Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog! My goal here is to get more personal – and simply share stuff with my friends, family, and patients!  You can expect some posts on the latest advances in cosmetic surgery (although it seems like there’ll be a fair amount of music-related posts – they’re too much fun to make!) I also expect that we’ll have more contests and free stuff, special events and even very special guests!

Categories

Covid image template master

COVID-19 transmission levels in the U.S. increasing

December 4, 2022

August 2, 2021 August 31, 2021   Today I want to share a remarkable website for those wanting to get an accurate view of COVID-19 metrics around the country – down to the county level!  Anyone concerned about the status and future direction of the pandemic in the U.S. should explore this CDC site, which also offers actual projections of new cases and deaths for the next 4 weeks based on real-time data at the state level (you can even click on different parts of the graphs to see the accuracy of previous projections.) Examining the graphs and projections for different areas of the country makes it easier to get a good sense of what’s going on and what challenges we may still be facing. The thing that surprised and shocked me the most was discovering the above before and after graphic (from screen grabs of the animation on the site), which shows that the last pockets of low and moderate community transmission levels in the entire nation have turned almost completely RED (highest transmission rate) in the last 30 days! Two indicators are used by the CDC to define levels of community transmission: Total number of new cases per […]

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Latest Hoag Hospital and OC COVID-19 information

January 6, 2022

To my family of friends and patients, Once again, here is some information from Hoag Hospital that may be of interest to you. (For those of you outside of Orange County, I’m sure similar things may be happening in your own communities.) No music today. I don’t want to trivialize the following important current information from Hoag Hospital and the Orange County Health Care Agency (www.ocgov.com). I just wanted to let you all know the troubling facts of our local COVID-19 situation, so you can take appropriate actions if necessary. COVID-19 is exploding in Orange County and already affecting operations at Hoag Hospital. According to the OC Covid dashboard, the Orange County average new case rate per 100,000 has increased by over 600% in the last 2 weeks (the rate is more than double that for ages 19-44)!  The Hoag Hospital general census is full and the Hoag Covid census is higher than it was during the summer peak, more than doubling in the last week alone. Recent policies put in place by Hoag reflect our dire situation. Current Hoag Hospital status: Virtual meetings only: On Jan 3, Hoag mandated that effective immediately, “all meetings and events (including those at […]

Covid image template master

Hoag Guidelines for Returning from International Travel

July 5, 2021

To my family of friends and patients, Once again, here is some information from Hoag Hospital that may be of interest to you. (For those outside of Orange County, I’m sure similar things may be happening in your own communities.) Also, see below for my current answer to your most frequent question:  Dr. Weiss, when will you start seeing patients again? Included below are the latest guidelines for the Hoag medical staff and employees returning from international travel. Think of how these facts might apply to your own home and workplace situations. Basically, even if you are vaccinated and without symptoms (asymptomatic) you should still be tested for COVID-19 between day 3-5 after returning. Quarantine and testing is suggested for those who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. When will we start seeing patients again? If you asked me literally 7 days ago, I would have told you that I was shortly (in a matter of weeks) going to resume seeing patients again in Fashion Island with Jackie and Tamara (I’m very happy to say), having already made preliminary plans. The new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 were very low, as was the positivity (both metrics associated with very little COVID-19 incidence […]

Covid vaccine signup

Vaccine Signup for 65+

January 13, 2021

This information was just received from Hoag Hospital in Orange County, CA.  Please check for similar information in your county (I just registered my mom in Pennsylvania last night.) The Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA) has now approved vaccinations for people aged 65+, which is an important milestone in the fight against COVID-19. Hoag is one of a number of sites in the County that will be offering vaccinations for seniors and high-risk patients. Please note that the actual vaccines have not yet been received, but preparations are being made for distribution for the general public aged 65+. See below for links to more information and registration. To learn more about the OCHCA’s vaccine distribution plan, please refer to their website: https://occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/phased-approach-vaccine-distribution. The County is encouraging residents to register for notifications about the vaccine with an app they plan to use called Othena. You can go to www.othena.com/individuals.php to register. Hoag is not involved with the Othena app, so any further questions should be directed to the County. General questions COVID hotline: 714-834-2000. This massive vaccination effort will take time and require patience.  In the meantime and as always, this bears repeating: please continue wearing masks, staying home, washing hands and […]

Covid avoidable tragedy

Unnecessary Dangers of Cosmetic Procedures During a Pandemic

January 11, 2021

An Avoidable Tragedy As you may know, my practice has been on hold since March.  One of the main reasons has been because of the unnecessary dangers posed to patients and surgeons performing elective postponable procedures during this crisis. Here is one of the tragic consequences of not taking this pandemic seriously enough. It is a verbatim copy from a TMZ article from this morning. “BEV HILLS PLASTIC SURGEON DIES FROM COVID …
AFTER PATIENT COUGHS ON HIM     1/10/2021 11:11 AM PT A plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills has died from COVID-19 … and it appears to be entirely because he was able to keep working on patients during a pandemic. Dr. Payman Simoni — who’s been featured on “The Doctors” show — passed away while hospitalized in L.A. — this after he contracted the virus while performing a cosmetic procedure on a patient who turned out to be COVID positive … so say family sources. We’re told Dr. Simoni was doing a lip injection on a woman last month … obviously an elective procedure. She was temperature checked and filled out a COVID questionnaire. She was not tested. While the doc was hovering over the maskless woman, our sources say […]

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Hoag Vaccines and Testing

December 30, 2020

To my family of friends and patients, Here is some information from Hoag Hospital that may be of interest to you. (For those outside of Orange County, I’m sure similar things may be happening in your own communities.). Included below is the latest COVID vaccine distribution update and the current COVID testing protocols and quarantine recommendations. Think of how these facts might apply to your own home and workplace situations.  Also included is a warning on an emerging multi-drug resistant yeast infection that can live on hard surfaces for months! Yet another reason to practice safety protocols including frequent hand washing (as if we needed another reason!) Vaccine news After just 14 days after receiving the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine: 77% of Hoag medical staff have gotten first shot of Pfizer vaccine, as of December 30 (only 4% have declined for now). More than 3000 Tier 1 high and moderate risk Hoag employees and medical personnel have also gotten their first dose No frontline, high-risk physician was left exposed, which was the result running more than 30 vaccine clinics in eight (8) days. The clinics were organized, sanitized, socially distanced, and extremely efficient. Covid Exposures and Testing protocols […]

Covid Dec update

OC and Hoag surgery and vaccine information

December 15, 2020

To my friends and family of patients: As most of you know, I’ve been closely following the Covid-19 pandemic and the local situation in Orange County, particularly at Hoag Hospital.  Here is some of the latest information that I thought you should know about Hoag, our regional hospital. It’s easy to look outside and see the sun shining, go for a walk or bike ride, and wonder why we should be so concerned. My hope is that this factual information will put things in perspective, make it easier to see that we are in a worsening crisis that is affecting all of our medical care, and help us make informed decisions about our behavior going forward. 1 – Hoag surgeries: all Non-Emergency Surgeries cancelled Because of an immediate need for the reallocation of clinical staff for patient care due to the increasing inpatient Covid surge, “all Priority 3 and 4 surgeries and procedures and all non- emergent Priority 2 surgeries and procedures will be cancelled effective tomorrow, December 16, 2020 and until further notice.” This includes ALL procedural areas – the operating suites, cardiac cath lab, interventional radiology and the GI lab. All elective cases requiring post-surgery or post-procedure admissions […]

You wear your seatbelt

Seat Belts Matter. So Do Masks. Wear one! (published in OC Register)

August 10, 2020

According to the US Department of Transportation (DOT), seat belt use in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 14,955 US lives in 2017.  This would not have been possible without laws proscribing their use. Yet, as apposed to the visceral responses we have seen against mask-wearing mandates, none of the more than 221 million licensed drivers in the U.S. are out in the streets or carrying guns to state legislatures protesting ‘buckling up for safety’! As of now in the US, there have been over 150,000 Covid-related deaths. The CDC predicted today that there will be another 44,000 deaths this month alone. Another respected and historically accurate study predicts that if we continue on our current course, by November 1 (in 3 months), there will be an additional 82,000 deaths nationwide – but 32,000 can be prevented with a national mask mandate.  That is about twice the number of lives saved every year by seat belt laws. I’ve been performing surgery for over 30 years on thousands of people and have worn a mask every time.  I have never seen a surgeon who refuses to wear a mask because it infringes on his or her personal freedom, and I wonder if any patients [...]