Posted on 01/26/2004 4:48:57 PM PST by AlwaysLurking
Limbaugh's pill use not extraordinary, lawyer says
BY DANIEL de VISE ddevise@herald.com
Rush Limbaugh's attorney mounted an offensive Monday, accusing Palm Beach County prosecutors of smear tactics and likening his client to any ordinary American with chronic pain.
''This nation is full of people who take medication every day and will do so for the rest of their lives,'' said Roy Black, speaking in a news conference in Miami.
Discussing the prescription-drug abuse allegations in unprecedented detail, Black reasoned that the quantity of medicine Limbaugh is accused of ingesting -- 1,800 pills in 210 days -- works out to roughly 8.5 pills a day, ``certainly not an outrageous amount.''
Black questioned the motives of Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer in releasing details last week of sensitive plea negotiations between Limbaugh and prosecutors.
The December correspondence, unflattering to Limbaugh, shows the radio talk-show host proposing to settle the case through treatment, potentially averting a permanent criminal record. Prosecutors counter: Plead guilty to a single felony charge of ''doctor shopping'' and avoid prison time. Both offers were rejected.
Black said the plea negotiations shouldn't have been released. He portrayed the incident as part of a politically motivated campaign to discredit his client.
Black said the government's plea offer came with a veiled threat: If Limbaugh did not plead guilty, the state would release his confidential medical records.
''The only conclusion that I can draw is that Mr. Limbaugh ... is being singled out more than anyone else for actions that no one else in this community would be subjected to,'' Black said.
Black and other prominent South Florida attorneys said they couldn't recall another case of plea negotiations released to the public.
''There has to be some thought about the long-term consequence'' of routinely releasing such documents, said Robert Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University. ``And the long-term consequence in this case is that no one would begin a negotiation about a plea.''
But Michael Edmondson, spokesman for the Palm Beach County state attorney, said prosecutors were confident they'd done the right thing.
Prosecutors consulted the Attorney General's Office and the Florida Bar in response to the Jan. 15 public records request by the Landmark Legal Foundation, which sought all available documents in the case. They concluded the state public records law required releasing the plea dealings, even though doing so violates ethical rules for lawyers.
''The way the Florida public records law works is, anything that is not specifically exempted under the law is permitted,'' Edmondson said. State law trumps any ethical concerns, he said.
But he offered nothing in writing to back up that account. And Limbaugh's legal team produced documents Monday that seemed to contradict it.
Telephone notes from a Florida Bar attorney, paraphrasing Kirscher himself, state that plea negotiations ``are not normally to be revealed [and] so may or may not be [a] public record.''
Attorney General spokeswoman JoAnn Carrin wouldn't say what legal advice her agency gave the chief Palm Beach County prosecutor, citing the ongoing investigation.
Prosecutors began investigating possible prescription-drug abuses by Limbaugh, 53, last year, based on a report from his former maid. Limbaugh has not been charged with any crime.
Limbaugh's attorney accused Edmondson, the state attorney spokesman, of leaking a false story last month that Limbaugh was poised to plead guilty to doctor-shopping. Edmondson denied the assertion.
Doctor-shopping is duping multiple physicians into dispensing excessive prescription medications.
''I can say categorically now that Mr. Limbaugh would not plead guilty to doctor-shopping, and that's because Mr. Limbaugh did not engage in doctor-shopping of any kind,'' Black said.
Like I said "you have no evidence." You don't have the "unless." Do I have to draw you a picture? Should I use crayons or big colored felt tip markers?
... more than just proof that he BOUGHT drugs, it shows if there is a potential violation ...
The second part in bold contradicts the first part which is not bolded.
D.o...y.o.u...u.n.d.e.r.s.t.a.n.d...t.h.a.t.?
Remember, I've been saying ALL DAY that that is the only element that WE are not aware of. Brush up on your reading comprehension & memory and maybe we can try this again tomorrow.
It's The Law, I Tell You!!! The Law, The Law!!
Of course, turning in runaway slaves was The Law at one time, too...
"Oxycontin" is EXPENSIVE!!
To the "Insurance Company," ALL OTHER ISSUES are "Secondary."
If Mr Limbaugh's Pain could be adequately Controlled by a "Cheaper Medication," (Methadone, Morphine, etc..) there would be NO "Controversy!!"
The "Insurance Company" is ONLY reacting to the "Cost" of a Given Treatment.
Decisions about a Given Pharmacological Treatment are NOT made by Physicians employed by the Given Insurance Company--these "Decisions" are made by Pharmacists, who have NO Experience in Patient Care.
A "Doc" has to spend Literally HOURS in Phone Consultation with Individuals UTTERLY UNTRAINED in Patient Care to get "Authorization for" Treatment Modalities for patients with unusual Problems, requiring "Out of the Ordinary Medication Regimens!!"
The "System" DOESN'T WORK!!
MANY "Deathly Ill Patients" have Lifesaving Treatments Delayed or Denied by "Insurance Company Drones" INCAPABLE of making "LifeSaving Decisions!!"
If We're going to Spend Several Hundred Thousand Dollars training an "Elite Cadre" of "Doctors,"--& THEN Show them that a "Pharmacist" with ~20% of Their Training & Expertise can COUNTERMAND their judgement, WHY should a "Bright One" even THINK Sh/e would EVER Consider being a "Doc!!??" If the "STATE" Regards an "MD" as "Equivalent to" a "PharmD,"--then the "State" DESERVES the "Medical Care" It 'Gets!!!'"
As the "State of Massachusetts" SUES & Taxes & Regulates It's few Remaining "Md's" OUT OF EXISTENCE, The "People" of This State would do WELL to Remember---"Once Upon a Time," Massachussetts had the VERY BEST MEDICAL CARE in the ENTIRE WORLD!!... Something to Contemplate!!
A "PharmD" IS NOT an "MD!"
Doc Doc
He keeps equating the Clinton thing and the Limbaugh thing - all while neglecting to mention that the Clintonites were NOT bound by the "law".
They mean beat the law-abiding down with a legal code as thick as the tax code - while ignoring the same laws themselves.
Now we are beginning to understand what was done to the American Indians. Our "treaty" with them is the Constitution, and our Rights will be ours "as long as the wind shall blow, and the grass grow". Or until the Left controls the judiciary, and then we see what they do with the "treaty".
And it looks like he was still saying it on Jan. 23rd. What's your point?
That's a very good point. The law-and-order statist type believes that the courts decide what's law and the covenant with the people known as the Constitution is whatever they say it is.
There. We were "in negotiations" over the price of your house.
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