Heavy-Weighted Facts About My 600-Lb Life‘s Dr. Now
For many viewers, the entire point of watching My 600-lb Life is to see what Dr. Nowzaradan, aka Dr. Now, does to help the participants. But what do we actually know about the guy in the lab coat?
From being sued by a former patient to educating his clients on the importance of mental health, here are some little-known and heavy-weighted facts about Dr. Now.
Bedside Manner Isn't His Forte
When it comes to speaking to patients, most doctors have a friendly bedside manner, letting their clients know everything is going to be okay and explaining the next steps. Well, the same can't be said about Dr. Now.
He's actually known for having a horrible bedside manner, sometimes criticizing, yelling, and telling his patients that they don't need food because they're already vastly overweight. He takes the hard truth to a whole new level.
A "Low Success Rate"
Since he's a prestigious celebrity doctor, it might be interesting to learn that Dr. Now doesn't have the best success record. When it comes to his patients on My 600-lb Life, many of them fall back into obesity within a few years of their surgery.
This is because the surgeries he offers, gastric bypass surgery or sleeve gastrectomy, are only designed to aid weight loss. They're not a cure. So, if patients are prone to obesity and don't change their diet, they're likely to fall back into bad habits.
Some Patients Don't Listen To His Advice
No matter how much good advice a doctor gives, they can't force patients to listen. This couldn't be more true when it comes to Dr. Now's patients on My 600-lb Life. After years of living morbidly obese, it's hard for some of his clients to listen to his hard dose of reality.
One such patient, Penny Saeger, was so stubborn and unwilling to listen that she even went as far as telling Dr. Now that "weight doesn't matter."
He Had To Set His "Death" Straight
For some weird reason, a rumor started circulating that Dr. Now has passed away. The rumor began to get so widespread that he actually had to take to social media to let everyone know that he was, in fact, alive and well!
On his Instagram, Dr. Now posted, "Thank you for the outpouring of concern! I am definitely alive and well and still working to reverse obesity. I can assure you these headlines are false..."
Sometimes, He Has To Tell People "No"
Sometimes, there is only so much a doctor can do for a patient. In Dr. No's case, he doesn't exactly like turning people away. In fact, he's actually very well-known for taking on as many clients as he can, wanting to help them live healthier lifestyles.
But there are times when there is only so much he can do. Pauline Potter, for example, was unwilling to change her dietary habits, even though she was morbidly obese. Because of this, Dr. Now had to turn her away.
Aside From Being A Doctor, He Authored Two Books
As it turns out, Dr. Now is a man of many talents. When he wasn't busy on My 600-lb Life, he could pen and publish two books. The first was published in 2017 and is titled Last Chance to Live. It explores obesity and the negative effect it has on a person's life.
His second book, The Scale Does Not Lie, People Do, was published in 2019 and dives into Dr. Now's experience with obese patients and how the reader can better their own life.
His First Big Break Came From His Son's Production Company
While Dr. Now is known for the TLC series My 600-lb Life, it wasn't his "big break" into the entertainment industry. In fact, he got his foot in the door thanks to his son, Jonathan Nowzaradan.
Jonathan was running a production company called Megalomania, whose main show, at the time, was World's Heaviest Woman. It was here that Dr. Now got his start in reality weight loss shows. Jonathan's company would go on to produce My 600-lb Life.
Dr. Now Is A Huge Advocate For Mental Health
People who come on My 600-lb Life are looking for a complete lifestyle change, starting with their weight. But, for Dr. Now, there is more to weight loss for these particular clients than just going into surgery and dieting.
For many, food is a comfort and security blanket, helping them through depression and other psychological and mental issues. For Dr. Now, treating mental illness is just as, if not more important than going under the knife.
Dr. Now Isn't Very Hands-On With Patients
Like all reality shows, not everything shown on television is what's actually happening behind the scenes. As it turns out, My 600-lb Life and Dr. Now's involvement with the show is no different.
According to a former client on the series, Dr. Now isn't very hands-on with his patients, even if it looks like he is on the final cut of an episode. Cynthia Wells, a client on the show, said she only saw the doctor during filming and surgery. If the cameras weren't rolling, she saw someone else.
He's Not In It For The Money
While doctors are known to make a pretty penny, reportedly Dr. Now isn't actually in it for the money. He feels as though he has a moral obligation to help the people who walk into his office.
During an interview with Houstonia magazine, he said, "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."
Long Hours Are The Name Of The Game
It's no secret that doctors like to see as many patients as possible during their work hours. But Dr. Now seems to bring that concept to a whole new level. He works 12-14 hours a day. And that's all week; the complete seven days!
In that time frame, he sees around 60 and 80 patients per day. According to Dr. Now, "Taking care of these people, that's my job. I never worked a day in my life.”
He Performs Two Different Weight Loss Surgeries
On My 600-lb Life, Dr. Now makes it known that he likes his patients to work on their own weight loss before they even contemplate surgery. Of course, with the amount of weight a majority of his clients have, they typically wind up in surgery.
Dr. Now offers two different types of weight loss-aiding surgeries: gastric bypass surgery or sleeve gastrectomy. The former splits the stomach into two, connecting them with the small intestine, while the latter reduces the stomach to around 15% of its original size.
His Surgical Skills Go Beyond Weight Loss
Dr. Now might be best known for his work on My 600-lb Life, which has him performing various weight-loss surgeries. But he didn't attend medical school only to perform two surgeries.
He's actually spent most of his medical career as a general surgeon, performing operations such as gallbladder removal and laparoscopic appendectomies, removing the appendix. And while one of his specialties is bariatric weight-loss surgeries, he's also a specialist when it comes to vascular surgery.
In 2012, He Was Sued
Back in 2012, Dr. Now found himself in the middle of a malpractice lawsuit. According to In Touch Weekly, one of his former patients, Michelle Park, was suing him because he allegedly left a "6.69-inch piece of tubing" inside her stomach during a gastric sleeve operation.
She hadn't found out about the alleged tube until two years after Dr. Now's procedure. He denied her accusations, and the case was eventually dismissed.
Dr. Now's Net Worth is $6 Million
Dr. Now isn't just a surgeon. He's a surgeon on a very popular reality series on TLC. Having been on the series My 600-lb Life as the go-to doctor, Dr. Now has made a considerable amount of money.
Tack on the fact that he has also authored two books surrounding the topic of obesity and healthy living and he isn't exactly strapped for cash. As of 2021, Dr. Now's net worth is $6 million.
Born And Raised In Tehran, Iran
He might be the star of a popular TLC reality show, but that doesn't mean Dr. Now was born or raised in the United States. On October 11, 1944, Dr. Now was born in Tehran, Iran.
He gained a love of medicine, graduating from the University of Tehran with a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1970. A year later, he found himself attending the Medical Orientation Program at Saint Louis University in America.
Dr. Now Is Not Beneath Firing A Patient
Dr. Now is known for talking to everyone who comes through his door, doing his absolute best to help them however he can. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean everyone embraces the doctor's help. In fact, one patient, Pauline, was "fired" from ever being a patient of his!
According to Dr. Now, she was manipulative, missed appointments, and would blame her weight on everyone but herself, including her son! Pretty much, there was nothing Dr. Now could do, so he fired her.
Dr. Now Treated The "Half-Ton Killer"
In 2012, Dr. Now had a very interesting patient come on My 600-lb Life. Mayra Rosales, also known as the "Half-Ton Killer," confessed to killing her nephew. As it turned out, she was innocent, only confessing to save her sister from any prison time.
At her heaviest, Rosales weighed a whopping 1,036 pounds! But after the hectic family drama, she just went through, Rosales was determined to get her life back on track. She dropped 450 pounds before Dr. Now would agree to gastric bypass surgery.
He Won't Perform Surgery On Everyone
According to Dr. Now, two types of people come onto My 600-lb Life-- those who are genetically inclined to become morbidly obese and those who have an addiction to food suffering from an eating disorder.
Before he even thinks about bringing a person in for surgery, Dr. Now talks to them and sees which category they fall under. He tends not to perform surgery on those with an eating disorder, preferring to help them through a self-weight loss plan and diet.
Dr. Now Is All About A Hard-Core Diet Plan
Dr. Now likes to drill change his 600-lb Life patients' relationship with food, as many have poor eating habits. To do so, he puts them on a strict dietary plan.
He gives patients portions to strive for while focusing on grains, proteins, and greens, with one of the main meals on the plan being cabbage soup. Of course, Dr. Now can only do so much when it comes to his patient's eating habits. The majority of the work is up to them.
