Posted on 06/27/2006 10:41:35 AM PDT by gopwinsin04
Rush Limbaugh Under New Investigation Sign In to E-Mail This Print Save By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: June 27, 2006 Filed at 11:45 a.m. ET WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Rush Limbaugh could see a deal with prosecutors in a long-running prescription fraud case collapse after authorities found a bottle of Viagra in his bag at Palm Beach International Airport. The prescription was not in his name. Limbaugh was detained for more than three hours Monday at the airport after returning from a vacation in the Dominican Republic. Customs officials found the Viagra in his luggage but his name was not on the prescription, said Paul Miller, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Miller said the alleged violation could be a second-degree misdemeanor. The sheriff's office was investigating and will soon turn the case over to the state attorney's office, which had no immediate comment Tuesday. Under the deal reached last month with prosecutors, Limbaugh was not to be arrested for any infraction for 18 months in exchange for authorities deferring a charge of ''doctor shopping.'' Prosecutors had alleged the conservative talk-show host illegally deceived multiple physicians to receive overlapping painkiller prescriptions. Limbaugh also must submit to random drug tests and continue treatment for his admitted addiction to painkillers. Limbaugh's doctor had prescribed the Viagra, but it was ''labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes,'' Roy Black, Limbaugh's attorney, said in a statement. U.S. Customs and Border Protection examined the 55-year-old radio commentator's luggage after his private plane landed at the airport, Miller said. Investigators confiscated the drugs, which treat erectile dysfunction. Limbaugh was released without being charged.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
A lot of Freepers have morals.
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some of those freepers forget the whole "judge not lest you be judged", and "let he who is without sin cast the first stone", maria.
"Although Viagra is not addictive in the physiological sense, Viagra abusers develop a psychological dependency on the drug, which makes it difficult for them to imagine life without it..." Abusers "may lie to doctors, exaggerating or making up symptoms of erectile dysfunction to obtain prescriptions. They may obtain multiple prescriptions from different doctors or online pharmacies. They may resort to stealing friends' Viagra, or buying Viagra on the street. source
Rush probably staged the whole thing to get the publicity.
He will come out of this thing smelling like a rose.
I honestly can't believe the sheriff could be this stupid.
It was amazing to hear that even the liberal talk show hosts in our area were saying that it it beyond belief that in this time of terrorism, that customs officals are charged with making sure that no one has the wrong persciption for legal drugs. Thought it was a good point. Great to see our government at "work".
No. They condem it when a person who is the Chief Law Enforcer of the land lies about it in fron of a grand jury to save his own @ss in a sexual harassment case!
How would they prove I had or was going to use it?
I didn't think Rush was married. What use for Viagra would he have?
senoritas? :)
If you take them with iron pills, you will always find North.
When you admit that it is for your personal use, which is what Rush admitted.
I was at the airport once and took a couple 800 mg Motrin pills for a back injury before the flight. A couple of co-workers asked for some too, which I gave them.
Good golly, I'm guilty of trafficking in prescription drugs.
I don't regard the NYT as better than the National Enquirer (which has broken some serious news stories in recent years, most memorably re Jesse Jackson using Rainbow coalition funds to pay for his mistress and "love child", and re Hugh Rodham's fat payoffs for lobbying Bill Clinton to pardon a couple of slimeballs). It's in poor taste to run this story about Rush, but given that it was made public by law enforcement authorities, a reasonable editor might assume there was really something to it, and go ahead and "break" the story while waiting for more details to come out -- if he HAD committed an offense that would have cancelled his plea deal, it WOULD have been real news, and the NYT would have looked silly for being the last to mention it, since most other major media outlets seem to have followed the lead of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office and publicized the story.
Listen, the man has medical problems. He probably takes LEGITIMATE medication for several conditions. Some of those conditions may even lead to (gasp) ED or perhaps it is a side effect of medication. Are you suggesting that he not be treated?
With people out to get him, it's no wonder that he goes to great lengths to protect his privacy. How would you feel if you had to let the entire world know exactly what kind of medical conditions you had?
I think cutting him a little slack here is important. A moral requisite.
CAUTION - FEDERAL LAW PROHIBITS THE TRANSFER OF THIS DRUG TO ANY PERSON OTHER THAN THE PATIENT FOR WHOM IT WAS PRESCRIBED
Not "named", but "prescribed". The Doctor prescribed the pills to Rush, and gave them to Rush. The Doctor apparently obtained the pills by writing a prescription in his own name, which I imagine is a common practice for celebrities -- otherwise low-paid pharmacy workers would be selling names all the time to the tabloids, and we would know what drugs all the stars were using.
I don't actually know if the doctor is allowed to do this, but it would be the doctor's problem, not Rush's.
So who broke the law, if anyone? Did Rush break the law or did the doctor? Has anyone heard a substantive legal argument on this?
Good. Keep em to yourself and we won't paint Scarlet letters on you when you have an immoral itch....unless you can throw stones.
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