John Oliver sheds light on sexism and racism in medicine

With a little help from Wanda Sykes and Larry David.
 By 
Sam Haysom
 on 
John Oliver sheds light on sexism and racism in medicine
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Most people will have had at least one bad experience at the doctor's.

But as John Oliver points out in the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, you're much more likely to have had a bad experience if you're a woman or a person of colour.

Oliver gives a number of disturbing examples of ways the medical profession has failed certain areas of society in the monologue above -- from the racial disparities in pain medication to America's high rates of maternal mortality.

"I'm not saying that all doctors are racist or sexist because they obviously aren't," he says. "But people have biases, and doctors are people. And they may have come up in a system that intentionally, or not, has often discounted the experiences of a major portion of the population."

Actor and comedian Wanda Sykes makes an appearance in the last five minutes to help -- and she comes armed with some video clips of Larry David to really drill the point home.

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Sam Haysom

Sam Haysom is the Deputy UK Editor for Mashable. He covers entertainment and online culture, and writes horror fiction in his spare time.


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