A French business student took his own life after experiencing complications from a hair transplant in Turkey.
24-year-old Mathieu Latour travelled to Istanbul, Turkey back in March 2024 to undergo the surgery. Latour’s father, Jacques Vigier Latour, told French media BFM that his son endured severe pain and abnormal hair growth, with transplanted hairs growing in a “hedgehog” pattern.
The procedure’s aim was to remove 4,000 hair grafts from the back of his head to his face, but after experiencing unnatural hair growth combined with severe pain and discomfort, Latour searched for a second opinion.
The student sought after Dr Jean Devroye, a hair transplant specialist based in Belgium, who examined Latour and found that 1,000 out of the 4,000 hair grafts that were removed from his scalp would not grow back, resulting in permanent scarring.
The Aesthetics Journal sought insight from hair transplant surgeon Mr Greg Williams on the risks of medical tourism. He commented, “The main issue is that, at cheap clinics abroad and in the UK, the surgical steps of a hair transplant are often delegated to non-doctor, layperson technicians. This allows the doctor to ‘oversee’ several patients having surgery. There are clinics in Turkey where 50-70 patients were being operated on in one day. These technicians do not have the knowledge or expertise to deliver consistently good outcomes.”
The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) works to protect patients by promoting education on hair restoration and scientifically proven hair loss treatments. To curb misleading practices, it has issued an ‘Improper Messaging list’, guiding members to avoid inaccurate advertising claims.
The ISHRS warns against deceptive tactics, such as exaggerating credentials, falsely claiming board certification, using others’ patient photos or intellectual property without permission, and allowing non-physicians to perform procedures without informed consent. These practices can mislead patients and violate ethical and legal standards. The ISHRS has a public awareness campaign, Fight the Fight, to combat improper practices in hair restoration.
The Aesthetics Journal reached out to the Republic of Türkiye Minister of Health for a comment but received no response.