John Oliver casts a witheringly comic look at the pharmaceutical industry

(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

published 9 February 2015

John Oliver is back with a new season of Last Week Tonight, and he took aim at a pretty big target on Sunday night: Big Pharma. Once again, Oliver makes a topic that sounds dry or boring quite the opposite, mixing infuriating facts with jokes. The show's biggest laugh/gasp started out like this: "Drug companies are a bit like high school boyfriends...."

Pharmaceutical companies have been cutting back on attractive young sales reps, but adding doctors to their payroll to promote their drugs to other doctors. This is so "worrying," Oliver said, cutting to the chase, "because we trust doctors. When you see Rhianna trying to get you to drink coconut water, you know she's getting money to do that, and you take that into account." Oliver ended the segment with some good news — you can find out how much your doctor takes from drug and medical device companies at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov — and a half-hilarious mock drug ad featuring a doctor on the take. Side effects may include laughter and outrage. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.