As part of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery’s (ISHRS) Fight the FIGHT global consumer awareness campaign against fraudulent, illicit hair transplants, the Society announces its first “World Hair Transplant Repair Day.”

The event, designed to help people who have been victims of botched hair transplant surgeries from fraudulent, illicit clinics, will be held on November 11, 2021.

Fight the FIGHT

Launched by the ISHRS in 2019 in response to concern about the growing risk to patients of unlicensed technicians around the world illegally performing substantial aspects of hair restoration surgery, Fight the FIGHT is an acronym for Fight the Fraudulent, Illicit, and Global Hair Transplants. When performed by a qualified physician, a hair transplant is an excellent procedure for treating hair loss safely and effectively, the ISHRS explains in a media release.

“Clinics using technicians to perform hair restoration surgery pose a severe health risk with serious side effects for patients — including permanent scarring, infection, and depletion from over-harvested donor areas,” said Paul McAndrews, MD, FISHRS, president of the ISHRS. “World Hair Transplant Repair Day was created to raise awareness of this illegal worldwide practice and offer affected patients a means to work with a qualified hair restoration physician to try to correct their poor outcomes.”

— Paul McAndrews, MD, FISHRS, president of the ISHRS

Many clinics around the world promote themselves as hair restoration experts — luring vulnerable patients with cheap prices and false advertising presented with misleading information — but are operating illegally and fraudulently and without the proper knowledge or training. In many cases, physicians do not perform the surgery and delegate the procedures to unlicensed technicians. The results of this illegal, black-market practice are often devastating, ISHRS explains.

“The number of hair transplant surgeries has increased in recent years, but, unfortunately, this also brought about many inexperienced and illegal people to take a role in the industry. Poor planning, bad judgment, and sloppy techniques in hair transplantation will result in an unnatural look, cosmetic defects, and poor hair growth. Due to this fact, a lot of patients have endured unsuccessful and unnatural results, and this still goes on.”

— Dr. Ozgur Oztan, MD, member of the ISHRS Fight the FIGHT Subcommittee

In an effort to help victims of botched hair transplants, those affected can learn more by visiting the campaign website and may have a chance to receive a pro bono restorative hair procedure with an expert member of the ISHRS, the ISHRS release continues.

“Our members are reporting an increasing number of patients coming to their clinics who have been victims of these botched hair transplant surgeries and are desperate for correction. The ISHRS’s World Hair Transplant Repair Day is our way of raising awareness of this growing problem and helping people find solutions with qualified physicians of the ISHRS who have the education and training in the art and science of hair transplantation.”

— Ricardo Mejia, MD, chair of the ISHRS Communications and Public Education Committee

[Source: International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery]