'I Paid To Get Damaged': Lone Tree Hair Clinic Hit With Lawsuits, Complaints

LONE TREE, Colo. (CBS4) - The founder of Bio Science Hair of Colorado, a hair transplant and restoration clinic, is due to appear in court in Douglas County next month as an unhappy customer claims the facility "botched" his hair transplant procedure. It is at least the sixth such legal action against the clinic revealed during a CBS4 Investigation.

"It's awful, it's awful, and I paid $5,000 for this," said the former patient, who said he is embarrassed about how he now looks and asked CBS4 to not use his real name, requesting to only be called "Robert."

Robert is seeking monetary damages from the clinic for his hair procedure in Douglas County small claims court, after he claims the procedures he received at the clinic not only left him with a large scar, but also permanent nerve damage on the back of his head.

It is estimated that some 60% of men experience hair loss and the hair transplant business is fast approaching a $30 billion dollar a year industry, worldwide.

Over the years, many men have sought out the services of Bio Science Hair, which used to be called the Colorado Surgical Hair Center, for transplants, due in part to its pricing which is well below the norm for the industry. However some customers told CBS4 they now regret the decision.

"I didn't even get what I paid for," said one Denver man, a 31 year old software manager, who also asked to only be referred to as "Abe" in this report. "I got nothing, I got worse, I paid to get damaged basically. Literally that's what I did."

He showed CBS4 pictures of what his head looked like following his procedure. A large gash could be seen in the back of his head . He said his hair never grew back as he expected.

(Watch the video above to see Abe's full story, recalling how his procedure was halted mid-way, and resumed the next day.)

Chris McTyre, the founder and President of the company, first told CBS4 the men who complained about his business, "aren't quite normal" and called one of the men interviewed by CBS4 "psycho." He said he was being attacked by competitors who wanted to see his clinic go out of business.

A CBS4 review of state medical disciplines showed a doctor employed at the clinic for hair restoration procedures, Dr. James Boland, was disciplined earlier this year by the Colorado medical board for hair transplants he did at the clinic in 2014 and 2016. According to state records, in both cases Dr. Boland delegated parts of the hair transplant procedures to "non-physicians" and "failed to perform the hair transplant procedure… consistent with generally accepted standards of medical practice."

According to the discipline, Boland admitted what he was charged with was "unprofessional conduct."

He was disciplined by a letter of admonition.

Faced with what CBS4 found, McTyre then admitted there was some validity to what some of his patients had complained about.

"As much as he (Boland) loved doing hair, he just couldn't get that closure 100%. He cost me a lot of money," McTyre told CBS4. "I offered to send him to additional training. He wouldn't do it. Tried to give him more training here, but he wanted to do things his way, so I had to replace him. The reviews, all of the do overs for free, a lot of lost income. We've never been the same."

Boland's attorney did not respond to inquiries from CBS4 and McTyre did not provide evidence to back up these claims.

It was the first admission of a problem with hair transplants at his clinic for McTyre, who has fought back against such complaints for years, threatening unhappy customers who posted negative reviews online, calling them "trolls" and saying the complaints added up to only a small percentage of the procedures that were performed.

"Everyone is not going to be happy," McTyre said.

He said he has had thousands of happy patients.

"I'm a good person, this place does great work," McTyre said. "We're saving hair loss all across America."

Some clients agree. Mark Lavanish, of Denver, told CBS4 he has undergone four treatments at McTyre's clinic.

"It changed my life. I look a lot better and feel a lot better," said Lavanish.

Shaun Carter, another client, said he underwent three procedures and "I had nothing but good experiences there."

Ron Young, 65, a grocery store worker, underwent multiple procedures at McTyre's clinic.

"I think it looks a lot better than most people I work with," laughed Young. "I thought it was real good."

But CBS4 found another doctor who previously worked at the clinic who said McTyre, "is a horrible guy who has scarred MANY patients over the years. Once we realized he was bad news, we got out."

The doctor asked CBS4 to not use his name, but he wrote, "he needs to be stopped."

McTyre insisted he had never scarred any patients since he was not the doctor performing the actual procedures.

Although state medical authorities oversee, regulate, and discipline doctors and other medical professionals who work at clinics like McTyre's, there is no state oversight of the clinics themselves, how they operate, or who they hire.

That lack of regulation is something that troubles some of McTyre's former patients.

"It's a baffling thing," Robert said. "A question I keep asking myself every day is what does this say about Colorado?"

An Indianapolis man who was unsatisfied with his procedure filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau earlier this year. In September, he received a cease and desist letter from an attorney for the hair clinic calling his allegations "baseless."

"This action will not be tolerated," read the attorney's letter. "Due to the Better Business Bureau complaint, Bio Science Hair of Colorado, LLC has lost approximately $150,000 of business and counting due to potential patients indicating their concerns. Your Better Business Bureau complaint is defamatory and because of its carelessness Bio Science Hair of Colorado has suffered harm to its reputation that has caused harm to its business."

The letter went on to order the former patient to "cease and desist from making any more defamatory statements… and understand this letter to demand that you withdraw your Better Business Bureau complaint of June 16, 2019."

The attorney threatened that if the BBB complaint was not withdrawn, the hair clinic "may exercise all available legal remedies under Colorado law."

The complaint was not withdrawn, and the BBB did revoke the hair clinic's accreditation, saying it had not addressed disputes quickly, professionally, and in good faith.

A Florida man, unhappy with his hair transplant procedure, sued the clinic this year in Douglas County court for breach of contract. A Judge ruled in his favor and the clinic was ordered to pay about $7,700 in damages. The man, who also asked his name not be revealed, said he was left with a gash in his head.

"I have no hair," the Florida man said.

McTyre called the case "extortion."

McTyre is not a doctor, although several patients told CBS4 they were left with the impression he was, and that he did not dispel that notion when they repeatedly called him "Dr. McTyre." He said he had "never ever" represented himself as a physician.

But CBS4 showed him a screenshot from his own website from earlier in 2019 which called him "Chris McTyre, MD." He then blamed it on a change in website companies.

"They put it on the site without approval. As soon as we found out about it, it was taken down right away. And we fired the company," said McTyre.

Abe and Robert both feel they were taken advantage of by McTyre's business.

"He pretended to be something that he's not, he made false promises, I ended up getting damaged, I asked for my money back, and he didn't give that back to me," Robert explained.

McTyre told CBS4 he sold Bio Science Hair in October, and intends to remain with the company until the end of the year to provide a transition to the new owners.

McTyre, who used to be a radio disc jockey, was convicted in 2007 for federal bank fraud in Virginia, leading to a 27-month prison term. At the time, he was operating hair loss clinics in Richmond and Virginia Beach, according to federal documents.

Court documents show McTyre had clients of those hair clinics apply for credit cards, but according to his guilty plea, he diverted the credit cards to himself. At the time, he was known as Don Stanley McTyre and was ordered to pay $145,000 in restitution.

He declined to discuss the case with CBS4, insisting it was irrelevant.

"I paid my dues, rebuilt my life, and have moved on from that time and person," McTyre said.

He said he loves the hair transplant business and despite the complaints, and says he is, "fulfilling (customers') desires to look and feel better about themselves... It's a great feeling."

CBS4 reporters Brian Maass and Kati Weis serve on the CBS4 Investigates team, uncovering fraud, waste, and corruption. Send them a news tip or follow them on Twitter @Briancbs4 and @KatiWeis.