India reports over 3.5 lakh hair transplants annually, and this figure might be even higher unofficially. Out of these, only a few hundred are done by certified plastic surgeons or dermatologists. The rest are often performed by unqualified practitioners — including dentists, BHMS or Ayurvedic doctors, or even technicians — operating under the guide of aesthetic centers. Patients are lured in by low-cost packages, unaware that their surgery is being handled by someone with no formal surgical training.
Most of these setups lack basic medical infrastructure. There are no pre-operative investigations, no allergy tests for anesthetic drugs, and no tie-ups with hospitals for emergencies. The individuals performing the surgery often don’t understand human anatomy, medication safety limits, or even sterilization protocols. Reuse of instruments across patients is common, and emergency preparedness is virtually non-existent.
Dr. Mayank Singh, MCh Plastic Surgery says, “This is an extremely unfortunate incident, but sadly not the first. Over the last five years, I’ve come across at least five or six cases in India where patients have died during or after undergoing a hair transplant. Hair transplant, when done by qualified hands, is a very safe procedure. But what’s dangerous is who is performing these surgeries.”
This is not just about poor results or unnatural hairlines — these are life-threatening situations.
Worryingly, the Clinical Establishment Act still allows certain non-allopathic practitioners to perform hair transplants, and floating technician teams operate freely across cities. This is a serious gap in regulation. We have clearly defined the specialties eligible to perform these surgeries and the steps that must be executed strictly by the operating surgeon — including planning, anesthesia administration, graft harvesting, and slit creation.
Doctor adds, “We need to stop viewing hair transplant as a cosmetic procedure done at salons. It’s a surgical intervention requiring the highest medical safety standards. Until the government enforces stricter rules on who can perform these procedures, we will continue to lose lives unnecessarily.”
