Posted on 12/05/2003 1:49:13 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Rush Limbaugh poked fun at the investigation into whether he bought painkillers illegally during his Friday afternoon broadcast, hours after his attorney attacked investigators for their political motives. Palm Beach investigators recently obtained search warrants for Limbaugh's doctors' offices and alleged Thursday that the conservative radio commentator engaged in illegal drug use and went ``doctor shopping'' for prescription painkillers. Limbaugh compared the search warrants for his medical records to the demands that Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean release political records from his years as Vermont governor. ``A lot of people think he should release his political records... Nobody's demanding he release them. There aren't any search warrants being issued for his political records,'' Limbaugh said from his South Florida studio. ``I bet you what, if I had been treated by Dr. Dean, I bet you Democrats in certain parts of this country would be demanding his records.'' His brief reference to the investigation came during his three-hour broadcast, which he has used over the past several weeks to defend allegations that he used illegal drugs and illegally funneled money to buy prescription painkillers. Earlier Friday, Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, accused the Palm Beach state attorney of investigating Limbaugh only for political reasons. Black said Limbaugh was not a target of State Attorney Barry Krischer's investigation until October when the National Enquirer quoted Limbaugh's maid as saying she had unlawfully sold Limbaugh such medications. ``Suddenly an elected public official could not ignore the name Rush Limbaugh,'' Black said on NBC's ``Today'' show. Black is also a paid NBC commentator. ``They are looking to publicly embarrass him and affect his radio program....Why is Rush Limbaugh the only person treated like this in America?'' Black did not immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press. Krischer's spokesman Mike Edmondson said Friday that the prosecutor stands by a statement he released earlier that Limbaugh's rights have been scrupulously protected. ``Whether Mr. Limbaugh is subject to prosecution for any crimes is still under investigation. Mr. Limbaugh is presumed innocent,'' Krischer said Thursday. Krischer's office began investigating Limbaugh 10 months before the Enquirer story after prosecutors met with the former maid, Wilma Cline. She told them she sold Limbaugh ``large quantities of hydrocodone, Oxycontin and other pharmaceutical drugs in Palm Beach County over the course of many years.'' Cline provided investigators with e-mails and answering machine recordings to support her claims. Investigators then examined records from Palm Beach pharmacies near Limbaugh's $24 million oceanfront mansion that they say support the doctor-shopping allegations. The warrants list prescriptions for more than 2,000 pills from March 24 through Sept. 26. from four doctors. The medications include the powerful painkillers Oxycontin, Lorcet, Norco, hydrocodone and Kadian. In addition, Limbaugh received prescriptions for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and Clonodine, used to treat high blood pressure.
Actually, I did hear Bennett vigorously defend Rush on a radio talk show; however, I can't recall which one -- it might have been Sean Hannity's program(?).
I don't even pretend to be a pharmacist or a health care professional, but if Xanax and Clonodine are not controlled substances, I wonder under what authority the details of those prescriptions were released to law enforcement authorities (and subsequently to the press).
Wouldn't the provisions of HIPAA restrict or prevent the release of that information? Wouldn't the requesting law enforcement agency need to specify precisely what authority they had to inquire about those drugs? Doesn't HIPAA prevent the release of such information when it is not specifically within the narrowly-defined and justified requirements of a requesting authority?
It's not and nobody, including Limbaugh, has claimed that it is. At the end of the article, it's made clear that he was prescribed 1) painkillers, 2) an antihypertensive and 3) an anti-anxiety agent (Xanax).
From what was stated in the article, it's also clear that he was prescribed about 2,000 "pills" over approximately 6 months. That's roughly 10 or 11 pills per day. I don't know the dosages involved per "pill" but for a patient being treated for three diagnoses, 10-11 "pills" per day sounds about right. Most of these prescriptions are written tid (3x/day), qid (4x/day) or prn (as needed, up to a specified daily limit).
Do you alledge that Mr. Limbaugh converted money that didn't belong to him, or that he had obtained illegally, through bank transactions? I doubt it; as a multimillionaire Mr. Limbaugh utterly lacks the motive.What you mean is that Mr. Limbaugh should have enabled the government to track all his substantial transactions. Never complain to me about the Patriot Act!
Clonodine is used to prevent opioid withdrawal syndrome. A doctor would give him that medication if he was tapering Rush's pain medication from a higher to a lower dose. It prevents the flu-like symptoms that occur with "cold turkey" (so named, becuase goose bumps appear).
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