Here's How Many Times Dr. Now From My 600-Lb Life Has Been Sued
"My 600-lb Life" follows the journey of obese individuals as they shed the pounds and regain confidence. Anyone who has watched the show is familiar with Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, famously known as Dr. Now, as he's featured on the series as a general and vascular surgeon. According to Houston Obesity Surgery, Dr. Now specializes in bariatric surgery and dealing with "super-morbidly" obese individuals. Dr. Now's professional bio reads, "As a general and vascular surgeon he was the first doctor in Houston to propose, research and adopt the benefits of laparoscopic surgery for procedures previously unconsidered."
But while the show insinuates that most of Dr. Now's patients walk out as success stories, the reality of the situation is far different. According to Showbiz Cheatsheet, Dr. Now has faced numerous lawsuits over the years from patients and family members of patients claiming malpractice. While there's no definitive count when it comes to the number of times he's been sued thus far, news of Dr. Now's first lawsuit surfaced in 2007 when a patient's mother sued him two years after her daughter's death. Unfortunately, the lawsuit has only led to more trouble for the reality television doctor.
One deceased patient's mother filed a lawsuit against Dr. Now in 2007
In 2005, Tina Shepherd died one year after receiving gastric bypass surgery by Dr. Now, according to Chron. Her mother, Colleen Shepherd, subsequently filed a lawsuit against Dr. Now, stating that he and the Houston Community Hospital didn't warn Tina about the risks of undergoing surgery at her weight.
Ortha T. Carpenter, Colleen's lawyer, said, "The mother is saying that Tina was not prompted from a psychological standpoint to know the risks involved when you are grossly overweight." Chron added that the lawsuit was partially triggered by the death of Renee Williams, a patient who had died two weeks after Dr. Now performed a gastric bypass on her. Carpenter said that Colleen had been "going back and forth in terms of whether to pursue legal action, but she now has a renewed vigor" after learning about Williams' death.
When Dr. Now spoke to Chron, he said that he had tried to contact Tina after her surgery, but she did not follow up. "We called and called her to make follow-up appointments and she said she would come in, but she never showed up," he told the outlet.
Dr. Now was sued for leaving a steel tube inside a patient's stomach
According to ShowBiz CheatSheet, Dr. Now was at the center of two lawsuits in 2012, though both ended up being dismissed. Then, in 2018, he was sued once again for leaving a stainless steel connector and tubing inside one of his patients. According to Radar Online, the patient underwent laparoscopic surgery to remove her gastric banding in September 2015, and soon thereafter, she began to feel extreme pain in her abdomen. When she went to the emergency room to get a CT scan, doctors found a "foreign body" in her stomach. The complaint read, "Plaintiff sought follow-up evaluation, treatment and prognosis from two physicians and discussion began for the removal of the stainless steel connecter and tubing."
The plaintiff sued Dr. Now for "improperly treating and failing to completely remove all of the components of the gastric band system and by failing to recognize that he left behind a portion of the stainless steel connector and a 29 cm portion of tubing." On September 29, 2017, per Radar Online, Dr. Now denied the allegations. The lawsuit was still active as of 2018.
Dr. Now appears to be relatively unfazed by the four aforementioned suits. His most recent Instagram post, dated October 27, 2021, commends the hard work of a patient named Pauline, who he writes has lost 520 lbs with his help.