A doctor and former medical insurance director brought legal action against “last week this evening” John Oliver, filed a defamation complaint against the Emmy winner.
Dr. Brian Morley, a hospital administrator who was a former medical director for Amerihealth Caritas in Iowa, pursued his continued American district court in the South District of New York on Friday. The complaint of Morley stems from an episode on the theme of Medicaid of “Last Week Tonight” which was broadcast in April 2024. The trial, examined by the Times, alleged Oliver and the producer of “Last Tonight Tonight” of partially important productions linked to Morley to a drastic decrease in the services of Medicaid and have – on them for days. ”
A Morley lawyer did not comment on Times on Wednesday and an Oliver representative did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The central episode of Morley's trial was broadcast on April 14, 2024 and saw Oliver explore the state of Medicaid, examining the measures to reduce the costs of health companies and their tolls on patients in various states. During the segment, broadcast on HBO and is available on YouTube, Oliver explained the role of managed care organizations (MCO) in the health system and shared the video of a media on the drop in care for patients. The 2018 snippet news presented a Cerebral paralysis patient in iowa named Louis whose care has been negatively affected by the participation of the MCO.
Oliver followed this part of the segment with an audio extract from Morley's comments on patient care during an administrative hearing of 2017. In the clip, Morley can be heard: “People have stools every day when they do not clean themselves completely and we are not too much.
The quote aroused a strong reaction from the public in the studio “Last Week Tonight” and led Oliver to say that he thought that Morley's comments had come out of their context. He explained that he was thinking for the first time: “There was no way that a doctor, an approved doctor, would testify in an audience that he thinks it is ok if people have – on them for days.” Oliver continued his segment indicating that his team had obtained the complete audience and that Morley “said”.
“He thought it and it made me want to hit a hole in the wall,” said Oliver. The segment returned to the 2018 video of Louis and his mother, who is negatively responding to Morley's comments. The host of “last week this evening” had a few words of choice for Morley – which were cited in the trial of Friday.
In his complaint, Morley said, “The defendants' false accusations were designed to arouse indignation, and they did.
“The false accusations that the defendants were so odious were so odious that John Oliver felt justified to say to his millions of viewers:” F – This doctor with a rusty canoe. I hope he gets tetanus “” said the complaint. “Oliver's feigned indignation against Dr. Morley was manufactured for the ratings and profits at the expense of Dr. Morley's reputation and personal well-being.”
Morley accused Oliver and “last week this evening” of making him the “face” of the spectacular decrease in Medicaid care and an increase in costs. The trial also raised concerns about how “last week” would have distorted Morley's comments in 2017 and “knew and ignored” various details of the audience in the April episode.
The trial alleges that the team of “last week this evening” “transmitted the false and defamatory meanings” that Morley denied the care to “Louis and / or the individual” similar “alleged” of his testimony and that he would have said that he was acceptable for patients who carry diapers or who could not bathe to “have been seated in their own strata for days”.
The complaint indicates that the team “Last Week Tonight” obtained and examined “an unbeaned audio recording” from the 2017 audience and that one of the news producers of the show would have confirmed to Morley that they had examined the hearing. According to the trial, Morley made her comments as a “saddle” with regard to a “hypothetical average person, who is independently mobile and can transfer toilets” but who may not be able to clean himself entirely after a saddle. “Last week this evening” would not have disclosed this detail, according to the trial.
He accused the producers of the issue of “negligence, knowledge of falsehood and / or reckless contempt for the truth”.
Morely also alleges that a producer of news last week “” refused “to meet when he proposed to explain his comments. The accused would also have refused on the request of October 2024 of Morley to “withdraw their false and defamatory statements”.
Morley requests an unspecified amount in damages, in particular legal costs and additional repair. He also asked that the judges order “last week this evening” to remove the “false and defamatory statements of all platforms” and prevent them from republishing. He is looking for a trial.
