National news shows on ABC, NBC, CNN, and PBS have broadcast clips of Dr. Simoni offering opinions on stories of interest in his field. He has appeared on a variety of popular programs, including The Insider, The View, and Entertainment Tonight. Pop culture publication OK! Magazine quoted Dr. Simoni on celebrities’ use of VelaShape for cellulite treatment when they plan to appear on national awards shows. Other publications that have quoted Dr. Simoni include The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Orange County Register, the Beverly Hills Courier, Forbes.com, and KTLA.com (the website of CW Television affiliate channel 5 in Los Angeles). Art + Living magazine profiled Dr. Simoni and his practice, likening the surgeon to Pygmalion in his work of sculpting natural tissue.

Payman Simoni, M.D., also writes a blog on his website, www.drsimoni.com, where he discusses events in the news from his professional perspective, such as reports that actress Angelina Jolie is considering cosmetic surgery or the likelihood that singer Steven Tyler has had work done. Dr. Simoni’s March 2009 blog commentary lauding President Barack Obama’s lifting of restrictions on stem cell research because it has had positive applications in the practice of cosmetic surgery received wide redistribution.

A recipient of the National Institute of Neurology and Communicative Disorders Award, Dr. Simoni belongs to the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy, the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, and the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. From his five years as Director of the Facial Plastic division of Long Island ENT Associates, P.C., Dr. Simoni also maintains memberships in the Long Island ENT Society and the Triological Society, which is the short name for the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Payman Simoni has two unrestricted medical licenses with clean records. These are public records and below are the links to these official sites to check for your self.

- Medical Board of California for Payman Simoni: http://licenselookup.mbc.ca.gov/licenselookup/lookup.php?LicenseType=A&LicenseNumber=94347

- New York Medical License for Payman Simoni: http://www.nysed.gov/coms/op001/opsc2a?profcd=60&plicno=224593&namechk=SIM

For all readers out there, it is important to understand that as wonderful as the internet can be, it can also be dangerous. Anyone can make a claim without the need to validate their claim. The best way to evaluate a physician is through state licensing sites that control, and authenticate their contents.

Dr Simoni is the cosmetic plastic surgeon to the stars! As a premier Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Dr. Simoni has been featured on national TV programs that include The View, Entertainment Tonight (ET) and The Insider, and has also been featured in numerous newspapers and magazines around the world such as The New York Times, Forbes.com, OK! magazine and many others!

The most serious of these cases though comes in the form of extortion. “In a few situations, patients threatened to post negative comments and ratings about our practice on social and forum websites if we did not refund their money once their procedure was completed”, explained Dr. Simoni.

One con artist requested $100,000 or she threatened to ruin Dr. Simoni’s reputation online. Soon finding out they were not the only victim of her scam (she has done this to handful of other plastic surgeons) they were quick to turn her down, and in no time hundreds of negative posts against Dr. Simoni were scattered throughout the Internet. Thus resulting in potential patients -who were not aware of this type of deception- seeing and believing the postings and then canceling their procedures.

These scam artists know these facts and use it to their advantage.

To make matters worse, some websites are taking part in this online fraud themselves and requesting exuberant amounts of money from plastic surgeons to remove these fake posts. Websites like ripoffreport.com and pissedconsumer.com are at the forefront of these extortion schemes.  These websites invite negative comments and block positive ones to force plastic surgeons in to paying them kickbacks.

Online extortion has become an important expenditure for many plastic surgeons.  These con men target top plastic surgeons to better ensure their paybacks.  Many assume that plastic surgeons make enough money –“so who cares”.  But in reality, once these unnecessary expenses occur, plastic surgeons have more difficulty easening up on their fees to try to help their patients in this tough economy.  So once again, ultimately, the honest people are the one who get hurt, patient and their doctor alike.

Many say that a tough economy brings out the worst in people, but in terms of plastic surgery offices it’s bringing the worst people IN.