Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Rehab
May 21, 2018 1:14 AM - Season 5, Episode 12 - Subscribe

This week....
  • Prince Harry and Meghan Markle get married. Next!
  • North Korea may call off the summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un over demands that the country denuclearize. John Bolton says on air they were using "The Libyan model," which turns out to be the worst thing he could have said; autocrats the world over have obsessed over Gadaffi's horrible death since it happened in 2011.
  • And Now: Local News Gets A Little Too British For The Royal Wedding ("Hello gov'ner." "Cheerio!" "Hallo hallo!" "Tally-ho." "A spot of tea?" etc.)
  • Main Story: Rehab, a 35 billion dollar industry. Federal law requires health insurance to pay for some of it, but there are no federal standards for what "Rehab" means, leading to a situation ripe for abuse by unscrupulous people.
  • And Now: Just Look At This Bunch of Royal Wedding Shit.
The Rehab segment is on YouTube. If you are suffering from addiction, instead of jumping right into a rehab clinic that may have a strong motive to take advantage of you, you could try The American Board of Preventative Medicine's search site for board-certified doctors, here.

Kim Jong Un: "Not only a brutal dictator, but also the only person ever to get excited to have his picture taken with Mike Pompeo."
Rehab: "The most common place to go after hitting rock bottom after Dave & Busters. Don't let those smiles fool you. Every man in that photo is at the lowest place in their lives."

F.37: "Ex Uno, Plures?" YANNI turns into LAUREL.

Here's the result of my source search for this episode:
  • FiveThirtyEight, Maia Szalavitz, What Science Says To Do If Your Loved One Has An Opioid Addiction.: "Much of the advice given by treatment groups and programs ignores what the data says in a similar way that anti-vaccination or climate skeptic websites ignore science."
  • Center On Addiction, Closing the Gap between Science and Practice: "Of those who do receive treatment, few receive anything that approximates evidence-based care. This compares with 70% to 80% of people with such diseases as high blood pressure and diabetes who do receive treatment."
  • The Verge, Cat Ferguson, Review Sites Have Deep Ties to the Rehabs They Promote: "According to an investigation by The Verge, several popular publications covering addiction and treatment double as marketing operations for treatment centers. Rehab Reviews and The Fix are controlled by Cliffside Malibu founder Richard Taite, while Addiction Unscripted — a group promoted by Mark Zuckerberg this summer for its use of Facebook — is owned and staffed by the CEO and marketers of Windward Way, a treatment center in Costa Mesa, California."
  • National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, NAATP National 2018 Quality Assurance Conference [PDF]: "The QAI is designed to improve the operation of addiction treatment, which, in some sectors, is out of control. It is lost on none of us that the field has a problem. Unethical conduct by certain treatment providers continues to harm patients and damage the reputation of credible providers as well as the very nature of our service."
  • Frontline: Chasing Heroin, a documentary [PBS Video]
posted by JHarris (6 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
There has to be a John Oliver Holy Shit supercut someday.

Also I worked on Cliffside Malibu's website for a designer/seo friend about 8 years ago. I thought it was horseshit then, one of those sites where the copy puts you to sleep if you make the mistake of reading it while you are working on the CSS.
posted by Catblack at 10:07 AM on May 21, 2018


There has to be a John Oliver Holy Shit supercut someday.

Someday? TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY MY FRIEND.

John Oliver Holy Shit Compilation.
posted by elsietheeel at 1:36 PM on May 21, 2018 [5 favorites]


I'm so glad he did the rehab segment. I never expected to see that on tv.
posted by colorblock sock at 3:37 PM on May 21, 2018 [3 favorites]


Weird synchronicity in that Dave & Buster's/rehab comment... years ago I saw what looked like a very skeletal McKenzie Phillips at our Dallas Dave & Buster's location on Walnut Hill. Shortly after that she began her book tour about the whole incest thing involving her dad and subsequent drug addiction...

gonna go take a Karen Silkwood shower now.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 4:23 PM on May 21, 2018 [1 favorite]


Really wrenching story on the rehab industry. AA doesn't do evidence based treatment or keep any statistics either. Addiction treatment needs a serious overhaul and more accountability.

That Prince Harry bathing suit was priceless. Did the manufacturers not give a single thought to the placement of Harry's beard?
posted by orange swan at 6:31 PM on May 21, 2018 [5 favorites]


I really appreciate that he mentioned the importance of finding an addiction medicine certified doctor and provided a link, I just passed that on to a family member who is helping another family member with their alcohol addiction and it turns out there's a specialist in their area!
posted by jason_steakums at 8:19 PM on May 21, 2018 [3 favorites]


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