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.
The big question is whether Rush's audience will give him one, and what lessons both he and his audience will take from it.
This problem of the head ditto reveals what a pathetic world view this blowhard has. All that ranting and raving about all the depraved with 'phantom' pain that only substances can treat, including the pain of poverty, loss, psychological injury, and the whole host of other ailments afflicting so many, now comes back to bite him. Why was he so weak that he became addicted? How are his choices any different than the ones a drunk on the street corner of a ghetto makes? He has access to the state of the art medical treatment that so many don't, yet he became addicted?
As an interesting aside, the impact drugs have on productivity may, depending on the substance, have little to no negative effect on an individual's ability to function and produce. Who ever thought he was tuning in to a show by an addict?
Confessing to the addiction is a ploy to eliminate legal problems. His statement last week was just so stupid. He wasn't going to say anything until he saw the evidence against him. He must have seen it this week.
Well, Rush says in his statement today that he's addicted to prescription pain killers. I find it hard to believe that any doctor would prescribe addictive pain pills for an individual over a period of several years, especially if the person taking the drugs has shown signs of addiction. Rush states that he underwent rehab twice before. Why would any doctor prescribe addictive pain killers to someone who has already been in rehab twice? There's still some grey areas that Rush needs to clear up on this story.
Care to educate the rest of us on the law he's broken? It isn't a crime to abuse prescription drugs... it is a crime to acquire them illegally. Since he's been under the care of a doctor for many years for constant pain, it is reasonable to assume a doctor has been involved in these decisions. Until an authority besides the National Enquirer files charges against him or his doctor, I'll wait.
Sorry, anyone who disagrees with him and the devout are idiots.
No, not anyone... just you.
actually, i think of what (most) bands sound like after they clean up. aerosmith for example...
"What an idiot!" is an insult, not an expression of disappointment. Yes, I knew this when I referred it back to you.
Exactly. Rush has lectured us for years on the perils of defining deviancy down, and we can't waver from that standard.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
Florida Statutes.
Title XLVI. Section 893.
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