I am here to tell you about my experience with a getting a hair transplant from Dr. Stephen B. Anderson.
Keep in mind that this is only my side of the story... as Dr. Anderson is a coward and hides behind his lawyers, he is not enough of a man to tell his. I do not think he even knows what the truth is anymore, or just does not care....
I am not writing to tell you how satisfied I am obviously. No, people who are happy with a hair transplant (and some actually are), do not want to say that they had it done. Likewise, most people with bad results would prefer not to talk about it also.
I have been trying to come to grips with what has been done. What gets me is that it seems like no one really cares about what this poor excuse for a doctor continues to do to people. I have contacted lawyers, medical boards, the BBB. No one wants to do anything about it, as doctors keep the bad things they do out of the publics notice as much as they can. They would hate for a bad apple to ruin the whole orchard!
When started researching the Internet on Dr. Anderson, I was both relieved, but also very saddened to see that I was not alone in being what I will refer to as a 'victim' (not patient) of this guy.
There are people all over that have had the same thing done to them. You see, a hair transplant doctor can do a plain lousy job time after time. Yet, as long as there is no infection, there is no law suit. You have to sign a 'no guarantee' release form before they will operate.
I understand, this is to protect the doctor. But, too many doctors with no morals such as Anderson are just plain taking advantage of this. They do not have to put any effort into there results. By the time the patient knows they were taken, they doctor has already been paid.
I read story after story that was all to close to mine. Why no one will step in and stop this amazes me. I have tried every resource I can think of, all I have heard is... "I am sorry to hear what he did to you."
Let me tell you my story.... I am now 36 years old. I started to lose my hair in my early twenty's. In 1996 I went to see Dr. Stephen B. Anderson www.800theface.com and his Northwest Hair Transplant Center in Bellevue, Washington. I was very clear when I told Dr. Anderson, "I want to have my hair look like someone in there 30's, not 50 's... I want it to cover."
He did not say he could cover all my hair loss, but he said "You will be happy, we can make you look good."
I was quoted by Dr. Anderson 's assistant that the cost would be around $5000 to $6000.
I went to Dr. Anderson for four procedures, including a 'scalp reduction'. By the time it was done, the total was over $10,000. I was told at that point to wait while the transplanted graphs came out of their 'dormant'stage from the 'shock' and started to grow. It has been over 6 years now, and at best maybe 10% of his transplants grew.
Doctors have been doing transplants since the early 1970 's. The only problem they had back then, was making the hair not have the 'corn row 'or 'doll' look to it.
They have come a long way since then, but the transplanted hair growing was never an issue. But, for Dr. Anderson it seems to be.
If I was the only one this had happened to, I would write it off as my body 'rejecting 'the grafts. But, as it happens my friends brother went to see Dr. Anderson about the same time as myself.
He was told basically the same lies that I was, that it would cost much less and have far greater results than either of us had. The only thing either of us have to show from his work is very bad scars. When I go out in public without a hat, I often get asked if I have had "brain surgery."
So you might ask, "why have we not gotten are money back?" Well, Dr. Anderson hides behind his lawyers and his 'no guarantee' release that everyone must sign before he performs surgery. This allows him to say "Well, I do the best I can."
If I got his best, I would hate to see his worst! I can only say I am glad for people that he does not do any life saving surgery...
Scott
Las Vegas, Nevada
U.S.A.