The moderation team has completed an extensive investigation into coordinated deceptive activity on this subreddit. The evidence concluded that Dermatologist, Dr. Salar Hazany and/or members associated with The Scar Institute of Beverly Hills in California, USA, have repeatedly created fake accounts, posed as satisfied patients, and simultaneously falsified negative outcome testimonials acting as real patients at other medical offices. The same practice was formally warned and temporarily suspended early this year but the offenses resumed and escalated.
The community’s safety and trust are non-negotiable, we have a zero-tolerance stance toward any form of covert marketing, shilling, or competitor defamation. Accounts identified as socks, shills, or alts tied to this provider have been permanently banned.
Separate from the astroturfing scheme, we have received a growing number of patient complaints that fall well outside the scope of ordinary side-effect discussions. These include:
- Innapropriate conduct and comments made to both male and female patients.
- Unexpected facial sagging, facial-fat loss, and other serious anatomical changes.
- Dr. Hazany has reportedly delegated procedures to alternate staff mid treatment to rotating medical students without the patient’s prior knowledge or consent.
We are not a medical regulator; we can, however, protect this subreddit from being used as an extension of an unethical marketing department and from becoming an unwitting referral pipeline for a provider whose conduct might soon by under formal scrutiny by state and specialty boards.
What this means going forward:
- No recommendations referencing Dr. Salar Hazany or The Scar Healing Institute of Beverly Hills (SHI) will be allowed.
- Anyone who suspects new shill accounts is asked to use the “Report” button rather than engaging; witch-hunting threads derail discussion and will be removed.
- “DM me for the name/website/price” is not allowed. All substantive information must be posted publicly so every member can benefit. If you’re tempted to send or solicit a private message for a referral, those comments will be removed and repeat offenders will be banned.
- Physician participation is welcome and general education is encouraged, however, funnels that steer users off-board (“message me to schedule,” “visit my site for pricing”) are not. Answer in-thread, cite published evidence, and let readers decide their next step.
- There are times that we receive reports of suspicious comments. When a report is made, an investigation is done and we reach out to the commentator for more details. If we determine that the account is legitimate, we ask that you remain respectful while the commentator continues to engage in the thread. Sometimes people want privacy.
We recognize that cosmetic and procedural sub-specialties are contentious by nature, and bad outcomes can occur even in the best hands. Transparency, informed consent, and honest peer-to-peer discussion are the only ways this board remains useful. Practices that deliberately erode that transparency forfeit the privilege of being mentioned here.
If you have questions about this policy, contact the mod team via ModMail.
Thank you for helping us keep this a transparent community.
—The Moderation Team
