idea..." The fall has been precipitated by an influx of newcomers due to doctors who are earning less due to managed care and HMOs. "These are all victims of our new managed care society," said Dr. Mangubat. Doctors coming in have been resistent to learning reductions, flaps, and lifts due to the steeper learning curve, greater risks, and marketing against reductions. The number of doctors performing are remaining steady, but the number of doctors coming into transplants are growing, so the overall percentage are lower.]

Please note that the following is based on my personal experience and not medical advice:
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Regarding hair loss, my advice is don’t go for hair transplants. Instead, if you still have quite a bit of hair left, make an appointment with your family physician asap and ask him/her about taking Avodart for stopping hairloss.

Apart from Avodart, the other 2 best known medications, Rogaine(minoxidol) and Propecia, are not as effective as Avodart which stops both kinds of DHT (the hormone that causes hairloss). Minoxidol is a waste of money for most people since it only works for a few people and Propecia is good (because it blocks 1 kind of DHT) but not as good as Avodart. Avodart will most likely not regrow any hair you’ve already lost but it will let you keep the hair you have now. Also, although both Propecia and Avodart have potentially harmful side effects (e.g. reduced sex drive), I have been taking Avodart for the past 2+ years with no side effects.
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If I could do it over again, I would have NEVER trusted M and NEVER let M lay a hand on me. Instead, I would have just accepted my baldness and not done any hair transplants; I would have shaved my head while we wait for a cure.

Unfortunately, M left me with huge scars on my head and so I can’t just shave my head. Instead I’m forced to wear concealers to hide the ugly scars on my head. Anyone considering M does not have to go through what I’ve been through. So I strongly recommend that YOU STAY AWAY FROM MANGUBAT!!

[john36]

As a former HT patient,I think that there are doctors performing HT who will take advantage of the lack of legislation and enforcement in that field and VIOLATE someone's rights.

The people who considered and consider HT are still people most having total confidence in the doctors practicing in that field of medicine

Therefore,please extend your reasearch of quality HT doctor to additional observation of certain Law's.Iis important, as Law is designed to protect patients from harm and exposure to harm.

You who read this may ask your self...But why? Why would Physicians (lets say some physicians) violate the laws and violate patients rights? Why someone who spent 10 years to become M.D or D.O, highly educated, would brake the laws continually, would violate patients rights continually? What is the MOTIVE?

Fair enough, good question, and I will tell you why.

The motive is, like in any business ,or as they call it now "Industry ",money, profit.

What makes business successfull?To be competitive against same entities offering the same services or product on the market, to the consumer.
How do you become and stay competitive?
By making the product or service cost effective so you could offer to the consumer low prices.

And how is that possible related to the Hair Transplant surgery, called now, most appropriately, Industry?

By delegating physicians tasks to non physician, very often non medical personnel.

That is extremely cost effective. One hour of physician time is worth 200 - 400 dollars an hour. One hour of "surgical technician "time is worth 20 - 40 dollars per hour.

So to get more cost effective service/product, the businessman/physician in order to stay in the "business" is forced to delegate more and more tasks that he has duty to perform him self, to "surgical technicians" and "consultants".

You may say...but that is illegal. And you are right. It is. But who cares .HT "Industry" made a code, Never give a chance victim of malpractice in HT surgery to go to Court and expose the illegal practice.

The legislator presumed that there is no business code ,but rather, medical and ethical code so gave the physicians initial power of determination to decide, was it or not breach to duty of care.

You see,What happens when that responsibility is violated?
How does patient that rights were violated,by the Clinic and the surgeon,seek justice?

By going to Court and explaining that the clinic and/or surgeon violated his rights.

But this is the catch .The patient needs in writing from ANOTHER HAIR TRANSPLANT doctor statement that the first doctor breached his responsibility owned to the patient.Patient needs that as a condition to get access to the Court.(without that you have EXTREMELY LOW chance to prevail )

What happens if HT doctors NEVER say that another HT doctor breached standard of care/responsibility toward patient?


Patient is deprived of access to the Court to present the case.

The wheel keeps turning and another victim appears....same thing...the wheel is turning...and turning....

I think that surgeon in another room,or somewhere else,out of the surgical room, while his patient is having surgery is:

1.Illegal

2. Disgusting

3 Exposure of the patient to harm

Even if we view this thing pragmatically (what good is for the patient with his surgeon not being there) ,does it not,at least,by doctor staying in the surgical room with the patient (even if he chooses not to do the planting of grafts him self )minimize the chances of a bad result ?!

Is he not paid enough?

If the Law and medical ethic does not mean much,does at least for this HT doctors,the fact that they are paid $ 2000 - $ 3000 per hour mean something?

What is the REASON that they don't stay with their patient?!

Oh YES!!!! This Happens ALL the time during HT surgery,newbie.

Evidence that I am not alone in what I say is this.

http://www.ocregister.com/arti...174607-board-license

look under King county

http://www.doh.wa.gov/publicat/2006_news/06-043.htm

http://www.bosleymedicalviolations.com/dadoc.htm

http://www.medbd.ca.gov/board/...08_09-30_larkin.html

http://www.eafps.org/cgi-bin/d...17_December_2004.doc

http://www.newspaperarchive.co...\49440194_clean.html

http://www.medbd.ca.gov/licens...even_sins-greed.html
http://books.google.com/books?...t&resnum=1&ct=result

there is allot more.

HT industry,with the weapon of affidavit of merit has become sovereign power to decide existance or non existance of aplicable standard of care in its industry.A sovereign cannot be legally constrained because no person (or body of persons) can coerce herself (or itself).

Since it is interest of the HT industry to keep the status quo,HT industry works in that interest.

Since provisions limiting certain conducts of physicians in the field of elective surgery are sabotaged by that interest, the authority of the legislative body to make laws and APPLIES them ,is limited only to the part of TO MAKE THE LAWS

So the the victims of abuse, are forced to argue that what we refer to as law in this field is really not law at all; rather, it is principally a matter of "positive morality" judged SOLELY by HT doctors,which financial interest is incompatible with the "positive morality"


It is difficult to reconcile those two.

The "positive morality" imposes no duties; it is, in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been existed.


However the paradox now is to stay competitive in the game, most surgeons have to do the same thing,delegate what they have to perform or personally supervise,to others.The rule, had become namely that which requires HT doctors "to do or abstain from certain actions, whether they wish to or not"

Would it be too much to require that the bulk of the population accept the rule of law, recognition as the ultimate criteria for legal validity...but some "chosen ones" to give the reality of the situation that a great proportion of its members-perhaps a majority-have no general conception of the legal structure or its criteria of validity" ?

I don't think so.

Before going on that chair,to have your scalp carved and head poked,ask your HT doctor does he:

Personally evaluate the patient sufficiently so he could formulate an appropriate pre-operative diagnosis, and how much he uses "consultant" ,non medical person to do it for him? In addition and related to this ask does he explain pros and cons of HT surgery so patient intelligently can decide about his options (informed consent) and does he give that to the "consultant" as well? ASK HIM CAN YOU TAPE THE CONSULTATION and the Proces of INFORMED CONSENT on recorder.

Ask him does he perform or personally supervise all aspects of the surgery? Including placement of the grafts in the receptor sites? Or does he carve the patient, take the strip, suture the wound, make incisions (holes) in patient head and then leaves the surgical room and patient and leaves the rest to the "surgical technicians"? Ask him does he have, in other words, aspects of the surgery outside of his supervision performed or supervised by another qualified surgeon with the consent of the patient?ASK HIM how would he know what those surgical technicians are doing on patient,do they do it right,should they do it unsupervised at all?
Ask him how would he be certain how many grafts they put on you,his patient,if he is not present there? ASK him can you record the proces of the surgery.

Ask him does he personally perform post-operative medical care? Ask him does he delegate post-operative medical care to a non-qualified medical professional or to a non medical professional at all?


Ask him does he negligently and recklessly and ILLEGALY delegate the tasks of administering anesthesia to patient to persons not qualified under your state law? (everywhere in USA it is a law only DOCTOR can administer anesthesia)
Ask him does he negligently and recklessly delegate the tasks of preparing the donor grafts, and insertion of the donor grafts into the surgically prepared receptor sites ,with his supervision ,to his "surgical technicians"?Ask him if answer is yes,why does he not do the surgery him self.Ask him does he negligently and recklessly delegate the tasks of preparing the donor grafts, and insertion of the donor grafts into the surgically prepared receptor sites ,WITHOUT his supervision ,to his "surgical technicians" while he chills outside the surgical room for hours? In violation of administrative state laws .If answer is yes,ask him why is he abandoning patient in midle of surgery

Ask him are his surgical technicians certified.Ask him does he have "surgical technicians" engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery without the appropriate certificate from the State Medical Board in his state, in violation of the law in his state?



Please read this article that was in the news 2007: California hair transplant clinic sued for the death of a patient
Posted on April 27th, 2007 in Hair Transplant News by admin | 1,682 Views |
Crown Cosmetic Surgery, a Los Angeles-based hair transplant clinic that touts low prices for hair transplant surgery, is being sued after a patient died during his hair transplant surgery.
The widow of 52-year-old Walter Riley, who died during surgery on April 27, 2006, is seeking unspecified damages in her suit that was filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
According to her attorney Ron Wilson, a medical expert who had been retained by his law firm determined that Riley had been given an overdose of anesthetic.
"It's a several-hour procedure. They anesthetize you, they do the hair grafts and you come out looking great later. Or that's what's supposed to happen," Wilson said Wednesday. "With Mr. Riley, he went in and within an hour he was dead."
According to media reports a person who had returned a call from Crown Cosmetic said the company's lawyer had advised that Crown not comment on the matter.
Mr. Riley is survived by his wife Yvonne Robison-Riley and her three adult children who are also plaintiffs in the suit.
It's very unusual for a patient to die during a hair transplant procedure because typically a patient is given a local anesthetic and is awake during the entire procedure. It's unknown to us what type of anesthesia Mr. Riley was under when he died.

So read this And remember,and don"t confuse,good and consistent results with obidience/violation of laws and ethic.

There can be consistent good results,whilist continually braking the laws and medical ethics.

There can be consistent bad results with having ethics and doing things as the laws require.

That depends on skill of the doctor and the surgical technicians.

BUT if a rule is established,that violates the laws and the ethics,opens WIDE doors for PREDATOR HT doctors (have you any idea how much damage surgical technicians,(who in fact are not any kind of technicians,nor care about how the surgery is going to turn out) DO?SPECIALLY without direct supervision of the doctor and specially when they do not work for that HT Doctor full time )

And that rule IS ESTABLISHED And you all here KNOW that because you had your hair transplant surgeries.

BECAUSE the way is set up,BUTCHERS can not be prosecuted,BECAUSE even the well established clinics with consistently good results,FOLLOW the same rules.

I will give you analogy

Drinking and driving is against the Law.We all know that.

Why?

Because it is proven that driving skills are impaired because the driver is drunk, thus prone to cause an accident.

NOW,DRUNKEN BOB is an excellent driver with excellent driving skills, and he is much better driver when drunk that, EVA who is 90 years old,gramma following the speed limit, even driving bellow the speed limit. Even that in reality that Grandma is more likely to cause an accident, she is not going to get a ticket, but DRUNKEN BOB will, Because statistically drinking does not improve driving skills but impairs them and THEREFORE to prevent harm and exposure to harm the lawmaker forbids drinking and driving
Now we have

Christopher who is HT doctor with great skill, his surgical technicians are excellent too.
He knows that those surgical technicians even when he is not around will do their best and their best is top notch work.

Jeff is HT doctors with very bad skills and he has surgical technicians that also are very bad at what they do. They don't work for Jeff exclusively and don't care if Jeff is going to call them again to work for him or not. So they F****K the patients up because Jeff is not there in the surgical room to follow the progress and supervise them.

The patient is disfigured. He goes to Christopher and says....look this Jeff left me alone with his technicians and instead of 2000 grafts they put 200 all sparse and far apart...do you think Jeff breached his duty of care to me when he left me with those people unsupervised, I need your opinion because the courts think that there is such thing as Ethic in your field of practice and they request that I bring them in writing letter from another HT doctor that indeed Jeff did me wrong.

Christopher refuses, because, HE DOES THE SAME THING AS JEFF, which is leaving the surgical room with his patient alone .

THAT IS WHY the Law FORBIDS that surgeon abandons patient. Because STATISTICALLY patient left alone without the surgeon being present EXPOSES HIM TO HARM.

The practice of drinking alcohol and driving is an example of this kind of arrangement. This risky behavior fortunately causes harm less often than it occurs. Persons who drink to the point of impairment or beyond and drive, but do not cause an accident as a result, are lucky. From a moral perspective, since it is only luck that separates members of the drinking drivers group who cause harm from members who do not, each member bears some degree of guilt and moral taint.

By aplied analogy to the questions I posted about specific conducts that harm or expose to harm patients,such as, abandoning of patient in midle of surgery,delegating Physician duties to non med personel etc ...

It is the willingness here of every one of the HT "Industry" to engage in behavior (like drink driving is) likely to cause harm (injury to patient,and/or adverse efect) that justifies liability for the whole group, and this group HT "Industry liability is independent of the additional individual liability of a particular doc " intentionaly violating patient rights to cut cost and expand profit, whose risky behavior actually results in harm (it could and it does).

So,It is critical and extremely useful to have recording of your consultation with the Hair Transplant doctor.
There is specific provisions of each jurisdiction's wiretap law outlining whether one-party or all-party consent is required to permit recording of a conversation, and those provisions provide the legal citations for wiretap statutes.

Check the Laws regulating Taping Phone Calls and In-Person Conversations in the state of the HT clinic. The quickest and most reliable way for that is to call an attorney and ask him.

As far as I am aware of,Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia permit individuals to record conversations to which they are a party without informing the other parties that they are doing so. These laws are referred to as "one-party consent" statutes, and as long as you are a party to the conversation, it is legal for you to record it.In those states,you DO NOT need permition to recordconversation,that you want recorded,as long that you are PARTY in it.

(Nevada also has a one-party consent statute, but the state Supreme Court has interpreted it as an all-party rule.)

Attention!
Twelve states require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties to a conversation. Those jurisdictions are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington.
Be aware that you will sometimes hear these referred to inaccurately as "two-party consent" laws. If there are more than two people involved in the conversation, all must consent to the taping.
Regardless of the state, it is almost always illegal to record a conversation to which you are not a party, do not have consent to tape, and could not naturally overhear.

It is not complicated,and probably completely cost free to call an attorney and ask him about the laws governing this.



Good luck! You will need it.

[HairLossFight.com]

This forum is for hair transplant and hair restoration discussions. It is not a place for legal complaints or advice.

I myself am a hair transplant patient who received a hair transplant from Dr. Wong of Hasson and Wong. Both the doctor and the clinic are very professional, and I am very happy with my results.

A prospective patient considering hair restoration surgery should do a lot of research well in advance, and should consult with multiple physicians before making the decision to go with a particular surgeon for a hair transplant.

Do not use HairLossFight.com for discussing legal matters unless it directly relates to a specific hair transplant, and unless you can back up the claims you make 100%. This is not the intent of the site.

Arlings, if you continue to post on this topic, I will have no choice but to let the surgeon you are referring to know, and allow him to defend himself. John36, unless you are here to discuss hair loss or hair transplants, please do not post further. If you post on legal matters, I will cancel your account. This is not a forum about law, its a forum about hair loss and hair transplants. I operate this site at a loss, and as the owner of this forum, which is a forum that is viewable by the public, but whose membership is based on private registration, I do not want to turn the site into a battleground between hair restoration surgeons and patients. I neither want this, nor can I afford it.

This thread is locked.

Sam



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