Plastic Surgery 2014 Year in Review
As a board certified plastic surgeon and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), I receive the organization’s emails from time to time. And as we’ve all noticed at year’s end, many emails wish us a healthy and happy holiday season or provide a year in review. I thought the ASPS “Top Ten […]
Risks of a Boob Job!
Many folks think cosmetic surgery or a boob job isn’t real surgery. With a focus on “lunchtime lifts” or other minimally invasive procedures, it’s easy to forget that cosmetic plastic surgery, including a boob job, has risks just like any other surgery. Since there are inherent risks to any operation, especially one where you’re placing […]
The Cosmetic Surgery Loophole
What if I told you that any doctor can perform cosmetic surgery? You might suggest that you have to be a plastic surgeon but you’d be wrong! Believe it or not, the rules are lax enough regarding which type of doctor does which operation outside of a hospital or an accredited surgery center. In […]
Note to Concierge Medicine: Watch Out for the Charlatans Among You!
As reimbursements continue to go down, especially with the Medicaid expansion across the US, and other attempts at reducing costs, more and more physicians will stop taking insurance. This comment is not an attempt to pull at American’s heartstrings with sympathy for doctor pay. It’s a statement. A statement that is anecdotally supported by a […]
Seek Out a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon…Even for Laser Hair Removal
A recent study in the journal, JAMA Dermatology reviews lawsuits filed after receiving skin treatments with a medical-grade laser. The most common procedure leading to a lawsuit was laser hair removal. The study reviewed whether lawsuits increased when the treatment was provide by a NPO (nonphysician operator). Take a look at these very telling statistics […]
Connecticut: The Wild West of Med Spas
Well the verdict is in. The Connecticut legislature passed a bill to increase safety in med spas and Governor Malloy of Connecticut vetoed it. Per the Boston Globe, “in a veto statement issued Friday, the Democrat said he was concerned the bill required physicians to perform all initial assessments and perform or supervise […]
Lifestyle Lift – Exposed!
If you’ve ever heard the saying, if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is. And so it goes with the Lifestyle Lift. The Lifestyle Lift is a national marketing company that promotes a “revolutionary approach” to restoring your face to it’s younger former self. The company is very vague as to what […]
Plastic Surgeons are Cosmetic Surgeons but Not All Cosmetic Surgeons are Plastic Surgeons!
I guess it’s my turn to chime in on the recent ABC News story that further confuses the issue of who is a plastic surgeon and who is a cosmetic surgeon. In the segment below, a man that wanted a nose job went to see a “cosmetic surgeon” but ended up with an infection, and […]
Patient Tutorial: View Before and After Photos Through the “Eyes” of a Plastic Surgeon
In our Patient Tutorial Series, we want to help you, the patient, better determine fact from fiction on cosmetic surgery websites. We’re not saying that all cosmetic surgery websites provide inaccurate or misleading information, but in a field like cosmetic surgery that boasts revenue over $10 billion a year, it’s an area that attracts all […]
The impending doctor shortage: do you really need a doctor anymore?!
The fallout and unintended consequences of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) continues. With so many more people being brought into the “insured” category with the expansion of Medicaid across the country, the very real concern is that there will instantly be a doctor shortage. Since it takes at least 7 years to take a college […]