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'm sorry, did I miss his deification?
Can't you see what a collossal blunder this is for him? Or did you miss all his lectures about drug use on his radio show?
Seems to me there is.
Additionally, the guy apparently tried twice (on his own dime) to beat this thing, so it's not as if the "outing" by the NE has "forced" him to deal with it.
Let the DU'ers gloat. When the sun comes up tomorrow most of them will still be dependent on the productive class for their subsistence and will resume their lives of sniping at their superiors. ;)
I won't say "can't", but will say "not revealed" and "fruitless speculation".
All indications are that Rush is using the medication for a valid medical condition and is suffering from the results of using that same medication.
There are several medications that are not suppported or 'approved' by the medical 'authorities' and therefore are not 'legally' or 'readily' available in the U.S. even though they are legally available elsewhere. Also, some medications are provided for by some insurance policies and not by others. Furthermore, some doctors or hospitals will prescribe some medications, but other hospitals or doctors will not prescribe those same medications.
I see nothing wrong with a person going outside of the 'system' to obtain critically necessary medications when they are not provided due to 'insurance' or other excessive restraints.
If Rush was terminally ill, he would have no problem legally obtaining the same medications that he is now having trouble obtaining due to someones believing that those same medications are harmful in the long run due to their addictive nature. It is obvious that Rush is suffering from long term pain that is not able to be relieved through surgical means and the long term usage of pain relievers is the only way to relieve said pain.
It is wrong to prohibit pain relief for someone just because the medication is addictive.
As for the five minutes he took to lay this down for his audience, it takes a MAN to do that, and a GOOD man, who understands and DEMONSTRATES the very responsibility he has been professing for years.
Compare that five minutes to the Eon it took for the Clintons to pollute this country with the long poisonious BOOMER FART that has been building up since Bill and Hill first dressed up in their maggot infested tye-dyes and fringe and lovebeads and granny glasses.
No, but my wife does. She has never taken painkillers.
However, that isn't the point. The point is he broke the law, big time, after spending years lecturing the liberals about mollycoddling criminals.
This is sooooo stupid on his part. He did not need to fall into this.
I suppose in the eyes of true believers, its no more discrediting than multiple divorces and remarriages or any other misbehavior.
I thought Republicans, if they are going to uphold moral standards, should attempt to follow them themselves.
Did you read his statement?
Yes, he stated he first stated taking prescription drugs that were prescribed by his doctor.
Did you notice when the statement didn’t say. It didn’t say that he didn’t eventually begin obtaining those same drugs illegally, as the story that exposed his problem has claimed.
I know, I know, his lawyers have advised him not to discuss that. Let’s see if you can figure out exactly why his lawyers have advised him not to discuss that. It's kinda obvious.
A denial of illegality can absolutely never hurt your case if in fact you have done nothing illegal.
I agree with you. I am disappointed in him, but legally he does have to protect himself. Sadly, he put himself in this position.
But his concern should not be coming back to the program in 30 days. It's an arbitrary deadline, one he may or may not make--even if he comes out of rehab in 30 days, he may be fragile, both physically and emotionally. The pressure on him to come back within that time period has to be enormous (both on himself, his radio show, the stations that carry his radio show, the advertisers on his radio show, etc.), but that should not be his focus. His career should be secondary to his health at this time. If he doesn't do it that way, there's a good chance of relapse.
It's not fruitless speculation to say that unbaptized infants are in God's sight when you've got a weeping mother looking for consolation.
And who knows that it's not true?
Yes, the rich are different from the rest of us. They have more money.
And it may be that I'm all wet, and made more out of that than needs be. If so, then thrash me one good.
No, and I don’t really want to beat it to death, given the fact that we don’t know if he’s done anything illegal.
Essentially, what I said was that, if he continues to support criminal charges, including incarceration and confiscation of property, that’s a glaring inconsistency, and IMO he’s being hypocritical.
No, I don’t expect him to turn himself in.
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