Maybe in the past you have tried to do something about your thinning hair - you have tried vitamins, drugs, so called hair tonic, herbals, herbal steams, (It should also be noted that there isn't a single shred of scientific evidence that any herb on planet earth has shown success in treating hair loss), serums, special shampoos, laser light therapy, hair transplants or even unsecured wigs.

Hair loss scams are everywhere. They want your money. They use the sneakiest words imaginable to make you think their products can help thinning hair, slow hair loss or grow hair. They're all over the Internet. They're pushed through salons. They're advertised on TV, radio and in magazines nationwide. More will come and no one's there to stop them. The media isn't legally responsible. The government can't protect you. It's all up to you...

Illegal sales tactics and unethical behavior are widespread. Customers are routinely lied to, in order to help meet sales quotas. False advertising is commonplace, and some clinics/salon/hair treatment center spend millions of dollars each year on deliberately misleading and deceptive advertising.

Some doctors not specialist in this fields, misleads clients into hair treatments remedy.

Surgical hair Transplantation is a billion-dollar industry which is completely unregulated. Far more than any other medical specialty, the hair transplant industry is notorious for being sleazy and corrupt. The "hair loss business" has always been a magnet for crooks, con men and quacks, and Surgical hair Transplantation is no different. A recent article in the New York Times characterized hair Transplantation as the "Wild West of medicine" to describe the completely lawless state of the industry

Government agencies are unwilling or unable to regulate the industry. Dissatisfied customers must take matters into their own hands, with lawsuits or other alternatives. And the public must educate themselves, to protect themselves from these unethical and predatory clinics/salon/hair treatment center.

You may have spent thousands of dollars just trying to look good - only to be let down time after time.

Click each one of the topic to read "Hair Treatment Big Scam"

Has your hair stylist ever offered you a miracle potion, lotion or shampoo for hair loss? Have you seen pills or products for sale on the Internet or shop promising to stop hair loss, grow hair or reverse baldness? Of course you have. We all have. Click here to read

Top 10 Hair Loss Scams - Click here to read ( A Must Read)

Before I started my medication with 0.5mg Propecia (Original Propecia is 1mg and I have split it off to half), I have tried several topical treatments. The highest investment of money and time is **** *** Hair Care. I have spent 3 years of******** treatment which cost me almost RM 15,000 (USD 4,300). You can know the outcome of my hair treatment there (if successful, I will tend not to use oral medication like Propecia) .....

I recently submitted my case to Tribunal. The case favor me despite I have signed contract with the Hair treatment center. The President of the Tribunal enforce ACT S112 to cancel the contract base on the service not accordance to what I have paid. The service and treatment did not work and they have refund my payment.- Azman - 4/05/09

(Baru-baru ini saya memfailkan tuntutan di Tribunal. Kes tersebut memihak kepada saya. Saya telah menandatangani perjanjian dengan pusat rawatan rambut. Di bawah S112 Akta Perlindungan Pengguna, Tribunal mempunyai kuasa untuk membatalkan kontrak yang ditandatangani di antara pengguna dan syarikat. Oleh itu, bagi kes saya, Presiden Tribunal telah membatalkan perjanjian tersebut disebabkan oleh perkhidmatan yang diberikan tidak setimpal dengan bayaran yang telah dibuat. Perkhidmatan dan rawatan daripada pusat rawatan rambut tersebut tidak berkesan dan mereka telahpun memulangkan semula bayaran kepada saya – Azman – 04/05/09)

Exposed : I was offered a free one year treatment. They (treatment center) took photo of my bald area (before ) and ask me to wear natural looking toupee (after) to be publish in Media and ads. After few months, I noticed my photos appear in ads. To misleads the public with their ads before and after treatment- John Khoo - 17/07/11

(Pendedahan: Saya telah ditawarkan rawatan rambut percuma selama satu tahun. Pusat rawatan telah mengambil gambar bahagian kepala saya yang botak (sebelum rawatan) dan menyuruh saya memakai rambut palsu (selepas rawatan) untuk disiarkan di media dan iklan. Selepas beberapa bulan, saya melihat gambar saya muncul di dalam iklan. Iklan mereka sebelum dan selepas rawatan adalah untuk mengelirukan orang ramai – John Khoo – 17/07/11 )

Exposed : After going thru the treatment for almost 2 years, none work for me. They offer me hair toupee instead and offer RM5000 to appear in ads . No choice I have to accept the money because I have lost almost RM16000 this hair loss scam. They took photo of my bald area before and after wearing a toupee. This to misleads the public for their treatment remedy . Big scam to earn easy money. Tony Lee - Selayang - 12/02/10

(Pendedahan: Walaupun setelah menjalani rawatan rambut hampir 2 tahun, saya tidak nampak keberkesanannya. Malah mereka menawarkan saya rambut palsu dan menawarkan RM5000 untuk muncul di iklan. Saya tiada pilihan dan menerima tawaran tersebut kerana saya telah kerugian hampir RM16000 disebabkan oleh penipuan rawatan rambut gugur ini. Mereka mengambil gambar di bahagian kepala saya yang botak sebelum dan selepas memakai rambut palsu. Ia bertujuan bagi mengelirukan orang ramai tentang berkesannya rawatan mereka. Penipuan besar untuk mengaut keuntungan dengan mudah –Tony Lee –Selayang –12/02/10.)

Exposed: I signed up with one of the established hair treatment centre in KL. I was attracted with their ads in media. I went with my friend to try out their so called hair remedy treatment. My friend took photo the area (bald) need to be treated with their herbal treatment. He took photos each time I undergo for their herbal hair treatments. After 40 over treatments, none work. I demanded full refund with other cost of lost. I show all the photos as evidences. I told them if their refuse to refund, I will bring this to local media and will submit to tribunal for misleading the public.

They offer me toupee (wig). I refused. Finally I got back my refund.- Kamil - Keramat, KL- 5/04/10

(Pendedahan: Saya telah mendaftar dengan salah satu daripada pusat rawatan rambut yang ditubuhkan di KL. Saya tertarik dengan iklan mereka di media. Saya ingin mencuba rawatan tersebut. Saya membawa kawan saya bersama supaya beliau boleh mengambil gambar bahagian kepala saya yang botak yang perlu dirawat dengan rawatan herba mereka. Beliau mengambil gambar setiap kali saya menjalani rawatan. Setelah menjalani lebih daripada 40 kali rawatan, saya tidak nampak apa-apa kesan. Saya menuntut semula bayaran penuh dengan kos kerugian lain. Saya menunjukkan semua gambar sebagai bukti. Saya memberitahu jika mereka enggan membayar balik, saya akan membawa kes ini ke media tempatan dan akan memfailkan kes ke tribunal kerana mengelirukan orang ramai. Mereka menawarkan rambut palsu. Saya tidak bersetuju. Akhirnya, mereka kembalikan semula wang saya – Kamil – Keramat, KL – 05/04/10.

Most of the hair treatments centre claimed they are international chain. If one look at their advertisement, they are located in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.

The question here is, why these treatment centres did not market their so call treatment hair loss cure in other part of world for example USA, Europe, Australia, Japan or etc. Why? Simply because USA, Australia few other countries are not going to issue any business license if there is no proof to support their claimed on hair treatment loss. It all scam!!!

It time for Malaysia Government under Ministry of Health to take stern action on this issue.

J.Jay- Pharmaceutical Owner -12/07/11

(Kebanyakan pusat rawatan rambut mendakwa mereka adalah rangkaian antarabangsa. Jika seseorang melihat iklan mereka, perniagaan mereka terdapat di negara Cina, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapura, Malaysia dan Brunei. Persoalannya di sini, mengapa pusat-pusat rawatan ini tidak memasarkan produk rawatan keguguran rambut mereka di negara-negara lain contohnya Amerika Syarikat, Eropah, Australia, Jepun atau negara-negara lain. Kenapa? Ini kerana Amerika Syarikat, Australia dan negara-negara lain tidak akan mengeluarkan apa-apa lesen perniagaan jika tiada bukti bagi menyokong dakwaan mereka tentang keberkesanan rawatan keguguran rambut mereka. Ini semua adalah penipuan!!! Sudah tiba masanya untuk Kerajaan Malaysia di bawah Kementerian Kesihatan mengambil tindakan tegas ke atas isu ini.) J.Jay- Pemilik Farmaseutikal -12/07/11)

Akta S112 :Pengguna juga boleh memfailkan tuntutan di Tribunal Tuntutan Pengguna bagi membatalkan perjanjian yang di tandatangani. Di bawah S112 Akta Perlindungan Pengguna, Tribunal mempunyai kuasa untuk membatalkan kontrak yang di tandatangani di antara pengguna dan syarikat.

The photos that appeared in ads the before and after treatment is totally fraud.

I was referring to the ads in local media which advertised before and after treatment.

When I ask Y....N…. (treatment center ) if I could see personally the client name N….. who appear in ads the before and after treatment, they refused to entertain my request. They ask me to watch local TV for their testimonials, which I can’t accept because the media only interested making profit.

All photos that appear in ads, clearly it show clients are wearing fake hair or having their hair cut less and photo them later few month after their hair grown back.

Mr. Lim - Selayang- 14-05-2012

Dear Y.B. Dato' Shahrir Bin Abdul Samad Good day and Sorry, because the mail keep returning back, I do hope this time could reach to Datuk. First of all, please let me introduce myself, I am a misleading and frustrating consumer from a cosmetic retail company called Y....Hair care (Origin from Singapore). please do let me brief the background of the case. Please do help me to investigate this loophole case, which severely against our Malaysian Public interest, Social welfares, Due to the misleading/misconduct business practice by some unethical business operators. Recently I went to a retail shop called "Y..... hair care" on last Thursday (6/Oct/2005), because I have some hair loss problems. It was due to I watched some advertisements from Yu...., which claiming they could medicate all sources of hair loss and very reputable in the market. A Sales lady called Joey, whom appeared as trained profe attended to demonstrate my hairloss problem, she told the problem was caused by "oily scalp by their so called sophisticated micro-scope system, but it all can be mediated by their so called effective ways and service treatments. During the demonstration, they shown a lot of the pictures of their customers (or contract models, I guess) whom were used to bald, but could regain hair rapidly Before/After with their products and services......

Hormones play the dominant role when talking about Androgenetic Alopecia. Simple put, both men and women produce testosterone. Testosterone can be converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) with the aid of the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. DHT shrinks hair follicles causing the membranes in the scalp to thicken, become inelastic and restrict blood flow. This causes the hair follicles to atrophy. As a result, when a hair does fall out, it is not replaced. So, stop wasting your hard earn money with scammy products available in market that claimed can prevent hair loss, reverse baldness and stimulate regrowth. My advise: seek medical certified professional (dermatologist. www.dermatology.org.my) the cause of your hair problem. They are better person to seek advise not those hair treatment centre, hair club or salons. Treatment centre, salons or hair club did not have sufficient scientific evidence to substantiate the claims that their products can prevent hair loss, reverse baldness and stimulate regrowth. The agreement also requires the companies to issue full refunds to consumers if such misrepresenting products .)

(Hormon memainkan peranan yang dominan apabila bercakap mengenai Botak Androgenik (Androgenic Alopecia). Lelaki dan wanita mengeluarkan hormon testosteron, Testosteron boleh ditukar kepada dihydrotesterone (DHT) dengan bantuan enzim 5-alpha-reductase. DHT mengecutkan folikel rambut menyebabkan membran di kulit kepala menebal, menjadi tidak elastik dan menyekat aliran darah. Ini menyebabkan folikel rambut mengecut. Hasilnya, apabila rambut gugur, tiada rambut baru tumbuh. Jadi, berhenti membazirkan wang anda dengan produk palsu yang terdapat di pasaran yang mendakwa boleh menghalang keguguran rambut, menyembuhkan masalah kebotakan dan merangsang pertumbuhan rambut. Nasihat saya ialah bagi masalah rambut anda, dapatkan nasihat dari pakar perubatan profesional yang diiktiraf (www.dermatology.org.my). Mereka adalah orang yang paling sesuai untuk mendapatkan nasihat dan bukannya dari pusat rawatan rambut, kelab rambut ataupun salun. Pusat rawatan, salun atau kelab rambut tidak mempunyai bukti saintifik yang mencukupi untuk menyokong dakwaan mereka bahawa produk mereka berkesan dalam mencegah keguguran rambut, dan merangsang pertumbuhan semula rambut. Perjanjian juga memerlukan syarikat-syarikat untuk memulangkan semula bayaran penuh kepada pengguna jika memberi gambaran yang salah mengenai produk mereka.)

If you spend thousands of dollars with 0 result. File a complaint at Tribunal for Consumer Claims Malaysia or National Complaint Center to claim back your hard earn money. After all customer is always right.

Are you also a victim of the same company or person? Want Justice? File report and don't let them get away with it!

File a Report here or here at National Complaint Center

What do FDA and FTC say about hair loss scams? Click here to read

Are Hair Loss Treatments Just One Big Scam? Click here to read

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission flatly states, "there is no over-the-counter cream, lotion or device that can induce new hair to grow or cause hair to become thicker." Hair-growth remedies and other health frauds squander billions of dollars, the agency warns.

The FDA and the established medical community and recognized hair loss associations worldwide have recognized only 4, we say again, 4 treatments for hair loss. They include:

• Minoxidil
• Finasteride.
• Dutasteride (very similar to finasteride)
• Wigs & Hair Pieces

Note: Minoxidil is sometimes misspelled "minoxidol or minoxidal")

On January 6, 1998, Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher's Bureau of Consumer Protection reached a settlement with a national telemarketer and maker of "Natural Hairs" shampoo. Nine Attorneys General alleged that the promoter and the manufacturer did not have sufficient scientific evidence to substantiate the claims that "Natural Hairs" shampoo can prevent hair loss, reverse baldness and stimulate regrowth. Under the terms of the settlement, the promoter and manufacturer agreed to comply with consumer protection statutes and food and drug laws in the future. The agreement also requires the companies to issue full refunds to consumers.

The other states represented in the settlement are Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin. The Pennsylvania filing was handled by Deputy Attorneys General Jesse Harvey and Marcia Telek. Source :hairsite.com

Hair Loss Treatment Scams- Click here to read

Herbal Hair Loss Treatments Clinically Proven For Treating Hair Loss?

There are a number of herbal remedies said to combat hair loss by blocking 5-alpha-reductase enzymes. Many of these herbal products such as saw palmetto, Zinc, Azelaic Acid, etc. are “clinically proven” to reduce the amount of 5-alpha-reductase enzymes in the body which ultimately reduces Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) - the hormone responsible for genetic hair loss. Some of these herbal medications are applied topically and some are taken orally.

Click here to read - Clinically Proven For Treating Hair Loss?

They called themselves professional Trichologist (hair scientist) in Hair Club, Hair Treatments Center or Health Club. Don’t get yourself fool such scam. Demand to see their relevant certificate /or document. If they failed to produced, lodge a complaint to authority. Even if they produced such certificate, read careful and write down the particulars. Verify with the authority if such certificate genuine or exist. There are too many fake certificate can be obtained or buy via internet to misleads customers. Be wise customer & don't get fool with such tactic.

A professional Trichologist, NEVER recommend hair tonic, herbal , special shampoo or any medication which do no have approval from FDA, Clinically Proven or approval from Ministry of Health. Such practiced is unethical. The next time you see a product blatantly misrepresented, notify these agencies right away.

Treatments : Scalp Exfoliator, so called follicles activator, so called computerized scalp analysis, demodex follicle mites analysis, microcirculatory nutrient complex , herbal seams, and many goody words. Does it really works or scam? Judge for yourself.

If you spend thousands of dollars with 0 result. File a complaint at Tribunal for Consumer Claims  Malaysia to claim back your hard earn money. After all customer is always right. Tribunal for Consumer Claims  Malaysia

Fraud to misleads clients

Top employees at Taiwan S..... Hair Co were indicted on fraud charges yesterday for allegedly selling common shampoo products with no medical properties at unreasonably high prices.

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted the owner of the company, Chen Ying-chi (陳穎祺), 48, and four of the company’s officials.

Prosecutors said S...... has run seven stores in Taiwan since 2005. The company sells 47 highly priced hair health and restoration products and offers courses on hair health and rejuvenation.

Prosecutors said a customer surnamed Soong (宋), 24, had spent more than NT$460,000 on S.....’s products and courses, but found they had had no impact on his hair loss.

Soong subsequently filed a fraud lawsuit with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office against the company.

Prosecutors said Hong Kong movie star Waise Lee (李子雄) had been hired to endorse the products in an advertisement.

They said Lee, who has a hair loss problem, wore a wig to prove his hair had been restored.

Prosecutors said they believed the company might have committed fraud.

Prosecutors said a man surnamed Wang (王) also endorsed S...... products in an advertisement. The company allegedly filmed the man after having him cut his hair to make it look as though he had less hair and then filmed him one month later after his hair had grown back.

In a further move designed to win public trust, prosecutors said the company had movie star Aaron Chen (陳昭榮) and TV variety show host Hsu Nai-lin (徐乃麟) promote the company’s products.

source :http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/05/01/2003531722

Bald-faced lies: Taiwanese hair loss brand sued for fraud- click here

I've been through the Hair Club experience. I want to provide an insider's viewpoint so you can make an informed decision.

Here's the short version:

For RM6000 / US$1862.53 Hair Club for Men will order a human-hair toupee worth about RM1400 / US$435(Hairsetup) and glue it to your head. They will then charge you RM3000 / US$932 yearly on maintenance which is every four to six weeks to unglue it, cut your hair, and glue it back on again.

Hair Club sold me a toupee and glued it to my head. And I was out RM5500, too late for a refund. I'm happy to find your ads in the net. Keep up your good work Hairsetup! - Mr.Lee from Sri Damansara- Kuala Lumpur.

I been with *****(big hair club in Kuala Lumpur) is a real cut throat. Paid for one hair piece RM5500 and ask me to buy two systems in year. I have signed with them 5 years. Itchy and not comfortable. Maintenance cost me RM3000 yearly. Glad that I found your Hairsetup. Comfortable, not itchy and surly affordable. Now I don't go broke. Thank you Hairsetup :) - Mr. Sham - from Johor Bharu.

I have a thin hair I guess more then 10 yrs, I been to *****(big treatment center located at Bkt Bintang, KL) for treatment but no big improvement and their fees is too expensive and I finally I gave up for that treatment but I still using their so call hair piece until now. I am looking for hair transplant treatment actually but notice is very expensive and alternative solution is to look for your products but with very affordable price indeed.

so if I am interested I need to drop by your place for some consultant ? please advise me via email for the time being, thanks.........Mr.Ng - Kuala Lumpur

I paid RM4000 to ******** (big treatment center located at Bkt Bintang, KL) the herbal steam treatment. None of the treatment works. I am now happy that you made nice custom made natural looking all lace hair piece. Thanks Hairsetup. - Mr Jason -Puchong.

Got your own story? Write to us - Click to Contact Us

Hair Club For Men And Women ripoff, misrepresenting products dishonest fraudulent billing

I am bald in the front, sides and top of my head. After years of wearing wigs and weaves i decided to visit hair club for men and women.I spoke to a representative who kept saying that the hair piece i would be getting was like a second layer of skin. There were no samples. Just a film and many pictures of happy, smiling clients with beautiful hair.

While you're watching the film in a closed room your credit is being checked and before you know it you have a bill nearly $2000 with citibank.of course HCM is already paid up front.

In 8 weeks i was called back into the office to get what i thought was a unique hairpiece.' like a second layer of skin' to my dismay i was getting no more then a wig glued onto my scalp.

If i refused it i would have to give the hairpiece back and get only half of my money back. I was given the option to join a payment plan of 200 plus dollars a month for the upkeep and hair replacement [that's after a year]

I cried all the way home feeling very stupid and ripped off.

After less then 2 months the hair began to loosen and shed.

HCM is ripping off desperate people by misrepresenting their products.I could have brought a $30 wig and glued it onto my own head.that's what HCM did.

Susan
Malaysia

Victim of this person/company?

Are you also a victim of the same company or person? Want Justice? File report and don´t let them get away with it!

File a Report here

is hair club for men and women still ripping desperate people off in KL?

i wrote you about my experiance with hair club for men and women in 2007.to this very day i'm still overly depressed about my experiance.
i still see their advertisement on News Paper which let's me know there are new victims out there.
i am still being charged for this scam, i now owe a little over $2000 .yes that's alot of interest added on after i couldn't pay the whole $2000 off in a certain given time frame.- Mr. Jay

Victim of this person/company?

Are you also a victim of the same company or person? Want Justice? File report and don´t let them get away with it!

File a Report here

Saw Palmetto Propecia and hair loss

You've heard that Saw Palmetto is a "natural" and "safe" and "effective" alternative to Propecia. We're not so sure that is the case, and here is why...

The whole topic of using Saw Palmetto as an internal DHT inhibitor for the treatment of Androgenetic Alopecia (Male or Female Pattern Baldness) has been hotly debated over the years. The reason why is simple. People think that since it "inhibits DHT" it must not only work like Propecia, but also work as well as Propecia. The fact is, it's not that simple. Saw Palmetto *is* a potent modulator of your hormones, and it can cause side effects (both good and bad), but just because something can inhibit DHT does not automatically mean it can stop hair loss.

"Natural" doesn't necessarily mean "Safe"

Kiss a frog in the United States and you may get a prince. Kiss the wrong frog in africa and you're dead. The pretty looking "Poison Dart Frog" is about as natural as you can get, and this little thing is more evidence that natural does not always mean "safer". In fact, when it comes to herbal remedies, many times it can mean "unregulated" and more dangerous to certain people. One of our users followed the advice of a "natural treatments" proponent on our discussion forums awhile back, and ended up in the hospital with severe internal bleeding. This advocate of treating hair "naturally" had come to our forums, criticizing everyone who recommended proven products over herbal concoctions, labeling them "herbal bashers". He unequivocally told the guy to use such and such herb, instead of "making more money for Merck Pharmaceuticals by taking Propecia". It turned out that this particular herb should not be used by people with his particular condition, and he almost died. This is an extreme example, but the point remains the same - anyone can pick up any herb at any store without the knowledge or consent of their physician and many "natural" herbs can be dangerous to certain individuals. Don't believe us? Read this side effects list for herbal products: http://www.personalhealthzone.com/herbsafety.html

It should also be noted that there isn't a single shred of scientific evidence that any herb on planet earth has shown success in treating hair loss. Just because something inhibits DHT does not make it a hair loss treatment. Just because an herb has been shown to shock the follicles into short term growth, either by stimulating more bloodflow, or by some other means, does not make that herb a hair loss treatment. The thing that separates the "men" from the "boys" in treating hair loss, is that it must work for a minimum of one year. Short term growth stimulation can be attained by anything from rubbing your head daily, to stimulating bloodflow with things like topical niacin. The problem is, the hair stimulated will *not* last.

Fortunately, documentation for herbal products is on the rise, and there now are reference materials on the web like the one shown above, that list known side effects. You should consult this list before taking any. The medical community is also slowly starting to interact with the Naturopathic community, and along with this is coming the development of documentation, checks and balances, regulation, and safety protocols that haven't existed for natural products in the past.

Herbal Products Need more Clinical Data

There is no doubt that herbal products are, in the opinion of HairlossTalk the untapped gem of the medical community, and we are frustrated at the lack of attention they've been given. Herbal products do help, and many times can work more safely and effectively than prescription products will. An acidophilus capsule can cure diarrhea in 90% of cases without a second thought. The new product called "Zicam" which is nothing more than a zinc nasal spray has been clinically proven to stop the common cold. Broccoli has been shown in extensive studies to reduce the incidence of cancer by nearly 60%, and carry out about a hundred other important roles in the human body. The data is there, if someone's willing to do it. Clinical data is clinical data, and it should be carried out and expected of herbal products just like every other product on the market, for all the same reasons: Safety, Verification of Effectiveness, and Establishing the proper Dose.

You should expect the same of any herbal product for hair loss, and that includes Saw Palmetto. This isn't about bashing herbal products and making money for big pharmaceutical companies. Its about educating yourself, and realizing the importance of clinical data to establish effectiveness. So lets look at what we do know about Saw Palmetto, in regards to treating hair loss:

Saw Palmetto: Zero Clinical Data for Hair Loss

There hasn't been a single reputable study done showing that Saw Palmetto has any effect on treating hair loss. One study can be found in PubMed, but it was run by the makers of a saw palmetto product, and was publicly labeled as "Bunk" on 20/20 in January 2003 on nationwide television because it only included 10 participants and lasted only 6 months. Insufficient test group, insufficient test period, and run by someone standing to gain financially from it.

Saw Palmetto: It's Not About Money

Many herbal enthusiasts have used the argument: "Saw Palmetto really DOES work but the medical community wont spend the money to test it because they can't patent an Herb." This is false. The lack of Saw Palmetto clinical data has absolutely nothing to do with its status as an "herb" or an inability to patent or market it. You can find over 100 clinical studies, and mountains of scientific data showing Saw Palmetto's effectiveness in treating prostate problems. Zero such studies for hair loss. Coincidence? No.

Saw Palmetto: It's not an Alternative to Propecia

Saw Palmetto is not a "natural alternative to Propecia". There are two types of 5 alpha reductase that combine with Testosterone to form DHT. Propecia blocks one of them most effectively, reduces serum (blood stream) DHT levels, and has shown to stop hair loss in 83% of men. Well what about Saw Palmetto? It actually has been shown to block both types of DHT, and this is where all the confusion centers. Just because something can block DHT in a test tube, does not mean it can reduce levels of it in the bloodstream, or stop hair loss. In a clinical study, Saw Palmetto was given to test subjects, and it had no effect on their serum DHT levels. This means it didn't inhibit DHT in the bloodstream effectively like Propecia does. This is the key. As a result of this study, many have hypothesized that Saw Palmetto works for the prostate by some other mechanism than DHT reduction. Propecia and Saw Palmetto are similar in some ways, but completely different where it matters most. As such, they should never be considered "alternatives" to each other.

Saw Palmetto: It's not Safer than Propecia

Saw Palmetto is not "safer" nor does it cause "fewer side effects". People report just as many, if not more side effects, from excessive unrelented hair shedding, to hormonally related side effects like acne and testicle pain, to emotionally related side effects and even estrogen related side effects like breast growth. We advise caution in using any hormonal modulator, and strongly advise against using one that isn't even going to help your hair loss.

Saw Palmetto: It's Widely Used in Snake Oils

The whole misunderstanding with Saw Palmetto is a huge factor in why Snake Oil companies continue to thrive off consumers. You've still got guys going around on the hair loss sites saying that Saw Palmetto is an acceptable alternative to Propecia, and agreeing with them are nearly 60 recognized scam companies and snake oil salesmen, selling Saw Palmetto based products. Saw Palmetto and a host of other herbs are the foundation for nearly every snake oil on the market today. Coincidence? No. Throw a little saw palmetto in with a little bit of rogaine and you've got an "FDA Approved Growth stimulant and DHT Inhibitor!" Truth mixed with misinformation. They all use the same argument, as well: "If even a tiny bit of evidence was found that shows it inhibited DHT, it MUST WORK FOR HAIR LOSS!" Wrong. The number of confused people has risen so high on this issue that some reputable products have even included Saw Palmetto, simply because they know the public expects it to be there. It's not there because of its effectiveness.

Saw Palmetto: Absolutely No Assurances

We can't tell you if Saw Palmetto will work for you. We can't tell you what your chances of success are. We can't tell you why you've been shedding since you started it. We can't tell you how much to take, and we can't tell you if there are any long term side effects or potential drug interactions. Why ? Because nobody knows. There is no data on it. All the basic necessary information for any hair loss treatment, is completely missing when it comes to saw palmetto. How are you able to determine what amount to take? Do you know for sure that 350mg will inhibit enough DHT to help your follicle? How did you come to that conclusion? These are questions we ask of Saw Palmetto proponents, and we never get a straight answer. This is why clinical data is so important. It answers the questions that need to be answered.

Our Advice?

If you're going to take a drug that affects your hormone levels, at least use the drug proven to work in 83% of men. Propecia. Using the drug called Saw Palmetto/or any herbal instead, doesn't make any sense. The unexplained shedding, the side effects, the months and months of wondering if it will work .. just doesn't seem worth it when there is a completely clinically proven version available in the form of Propecia.

BEWARE OF HAIR TRANSPLANT CROOKS AND QUACKS:
Hair Transplantation is the most corrupt and sleaziest medical specialty of all time.

Surgical Hair Transplantation is a billion-dollar industry which is completely unregulated. Far more than any other medical specialty, the hair transplant industry is notorious for being sleazy and corrupt. The "hair loss business" has always been a magnet for crooks, con men and quacks, and Surgical Hair Transplantation is no different. A recent article in the New York Times characterized Hair Transplantation as the "Wild West of medicine" to describe the completely lawless state of the industry.

Illegal sales tactics and unethical behavior are widespread. Patients are routinely lied to, in order to help meet sales quotas. False advertising is commonplace, and some clinics spend millions of dollars each year on deliberately misleading and deceptive advertising.

Anyone with a medical degree can legally perform hair transplants without having had ANY specific training. The so-called "established standards of care" for hair transplants are extremely low. The vast majority of clinics use surgical techniques that are outdated, because they are faster and thus more profitable.

INTERVENTION is urgently needed, to prevent further abuses and to protect the public. The hair transplant industry has a 40-year history, and yet still has no moral compass or code of ethics. Government agencies are unwilling or unable to regulate the industry, and doctors are unwilling or unable to police themselves. So dissatisfied patients must take matters into their own hands, with lawsuits or other alternatives. And the public must educate themselves, to protect themselves from these unethical and predatory doctors.

What this website will cover: False advertising in the Hair Transplant industry. Prospective hair transplant patients are routinely lied to, by medical clinics who are more concerned with making money, than they are in their patients' well-being. Most hair transplant clinics care more about sales quotas, than they do about medical ethics. I outline some of the typical lies that are used on potential customers, to encourage them to sign up for a hair transplant. I also present multiple examples of "educational" materials that are full of phony claims, from the clinic that disfigured me. This material was created to ratchet up the clinic's sales, under the pretense of "educating patients".   My terrible personal experience with the Hair Transplant industry. The horrible results of disfiguring hair transplant surgery, that was performed on me when I was 21 years old. My surgeon had nine years of experience in hair transplantation when he operated on me, and I provide pictures of the miserable results. I discuss the established medical knowledge of that time period, to prove that my bad results were not due to "established standards of care" of that time period, but were actually due to an unethical medical practice operating on an innappropriate surgical candidate. I contrast my bad results against the false claims made by the clinic.   An overview of the disgraceful history of surgical hair transplantation. Why have the results of hair transplantation been so bad, for so long? For almost forty years, hair transplant surgeons have aggressively marketed a primitive surgical technique ("punch-grafting") that resulted in crude-looking "Dolls Hair" hair transplants. Patients were promised that their results would look "natural" and "undetectable" and other blatant lies. Many doctors want to whitewash their own shameful history, and try to pretend that "Dolls Hair" transplants and the disfiguring "open donor" scarring were done "way back in the early days" of hair transplantation. In fact those extremely crude techniques were being used for almost 40 years, and were only just abandoned by the majority of clinics approximately 10 years ago (the early 90s). However, other radical and disfiguring techniques like "flaps" and "scalp lifts" are still being performed today, even though many men have been permanently mutilated by these extreme procedures. This website outlines the disgraceful history of commercial hair transplantation. I also outline how "modern" hair transplants are done, because the vast majority of patients haven't got a clue about what actually happens during a hair transplant, before they head into surgery. Clinics capitalize on this ignorance ("it's just like going to the dentist") because the less 'surgical' they can make the procedure seem, the easier it is to sell it. See the section on Strip Excision for more details. Use the links at the top and bottom of the page, to explore this website.

JUST HOW BAD IS IT?

"The industry itself has not been known for its good quality work in the past, nor its ethics. The industry has been laden down with a sleaze factor to a high degree." "...unfortunately, over the past 30 years a lot of the doctors have done a great deal of harm in the hair transplant business. " Dr. William Rassman, Hair Transplant Surgeon, Medical Director at New Hair Institute http://www.thebaldman.com/Interview_rassman.htm

NBC "DATELINE" Reporter CHRIS HANSEN: (Voiceover) Can they really live up to those promises? Are the claims realistic? Can surgery restore your hair? We decided to investigate, and were surprised by how many men we talked to who felt ripped off and disfigured. HANSEN: How big is this problem? Dr. MANNY MERRITT: I don't want to sound histrionic and tell you it's of epidemic proportions, but it's of epidemic proportions. (From "Splitting Hairs", the 1997 NBC DATELINE investigation of the Bosley Medical Group. Click here to read the DATELINE transcript.) Bosley Medical Group is currently the world's largest (and oldest) hair transplant clinic franchise, with 62 locations, and dating back to 1974. Bosley Medical has been disciplined or sanctioned in 20 states, for false advertising, misleading patients, airbrushing photographs, and other violations. This has resulted in Bosley being penalized with huge fines, probation, and even being barred from practicing medicine in some states. Yet Bosley Medical is still one of the dominating forces in the industry, because they spend millions of dollars on advertising every year. The earliest documented sanctions against Bosley date back to 1979, and the most recent charges were filed in July 2002. Bosley Medical is a long-term repeat offender. The charges against Bosley are documented extensively on the website "www.BosleyMedicalViolations.com". Many doctors have worked for the Bosley franchise over the years before going on to open their own practices, making Bosley into a "training ground" of sorts, in how surgeons can maximize profits by deceiving patients. The hair transplant industry is dominated by large franchise operations like Bosley (62 locations), Medical Hair Restoration, (MHR, 37 locations), NuHart (6 locations), PAI (Pierre Amelotte International, 18 locations), HRG (Hair Restoration Group, 11 locations). Sadly, the "violations" documented on the "www.BosleyMedicalViolations.com" website are actually standard practices in the hair transplant industry. Because Bosley is the world's oldest and largest hair transplant franchise, they have simply been caught breaking the law the most. However, the problems with Bosley Medical are just the tip of the iceberg.

HOW EVEN SMART PEOPLE CAN BE SCAMMED

If you've had a hair transplant and are happy with your results, I am truly glad for you. You are in the minority. I would never claim that all hair transplants are bad, or that all hair transplant doctors are liars. I believe that there is currently a small handful of skilled and trustworthy hair transplant surgeons, out of an estimated total of 3000 doctors performing hair transplants world-wide. In my opinion, less than 5 percent of the doctors in this field can give their patients consistently good results. The vast majority of hair transplant clinics are inconsistent AT BEST (and utterly incompetent at worst). "Inconsistent" means that some guys will turn out looking okay, and some guys will turn out looking lousy. Very few guys would agree to get Hair Transplant surgery if they realized that their odds of long-term satisfaction were actually less than 50 percent. So clinics only show sample photos of their very best results, and pretend they are typical. It is almost impossible for a "newbie" to protect himself against this common ploy. The range of quality in results is actually huge, and many guys who paid tens of thousands of dollars to improve their looks with a hair transplant end will up looking WORSE than if they had done nothing.

If you went to see your regular "family" doctor because of a Sore Throat, it's highly unlikely he would recommend that you have your tonsils removed just because he needed to make some extra money. However that kind of thing is typical at a hair transplant clinic... guys are urged to get hair transplants even when it's not in their best interests, because the clinic has sales quotas to meet. Hair transplant clinics prioritize PROFITS first. Most of the doctors do hair transplants to make a lot of money, not "help people". The procedure attracts bottom of the barrel doctors because they can make a lot of money without red tape from insurance companies and HMOs, and without having to learn a lot of demanding surgical techniques. It's almost impossible for a "newbie" to tell the difference between a "good" or "bad" hair transplant doctor, just using the normal criteria he would use to pick a regular doctor... Some of the most-experienced doctors are also the worst in the field!

Most hair transplant doctors hire "consultants" (salesmen) to work in the office, to make the all-important "first sale". Salesmen working inside a doctors office is unheard of, in other "legitimate" medical fields! The "consultants" exagerate the surgery, making it seem more effective, cheaper and easier than it really is, in order to make the sale. Because this is happening at a medical clinic, it gives the "consultant's" pitch an air of authority that it wouldn't have, if it were to take place somewhere else (a used car lot, for example). Afterwards, patients who complain about being disappointed will be told they had "unrealistic expectations" (translation: high expectations) about what hair transplants could accomplish. But it was the clinic who had deliberately created those "unrealistic" expectations in the first place, in order to make a sale! Clinics only talk about "unrealistic expectations" AFTER the surgery is over, AFTER you've already paid... never beforehand, when it could do some good. The phrase "unrealistic expectations" is their "Get Out of Jail Free" card, which allows them to do high pressure sales while delivering a sub-par result, and then place the responsibility for being unhappy back onto the consumer's shoulders.

A huge percentage of hair transplant patients find their end results unnacceptable, despite paying tens of thousands of dollars. Unhappy patients are typically told that they're a "tough case" with "unusually high expectations", and the solution for their dissatisfaction is always to KEEP SPENDING on more surgery. The "next" surgery will hopefully result in an acceptable appearance, over and over again. THAT IS THE ESSENCE OF THE SCAM. Once you sell the "first" hair transplant, additional surgeries sell themselves. Patients eventually run out of money, "donor hair" or patience. The vast majority of patients never accomplish what they thought they would, when they first agreed to go in for hair transplants.

Many Hair Transplant patients eventually "give up" and cover up the surgical damage with a hairpiece. Recent phone calls to the offices of Richard Farrell (a small chain of expensive hairpiece salons) revealed that approximately 40% of their Los Angeles clients and 75% of their New York clients began wearing hairpieces to cover up a bad hair transplant.

Of the few "quality" hair transplant clinics, many acknowledge that one-third to one-half of all their patients are there to get corrective surgery, to try to fix the problems that were created by other hair transplant clinics. These clinics make millions of dollars on "corrective" surgery, repairing the shoddy work of other hair transplant doctors. However it is uncommon that a "repair" patient is able to do a complete correction, and totally reverse the damage from unsatisfactory surgeries.

Most guys are too embarrassed to come forward and complain about getting a bad hair transplant, which allows the clinic to keep churning out hundreds or even thousands of other dissatisfied patients. Hair transplant clinics spend millions of dollars on advertising, so even when their "word of mouth" feedback is terrible, they still have a whole new crop of customers they can draw from, who saw their commercial on TV, in the newspaper, on the internet etc.

If you are interested in Hair Tranplants, be careful! Ask any doctor or "consultant" to put ANY claims in writing! You'll hear claims such as "You're going to be thrilled" and "All you'll need is about 2000 grafts" and "This transplant will last you for the next 10 years"> ASK FOR ANY CLAIMS IN A WRITTEN GUARANTEE... you'll get nothing but weak excuses about why your your 5,000 to 15,000 dollar "investment in yourself" can't possibly come with a real Satisfaction Guarantee in writing. In fact the long-term client satisfaction rate is actually LOW.

Some hair transplant clinics do half their business doing "repair" surgery, trying to improve "average" results, or trying to fix screwed-up hair transplants. Lousy results are all too common. A BAD HAIR TRANSPLANT IS HELL ON EARTH. "Well I'm aware of three suicides on people who've come into this office on consultation, and then I've learned later on that they died who have not had surgery by us. In all three situations, all three patients were physically deformed by other doctors. So if I know of three suicides, then there has to be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and thousands of things that are not known by others. Of course, I always say a doctor only sees one out of twenty of anything; one of twenty complaints, one of twenty compliments. So if he's got one of twenty and there more behind, and if I know of three, then there must be sixty I don't know of from those that have circulated through this business. And I don't know how many, and they are across world. But I suspect some substantial numbers. I can tell you that I'm a pretty solid stable guy, and if somebody did that to my head, like I see everyday in this office, freaky guys coming into this office, I might have difficulty handling it. A number of my patients who said that if that happened to them that they would kill the doctor. And think about that. Stable people who see some of the freaks that, you know, walking the streets, and they said, "Well, if anybody ever did to me, I'd kill them." Alexei, from my video said that he wanted to kill the man that did that to him, and Alexei is a pretty benign guy. And it ran through his mind a few times. Dr. William Rassman, Hair Transplant Surgeon, Medical Director at New Hair Institute http://www.thebaldman.com/interview.asp

SERIOUS PROBLEMS IN THE INDUSTRY HAVE NEVER BEEN FIXED

• Hair Transplant clinics make SALES, MARKETING and PROFITS their #1 priority... NOT "good medicine" or patient satisfaction.
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• Hair transplant clinics NEVER volunteer information about potential problems when trying to make a sale, even though problems are common. Most people don't know the "hard questions" to ask, and are at risk of getting screwed. Clinics only show examples of the "best" results, but they pretend as if these results are average, and achievable by anyone. "Average" results are not shown, because that's bad for sales.
   
• Some of the common complications from a hair transplant:
  -Unnatural or bizarre appearance (the #1 risk)
  -Severe scarring
  -Permanent numbness in the scalp
  -Accelerated hair loss due to surgery ("shock fallout")
  -Pitting (divots) or cobblestoning (bumps) on the scalp surface
  -Transplanted hair does not match very well with existing hair
  -Lingering pain or sensitivity in the donor area
  -Limited styling options
  -Depletion of your donor supply, far before you reach your goals
  -Poor coverage of transplanted hair.
  If a hair transplant clinic claims that these common issues will not be a problem for you, ASK THEM FOR A WRITTEN GUARANTEE. See what they say! Then ask them why they didn't voluntarily disclose these potential complications, on their own!
   
• Anyone with a medical degree can legally perform hair transplant surgery, without having ANY specific training in hair transplantation, dermatology or cosmetic surgery. Your Proctologist could decide to open a hair transplant clinic, and he could legally begin doing hair transplants the very same day.
   
• Clinics usually hire salesmen ("consultants") to hype the surgery in the pretense of "educating patients". (Note the job pays a salary, plus commision and bonuses based on sales)
   
• "Consultants" are laymen with absolutely no medical training, but they are presented to patients as "experts".
   
• "Consultants" routinely break the law by "playing doctor", illegally making medical diagnoses and recommending surgery.
   
• Many clinics have sales quotas or pay their "consultants" an illegal commission, which leads to consultants "over-selling" the surgery with false claims, not giving full disclosure on limitations and risks, and selling the surgery to innappropriate candidates. The goal is to make the first sale, because the first sale is the hardest. After that the patient is committed to getting more surgeries in the future, because he has permanently altered his scalp. So pressure, lies, deceptive or misleading claims, airbrushed photos, even humiliation can be used to induce the patient into getting a "first" hair transplant... by a SALESMAN, working on commission!
   
• Even the "consultants" who don't earn a commission, feel economic pressure to oversell the public on Hair Transplants... Salesmen who don't make very many sales will usually lose their job.
   
• Many patients are illegally scheduled for surgery by "consultants", and the patient never even meets with a real doctor until a few minutes before the surgery begins.
   
• A common ploy is for the "consultant" to wear a white lab coat, creating the false impression that he has some medical training. Sometimes they are given official-sounding titles like "Senior Medical Advisor", even though they have no medical background whatsoever.
   
• Hair transplant clinics advertise that "transplanted hair is permanent, and will last you the rest of your life". This is often NOT TRUE. Look at the "permanent" fringe (aka donor area) on older guys... That "permanent" area will often thin out with age. Transplanted hairs are often NOT permanent. This is a well-known medical fact, yet hair transplant clinics still lie about that in their ads.
   
• The vast majority of guys will run out of donor hair, money, or patience, before they achieve the kind of results they imagined they would get, when they first signed up for hair transplant surgery.
   
• It takes about 12,000 grafts to lightly cover a fully balding head. However the average guy only has about 6,000 to 7,000 donor grafts available, in total. Hair loss is progressive and there is no cure. Many guys get started early with hair transplant surgery, and will end up "stuck in-between" with 'half a head' of transplanted hair. THE NUMBERS USUALLY DO NOT ADD UP IN YOUR FAVOR. The "supply" does not meet the "demand". I have NEVER heard of a "finished" hair transplant patient who wasn't left wanting more hair... NEVER.
   
• Hair transplant "consultants" often "lowball" their initial estimates with potential customers, in order to make hair transplants seem cheaper and easier than they actually are. Once the patient undergoes the first surgery, he is committed to getting additional transplants. The hardest sale to make is the first one, after that the patient is forced to return, sooner or later.
   
• The hair transplant industry is dominated by big franchises that prioritize mass-marketing and sales, and they take a "conveyor-belt" approach to surgery.
   
• The vast majority of hair transplant clinics use outdated techniques and tools, such as multi-bladed knives, and "mixed grafting" techniques. (Minigrafts and Micrografts, aka "Varigrafting"). See the STRIP EXCISION section of this website for more info. Older methods are faster, and that allows the doctor to do more patients per day. The #1 priority of the doctor is profits, NOT doing hair transplants the best possible way.
   
• Hair transplantation is a cash-only business with fast patient turnover, and no "red tape" from HMOs or insurance companies, so it attracts many "bottom of the barrel" doctors who are only in it for the money. Many of the doctors are burned out or couldn't cut it, practicing legitimate medicine. They turn to Hair Transplantation where the profits are high and the standards are practically non-existent.
   
• Only a small handful of the estimated 3000 doctors doing hair transplants are able to perform the surgery at a consistently high level.
   
• Most of the innovations in the field have only come in the last 5 or 10 years, but only a tiny fraction of the doctors have voluntarily adopted the latest methods. Learning modern techniques means interrupting the cash flow, and the newer methods are harder to do and more time-consuming. Hair transplants are usually done the way that is fastest and most profitable, NOT the way that gives the best results.
   
• Hair transplant clinics have churned out hundreds of thousands of bad results over the previous 40 years, with no remore and no penalty. Doctors who based their careers on lying to patients have gone unpunsished, and are still doing hair transplants today.
   
• Over ONE MILLION men have been subjected to primitive "Punch Graft" procedures that result in a "Dolls Hair" appearance. This crude technique was typically being used by the majority of clinics not much more than 10 years ago.
   
• The vast majority of all hair transplant patients have actually been permanently damaged by the very doctors who were hired to "help" them.
   
• Hundreds of thousands of guys have needed to hide their hair transplant results by wearing a toupee or wig.
   
• Patients have been driven to commit suicide as a result of being disfigured by hair transplant surgeons.
   
• Some clinics admit that up to half of their clients are there getting "corrective" surgery. Many damaged patients go from clinic to clinic hoping to finally achieve a normal appearance. "Corrective" patients are an important part of the business, and a huge source of revenue. Many "repair" patients have paid 10 times more for multiple "corrective" surgeries, than they did for their original hair transplants. There is no financial incentive for doctors to stop the cash flow that comes from "corrective" patients seeking repair surgery.
   
• Most men are too embarrassed to come forward to complain or sue, after being disfigured by an elective cosmetic surgery. Guys who get hair transplants are already self-conscious about their looks. After they are subjected to a "botched" hair transplant, that self-consciousness is greatly amplified.
   
• A successful lawsuit against even the worst hair tranplant doctor is rarer than a 4-leaf clover.
   
• Lawsuits against hair transplant doctors are rarely successful, because the established standards of care are so poor, the statute of limitations expires before patients can actually judge their results, and unlike other legitimate fields of medicine it is difficult to find an ethical hair transplant surgeon who is willing to testify as an expert witness against an unscrupulous colleague.
   
• To beat a lawsuit, oftentimes the only thing that a hair transplant clinic has to do is prove the bare minimum: that they moved skin grafts, and some of the transplanted hairs did grow. If the patient looks totally bizarre as a result, that is often considered legally irrelevant.
   
• Hair transplant surgeons are forbidden to criticize each other, as written into the by-laws of the professional organizations they've created.
   
• Medical texbooks and professional journals on hair transplantation contain chapters that teach doctors how to evade a successful lawsuit. This is unheard of, in other medical specialties.
   
• Medical conferences on hair transplantation feature seminars like "How to Market Your Practice" and "How to Turn a Patient's 'No' Into a 'Yes'".
   
• Doctors advertise that they are "Board Certified" even though there aren't any recognized or official Board exams for hair transplantation.
   
• The hair transplant boards that DO exist were created by the doctors as self-promotional devices, and as a way to create a false air of legitimacy.
   
• The hair transplant industry was threatened with an FTC audit in 1996, but representative doctors quickly created a "straw" (token) regulatory organization, and talked their way out of FTC scrutiny by promising to clean up the industry. But nothing actually changed, and the abuses still continue.
   
• Newer outpatient surgical industries such as LASIK have come under regulation and oversight by the FTC, yet for some reason Hair Transplantation still remains completely unregulated and unsupervised.
   
• PT Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute". Even the worst Hair Transplant clinics can make a fortune if they spend enough money on advertising, to lure in "new suckers". They simply pass the high cost of advertising on to their patients. Some clinics spend one third of their budgets on advertising... MILLIONS of dollars a year.

This is a non-commercial website that is not connected to any business, group, doctor or organization. This website was created by a real patient solely for the purpose of informing people about an ongoing threat to public safety.

RM300,000 SPENT ON HAIR CARE - Source from: The Star