During the last years, one of the most watched surgery programs on TV worldwide has been “Deadly Pounds”. The show led by the endearing Doctor Nowzaradanhas managed to transform the lives of dozens of people who seek to change their quality of life through weightloss.
Throughout the episodes, the 77-year-old professional’s serious look, friendly voice and harsh -albeit wise- advice have penetrated deep into the hearts of viewers, who are impressed by the drastic body modifications and in their eating habits suffered by patients who follow their advice.
However, what many do not know is how this doctor from Iran He became one of the most successful on the small screen, running his clinic in Houston and becoming “the last hope” of those with more than 300 kilos looking for an opportunity to regain their health and energy.
From Tehran to the world
Younan Nowzaradan was born on October 11, 1944 in the city of Tehran, in the Imperial State of Iran. Since he was a child, he felt a special interest in the world of science and, specifically, that related to health.
That was how in his youth he decided to venture out and study at the University of Tehrangraduating as a Doctor of Medicine in 1970, at the age of 26 years.
After obtaining the degree, in 1971 the professional decided to go to USA and participate in the Medical Orientation Program at Saint Louis University. Thanks to the latter, she completed a rotating surgical internship at St. John’s Hospital in the city of Detroit, Michigan.
As a general and vascular surgeon, Nowzaradan has spent much of his career in Houston. Without going any further, he was the first doctor in that city in “propose, investigate and adopt the benefits of laparoscopic surgery for procedures that were not previously considered”it declares in his web page.
“Doctor Now” has specialized in bariatric surgery for more than 20 years. In that period, he largely embraced those more challenging weight loss cases, many have even been rejected by other professionals surgical.
In fact, the doctor is recognized for specializing in people with super morbid obesity -weighing more than 300 kilos-.
His first appearance on TV, linked to the tragedy
What many do not know is how the so-called “weight loss guru” gave his first steps on television.
according to medium The Austin Chronicleit all started in 2003, after the doctor’s son, Jonathanfounded a production company called Megalomedia and produce the film “World’s Heaviest Woman” (“The Greatest Woman in the World”). The film portrayed the fight against obesity of Renee Williamsan Austin native who weighed more than 900 pounds.
In the production, the surgeon appears as the woman’s attendant and the one who performed her bariatric surgery on early 2007one of the most incredible given the weight of the patient.
However, on March 4 of that year, two weeks after the operation, the woman suffered a severe heart attack that cost him his life.
“The way they described it was like a ticking clock. Even though he had a gastric bypass, a single heart pumped the blood for such a large body. Had he had surgery earlier, he possibly could have made it. My father told me: ‘Who needs more medical care than high-risk patients? We reject the people who need medical attention the most,” Jonathan told the media when asked about the tragedy.
“Deadly kilos” and world fame
After the experience with his first film, Jonathan continued to venture into the documentary and reality television format in order to portray the lives of people with morbid obesity, as he stated, as a way of inspire these patients to seek help in due time and also motivate doctors to care more about people than about their careers.
It was in this context that in february 2012 the young man and his father joined forces with the television network TLC to premiere the original program “My 600-lb Life”known in Latin America as “Deadly Pounds”.
During each episode, viewers could follow the documented progress over one year for patients weighing at least 600 pounds -about 272 kilos-, seeing all his attempts to lose weight and following the advice of Dr. Nowzaradan.
To date, the program accumulates 10 seasons and a total of 130 episodeswhich have been seen by millions of viewers around the world, who follow with amazement the struggles and the incredible changes in the lifestyle of each of the patients.
Complaints for “bad practices”
Despite the great fame achieved by “Doctor Now” thanks to the program, the truth is that it has not been without controversy.
In 2012one of the patients named Michelle Park sued the professional alleging that he would have left part of a tube inside your body after bariatric surgery; situation of which he would have realized two years later.
Despite what was initially stated, the doctor defended himself and assured that the legal action was dismissed after it was verified that he had not been the one who left the object inside the person, Nowzaradan commented to Radar media.
However, that same year the doctor was faced with another problem with the law after another patient sued him for allegedly having performed an abdominal surgery in a bad waywhich would have caused him pain, deformity and a deterioration in his movements.
But like the first accusation, this one was also dismissed, according to indicated the medium The List.
A third batch of demands was conceived in february 2020after a group of four ex-participants of “Kilos Mortales” sued Megalomedia, stating that the show sacrificed their well-being and your health by virtue of the rating.
Gina Krasleywho was in season 8, stated that the production company did not provide him with adequate health services during his extreme weight loss.
However, he said that the worst thing was that those responsible for the program did not give him a proper mental evaluation before she embarked on this weight loss journey, which she felt was irresponsible.
Krasley added that Megalomedia employees were not well trained on depression and its symptoms, causes and effects, The Hollywood Gossip reported..
It should be noted that these demands arose after the family of LB Bonnera former member of the show who committed suicide in 2018, will sue the producer in January 2020 for gross negligence, accusing them of having part of the blame for his death.
Al respect, Megalomedia commented in a statement “We are very saddened by his suicide and continue to extend our condolences to his family.
Nevertheless, the allegations in this lawsuit have no meritare false and will be vigorously contested in court.”
The doctor. Now” currently
Leaving behind all the controversy linked to the complaints of malpractice against him and his program, currently Dr. Nowzaradan enjoy a quiet life and very popular on social media.
For now, the TV star exceeds 537 thousand followers on Instagramwhere he shows his fans some of the activities he does on a daily basis.
From doing his exercise sessions, to promoting the weight loss of some of his patients, the truth is that at 77 years old the doctor is more active than ever.
Even in March of last year he surprised netizens with a photo in which he is seen enjoying the guitarwhich would be one of his passions.
It should be noted that season 10 of “Kilos Mortales” ended in February of this year and, at the moment, it is waiting for the TLC network make official the premiere of its 12th cycle.