Among the Biggest Celebrities, This Doctor Is a Celebrity

New Yorker profiles renowned orthopedic surgeon Neal ElAttrache
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 6, 2024 2:10 PM CDT
Among the Biggest Celebrities, This Doctor Is a Celebrity
A screen shot of Dr. Neal ElAttrache.   (YouTube)

The biggest names in sports and the biggest names in Hollywood appear to have anointed one orthopedic surgeon the biggest name in medicine. As an entertaining profile in the New Yorker explains, that would be Dr. Neal ElAttrache of the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. "Most surgeons are known for one specialty operation," writes Zach Helfand. Think shoulder, elbow, knee, or Achilles tendon, for example. "ElAttrache's fellow-surgeons consider him among the best in the world at many." Consider that Tom Brady won more Super Bowls after ElAttrache's knee surgery on him in 2008, or that the Los Angeles Dodgers bet several hundred million dollars on pitcher Shohei Ohtani just a few months after ElAttrache (the team physician) operated on his elbow.

ElAttrache also has A-list actors on his patient list, including Leonardo DiCaprio ("Can't thank you enough for my new knee") reads an autographed photo in his office. In fact, "for some in Hollywood, having an in with ElAttrache is a status symbol akin to a membership at Riviera country club (where ElAttrache himself is a member, with a ten handicap)," writes Helfand. The story explores the particulars of various surgeries, but also how ElAttrache often morphs from surgeon to friend with these stars in gatherings at his Beverly Hills home. "I guess it's very personal," ElAttrache says. One anonymous friend who hangs with ElAttrache, Brady, and NBA star Stephen Curry puts it, "They share, you might even say, their soul with him." Read the full profile. (Or check out other longform recaps.)

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