John Oliver Sued By Health Insurance Bigwig for Defamation
Health insurance executives must believe they’re not getting enough bad publicity. While social media feeds are full of consumers shaming their providers for not covering needed medical procedures, one insurance executive has decided to sue comedian John Oliver for damaging his “reputation and personal well-being.”
The trouble began when Oliver did an epic rant on Medicaid around this time last year. To illustrate his point about the insensitivity of insurance executives, Oliver played 2017 audio testimony from Dr. Brian Morley, then an exec with AmeriHealth Caritas, about the necessity of toiletry cleanliness. “People have bowel movements every day where they don’t completely clean themselves,” reasoned the doc. “And we don’t fuss over (them) too much. People are allowed to be dirty, you know. I would allow him to be a little dirty for a couple days.”
The clip sent Oliver into a rage. “Look, I’ll be honest — when I first heard that, I thought that has to be taken out of context. There is no way a doctor, a licensed physician, would testify in a hearing that he thinks it’s okay if people have shit on them for days!”
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To give the doctor a fair shake, Oliver got audio from the full hearing for reference. After listening to the testimony in full? “I’m just going to tell you he said it, he meant it and it made me want to punch a hole in the wall.”
Oliver struggled to find the language to express his outrage. “If I absolutely had to put it into words, I guess I’d say, ‘Fuck that doctor with a rusty canoe. I hope he gets tetanus of the balls.’ And if he has a problem with my language there, I’d say, ‘I’m allowed to be dirty. People are allowed to be a little dirty sometimes.’”
According to The Independent, Morley filed a federal defamation lawsuit last week, arguing that he “did not equate wiping poorly with leaving anyone sitting in their own feces for days,” and actually “testified to the opposite.” Per the suit, Morley never said that it was medically appropriate for individuals to have ‘shit on them for days.’”
You can hear the audio for yourself in Oliver’s clip. Morley’s explanation? He was simply trying to explain that some everyday people “may not wipe perfectly,” but “they’re mobile and they’re not laying in it,” per the suit.
The suit also alleges Oliver “knowingly and falsely conveyed that Dr. Morley testified that ‘it is okay’ to leave someone who is incontinent, wears diapers or otherwise sits in their own bowel movements in their ‘shit for days,” the suit contends.
No comment from Oliver at this point. Morley is demanding a retraction and removal of the episode from all platforms, as well as compensatory damages, special damages and punitive damages.
It’s hard to say if Morley stands a chance in court, but the lawsuit guarantees one thing — a new round of curious viewers watching the Last Week Tonight clip to hear the doctor’s own words for themselves.
