Veteran actor and writer Syed Sajid Hasan has shared a horrifying story of medical negligence on social media.
In a video message, Hasan begins from the start by narrating how an old acquaintance, a medical doctor, had been pleading him for nine years to get a hair transplant done from him. "So [around] two months ago, I accepted [his plea]," said Hasan. The actor-writer recalled that prior to his 'surgery', the doctor did not conduct any tests, something he now knows is necessary and normal practice/ Hasan stated that a day after the transplant process began, he fell sick and suffered an infection on his head as well as severe fever for 10 days. "However, the doctor kept assuring me that 'all is well' and this is normal procedure," he complained.
He added that during this ordeal, he remained passed out for 15 days but even then the doctor did not consider it a big deal and "kept cleaning the wound with saline water". A dejected Hasan then bows his head and shows the wound inflicted on the top of his head during the surgery, saying "now the scene is this. I am suffering a lot, for his [doctor's] negligence and not cleaning the wound [properly]. So is my family. I have been facing extreme problems for the last two months and had to suffer professionally too".
The actor-writer concludes the message by saying that by sharing his ordeal, he just wants to spread awareness and warn others seeking hair transplants. "Go to the right surgeon and do a lot of research [beforehand]," he says, and pointing to the wound, says "this is what happens when you go to the wrong guy". Hasan, a graduate of Karachi University, is a known face of the entertainment industry — having acted in scores of television dramas, theatre plays and films.
He is also a writer and at present, his play Hua Kuch Yoon, is being performed across the country. Unregistered and unprofessional doctors — quacks — are fie in Pakistan, but so is the rising popularity of hair transplants. In the last decade or so, several entertainment and sports celebrities, as well as politicians, have been getting transplants, with huge billboards advertising 'before' and 'after' pictures. A transplant can cost anywhere between Rs100,000 to Rs300,000, depending on the nature of the operation as well as the poshness of the clinic. In 2014, an AFP report, citing official figures, stated that there are nearly 120 hair transplant clinics in Pakistan.
