Opera actor wins £15k payout after botched hair transplant Iwish I’dgone tothe Barberof Seville...
a BalDING Royal Opera House actor has won £15,000 in compensation after complaining that hair transplant surgery left him with a wonky hairline.
Ivan luptak, 38, visited Harley street’s Rejuvenate Hair Clinics ltd for a consultation in april 2015, saying he was ‘losing hair’ and thought that thicker locks would boost his selfconfidence on stage.
He underwent 11 hours of surgery involving about 3,000 hair grafts – but was horrified afterwards to be left with an ‘unreasonably asymmetric’ hairline.
mr luptak – a supporting artist at the Royal Opera House, who also works in education – said his post- operation hairline was ‘obviously higher’ on the right. The hair was also too thin to provide ‘reasonable coverage’ and there was still a risk of it falling out and revealing operation scars.
He went on to sue his surgeon, Dr luca De Fazio, and the clinic, saying that rather than boosting his self- confidence the surgery had left him with an ‘unacceptable cosmetic result’. He will now receive £15,000 – plus legal costs of more than £30,000 – after the surgeon and clinic both agreed to pay up.
Outlining the claim, mr luptak’s solicitor michael saul said the actor had first noticed he was losing hairs in the shower, which had progressed to hair loss in the front and temple areas.
He said mr lupak was advised at the clinic that he was a ‘very suitable candidate’ for a hair transplant and that all his bald spots would be eradicated.
In august 2015, the surgery went ahead, performed by Dr De Fazio at Rejuvenate’s clinic. But mr luptak was left with ‘unacceptable’ results, mr saul claimed in court papers.
He said: ‘The hairline is higher on the right, giving an unacceptably asymmetric appearance.
‘The grafts in the mid-head and crown are too sparse and obvious to see. The frontal area shows acceptable growth but is too thin and the direction of growth makes it difficult to style.
‘There is a marked lack of density throughout the whole hair bearing area.
‘The grafts themselves have been taken outside the usually recognised safe area and, if further hair loss occurs, those grafts could be lost and the claimant left not only with isolated areas of baldness but also scarring on hairless skin in the grafted areas and the areas from where the grafts were taken.
He added: ‘ The appearance of the claimant’s hair will not improve without further invasive cosmetic surgery.
‘The hairline on the right side requires correction but the residual donor hair is very limited.’
mr saul claimed that mr luptak had never been warned that the donor hair for the transplant was lacking density.
He had also not been given a ‘cooling off period’ between his first conversation with Dr De Fazio and the operation being performed, the solicitor said. Instead, the operation went ahead on the same day, which meant he had not given ‘reasonable informed consent’ to having the surgery.
If he had been informed that his donor hair was not dense enough to achieve good coverage, he would simply not have had the surgery, mr saul concluded.
Thomas Wood, for Dr De Fazio, insisted that the surgery was ‘adequately planned, performed and supervised’.
He said: ‘Dr De Fazio and mr luptak inspected the final outcome of the operation together.
‘mr luptak was given an opportunity to comment and made no complaint, whether regarding the symmetry of the hairline or otherwise. He added: ‘Dr De Fazio denies that he failed to obtain informed consent. mr luptak was very keen to have the surgery despite the warnings given to him and appeared to have undertaken his own research.’
after several hearings at Central london County Court, the parties agreed to settle the claim and avoid a full trial. mr luptak will receive a £15,000 payment, with Dr De Fazio paying £9,000 and Rejuvenate £6,000. They will also have to reimburse his legal costs of more than £30,000.