Posted on 10/10/2003 12:17:21 PM PDT by ThePythonicCow
Press Release
| Source: Premiere Radio |
Rush Limbaugh Statement on Prescription Pain Medication Stories
Friday October 10, 2:55 pm ET
"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."
For audio/video clip(s) of Rush Limbaugh's on-air statement, please go to
www.rushlimbaugh.com and/or www.premieretalk.com.
I get muscle spasms in my back all the time. If you have access to an Osteopath, I highly recommend them. I went to one over 20 years ago and he helped me much more than any Chiropractor ever has. The Osteopathic doctor I went to was in his 80's and he's been dead for quite a while now. There aren't any around here now.
So I guess you don't tell your teenage kids to stay away from the very things you DIDN'T stay away from when you were their age?
Of course I will suggest we pray for Rush as I would for most anyone in this predicament, even Hitlery. Having seen a family member go through a number if surgeries and getting hooked on pain killers, and seeing the years of failure of trying to get off those drugs, I would not wish this on anyone.
Notice however that I have not put pray in quotation marks as you have.
By the way, my family member did succeed in getting off the pain killers as I believe Rush will.
OBVIOUS? Based on what, the National Enquirer?! Why don't we wait to hear from a credible and, dare I say, official source before we pronounce judgement?
Ah, therein lies the rub.....
No doubt he needed a lawyer, and still does. But it lessens his candor when any statement he makes on this subject is run through a lawyer.
Dittos.
You are obviously a very observant Freeper.
If someday I end up robbing a bank to get money to feed my child (unlikely scenario, but if), then I would expect the police to try to hunt me down and throw me in prison with other bank robbers.
It would be hypocrisy if I claimed such laws shouldn't apply to me.
It is one thing to oppose programs or legal policies based on effectiveness, cost and/or psychological studies, but when a person makes it a point to disapprove of the programs while belittling those who need them, then expects kindness and sympathy when he has trouble, then there is a problem.
We reap what we sow. In his instance, he is asking for more kindness and understanding than he was willing to extend to others.
It sure does seem that way. So much to learn from Proverbs...
He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. 28: Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding
All prescription pain medication is addictive and all opiate derivitives are especially addictive. A person dieing of painful cancer receives ever increasing doses of pain reliever because each dose becomes less effective over time. Long term usage of pain relievers has the same propensity for the need of ever increasing dosages and the sudden withdrawall from the pain killers is especially difficult.
I have severe back pain and I was on OXYCONTIN for well over a year. The VA has taken over my health care now and they don't use OXYCONTIN. They instead use either DARVON or MSCONTIN. MSCONTIN is very similar to OXYCONTIN.
When I was on OXY, I was taking two 40 mg pills twice a day and that often wasn't enough to stop the pain. Now under the VA, I am taking 65 mg doses of DARVON 4 times a day and it is totally ineffective for controlling the pain. I am going to contact my VA primary care provider and ask for either a stronger dose or a more effective pain releaver.
I just received a letter from the VA yesterday confirming that I am totally disabled and they have rated me with a cumulative 110% disability rating. Most of my pain is in my back and this has been an ongoing problem for over 35 years.
My back problems first started occuring during my military service in the army and have further increased over the years to the point that they are preventing me form being being able to work due to excessive lost time from work.
You're right, it's not... it's called SLANDER. Can we just wait to hear from the authorities, rather than the National Enquirer, before we pronounce him a street corner crack dealer?
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