Background:
We continue to hear of cases where hair restoration surgery patients were operated on and harmed by non-doctors. Preventing these occurrences is of paramount importance in our public education campaign. We are gratified to learn that some governments and regulators are taking action to curb this dangerous paradigm. For example, prosecutions for the unlicensed practice of medicine by non-doctors is now occurring in some countries. The ISHRS has issued what it believes are best practices in hair restoration surgery, and has prioritized educating its members and the public on the dangers posed by physician delegation to non-licensed personnel, and the risk that such delegation may constitute practicing medicine without a license under applicable laws.
Unfortunately, the ISHRS’s efforts to educate the public on these dangers have not been universally accepted, and some organizations have developed to oppose our efforts. The organizers of some of these meetings are themselves inappropriately delegating surgery to their technicians.
Further, new pseudo-societies have developed, that are not bona fide non-profit groups, but rather, corporate entities masking as non-profits which deceive patients and meeting attendees. It is harmful to patients and new physicians in the field to have a limited, skewed viewpoint without full disclosure. The attendees do not realize that what is being taught is not comprehensive. Often times, the content only presents a limited viewpoint or technique and attendees walk away with incomplete information and are ill-informed. In addition, there are often misleading and fraudulent messages such as “scarless surgery,” “pain free,” “no incision,” etc.
Recommendation:
As such, the ISHRS recommends to physicians to do due diligence when selecting which hair restoration surgery meetings to attend and speak at.
The ISHRS supports hair restoration surgery meetings of member societies of the Global Council of Hair Restoration Surgery Societies.
The ISHRS supports meetings listed on the following calendar of events: https://ishrs.org/upcoming-events