Dialysis: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

For-profit dialysis companies often maximize their profits at the expense of their patients. John Oliver explores why a medical clinic is nothing like a Taco Bell.
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[@TheEraihiryuu]

I've been a dialysis patient for over four years now. I go to a Davita facility for my treatments. I have to say I guess I'm lucky and got a rather good facility, the staff and doctors there seem to actually care and never rush patients off the machines. I've been encouraged many times to get a transplant by staff though unfortunately I was refused by the only hospital n my area that did transplants due to financial and transportation reasons. Having renal diease is tough at 38 and it took most of my freedom away from me and its like no one cares, its hardly given any press on how many suffer with it and its ridicules. Thank you for the screentime on this subject.

[@jessicabowman2258]

"Richard Nixon"

[@BlargleWargle]

"Richard Nixon-"

[@Crowley9]

"We are paying the most to get the least." That seems to be American healthcare in a nutshell.

[@mannyvillalobos5957]

OMG I HAVE BEEN ON DIALYSIS FOR 28 YEARS AND I HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT WAS MENTIONED. Man thank you Mr. JOHN OLIVER for bringing some light to this crazy situation!!!! BAM!!!!

[@scan606]

I'm an ICU nurse in France, and I can't believe what I just saw. No doctor on site and only one nurse ? If something goes wrong, and it can go wrong really, really fast, the patient is doomed. In France, there's no way we can put someone on dialysis without a doctor present and informed that the patient is about to undergo dialysis. I've never been happier with our french healthcare, and never been more sad and angry for americans. This is endangering patients for money. And yes, YOU SHOULD GET A TRANSPLANT !

[@angeldude101]

"That's a good accent and I do not apologize for it."

[@emilyc.4000]

I had a heart transplant last year at 25. Make sure you sign up to be a donor after death. You don't need your organs and tissue anymore, but someone like me desperately does.

[@Stephaniededson]

I had a patient whose fistula became infected and burst. She bled out in less than 20 minutes. She died screaming for her Mother. That is why disinfection and cleaning is so important.

[@jademoon4900]

im 18 on dialysis and I really appreciate the awareness in such a funny way !

[@katie4rd]

I gave my mom a kidney 8 years ago and she is better than ever. She was on dialysis for 11 years and was hospitalized many times for bleeding out in the middle of the night developing mental and other physical diseases due to the harsh effects of dialysis, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. She was very sick after her treatment every time she often would loose the entire day. It was like she was only living 4 days of her week. I’m glad Mr. Oliver did an episode on this because it reaches everyone’s lives and is rarely talked about. I don’t feel like an extraordinary person for donating. I just know that given the opportunity and proper education about the procedure, anybody would do it.

[@croat5786]

John Oliver, please do an update for this episode. CA has a vote on a bill regarding dialysis and I have only seen negative ads to vote no on it.

[@user-pq2sq9xd1y]

I love you Stephen Colbert!!

[@jora9655]

"Good intentions screwed by bad oversight and profiteering" - America in a nutshell.

[@GregTurismo]

I saw this video 6 years ago here on KZbin and thought he might have been talking to me. 2 weeks ago after years of trying, I finally was able to donate my kidney altruistically and I just wanted to say thank you for helping me walk in my calling and bringing this issue to my attention and millions of others.

[@JABoyle3875]

I have a 13 week old daughter that has kidney issues. They are not serious right now but they are something that needs to be monitored. This episode is now 1 million times scarier than when I first watched it.

[@DPWFG]

Me, a Canadian: that is the wor-

[@mjpo74]

It takes skill to make a 24 minute talk about dialysis interesting - well done, once again, Mr. Oliver.

[@rebeccalarson5193]

Yes! As a DaVita tech for all of 3 months, I can confirm everything in this video is true. It's heartbreaking. You care for patients who come in 3 days a week, hours at a time, for years. It's impossible to not build some really strong bonds. I have cried with a patient when she told me about family struggles and the next day another patient sang me the Happy Birthday Song. It's cheesy, but it really is a little family.

[@SandyRiverBlue]

Since this episode was released several DaVita locations went through name changes and more recently they were bought out by Optum resulting in a bunch more name changes. If you or a loved one needs dialysis a good resource is your local business license directory. A few good questions to ask are what are the parent companies of your local dialysis clinics, do they have a physician scheduled for every shift, and what is their nurse to patient ratio.