Dr. Sae Joon Hahm, MD

am writing this letter to let you know how I am doing after an unnecessary surgery that you performed on me on May 14, 2013. You initially surgically repaired a popliteal aneurysm. When I first saw you, you were insistent that the surgery was necessary and should be done immediately. My wife and I were panicked enough that we did not seek a second opinion, a decision I certainly regret. The surgery did not go smoothly. I lost a lot of blood and according to both the other vascular surgeons I saw later, the incision should have been in the back of the knee not the side. Then after the surgery I had terrible reactions to the blood thinners, including memory loss, and I wound up back in the emergency room. Two years later, you informed me of the return of the popliteal aneurysm, and that I would need another surgery. This time, I decided to consult different doctors, since I wanted a procedure that would not lay me up with phantasma, pain, and short-term memory loss. Additionally,… the resulting loss of wages, loss of retirement and depletion of our savings was almost 75k at the time but at this moment it has cost me over 150K and more. I went to the head of vascular surgery in Mt Sinai in New York City. When we walked into the doctor’s office, the doctor said, “I have to apologize to you.” I asked him why - I had never met him before. He proceeded to tell me that the only reason one operates on a popliteal aneurysm is if it is restricting movement or causing pain, which mine was not. He also said that the blood pressure in the leg is so low that likelihood of throwing a clot or bursting is almost non-existent. I was incredibly angry because of the loss and pain the surgery had caused. I tempered myself and told my wife I would also see what the head of vascular surgery of Cornell thought. Not only did he say the same thing as the doctor at Mt. Sinai, but he added, “You’re famous! Dr. Haum presented you as a case study - the first surgeon to approach the surgery of a popliteal aneurysm in the manner you did”. Then he became uncomfortable, realizing that he had previously admitted it was unnecessary. He mumbled that he needed to ask you why you did the surgery. It has been years of phantosmia and vertigo. My symptoms have worsened, and I now suffer from seizures. As I write this letter, I am out of work. Seizure activity means I cannot hold a flight medical and will probably lead to the end of my career as a commercial pilot, as well my ability to fly small airplanes (which is a love and my hobby.) Like your own position in the medical field, aviation took many years of school and odd jobs to finally put me in a position to get the job of my dreams. I found that at Southwest - I loved going to work. Not only did I have to earn my four-year degree in aviation, but my goals required years of jobs that paid little, working odd, intense hours to finally land in a place where I could a make nice living for my family and myself. That was taken away by you with the unnecessary use of your knife. I never had seizures (or any of these issues) before you scared me into surgery. I was an avid mountain biker, hiker, runner and sportsman. My neurologist at Jefferson in Philadelphia said that seizures maybe in all of us: they just need something to bring them out. A car accident, head trauma, medication or a surgery could do that. Whether it was the Lovonox, the anesthetic, or the surgery itself that started this, we will never know. I am waiting to get into Jefferson to do a weeklong seizure study to try to find a way to slow or stop the seizures. At this point it seems probably I will never be able to return to aviation, because the FAA doesn’t want pilots that have a history of seizures. It is a grounding condition. I have spent close to 25 years building a career that I loved, only to watch it disappear because of one man’s need to inflate his ego and perform “a first” as a surgeon. I hope that this has given the notoriety that you were looking for, though I suspect it was 5 minutes of fame that you have completely forgotten. It has destroyed my career, put a huge financial burden on my family, and completely upended my life. What my future will look like, I do not know, but right now my day is full of fear of the pre-seizure auras, phantasma and seizures. The medication that I am on to control the seizures has potential long-term side effects. You have destroyed one man’s life to give yourself renown in your profession. In comparison, I always went above and beyond to make people feel comfortable at my job, and I would never do anything to jeopardize any one of my 175 passengers’ lives. When I was teaching students to fly, particularly nervous ones, I would give them basic instruction and controls of the airplane so they could see how amazing flying is. Outside of my family, flying was my love and now it is gone. My wife has lovingly taken care of me through all this. She is my motivation for getting out of bed every day now. Not only have my wings been clipped, but I can’t drive until they find a medication that stops the seizures for at least for 6 months. I have yet to be completely seizure-free. She now has to take care of me and drive me everywhere since the state pulled my driver license. I can’t share the family load anymore. In the end, I will never refer to you as doctor. You betrayed your oath.

am writing this letter to let you know how I am doing after an unnecessary surgery that you performed on me on May 14, 2013. You initially surgically repaired a popliteal aneurysm. When I first saw you, you were insistent that the surgery was necessary and should be done immediately. My wife and I were panicked enough that we did not seek a second opinion, a decision I certainly regret. The surgery did not go smoothly. I lost a lot of blood and according to both the other vascular surgeons I saw later, the incision should have been in the back of the knee not the side. Then after the surgery I had terrible reactions to the blood thinners, including memory loss, and I wound up back in the emergency room. Two years later, you informed me of the return of the popliteal aneurysm, and that I would need another surgery. This time, I decided to consult different doctors, since I wanted a procedure that would not lay me up with phantasma, pain, and short-term memory loss. Additionally,… the resulting loss of wages, loss of retirement and depletion of our savings was almost 75k at the time but at this moment it has cost me over 150K and more. I went to the head of vascular surgery in Mt Sinai in New York City. When we walked into the doctor’s office, the doctor said, “I have to apologize to you.” I asked him why - I had never met him before. He proceeded to tell me that the only reason one operates on a popliteal aneurysm is if it is restricting movement or causing pain, which mine was not. He also said that the blood pressure in the leg is so low that likelihood of throwing a clot or bursting is almost non-existent. I was incredibly angry because of the loss and pain the surgery had caused. I tempered myself and told my wife I would also see what the head of vascular surgery of Cornell thought. Not only did he say the same thing as the doctor at Mt. Sinai, but he added, “You’re famous! Dr. Haum presented you as a case study - the first surgeon to approach the surgery of a popliteal aneurysm in the manner you did”. Then he became uncomfortable, realizing that he had previously admitted it was unnecessary. He mumbled that he needed to ask you why you did the surgery. It has been years of phantosmia and vertigo. My symptoms have worsened, and I now suffer from seizures. As I write this letter, I am out of work. Seizure activity means I cannot hold a flight medical and will probably lead to the end of my career as a commercial pilot, as well my ability to fly small airplanes (which is a love and my hobby.) Like your own position in the medical field, aviation took many years of school and odd jobs to finally put me in a position to get the job of my dreams. I found that at Southwest - I loved going to work. Not only did I have to earn my four-year degree in aviation, but my goals required years of jobs that paid little, working odd, intense hours to finally land in a place where I could a make nice living for my family and myself. That was taken away by you with the unnecessary use of your knife. I never had seizures (or any of these issues) before you scared me into surgery. I was an avid mountain biker, hiker, runner and sportsman. My neurologist at Jefferson in Philadelphia said that seizures maybe in all of us: they just need something to bring them out. A car accident, head trauma, medication or a surgery could do that. Whether it was the Lovonox, the anesthetic, or the surgery itself that started this, we will never know. I am waiting to get into Jefferson to do a weeklong seizure study to try to find a way to slow or stop the seizures. At this point it seems probably I will never be able to return to aviation, because the FAA doesn’t want pilots that have a history of seizures. It is a grounding condition. I have spent close to 25 years building a career that I loved, only to watch it disappear because of one man’s need to inflate his ego and perform “a first” as a surgeon. I hope that this has given the notoriety that you were looking for, though I suspect it was 5 minutes of fame that you have completely forgotten. It has destroyed my career, put a huge financial burden on my family, and completely upended my life. What my future will look like, I do not know, but right now my day is full of fear of the pre-seizure auras, phantasma and seizures. The medication that I am on to control the seizures has potential long-term side effects. You have destroyed one man’s life to give yourself renown in your profession. In comparison, I always went above and beyond to make people feel comfortable at my job, and I would never do anything to jeopardize any one of my 175 passengers’ lives. When I was teaching students to fly, particularly nervous ones, I would give them basic instruction and controls of the airplane so they could see how amazing flying is. Outside of my family, flying was my love and now it is gone. My wife has lovingly taken care of me through all this. She is my motivation for getting out of bed every day now. Not only have my wings been clipped, but I can’t drive until they find a medication that stops the seizures for at least for 6 months. I have yet to be completely seizure-free. She now has to take care of me and drive me everywhere since the state pulled my driver license. I can’t share the family load anymore. In the end, I will never refer to you as doctor. You betrayed your oath.

First- I had to reschedule about 4 times in same day due to a schedule conflict on their end - then ended up scheduled at same exact time as first appointment. He came in, barely looked at me-- never looked at back of legs or anywhere above knee -- told me (despite my pain) that they rarely operate on the veins. Wrote me a script for compression stockings and an ultrasound to check... for what?? my pain is on outside of thighs-- just feel very poo-poohed in my appointment. Oh-- never heard back after the ultrasound either.

operated on my husband with dr sun. Hardly saw dr sun before or after surgery. Dr. Hahm is very highly recommended for his professionalism and going the extra mile to fix your problems, I.e. Plaque in the arteries and veins. Great interaction with patients and thoroughly explains everything in layman's terms. Highly recommend Dr. Hahm.