The list of grievances against My 600 Lb Life production company Megalomedia just got a little longer as Starcasm reports that Season 4’s Dottie Perkins has become the sixth cast member to file a lawsuit against the company. According to Dottie, Megalomedia not only lied about her progress on the show, but also lied about covering her medical expenses.
The series of lawsuits against Megalomedia began earlier this year — the first filed by the family of deceased Season 6 star L.B. Bonner, who committed suicide in August 2018. According to the suit, L.B.’s family believes the production company’s “gross negligence” played a part in L.B. taking his own life.
Season 6’s David Bolton was the next to file, followed by Maja Radanovic of Season 7, Gina Krasley of Season 8 and most recently, Season 7’s Jeanne Covey.
Nearly all of the lawsuits filed at this point claim that Megalomedia failed to follow through with its promise to cover all expenses for weight loss-related medical treatments, with Gina being the only exception, as she did not undergo weight loss surgery during her episode. All of the lawsuits also accuse Megalomedia of orchestrating arguments between the cast members and their family and friends for dramatic purposes, though Starcasm notes that Dottie’s particular lawsuit alleges that the production company went as far as to fabricate entire storylines.
According to the site, Dottie’s 2016 debut episode featured a scene in Dr. Nowzaradan‘s office in which Dottie was ordered by the doc to be hospitalized so that her weight could be closely monitored. However, Dottie’s lawsuit claims the production company was actually “falsely portray[ing]” her weight loss as a weight gain for the show’s producer-created narrative arc.
Furthermore, Dottie’s suit accuses the production company of forcing her to eat so much that Dr. Nowzardan ordered her to be hospitalized — a setback that took place during her debut episode that ultimately prevented Dottie from having weight loss surgery until a follow-up episode the following year.
“Initially, and as with most other show participants, Dr. Nowzaradan initially placed Plaintiff [Dottie Perkins] on an extreme weight-loss diet so she could ultimately be a candidate for surgery,” Dottie’s lawsuit reads. “However, and to support Defendants’ narrative, they created a dynamic where Plaintiff would not follow the diet. To do this, Defendants [Megalomedia] forced Plaintiff to [eat] excessive amounts of unhealthy and fattening food. This would lead to confrontations with Dr. Nowzaradan in which he would criticize her for not being able to follow the diet.
“Defendants falsely portrayed that Plaintiff was gaining weight when she was actually losing weight,” the suit continues. “Ultimately, this resulted in her being admitted to a hospital so her diet could be monitored.”
In January, Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing all of the ‘My 600 Lb Life’ cases thus far, told Starcasm that lawsuits from more cast members would be coming. At the time of that interview, one suit had been filed and, as mentioned above, the lawsuit count has grown to six.
(Photos: Facebook; TLC; Instagram)
38 Responses
I wanted to punch Dottie in the throat! Her constant whining, complaining, excuse making,arrogance,and ‘Know it all behaviour’ drove me insane! I felt so sorry for her poor little son and it was sad when he passed but Dottie used this for excuse after excuse after excuse…..
She was so rude and adamant that ‘she knew best…..(This is why Dr Nowzaradan is a bariatric surgeon with several degrees and has been for years) and Dottie is a morbidly obese sloth who wouldn’t even commit to losing weight for her disabled son !
She defied instructions and dietary advice( ordering take out food to be delivered to the hospital)complained and threw tantrums that Dr Now was ‘picking on her!..And now she wants to sue!? ..PLEASE!, If anyone should be sued it should be her!…she wasted time and resources that could have been dedicated to another person who REALLY wanted to lose weight. Selfish b****
This a load of BS! These folks are trying to get free money, because they may lose their disability checks and have to actually work for a living!
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Or maybe they’re grifters. How many of them are physically unable work but have plenty of money for massive fast food orders that would feed 5 people, and it’s all paid for by disability? When that gets reevaluated because of weight loss, reality hits the fan real quick. I realize there’s a lot of editing by the producers, but Dottie had a bad attitude from the git go, didn’t want to be there, resented Dr Now’s efforts, complained and was uncooperative, including harming her health and recovery by smoking. It’s only because he cares about his patients that he didn’t show her the door. She’s out for a nuisance settlement.
My dad had a gastric bypass a number of years ago- wasn’t anywhere near 600 pounds. But his drs made him complete a bunch of time with a therapist before even being considered for weight loss surgery. I have ALWAYS thought that this show was negligent in their duty to maintain a prior duty of care before giving the patients surgery.
I went through the process for the sleeve a few years ago; I followed the “diet” they gave me, was in the gym twice a day seven days a week, didn’t lose a single pound, and I didn’t drink an ounce of soda for six months, and no fast food, processed etc. I was told by the psych doctor I was to clinically depressed to have the surgery done. This show makes it look like a cake walk to get this surgery, and then they act like spoiled entitled brats. Part of why I’m so clincially depressed is because I went from a size 0 to a size 22
How rediculious! Nobody can force someone to eat to much. I mean thats u they were there in thw 1st place! Instead of being thankful that they were able to get the surgery and look amazing afterwards they want more money so of course lets get a bunch of great ppl together and sue!! And the person that committed suicide, I am so sorry but I think there is much more to it. Ppl always look for someone to blame in these kinds of situations. Its a television show ppl!! Of course they r going to make it interesting. R these ppl so naive to think everything would b true?? Nobody would watch. It would b boring. Every show like this on TV has a little bit of falsehoods in them. Grow up and b thankful for what u did get!!
How do the producers of the show “force” these people to eat massive amounts of food? They are 600 lbs plus so they are obviously eating to extreme already. But then again something like this doesn’t surprise me. I know that the producers of this show cruise the size acceptance community like sharks looking for victims for that little ghoul Dr. Now. Ginning up the drama is good for ratings.It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.
I’m sorry these people in your reporting feel they were misled or mistreated by the representatives of this show. What I’m wondering is, did they not watch the show or were they not aware of what the premise of the show was all about. All of the plaintiffs mentioned were in at least season 4 or later, which means they had access to see the show and what could be expected of them. It’s a t.v. show for entertainment purposes. Were they also not provided tons of legal disclaimers and other paperwork that required their review and signatures? Were they exploited on this show…. Absolutely. Were they unaware of the fact that in exchange for the help they were looking for that they would be shamed, exploited, manipulated, etc. to make their stories more dramatic to work for television. I’m sure they knew ahead of time. You don’t get anything for free. How did they think the show would be able to pay for anything if they didn’t have the ratings to draw in the sponsors. I would like to see what the exact expenses are that the show refused to pay for which these people are complained about. Some of the plaintiffs did nothing to help themselves and maybe this is any easy means to justify the fact of unsuccessful weight loss due to their own fault. I think the show is inspiring, and I take it for what it’s worth, a mostly staged, recreated reality show.
All of these people who have the unmitigated gall to sue have things in common. They all made asses of themselves on the show one way or another. They all overate and then got mad and lied about it. Dr. Now is really one of the sweetest, most supportive doctors I’ve ever seen. I WISH I had a doctor like him. Anyway, these pathetic people who can’t handle their self-inflicted failure are the ones that are suing. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF!!
I AGREE WITH YOU BECKY 100 PERCENT
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These people are just trying to get money any way they can. They just lazy and didn’t want to do the work.
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These people were pig eaters and did not want to give up their habits otherwise they would have never been that large in the first place… No one can force you to eat…
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Some people are never happy and it seems with many of these participants that they all have a similar character trait of blaming everything and everyone else for their weight and every other problem in their lives. I have a really hard time taking any of them seriously.
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I’m a person that enjoys this program. This program had helped me get my own weight issues under control.
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The main part of the lawsuit is that the company didn’t pay for medical expenses related to surgery when they said they would. If this can be proven, what anyone thinks of these people is irrelevant.
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I would say the biggest reason why I would be angry if all this is true is not to pay for all the expenses as promised. The other stuff I know they have to dramatize things to make it more watchable. They do that and movies all the time!
I really like Dr. Now. He can be a little harsh with his patients.It is because he only wants the best for them to get healthy.
I don’t know if Megalomedia refused to pay their medical bills but if they did they should pay them.
About Jean Covey Jean refused to follow the diet..
Dr. Now operates on her mother and sent them both home with medical transport since her mother was unable to drive herself after surgery. Her husband passed away while Jean & her mother were in the hospital.
Jean’s house was unsanitary because of keeping 9 dogs. Why did these people file suit one by one
Sick to death of these beached whales complaining about how put upon they all are. Someone posted how nasty Dr. Now is; in my opinion he isn’t nasty enough. He tells them they need to walk, they won’t. Tells them they have to stick to the diet, they don’t. One of the latest whales claimed she kept losing the diet. As far as mental health, these people didn’t get to be 600+ lbs. because they have their head on straight. They have ALL shrugged off their responsibility to take care of themselves. They all need to grow up.
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Anything to make a greedy Dollar. So disappointed if Dr. Now knew. These people have a hard enough time already, let alone be preyed upon by greedy users. I will never watch this hoax of a show again.
I hope they don’t cancel this show. It absolutely has value to it. We are only hearing one side of the issue and there has been no proof provided. People can say whatever they want when they are trying to blame other people and wanting to get in board or gang up on a cause. They think that there’s strength in numbers and that’s why more people keep joining in. It’s sounds so frivolous to me.
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These people are the ones that could not follow Dr Now’s plan…they also are not liable for someone committing suicide. I hope it all gets thrown out of court.
All aboard the money train.wooo whoo!!!!free ride for the obese.something for nothing.funny how they shovel food in their face for years but it’s not really their fault.victims.they weren’t forced to go on show but they want to sue.
The problem isn’t about food issues, it’s what their contract states. And this is what the law suit is about. The monies that were promised especially their healthcare that was to be paid for a full year or more if problems arise. This is not about eating too much.
There are 2 sides in a contract. All we keep hearing about is how meglomedia reneged on their side by not paying the medical expenses. What we’re not hearing is whether or not the plaintiffs who have filled the lawsuits have fulfilled their covenants under the contract. It’s easy to bring attention to a dispute and air your grievances in the public eye hoping for support,knowing that possibly the other side has no need to make any public statement knowing that when the dispute gets mediated in private, the truth will prevail and the public opinion will have nothing to do with it. If the production company and all involved in this show feel there had been nothing underhanded or unlawful in their dealings with these, or any other participants, I would hope the show would be continued for the benefit of those who enjoy it and/or who are inspired and get motivated by seeing and hearing the stories of others in their positions in order to know there’s always hope.
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So they didn’t know they were going on a tv show when they signed up?people forced them to eat massive amount of food on camera?these people are unbelievable…I guess they thought someone speaking the truth to them was mean.eat like a hog…then you look like a hog.I never heard him say that to any of them,maybe he should have.ching-ching..all aboard..sue train rollin
As a food addict myself, I can no longer watch this show. It starts every episode with people bathing completely naked. It feels degrading. Then it shows the person eating amazing amounts of food. It really drags out the illness side of it. The person gets to Dr Now. He is portrayed as the only doctor anywhere that will help them at all. It seems as if this gives him permission to shame, terrorize and threaten them into submission. His praise is far and few in between. One guy was called a “failure” after dropping an impressive amount of weight. Dr. Now justified it by trying to convince him he was right for being so harsh for his own good.
I keep.waiting for the recovery side of the surgery. So much is the food addiction. Dr. Now just cant seem to praise people sincerely. His staff looks like they dont like their job.
So many of these people have deep seeded trauma in their past, it is treated so secondary to the issue. Therapy is given almost as a punishment. It really should have started with getting to the core before the food coping mechanism is taken away.
I support the people who are on the show. The people on the show have very few life and death options and it looks like it is being exploited.
This article seems to repeat several parts! It seems that there should, could be more research done into what these patients wanted & were willing to work for & telling Dr Now & nursing staff that they’re not gonna do something, like standing up, working out, being weighed among other things!!!
Wow wow wow
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Wow wow wow
I love the show, sad once one decides to sue I guess someone else falls in money hungry people looking for magic pill. Grow the hell up.
I don’t get people on these reality shows who claim producers force them to do things. Do they hold a gun to their heads? Also how can they falsify someone’s weight? As Dr.Now says “the scale doesn’t lie”
A lawyer representing severely addicted, mentally ill clients had better tread lightly. Countersuits about libel and broken NDA’s are equally media friendly. Anxious to see the blowback…
Something tells me no one on this show has to be forced to eat unhealthy food….
Quick! Everyone jump on the lawsuit bandwagon years later!!
You don’t get to be 600+ lbs by eating healthy. So all these cast members who say production is forcing them to eat bad food, it’s not believable to me. They are extremely obese from horrible eating addictions. Just because you join a tv show, doesn’t mean you all of a sudden eat only 5 carrots a day.
NOBODY IS FORCED TO EAT EVERYTHING IN SITE LIKE THE PEOPLE ON 6OO LB LIFE THE ONES THAT ARE SUING THE SHOW NEVER LISTENED TO THE DR THEY DID WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO AND ANOTHER THING IS THEY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO OWN A PET THEY NEVER FEED THEM THEY MAKE SURE THEY EAT ALL THE FOOD THANK YOU PATRICIA
can you really sue a reality show for adding drama after you agreed and went along with the drama ?
Did you read the whole article? It is a breach of contract.
Nobody can force ANYBODY to shove food in their face.