May 2nd, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in News
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A former executive assistant for the La Habra Boys and Girls Club was sentenced today to three years in prison for embezzling about $135,000 from the organization over two years, using some of the stolen money to pay for breast implants. Superior Court Judge Roger Robbins also ordered Lynette Rojas to pay $270,000 in fines and $165,113.08 in restitution to the club. But the 37-year- old La Habra residents appears unable to pay any of the money back, Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche said. Rojas, who could have faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted at trial, pleaded guilty April 4 after Robbins agreed to sentence her to three years behind bars.
Source: dailybreeze.com/news/ci_17874455?source=rss
Lynette Rojas stole $135,000 from the Boys and Girls Club of La Habra and used part of the money to have breast implant surgery. She took a plea deal as opposed to going to trial. I wonder if her surgeon had to pay back the money she paid him.
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
May 1st, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in News, Opinion
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This MSN article states that doctor-owned hospitals are on the rise. In California, the opposite is the case. The hospital business is a lousy business in which to be. I would rather open a surgical facility. I had an opportunity to be a part of a group that bought a hospital a few years ago and passed.
In California, real medicine is going into the toilet as doctors realize that the work they have put in to get educated makes practicing fairly unrewarding. Niche markets and gimmicks are replacing the conventional medical landscape. That’s the reason we have so many non-plastic surgeons turning to cosmetic work. The bottom line is that you need to pay doctors enough so they can make a decent living or they will find something else to do.
Sad but true.
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
April 22nd, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Health Tips, Opinion
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Reader Question:
I am 16 in Orange County and want a labia reduction. Can I have it without telling my parents?
For those of you who may not know, labiaplasty (sometimes called labioplasty) is an operation to change the shape of the labiae, a woman’s outer genitals. It can be performed for cosmetic or functional concerns. Some women with large labiae experience pain with tighter garments and in rare circumstances they can get in the way of sexual relations. The operations are different things to different surgeons and have been controversial to say the least.
Quite a bit in the practice of surgery of the privates is a matter of the surgeon’s philosophy. This includes the design and scope of the operation as we’ve mentioned. Traditionally for any surgery on a patient under the age of legal consent, a legal guardian (usually a parent) must consent. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
March 31st, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Opinion
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For years I have avoided Medicare breast reductions for a number of reasons:
(1) Poor pay for hours of work. An average breast reduction when done to a high standard usually takes 3-4 hours. I do not staple the closure.
(2) Medicare patients due to their age are at higher risk for wound healing problems.
(3) 90 day global fee period – These patients routinely need follow-up care and that care is not billable.
Recently I ignored my better judgment and performed the operation for a lady in whom back pain (ICD-9 724.5) and back surgery had been long term problems. She also had a pretty nasty rash (ICD-9 692.89 Dermatitis and eczema [in the infra-mammary fold]) under her right breast that just wouldn’t go away. These of course were all in addition to the usual diagnosis of large breasts (ICD-9 611.1 Hypertrophy of breast.)
Medicare showed me yet another reason for my hesitation to do these cases when they denied payment for the operation saying it was not medically indicated. They will probably pay on appeal, but the thought that I should have to appeal the case adds insult to injury.
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
February 11th, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Health Tips, Opinion
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Liposuction (aka “lipo”) is plastic surgery’s “gimmick procedure” having had more angles applied to it than a child’s toy. But there’s money to be made in fat reduction, so the gimmicks will just keep coming.
Enter “tickle” lipo, a new technology superimposed on the liposuction game. In this newer version of the basic liposuction technique, the cannula — the instrument used to remove the fat — vibrates like a whip inside your fatty layers. This supposedly helps remove the fat more evenly and with less pain.
Tickle lipo looks like a hybrid between two other forms of lipo already on the market: Power-assisted liposuction (PALS) in which a motorized cannula breaks up the fat, and ultrasonic liposuction in which sound waves do it. Will tickle lipo be better or worse than its fat-sucking competitors? That will likely depend upon the technology and the skill of those who use it.
However, a funky high-tech instrument won’t make a non-surgeon into a master plastic surgeon, just like a hot race car won’t make you into Jeff Gordon. Check the credentials of anyone who wants to use this tool on you. At this point I would consider tickle lipo an experiment.
– John Di Saia, M.D.
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
