Posted on 01/23/2004 6:30:09 AM PST by veronica
Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh is gaining some allies in his pain-pill case, including many of the medical profession's pain specialists.
"We're filing an amicus brief arguing that his medical records should not be released," said Dr. Jane Orient of Tucson, Ariz., executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
Limbaugh, 53, is under investigation for allegations of doctor-shopping to get prescriptions for painkillers. Investigators say they believe Limbaugh bought more than 2,000 pills illegally over a five-month period. Court records show Limbaugh suffers from back pain and completed a monthlong drug-rehabilitation program in November.
Orient fears if the documents are released and Limbaugh is convicted, it will have a chilling effect on doctors who prescribe painkillers for the 50 million people who suffer from varying degrees of pain. She said it would be "terrifying" to some physicians, because they also can be prosecuted.
"It would really be a deterrent to prescribing painkillers, and a lot of patients really require a great deal of [painkillers]," she said. "Those patients do terrible things, like buy drugs on the street."
Joining the foundation in the case are the Florida Pain Initiative and the National Foundation for the Treatment of Pain. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also had joined the case on Limbaugh's behalf.
Limbaugh's lawyer, Roy Black, and the ACLU believe the confiscation of his medical records by investigators last year was a violation of his right to privacy. Black has appealed the original decision to allow the confiscation of the records.
The well-known attorney has not been giving any interviews in the case, but in a prepared statement said: "The issues raised in this appeal affect all Floridians, regardless of their political inclinations. As both the ACLU and we have stated, the seizure of Mr. Limbaugh's private medical records without due process is not only a violation of Florida law and the Florida Constitution, but also a threat to everyone's fundamental right to privacy."
An investigator for Assistant State Attorney James Martz briefly examined Limbaugh's medical records after Circuit Judge Jeffrey Winikoff of West Palm Beach issued an order allowing prosecutors to do so. Winikoff soon froze his ruling to give Limbaugh a chance to appeal. Doctor-shopping is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
"We're concerned about the doctor-shopping law," Orient said. "It's called getting a second opinion." She said refraining from telling the second doctor what the first doctor said only helps ensure an unbiased opinion.
The case began when Limbaugh's maid went to authorities and the National Enquirer tabloid about his use of painkillers. Investigators said he bought 2,300 pills ordered by four doctors over a five-month period. Limbaugh said the maid blackmailed him for $4 million.
During a hearing on Dec. 22, Black said Limbaugh was being legitimately treated for a spinal condition and ear surgery.
Mary Baluss, attorney for the three medical organizations, said that Limbaugh is a pain patient, not an addict. Baluss said pain patients need the privacy of their records to be protected more than other patients. She compared pain patients to HIV-positive patients of 20 years ago because both groups carry negative stigmatization.
The Palm Beach Post has said an investigation revealed that Palm Beach County prosecutors have charged only one other person under the doctor-shopping law in the last five years, and that case never went to trial because the accused died.
"The Post's research confirms what we have been saying all along: Rush Limbaugh has been singled out for special prosecution because of who he is," Black said in another written statement. "We believe the state attorney's office is applying a double standard."
Les Kjos writes for UPI, a sister wire service of Insight magazine.
I understand what they were trying to do with the law, but they lowered the bar so low that someone who shops for a second opinion could be unknowingly committing a felony.
Creeps. OBVIOUSLY they are after Rush in a very unfair fashion.
Celebritiies think they're little gods. Unfortunatey, there don't seem to be exceptions. Could I tell you stories...like a famous preacher who expected helicopter service every time he needed to go to the doctor...
A celebrity's rights? I guess he'll have to look harder for a doc. We all have to worry about our medical care these days and where we're going to get it--guess I don't feel too sorry for the celebs. At worst, they could go overseas.
Are you saying that Bob Hope, for instance, should not have been able to find a physician and should have been forced to go overseas to get a check-up??
ACLU - on Limbaugh's behalf!
I never thought I'd see those words in the same sentence. I am speechless.
Within 30 days. How many blue-haired ladies know that? It is quite possible somebody would get an alternative prescription from a second doctor a week after the first and decide to go with the new one instead. This law is written so a normal practice turns into a felony. It's a bad law. The law was written to make it easy to get a prosecution and relied that prosecutors would use good judgement in applying the law. And the only way to find out if the law was broken is to not only get the medical records, but to know what the patient and doctor discussed. There is no law violation if other prescriptions were disclosed, but how do you know what the patient told the doctor. The law is bad.
Looks like a pusher is getting his from the details in the story, but beware the quelling effect this will have on honest physicians may well come to bite you.
Pain treatment in the past forty years or so goes in waves of caution on the part of prescribers. Docs get accused of pushing, then your pain will go untreated as docs are scared of being accused of pushing. They get accused of being heartless, then start prescribing more aggressively again. Back and forth. May your intractable pain not get caught in the cautious stages...
Pain meds carry risk, that's the real truth. Pain is a bad thing that docs want to treat; the risk can be managed, but it'll always be there.
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