Episode 156: Just for Laughs / Medical Tourism

Doctor Vs Comedian

At the beginning of today’s episode the guys talk about their Oscar picks from last month and what they got right and wrong. They also talk about the claims of plagiarism regarding the screenplay for “The Holdovers”. Then, Asif asks Ali about the Just for Laughs festival (4:40). Ali starts off by talking about the history of the festival and his personal relation to it from growing up in Montreal. He talks about its significance to comedians in general and his career in particular. He then talks about the recent financial troubles of Just for Laughs, including the fact that this year’s festival has been canceled. Then Ali asks Asif about the phenomenon of medical tourism (25:24). Asif talks about what it is, how often people go abroad for medical treatment as well as the reasons why medical tourism has been increasing of late. He then goes over some of the risks of medical tourism including a recent report of patients who developed a fatal fungal infection after traveling to Mexico for cosmetic surgery.

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Show Notes:

• Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’ Accused of Plagiarism by ‘Luca’ Writer (EXCLUSIVE): https://variety.com/2024/film/news/the-holdovers-accused-plagiarism-luca-writer-1235935605/
• Just for Laughs: A timeline: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/just-for-laughs-a-timeline
• 2024 Just for Laughs comedy festival cancelled, company seeks creditor protection: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/juste-pour-rire-2024-festival-1.7134047
• Just for Laughs Gags: https://www.hahaha.com/en/videos-categories/gags
• Gilbert Rozon faces new allegations of sexual assault: https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/gilbert-rozon-faces-new-allegations-of-sexual-assault-1.6109707
• Despite the pandemic and inflation, the medical tourism industry is booming. Here's why: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/07/03/despite-the-pandemic-and-inflation-medical-tourism-is-booming.html
• Leaving Canada for Medical Care, 2017: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/leaving-canada-for-medical-care-2017.pdf
• What Do We Know About Medical Tourism? A Review of the Literature With Discussion of Its Implications for the UK National Health Service as an Example of a Public Health Care System: https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/21/6/410/1843042
• Neurovascular Complications of Iatrogenic Fusarium solani Meningitis: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2308192
• They came to clinics in Mexico for cosmetic surgery and got a deadly fungal meningitis: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2024/02/22/1232959262/medical-tourism-cosmetic-surgery-fungal-meningitis-clinics-mexico