I believe the hearing loss was caused by Rush's intake of painkillers. Correct?
No. Mere speculation. As I have posted here before, five or six years ago I got Sudden Hearing Loss. It was hell. Sounded like there was a band in my ear playing loud music backwards, then my hearing went. I was very fortunate however, 2 rounds of steroids corrected it over the process of 6 or 7 weeks, and my hearing was restored due to the very aggressive treatment my doc ordered, after I was diagnosed quickly.
I have never taken prescription painkillers.
That is my understanding. There are many doctors who will prescribe large amounts of narcotics to patients. Elvis Prestley's doctor is a good example.
I had lung cancer back in 1997. The cancer doctors prescribed huge amounts of narcotic drugs for me. They told my wife I was going to die.. so it did not matter if I became adicted. I took very few of the drugs... I just lived with the pain.
Way back when Rush first told us about his addiction, he said that his hearing loss wasn't caused by this.