My 600-lb Life
My 600-lb Life is an American reality television series that has aired on the TLC television network since 2012. Each episode follows a year in the life of morbidly obese individuals, who usually begin the episode weighing at least, and documents their attempts to reduce their weight to a healthy level. Update episodes, called "Where Are They Now?", feature one or more previous patients, picking up a year or more after their original episodes aired.
Patients are placed under the care of Houston surgeon Younan Nowzaradan, who first has them attempt losing weight on their own by following a strict diet, and then depending on the patient's progress may offer gastric bypass surgery or sleeve gastrectomy to further assist in weight loss.
Concept
This series was originally a five-part miniseries involving four morbidly obese patients. Because of its popularity, new episodes were filmed, including a "Where Are They Now?" retrospective in Season 4 that follows up on previous patients to track their weight-loss journey months or years after bariatric surgery.In Season 1, patients were filmed over seven years. Beginning with Season 2, patients were filmed for only one year. In Season 8, certain patients' stories were filmed for only six months.
Beginning with Season 5, new episodes were two hours long instead of one hour. This was previously done with "Melissa's Story" and "Lupe's Story". Recap episodes titled "Supersized" and "Extended", which include additional facts and footage respectively, also aired during this season.
Subject outcomes
Twenty-two patients have died since appearing on the show.| Patient name | Season | Episode | Age | Date | Cause | Sources | Notes |
| Henry Foots | 1 | 4 | 54 | illness unrelated to weight | He suffered a medical episode one year prior to his death while working as a bus driver, killing a pedestrian. | ||
| Rob Buchel | 6 | 8 | 41 | heart attack | occurred during the filming of the show while staying in a skilled nursing facility in Houston | ||
| LB Bonner | 6 | 6 | 30 | suicide by gunshot | |||
| Lisa Fleming | 6 | 7 | 50 | illness unrelated to weight | |||
| Kelly Mason | 7 | 13 | 41 | heart failure | occurred during the filming of the show | ||
| Sean Milliken | 4 | 11 | 29 | cardiac arrest due to infection complications from poor hygiene | |||
| James King | 5 | 11 | 49 | multiple organ failure due to obesity | |||
| Coliesa McMillian | 8 | 12 | 41 | acute kidney failure and other complications related to weight loss surgery | |||
| Renee Biran | 6 | 11 | 56 | undisclosed | |||
| Gina Krasley | 8 | 5 | 30 | undisclosed | |||
| Ashley Randall | 1 | 5 | 40 | sepsis, complications related to sepsis, and pneumonia | |||
| Laura Ann Perez | 3 | 7 | 48 | undisclosed | |||
| Destinee LaShaee | 7 | 10 | 31 | implied to be suicide | Although the cause of death was not revealed, LaShaee and her family had stated she struggled with depression and suicidal ideation, according to her brother Wayne Compton, who stated "I'm sorry you felt like you had no other choice". | ||
| Angela Gutierrez | 7 | 15 | 49 | undisclosed | |||
| Larry Myers Jr. | 10 | 13 | 49 | heart attack | |||
| Paul MacNeill | 10 | 6 | 37 | automobile accident | |||
| Vianey Rodriguez | 7 | 20 | 41 | pneumonia complications | |||
| Latonya Pottain | 11 | 2 | 40 | congestive heart failure as a result of cardiac arrest | She was in a rehab center when it occurred. | ||
| Dottie Perkins | 4 | 5 | 44 | unspecified long-term illness | |||
| Lupe Samano | 4 | 12 | 50 | undisclosed | |||
| Pauline Potter | 3 | 3 | 62 | automobile accident | |||
| Charity Pierce | 3 | 8 | 50 | undisclosed | She was in hospice care due to medical conditions that were ongoing at the time of her death. |
Spin-offs
Beginning in January 2015, TLC began airing My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now? The purpose of this spin-off was to update viewers on the weight loss journeys of people featured in previous seasons. As of 2024, nine seasons of the Where Are They Now? follow-ups have aired.In 2016, a second spin-off, Skin Tight, began airing, showing people who struggle with the excess skin remaining after their weight loss successes. Dr. Nowzaradan appears along with other plastic surgeons.
Failed lawsuits
In 2018, several news outlets reported that several former patients of Dr. Nowzaradan who appeared on the series, as well as the family of one patient, L.B. Bonner, who died by suicide, had brought suits against the show's production company, Megalomedia, alleging negligence and claiming that the company failed to cover medical costs. Plaintiff Destinee LaShaee, the first transgender participant to appear on the show, sued the show after claiming it did not provide the mental health treatments it promised. She died on February 8, 2022, after posting messages on social media "indicative of her depression and possibly suicidal thoughts."A total of ten lawsuits were filed, which were later consolidated into a single proceeding on May 20, 2020. Megalomedia requested summary judgment, which was denied via the judge not ruling on its motion within the time required under Texas law. Megalomedia then appealed its motion to the appellate court.
On April 14, 2022, all ten of the lawsuits were dismissed by the 13th Appellate Court of Texas.