Congratulations Felice Trager!

I'm proud to announce our Patient Ambassador Program that we just launched today! Each month, we will be rewarding a patient of ours on their success and journey with their weight loss! This month we are proud to announce our very first patient ambassador: Felice Trager!

She had surgery with us in May 2009 and has had nothing but success with her band!! Congrats Felice we are so proud of you!!

Dr. Feiz Honored by ASMBS

Dr. Feiz has been honored with an award for excellence, and it's an important one: The ASMBS "Center of Excellence" designation.

With bariatric surgery's profile growing by leaps and bounds every day, it's important to separate the truly exceptional practitioners and hold them up as examples. The American Society for Metobolic and Bariatric Surgery, or ASMBS is the worlds largest society dedicated to the betterment of bariatric surgery. Their stated purpose is to "improve public health and well being by lessening the burden of the disease of obesity and related diseases throughout the world." The organization selects surgeons and centers that are truly committed to safe and effective care.

Instead of choosing blindly, patients can look to the recommendations of organizations like the ASMBS and make informed choice about who will perform their Lap Band, sleeve gastrectomy, and gastric bypass surgeries.  

Trending: Sleep Apnea and Cancer

Lap Band patients, and patients of other bariatric procedures show a marked improvement in the symptoms associate with sleep apnea. That's especially good news, because The New York Times and a few other publications in the fast few weeks have run stories on a link between sleep apnea and cancer. 


One of the studies quoted in The Times was from Spain, where severe Sleep Apnea patients had a startling 65% greater incidence of cancer of some form or another. Those are some startling numbers. In the meantime, unrelated scientists in South Dakota have noticed a direct genetic link between morbid obesity and sleep apnea.

The optimism to be found in all of these stories, however, is the ever growing trust of the public in sleeve gastrectomy and its more familiar cousin, gastric bypass for medical weight loss.

Weight Loss: Separating Fact from Fiction

ABC’s “20/20” recently aired a special, entitled “Losing It: The Big Fat Money Pit”, that examined the burgeoning weight loss industry as a whole. Many of the methods discussed – from dieting to pills and surgery – have been popularized by celebrities who get paid as much as $60,000 for each pound that they lose for their endorsements. There are two important takeaways from this in-depth look at the industry. First, anyone interested in losing weight should ignore the celebrity commercials, billboards and unsubstantiated claims. Instead, it is vital to do some of your own legwork and find a method based on peer-reviewed research (they are out there!). Secondly, and this is really important for long term success, stop thinking of any single method as a silver bullet. Sustainable weight loss demands long-term commitment from the patient – even when it comes to proven methods such as bariatric surgery – and no responsible physician will tell you otherwise.

The “20/20” special examines many different weight loss solutions, from perennial favorites (with dubious efficacy) like diet pills, as well as “fat camps” for the ultra-wealthy and even feeding tubes. The special also touches on Lap Band surgery, highlighting individual cases of negligence while responsibly pointing out that, when done right, this procedure is very safe and can offer dramatic weight loss results. The key is to carefully select a doctor who has a solid reputation and a proven track record of success. At Dr. Feiz & Associates, a well-known weight loss surgery center in Beverly Hills, Dr. Michael Feiz has maintained a complication rate far lower than the national average, and has never had a single mortality. Nevertheless, he believes strongly in educating anyone interested in the procedures that he offers (the Lap Band, sleeve gastrectomy, and gastric bypass) about ALL the potential risks and benefits. Responsible surgeons like Dr. Feiz are rightly appalled by some of the stories of misleading advertising and neglectful care that have found their way onto the airwaves. He and his team of medical professionals have dedicated themselves to raising the standard of care for the entire industry.

The special also points out the tragic phenomenon of “yo-yo dieting”, where people lose weight with one method, regain the pounds, and then go searching for the next big thing. Many of these methods are scams, but even if they offer what they promise to offer, lasting success demands total commitment from the patient. Dr. Feiz and his team foster long-term relationships with their patients, helping oversee proper nutritional and exercise regimens after the operation is finished. This is the only way to keep off the pounds and achieve a healthy lifestyle. “Easy fixes” make for great sound bites, but experienced and responsible surgeons like Dr. Feiz know better, and that is why they have seen so much success with their patients.

To learn more about Dr. Feiz & Associates, visit online at www.drfeiz.com, and contact them for a FREE consultation.

Types of Bariatric Surgery

At Dr. Feiz & Associates, a leading weight loss surgery center in Beverly Hills, Dr. Michael Feiz offers several types of bariatric surgery. One is a procedure known as gastric bypass. This involves dividing the stomach into two parts and redirecting the intestines to both portions. Another procedure known as a gastric sleeve involves removing 75-85% of the stomach and reshaping what remains into a sleeve-like structure. The third procedure offered by Dr. Feiz and his team of medical professionals is the Lap Band, which involves fitting an adjustable plastic band around the stomach, and then tightening it to constrict the stomach. To learn more about these procedures, and about the experts who work at Dr. Feiz & Associates, contact their offices for a FREE consultation.

New Report Has Dire Projections for America's Waistline

A new report, published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, projects that 42% of American adults will be obese by the year 2030 (rising from 36% today). The number of severely obese Americans (people with a BMI of 40 or higher) will rise from 5% to 11% by 2030. Additionally, the report asserts that the cost of treating certain "co-morbidities" (diabetes, heart disease, etc.) will add up to $550 billion over the next 20 years. The situation seems to be reaching a tipping point, with public policy initiatives so far having limited impact at best. This sense of desperation can be seen on an individual level, as people struggling with obesity try in vain to lose weight through traditional diet and exercise regimens. Increasingly, professionals in the medical community are considering recommending bariatric surgery to their patients. At Dr. Feiz & Associates, weight loss surgeon Dr. Michael Feiz offers several surgical solutions, including gastric bypass and the gastric sleeve (also known as sleeve gastrectomy). Contact their offices for a FREE consultation, and find out if you are a viable candidate for any of these procedures.

Bariatric Surgery with a Single Incision

Dr. Michael Feiz uses the advanced STARR Treatment to perform both a gastric bypass and a gastric sleeve (the latter is also known as a sleeve gastrectomy). This cutting-edge method allows him to perform these very safe and effective procedures with ONLY A SINGLE INCISION. The difference between these procedures and the traditional laparoscopic method is startling: patients experience a faster recovery period, with less post-operative discomfort and virtually no scarring. Indeed, scarring is often a concern for patients, but with the STARR Treatment, Dr. Feiz typically leaves behind one scar no larger than a freckle or a single grain of rice. Contact Dr. Feiz & Associates to schedule a FREE initial consultation and learn more about this breakthrough technique that only a few select surgeons are qualified to offer their patients.