Younan Nowzaradan

Nowzaradan was born and raised in Tehran, Iran, and is an Assyrian.[4][5] In 1970, he graduated from the University of Tehran with a Doctor of Medicine degree.[6] He then moved to the United States. He participated in the Medical Orientation Program at Saint Louis University in 1971 and completed a Rotating Surgical Internship at St. John Hospital (operated by St. John Providence Health System) in Detroit, Michigan.[6] Nowzaradan is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Nowzaradan is currently affiliated with Houston Obesity Surgery in Houston, TX and practices at several local hospitals.[6] He is the author of several scholarly publications on obesity and laparoscopy.[7] According to the Web of Science, he has published five papers.[8][9][10][11][12]

In 2007, Colleen Shepard sued Nowzaradan after the death of her daughter Tina Shepard. She claimed Nowzaradan failed to inform her daughter of the risks involved with a gastric bypass surgery. Shepard died one year after her procedure from complications of liver failure and blood poisoning. The lawsuit also stated that proper aftercare was not provided. Nowzaradan stated, "We called and called her to make follow-up appointments, and she said she would come in, but she never showed up."[13]

He has been on My 600-lb Life since 2012.[14] He has also appeared on installments of Body Shock, including the episodes "Half Ton Dad", "Half Ton Teen", and "Half Ton Mum".[14] He also published two books titled Last Chance to Live (2017).[15] & The Scale Does Not Lie, People Do (2019).[16] Dr. Now made several appearances at Texas theme parks such as Six Flags Astroworld to promote health awareness in the early 2000s, reaching out to youth, encouraging them to make good dietary choices.

He was married to Delores McRedmond for 27 years; they divorced in 2002. The couple had three children together.[17] His son, Jonathan Nowzaradan (b. 1978), works as a director and producer for My 600-lb Life.[18][19]