Warrants: Limbaugh Was 'Doctor Shopping'

My Way.Com ^ | 12/4/03 | Jill Barton

[Lucky2]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Investigators raided the offices of Rush Limbaugh's doctor Thursday, saying in search warrants that the conservative radio commentator engaged in illegal drug use and "doctor shopping" for prescription painkillers.

The warrants show investigators were looking for records including prescription disbursements, appointment schedules, receipts and a medical questionnaire.

"Mr. Limbaugh's actions violate the letter, and spirit" of the law that relates to "doctor shopping," stated one of warrants, signed by Asim Brown, a law enforcement agent assigned to the state attorney's office anti-money laundering task force. Doctor shopping refers to looking for a doctor willing to prescribe drugs illegally.

Limbaugh denied any wrongdoing to listeners on his radio show earlier Thursday and accused prosecutors in Palm Beach County of going on a "fishing expedition."

[ladyinred]

Okay, you got me there! I surrender!

[Political Junkie Too]

I don't believe the analogy of Chong v. Rush works.

I don't think so, either.

-PJ

[wideminded]

There was a guy on C-SPAN 2 a couple of weeks ago discussing a book he had edited that was based on a recently discovered diary of Robert Jackson. Jackson knew Roosevelt over a period of many years, well before Roosevelt's paralysis. The editor was saying the diary has items like: "Went fishing with Roosevelt. He said that maybe he should pack the court." The book is called "That Man". The talk on C-SPAN included a long and interesting review of Jackson's life. It might be online.

[EverFree]

The analogy works as far as the perceived political element: Chong supports cry about Ashcroft's agenda and Rush's about PBC demonrats.

There is no analogy, other than what the specious laws Declare to be Truth, between empty glass tubes and addictive opiate narcotics. (Isn't it dumb that, for clarity, I must redundantly qualify narcotics as opiates?)

Chong was in no way an addict or narcotics trafficker, so the analogy fails at the medical level, but holds at the legal level.

[unsycophant]

A similar attitude manifests itself on plenty of these threads at FR too.

[DaughterofEve]

Understood.

[Bella]

Oh, isn't he a sweetie! LOL...Dr shopping?? OMG!

[unsycophant]

Thanks, I see your point. I personally believe the maid should not have received immunity (if true). What she did is reprehensible and if he is punished, so should she be.

[el_texicano]

What crime, pray tell...

[TASMANIANRED]

Whom ever reported this has violated the HIPPA regulations. Information about his drug use aside revealing that he has hypertension is a violation of his right to medical privacy.

In preparation for the implementation of HIPPA regs the hospital that I work for had to do intensive education to make sure that all medical staff was informed about compliance. I cannot legitimately tell a spouse about the other spouse's medical condition or any medication that they are taking.

[budwiesest]

This could have a happy ending for those who are committed to 'limited' govt.

The public lynching of a very popular conservative just might unite those who view drug abuse as an illness,(treatment vs. incarceration) with those who likewise view our micro-managed, craddle to grave, every facet of your life type of government meddling as being equally destructive of liberty and all that this country was founded upon. What's left of it, anyway.

This would, of course, leave the Looney Left in the less-than-desirable position of having to defend all of the government's intrusions, it's heavy-handed approach toward the dismantling of our constitutional protections via their 'living' document interpretations and the implementation of the socialist's ultimate meat-axe aka: the income tax.

The WOD and the Income Tax will guarantee a socialist victory sometime during the fourth quarter in our nation's history. Together, they'll be used to bludgeon us into the utopia (Hillary's dream) that awaits.

Fourth down and inches with the ball (Rush) on the 40 yd. line, my guess is that we'll punt.

[deport]

I'm not familiar with HIPPA.... but I'd guess this info was disseminated by medical staff but rather it has come from the investigative group.... so do the same rules apply? How about in court?

[CobaltBlue]

Oh, no crime at all. Buying a month's supply of the same painkiller from four different drugstores because you told four different doctors that they were your only doctor isn't a crime, especially when Rush Limbaugh is accused of it.

The rules don't apply to the rich and famous, especially when they are people you admire.

[Richard Kimball]

The records seized in the raids list prescriptions for more than 2,100 pills from March 24 through Sept. 26. The medications include the powerful painkillers Oxycontin, Lorcet, Norco, hydrocodone and Kadian. In addition, Limbaugh received prescriptions for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the cholesterol-lowering drug Niacin, and Clonodine, which treats high blood pressure.

Wow. We know all this about a talk show host, but the press still has never been able to get ahold of Clinton's medical records.

[lonestar]

So much for "getting a second opinion!"

[ImpBill]

Actually what gives Rush the presumption of being "innocent" is our Constitution. Your last line in the post really sheds some light on your real problem with Rush and it is not a pretty picture.

" LOL, no but it sure as *ell makes him filthy stinkin rich with friends in high places!"

[petitfour]

Which is the greater evil/cost to society here?

Rush's biggest problem is speaking out against the ever-expanding state. To the statists, Rush is the great evil. Since Rush returned from his treatment, he has been fairly outspoken about the bad Medicare bill. Who benefits from the bill? Who loses?

[WackyKat]

Rush's biggest problem is speaking out against the ever-expanding state

The War on Drugs has been a major driving force behind the expansion of the state over the last 30 years, especially regarding the destruction of the 4th and 5th amendments

I never heard Rush speak out against that, in fact, he supported it

Maybe he feels differently now that the system he supported has caught him in its snare.

[LucyJo]

You have hit the proverbial nail squarely and resoundingly on the head with regard to Rush and the pain management issue.
God bless you...I'm happy to hear that your gallbladder problem has been resolved. I can stand just about anything too, but I've experienced just enough of that kind of pain to know that it would be intolerable over any length of time without medication. I'm thankful to never have been put to that long term test. Perhaps that is one reason I find it unconscionable that otherwise healthy recreational users and addicts try to comparatively equate their selfish, health damaging pursuits to people with genuine health issues who inadvertently become addicted while trying to resolve them.

[LucyJo]

I never heard Rush say that oxycontin was the drug he was using, did you? I know that drug was mentioned in the NE story.