Posted on 12/25/2003 5:46:17 AM PST by randita
Limbaugh medical records ordered resealed
By Susan Spencer-Wendel, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 25, 2003
WEST PALM BEACH -- A judge ordered Rush Limbaugh's medical records resealed Wednesday for at least 15 days while the famed talk-show host and his lawyers appeal an earlier ruling allowing prosecutors to look at them.
But the cat could already be out of the bag: Limbaugh later said on his radio show that prosecutors had ignored his request to keep the records sealed while he appealed and began "rifling" through them Tuesday.
"They couldn't wait; they had to open them. The elected state attorney himself ordered it. The state's attorney, Barry Krischer, personally ordered it from what we're told and his investigators began rifling through my medical records," Limbaugh told listeners on his show.
Krischer's office declined to comment Wednesday on the Limbaugh investigation or whether they've reviewed the seized medical records.
Limbaugh, 52, is under investigation for possible "doctor-shopping" -- seeking repeat prescriptions for narcotics from various doctors.
Prosecutors seized his medical records from offices in Jupiter, West Palm Beach and Los Angeles after prescription records from pharmacies near his Palm Beach mansion revealed large amounts of drugs. Limbaugh got 2,130 pain and anti-anxiety pills, including OxyContin, from one pharmacy over a five-month period, according to a search warrant.
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Winikoff sparked the legal battle early Tuesday when he gave prosecutors the authority to look at the records.
Limbaugh's lawyers, including Roy Black, had mentioned in court their intention to file an appeal but did not officially make their request until mid-afternoon Tuesday.
Winikoff's order allowed prosecutors to look at the records, but not the public.
Limbaugh's addiction to pain pills became a public spectacle after an October story in The National Enquirer where his former housekeeper, Wilma Cline of Loxahatchee, said she and her husband supplied the celebrity with thousands of illegal pain pills over a four-year period -- including 4,350 in one six-week period.
Limbaugh then talked openly on his show about addiction and entered a 30-day treatment program.
Doctor-shopping is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Realistically, though, painkiller addicts caught for the first time in the criminal justice system are put on probation and ordered into drug rehabilitation treatment.
Limbaugh says the medical records will not show any "doctor shopping" but vowed to fight their release to prosecutors all the way up to a federal appeals court. Limbaugh claims it's an invasion of his privacy and an unfair "fishing expedition" against him because of his conservative politics.
susan_spencer_wendel@pbpost.com
Find this article at: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/thursday/local_news_f3ae55ba204e21510033.html
Because it "sounds reasonable", and they had no idea that the RATS had the first defendant already picked out. The action of the RATS since then show that this is intended to be a show trial, the way things were done under Stalin.
In related news, rumors are floating that a legal dream team is running up a tab well into 7 figures.
The one big difference between "conservatives" and "liberals" is we expect our side to be honest, and if not honest at least when caught "be a man" and face the consequences.
This is harsh, but there is no one to blame for the situation Rush finds himself in, other then Rush.
The man is smart.
The man knew what he was doing was wrong (legally)
There were treatment facilities available to assist him over the problem
He had enough money to get the needed treatment.
I am afraid this will in time bring Rush down.
After a lot of thought, the choice was to betray what I believe in and support Rush regardless of what he had done (as the loyal Clinton followers have done), or allow Rush to face consequences of his own making.
Is Hillary behind this, I dont know, and beside that sounds too much like vast right wing conspiracy.
It is much easier being a liberal. It is much easier to go with the flow, do what feels good, do not be judgmental. It is harder to have morals, to know right from wrong, and to strive to do right. Rush held himself up as a moral man, and failed to live up to his own standards.
Do I want to see Rush punished? No.
Will I man the barricades to defend him, sadly, also no.
Rush is already mortally wounded. He is still fighting the good fight, but I dont think he will ever be as effective as he was in the past. The king is dead, long live the king.
I am sorry Rush, but you really let us down.
And how much are Florida taxpayers spending to put Rush in jail? How many taxpayer-funded public servants are working this case? Don't forget, the government can financially ruin almost anyone just by making them spend money to counter their endless stream of legal challenges their own tax dollars help pay for. Even a case they know they will lose can ruin a person, if that's their real intent.
First-time drug convictions, when there is no other crime involved, are usually handled with probation and treatment. Oxycontin is a worthwhile drug for some kinds of intractable pain. But it's also abuseable because some of the genuine painful conditions can't be seen on any kind of current medical tests. Oxy addicts have a long list of non-testable complaints they can lay on a doctor in the hope of scoring a script. Rush had known, genuine conditions that indicated that oxycontin would be appropriate. The problem was that he went on into addiction, a problem with a number of legitimate drugs if not carefully monitored.
You reckon rushie was really the first defendant picked out when the law was passed by the Legislature? I bet you'll find other cases if you'd do a little honest searching... Maybe abuse by people is why the law was passed... not sure.
Republican Attorney General Charlie CristWhy is it so important to stop doctor shopping? It would save lives.
A 2002 medical examiners report indicated that of the 9,116 drug deaths last year, 3,324 involved the use of pharmaceuticals that's more than one out of every three drug-related deaths in Florida. Subtracting alcohol, prescription drugs accounted for 60 percent of drug-related overdose deaths in 2002. Everything possible must be done to prevent these deaths.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. (From Article 1 Section 9 of the US Constitution)
No state shall... pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law... (From Article 1 Section 10 of the US Constitution)
Ex post facto: Latin for "from a thing done afterward." Ex post facto is most typically used to refer to a law that applies retroactively, thereby criminalizing conduct that was legal when originally performed. Two clauses in the US Constitution prohibit ex post facto laws: Art 1, § 9 and Art. 1 § 10. see, e.g. Collins v. Youngblood 497 US 37 (1990) and California Dep't of Corrections v. Morales 514 US 499 (1995). (http://www.law.cornell.edu/lexicon/ex_post_facto.htm)
Is there any Rule of Law at all anymore? It seems increasingly the case these days that if someone in the government wants to destroy you, then you're history, and all Constitutional protections be d@mned.
I'm not a "Rushbot" (is there such a thing?). But, I do think he's being attacked primarily because he's an influential conservative, not because his rivals really care how many pills the man's popped. There are a staggering number of celebrities that have admitted they've abused drugs, entered rehab, etc., and I don't see prosecutors rifling through their medical records.
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