Rush Lawyer Roy Black on Today Show: Elected Official Singling Rush out, Seeks to Ruin Radio Show

The Today Show

[governsleastgovernsbest]

"Is there any evidence that any great number of his fans have left him over this?"

I don't think so, and to the extent it appears that Rush is being singled out for prosecution, the more sympathy and loyalty will be generated.

[Scenic Sounds]

I don't think so, and to the extent it appears that Rush is being singled out for prosecution, the more sympathy and loyalty will be generated.

That's right!! There's some irony in all this - Rush, the ultimate victim, abused by the medical establishment and now by the powers that be!! ;-)

[alnick]

So you do concede "Joe Average" would be prosecuted. You're discussing fair punishment.

Oh sure. I believe that Rush should be treated the same way that I would be treated in the same situation.

Rush knew that if he was caught that he would probably face legal consequences. So be it. But the calls for him to spend time in prison are a bit much. Most people convicted for illegal use of prescription drugs would probably get something like a suspended sentence and/or probation for a first offense.

What bothers me is the runaway rumors. Few facts have been established in this case. They will come out, I believe, because Rush is too famous for them not to. I think we should be patient and wait for the truth rather than act as though the maid's allegations are proven fact.

[70times7]

I cannot believe the level of rationalization going on by Rush fans.

Well, first of all, while I do listen to him occasionally, I do not consider myself a fan; I have probably heard about 10 hours of him over this past year. I agree with some things he says, disagree with other things, and I sometimes cringe a bit at the way he tweaks the left. But by and large I enjoy his show and agree with many of his political positions. I said up front it was a theory. Theories applied to situations like this usually end up being shown right or wrong, and mine is no exception.

What makes you think Rush didn't acquire drugs from both duping doctors into over prescribing AND purchasing illegal drugs from others like his maid ?

Not much of anything, really, and as far as I know, that's about as much info as you have amassed in order to post your ideas.

He was addicted for quite a while and to believe he only used one method of procurement in all that time is strained.

I don't know how long he has been addicted, so I would be grateful if you could tell me; I’m sure you must know. I know my friend in VA has been using the same meds for pain for a longer time frame than Rush. And I know he is dependant due to extreme pain, but he is not addicted in the way that we all understand Rush to have been using. Please tell me, what month and year did Rush "cross over" from pain use to, what, mental dependency? Physical dependency absent of pain needs? Do you know? Does he? I am also interested in knowing about his level of escalation of use, or abuse as the case may be. Since you know how many doctors are involved in providing him with drugs and how much medication comes from each, and you also know his usage level surely you can tell me. Perhaps the DA should talking to you, rather than his housekeeper.

And I’m a rationalizing Rush fan… I wasn't aware of that; thanks for enlightening me.

For your amusement, I will borrow from Red Green: “I’m a liber.. uh, Rush fan, and I can change, if I have too, I guess.” (Sorry, got a bit carried away by the truth there while I was typing…)

[VRWC_minion]

Rush Statement: 'I'm Addicted to Painkillers'

PR Newswire
Friday, Oct. 10, 2003

"You know, I have always tried to be honest with you and open about my life. So I need to tell you today that part of what you have heard and read is correct. I am addicted to prescription pain medication.

"I first started taking prescription painkillers some years ago when my doctor prescribed them to treat post surgical pain following spinal surgery. Unfortunately, the surgery was unsuccessful and I continued to have severe pain in my lower back and also in my neck due to herniated discs. I am still experiencing that pain. Rather than opt for additional surgery for these conditions, I chose to treat the pain with prescribed medication. This medication turned out to be highly addictive.

"Over the past several years I have tried to break my dependence on pain pills and, in fact, twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so. I have recently agreed with my physician about the next steps.

"Immediately following this broadcast, I am checking myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me. The show will continue during this time, of course, with an array of guest hosts you have come to know and respect.

"I am not making any excuses. You know, over the years athletes and celebrities have emerged from treatment centers to great fanfare and praise for conquering great demons. They are said to be great role models and examples for others. Well, I am no role model. I refuse to let anyone think I am doing something great here, when there are people you never hear about, who face long odds and never resort to such escapes. They are the role models. I am no victim and do not portray myself as such. I take full responsibility for my problem.

"At the present time, the authorities are conducting an investigation, and I have been asked to limit my public comments until this investigation is complete. So I will only say that the stories you have read and heard contain inaccuracies and distortions, which I will clear up when I am free to speak about them.

"I deeply appreciate all your support over this last tumultuous week. It has sustained me. I ask now for your prayers. I look forward to resuming our excursion into broadcast excellence together."

Editor's note:
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[VRWC_minion]

MEDIA MATTERS
Rush: I am addicted
to pain-killing drugs
Talk-show host says he got hooked after back surgery, will enter rehab

---

Posted: October 10, 2003
3:29 p.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Talk radio star Rush Limbaugh announced at the end of his broadcast today he will check into a rehab clinic this afternoon to treat an addiction to pain-killing drugs.

Rush Limbaugh

Responding to a story published last week by the National Enquirer, he told his millions of listeners "part of what you've heard and read in the past week is correct."

"I am addicted to prescription pain medication," he said in his statement.

Limbaugh explained he began taking prescription painkillers about five or six years ago to ease pain following spinal surgery.

"Unfortunately the surgery was unsuccessful, and I continued to have severe pain in my lower back and also in my neck now, due to two hernated disks – pain which I'm experiencing because of that," he said.

Rather than more surgery, he tried to treat the pain with medication but it "turned out to be highly addictive."

He confirmed the Enquirer's claim he tried twice to break the dependence by checking into medical facilities.

Limbaugh said he recently agreed with his doctor to try again.

"So, immediately following this broadcast, I will check myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold that this highly addictive medication has on me," he said.

Limbaugh insisted he is "not making any excuses. "

"You know, over the years athletes and celebrities have emerged from treatment centers to great fanfare and praise for conquering great demons," he said. "They are said to be great role models and examples for others. Well, I am no role model."

He continued: "I refuse to let anyone think I am doing something great here, when there are people you never hear about, who face long odds and never resort to such escapes. They are the role models. I am no victim and do not portray myself as such. I take full responsibility for my problem."

Limbaugh acknowledged authorities are conducting an investigation, referring to the Enquirer's claim he has been targeted in a drug-ring probe.

He said he has been asked to limit his public comments until the investigation is complete.

"So I will only say that the stories you have read and heard contain inaccuracies and distortions," he said, "which I will clear up when I am free to speak about them."

Limbaugh concluded: "I deeply appreciate all your support over this last tumultuous week. It has sustained me. I ask now for your prayers. I look forward to resuming our excursion into broadcast excellence together."

[VRWC_minion]

Statement By Roy Black, Rush Limbaugh's Attorney

Palm Beach, Florida - December 4, 2003

Roy Black, attorney for Rush Limbaugh, released the following statement today:

"We have been informed that this afternoon the Palm Beach State Attorney's Office will announce that it has seized the medical records of four doctors who treated Rush Limbaugh for serious medical conditions and the pain resulting from them.

"In fact, what these records show is that Mr. Limbaugh suffered extreme pain and had legitimate reasons for taking pain medication. Unfortunately, because of Mr. Limbaugh's prominence and well-known political opinions, he is being subjected to an invasion of privacy no citizen of this republic should endure.

"Let us make our position clear: Rush Limbaugh is not part of a drug ring. He was never a target of a drug investigation. He became addicted to a prescription drug during legitimate medical treatment. He has publicly admitted this problem and has successfully sought treatment which continues today.

"We won't speculate on why the State Attorney's Office is handling Mr. Limbaugh's case the way it is. But what should be a responsible investigation is looking more and more like a fishing expedition."

[VRWC_minion]

See above. At least 4 doctors. At least 5 to 6 years.

[george wythe]

Yesterday, you were claiming that it was possible that the maid send the e-mails from Rush's computer to set him up.

Do you also believe that the maid impersonated Rush in the incriminating answering machine tapes? Is the maid also responsible for the these medical records?

"Fabricated" medical records, e-mails and answering-machine tapes

From March to September, Limbaugh picked up 1,733 hydrocodone pills, 90 OxyContin pills, 50 Xanax tablets and 40 pills of Kadian -- time-release morphine, search warrant records show. The court documents indicate that sometimes less than a week would lapse between him getting different doctors' prescriptions for the painkillers.

"Doctor shopping" is a third-degree felony under Florida law, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Limbaugh first came to authorities' attention in December 2002 when his former housekeeper, Wilma Cline, and her husband, David Cline, met with the State Attorney's Anti-Money Laundering Task Force and the FBI, according to the search warrants."The Clines advised they have been selling Rush Limbaugh large quantities of hydrocodone, OxyContin and other pharmaceutical drugs in Palm Beach County over the course of many years," the search warrants state. "The Clines made a taped statement, providing answering machine tape recordings and electronic mail in support of their information."

The Clines also provided authorities with the name of another person who allegedly sold Limbaugh most of his drugs, according to court records.

[george wythe]

There is of course the possibility that he neglected to disclose the treatment (or details of the treatment) he was receiving from other doctors, but that's common, and particularly common for people who are suffering disabling pain and under the influence of drugs. LOL.

Look how the Average Joe is treated when he neglects to tell his doctor about his "doctor shopping":

Four charged with seeking illegal prescription drugs

A six-month investigation has culminated in the arrests of four people on warrants for "doctor shopping" while trying to obtain prescription drugs, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday.

"In the investigation, drug detectives learned that the suspects went to various doctors seeking prescriptions for narcotics," said Capt. Rick Ryan of the sheriff's office.

Detectives developed profiles on the suspects, who visited two or more doctors within a 30-day period, Ryan said.

Drug Unit Detective Cecil Manning said that local doctors and pharmacists had been very helpful over the past few months in reporting suspicious people attempting to obtain prescription drugs.

"It is a violation of Florida law to withhold information from a doctor that a person has sought the same medical services from another doctor," Ryan said. "In these cases made against the four suspects, the patient typically complains of an ailment and then attempts to obtain a prescription. That same patient then goes to another doctor with the same complaint, attempting to get a second prescription."

The arrests began last week and were as follows:

- Rufas Randy Stafford, 54, of Satsuma, was arrested July 10 on 16 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, one count of a sale of a controlled substance and one count of withholding information from a practitioner. He was booked into the county jail on $32,532 bond.

- The next day, Linda Lee Pierre, 44, of Interlachen, was arrested on 15 counts of withholding information from a practitioner, 19 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of sale of a controlled substance. Pierre was booked on $52,528 bond.

- Tuesday, Janice Plant Vandiver, 44, of
Georgetown, was arrested and charged with 20 counts of withholding information from a practitioner and 20 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Her bond was set at $43,028.

- Also arrested Tuesday was Deanna Haney, 41, of Satsuma, on three counts of withholding information from a practitioner and five counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Her bond was $12,512.

All but Pierre had been released on bond as of Wednesday, a jail official said.

[Scenic Sounds]

Well, there you go. It looks like it's important to tell the doctor everything in Florida. You know, this kind of thing is pretty common - addicts will lie, cheat and steal to get their drug. I'm sure that Rush will confirm that he did a lot of things when he was using that he wishes he hadn't done.

Good post. ;-)

[ConservativeMan55]

[blackie]

Be Well ~ Be Armed ~ Be Safe ~ Molon Labe!

[ConservativeMan55]

Thank You.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Thanks for posting this article - it provides useful information and demonstrates that others have been prosecuted under the "doctor shopping" statute.

I'd be curious to know if these were related cases. Were they a drug ring of some sort? I note that two of them were also charged with selling the drugs. I would guess, though I don't know, that it was in fact the sales that attracted the prosecutor's attention.

I'd be curious to know whether there have been prosecutions under the doctor shopping law in cases where there was no suspicion that the defendants were reselling the drugs but were instead exclusively taking them themselves.

[alnick]

Yesterday, you were claiming that it was possible that the maid send the e-mails from Rush's computer to set him up. Do you also believe that the maid impersonated Rush in the incriminating answering machine tapes? Is the maid also responsible for the these medical records?

Yesterday I didn't claim anything. I stated the fact that anyone who has access to a computer can send email from that computer. Answering machine tapes would be much more difficult to fake, probably not something that a typical maid would be able to do.

I don't know what's contained on the answering machine tapes, and unless a transcript has been posted somewhere, neither do you.

You seem to misunderstand my position. It was, and still is, and will continue to be that it is smart and fair to wait for facts rather than to jump to conclusions based on gossip. Do you disagree that facts are better than gossip? Is that why you take such issue with what I said?

[george wythe]

Good questions. I don't know the background of these doctor shoppers. Since I don't live in that Florida county, I can't go to the courthouse to find out more details. I just entered "doctor shopping florida" in google, and that article popped up.

According to this article, the anti-doctor-shopping law went into effect July 1, 2002. Apparently, precedent is still being set about how to use this law to prosecute drug users.

Criminalizing doctor shopping is a major escallation of the War on Drugs, IMHO.

[70times7]

Thanks, but I read those articles when they were posted on FR and/or in the news and didn't need to read them again. I did, however, skim your posts enough to confirm that neither you nor your "data dump" of articles addresses the questions I asked you.

Look, we don't know the facts. Until we do, my goofy unsubstantiated theories are every bit as good as yours. Admit it, and get over it rather than bombarding me with google searches before I get mad enough to type something stupid, like, "I cannot believe the level of rationalization going on by Rush enemies.”

[george wythe]

Do you disagree that facts are better than gossip?

The warrants are not gossip, but legal documents containing sworn statements.

It is a fact that the DA has possession of the incriminating e-mails from Rush Limbaugh to his maid, as well as the computer where those e-mails were stored.

It is a fact that the DA has possession of legal recordings of Rush Limbaugh's voice where he presumably asked for drugs to be delivered to him illegally.

It is a fact the Rush Limbaugh obtained the same prescriptions from several doctors simultaneouly, and his medical records showed that. The fact the he went doctor shopping indicates that he was not being truthful with his doctors.

The e-mails and tape transcripts were published by the NE, and Rush Limbaugh and his lawyers have not denied the accuracy of them.

Since the DA will not confiscate tapes and e-mails talking about the weather and golfing, it is reasonable to conclude that there is something incriminating in the e-mails and voice recordings.