The Untold Truth Of My 600-Lb. Life's Dr. Now

Younan Nowzaradan, more commonly known among his fans as "Dr. Now," is the face of "My 600-lb Life." For over 130 episodes, the renowned physician has guided desperate patients on a perilous path to recovery. These individuals often have nowhere else to turn, but Dr. Now steps as a beacon of light during their darkest hour, providing them with healthy living tools, diet plans, and life-saving surgeries.

He's adored by fans not only as a doctor but as a charismatic TV personality, often amusing audiences with his frank and somewhat salty demeanor. He's an adorable curmudgeon, and having starred in the series for over a decade now, viewers have no doubt gotten to know this medicine man quite well. However, there's still so much more to Dr. Now left to know. So go ahead, take a peek into the operating room, and learn all about his journey from Iran to the world of American reality TV.

While Dr. Now is famous among fans for his work on "My 600-lb. Life," he's perhaps more revered in the medical community as an early game-changer who altered surgical practices forever. This story actually begins with another medical pioneer, Denton Cooley, highly regarded as the first surgeon to successfully implant an artificial heart in a living patient. While Dr. Now was completing his surgical residency at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Denton Cooley spotted him as a diamond in the rough. As a medical pioneer himself, he had an eye for talent, and Dr. Now stood out to him.

Cooley encouraged Dr. Now to join the Texas Heart Institute fellowship in Houston once his training in Nashville was complete, and Dr. Now obliged. Once at Texas Heart, Dr. Now proved Cooley's intuition right by making waves as the first Houston doctor to widely embrace laparoscopic surgery. This is a very specific form of minimally invasive surgery whereby smaller-than-average cuts are made to insert a camera inside a patient's body so that the surgeon can look around without having to physically explore the body via larger incisions. At the time, the use of laparoscopes was cutting-edge, and Dr. Now found himself at the forefront of modern medicine, enthusiastically adopting the technique when not many else were.

Dr. Now is a star on the small screen, but how did he get there? How did one man go from being an average Texas surgeon to the face of a hit reality television series? The answer is closer than you might think: Dr. Now's son, Jonathan Nowzaradan, should be partially credited for kickstarting this claim to fame.

It began exactly two decades ago in 2003, when Jonathan founded the production company Megalomedia. After a few years of spent creating personal, under-the-radar projects, Megalomedia distributed its first documentary film, "World's Heaviest Woman." This film documented the journey of Renee Williams, an 841 lb. woman who was seeking weight loss surgery, but was routinely getting turned away by doctors who felt her case was too big of a risk to stake their medical reputation on. Who was the first doctor brave enough to take on her case and agree to the surgery? You guessed it — Dr. Now.

Jonathan heard about this risky venture his father was embarking on, and decided to make it a Megalomedia production, proceeding to round up a camera crew to film the entire procedure. While the surgery was a success, Williams passed away from a heart attack two weeks following the operation. Despite the tragic turn of events, it was a grand slam for Megalomedia, as "World's Heaviest Woman" quickly drew press attention from the likes of Enter­tainment Tonight, The Insider, Inside Edition, The View, and 20/20.

Following "World's Heaviest Woman," Megalomedia would continue chronicling weight loss journeys with the six-episode series "Last Chance to Live," which eventually became "My 600-lb. Life." Dr. Now was already an accomplished surgeon, but it was his son who showcased his skillset to the world. Dr. Now is essentially a reverse nepotism baby. A nepotism parent, perhaps?

Some people might be wondering, how much is Dr. Now really worth? Not only is he a surgeon, a profession that notoriously earns extremely high salaries, but he's also a television star, and they make even more. He's got to be rich, right? Well, that would be a correct assumption, as Wealthy Persons estimates his current net worth at around $6 million.

While he's definitely well-off, this isn't necessarily because of "My 600-lb. Life." While Dr. Now has been routinely performing weight loss surgeries on the show's participants for over a decade, he doesn't actually earn much from these operations, as their medical expenses are reportedly paid for by production. This might come as a surprise, as you would expect Dr. Now to at least want some form of compensation for all his hard work, but he told Houstonia that he's motivated by a desire to help people, not to profit off of them, "Looking at the moral obligation that we've got, you see somebody who has no life who could have a life ... We don't need to be rich."

If he's not making money from the show's surgeries, then how is he worth millions? Let's not forget that Dr. Now has many patients who are not part of the series at all, and he's been a practicing surgeon for almost three decades. Also, just because he's not getting paid for the surgeries, that doesn't mean he's not getting paid for his on-screen appearances.

While Dr. Now has provided many patients with hope and success, he's also had a few patients with less-than-optimal results. Several of these patients, or their loved ones, have gone on to sue Dr. Now for allegedly mishandling their treatment, or even contributing to their death.

In 2007, Dr. Now was sued for malpractice by Colleen Shepherd, whose daughter Tina Shepherd died from health complications one year after Dr. Now performed gastric bypass surgery on her. Colleen alleged that Dr. Now failed to adequately inform Tina of the risks surgery posed, and ignored her post-operative health issues. In 2012, Michelle Park sued Dr. Now for allegedly leaving a piece of tubing inside of her body while performing her gastric sleeve surgery. That same year, Dr. Now was also sued by a former patient's wife, who claimed that he exhibited medical negligence which contributed to her husband's death. In 2017, Dr. Now was sued for personal injury by a patient claiming he botched her surgery, causing her extreme pain and physical deformity.

On top of all of these lawsuits, Dr. Now also faces scandal with the lawsuits filed against the "My 600-lb. Life" production company, Megalomedia. While these suits are more targeted against show producers for alleged emotional, financial, and physical abuse, some of the charges do involve Dr. Now to a certain extent. Several patients claim that while on the show, they were put on extreme diets by Dr. Now, but forced to eat unhealthy foods by production. Then they were shamed by Dr. Now for not being able to follow his treatment plan. While it's unclear how much knowledge Dr. Now had of these unethical production practices, it doesn't really bode well for his overall reputation.

In addition to working as a surgeon and television star, Dr. Now has also dabbled in writing. In 2019, he published his first book, "The Scale Does Not Lie, People Do," which chronicles his four-decade journey in treating obesity. The book explores Dr. Now's personal experience with patients, as well as everything he's learned along the way, from basic facts to incorrect assumptions about the epidemic.

When discussing this book with the Houston Chronicle, Dr. Now emphasized the complicated nature of treating this insidious disease, and how there's a lot more that goes into it than people realize, saying, "Obesity is not a choice for people ... It's not something that most people can walk their weight off with diet and exercise."

While he stresses that a healthy diet isn't the only step on a patient's road to recovery, it is one crucial part of the process. In order to guide individuals along this path, Dr. Now has also published several diet plan books. These books provide readers with healthy recipes and tools for clean eating, straight from the expert himself.

On top of candid selfies and health-related posts like information reels and gym tips, Dr. Now also shares many of his personal hobbies on social media. He's more than just a doctor, after all — he's also a human being, and if you take a look at his Instagram page, you'll see there's much more to the man than medicine.

Dr. Now frequently posts about a wide variety of his personal interests and hobbies, including spending time with his family, playing guitar, building an interesting array of LEGO sets, playing chess, and making artwork. He also wants the world to know that he's a proud, full-time dog dad to three adorable white Maltese pups. His on-screen persona is more than entertaining, but if you're curious about what he gets up to when he's not being featured on "My 600-lb. Life," he's definitely worth a follow.