Rush Limbaugh Statement on Prescription Pain Medication Stories

PRNewswire (Yahoo) ^ | Friday October 10, 2:55 pm ET | Rush Limbaugh

[ThePythonicCow]

Press Release

Source: Premiere Radio

Rush Limbaugh Statement on Prescription Pain Medication Stories
Friday October 10, 2:55 pm ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Rush Limbaugh today issued the following statement on his radio program:

"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.

---

Source: Premiere Radio

[Ichneumon]

I failed anger management class

Obviously.

[Ichneumon]

First, if you're having pain from something, you don't anymore, so there is that sensation of relief. Many people also experience a side effect of elation, a sense of well-being, kind of a kick, an energizing feeling, like you're able to do more and just feel better.

Also, the longer you've been in chronic pain, and/or the more intense the pain, the bigger the "rush" (no pun intended) when something suddenly makes it go away for a while.

To us a hamburger when we're a big hungry is just a hamburger. To a truly starving man it's heaven.

[cwb]

Really? Most narcotics, synthesized or not, are derivatives of opium...which does include heroin. What's your point? If it is what I think it is, then it's people like you who have made it harder for real patients to get care because of the stigma attached to it. while I don't know the details about Rush's case, if it turns out that he couldn't acquire proper pain management because of the ignorance by some in the medical community (and in government)...and thus, had to turn to illegal means, than there are others at fault. Too many doctors are paranoid and ignorant when dealing with pain, often leading to patients self-medicating themselves not realizing the danger they are causing. This has been a complicated issue because of lawyers and the DEA who have freightened doctors, making it harder for those seeking care.

[gdani]

You talk as if Rush obtained pills just to pop to get a high. That doesn't appear to be the case, so your comparison is nothing but hot air.

Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. We'll know more if/when there is a prosecution.

I know he's certainly played a lot of golf while he's in this supposed "chronic pain".

And the law makes no distinction between those who are looking for a good time & those who became addicted through no fault of their own.

And those who support the War on (Some) Drugs certainly don't care about the distinction......well, until now.

[Joe Hadenuf]

So what? I still passed.....

[wimpycat]

I said: I believe you can be against something and still do it anyway.

You said:Very Clintonesque.

Hardly. I don't believe alcoholics are for alcoholism, I don't believe drug addicts are for drug addiction, I don't believe people who lose their tempers are for temper tantrums. I'm sure you've done things in your life that you knew were wrong even when you were doing them. That doesn't mean you believe it was OK to do them. I know I have. I smoke, and I'm not against other people smoking, but I would certainly never advise anyone who doesn't smoke to start smoking. I would never say it's a good idea to start.

[Huck]

That's from the Book of Mormon, isn't it?

[I still care]

I've never felt that true addicts that need and desperately want help should go to jail on a first time or second time conviction. Drugs mess up people's minds terribly; very few will just say, well they are getting the better of me today I need to check into rehab. They keep trying to will themselves into fixing it on their own, which is impossible to do for most.

Usually it takes some terrible event "hitting bottom" that makes a drug user face what has happened to their lives, and sometimes that event is jail. Sometimes losing your spouse, your kids, your home, your job, does it. Obviously Rush has been struggling for a while. But usually drugs are not a victimless crime; they tear everyone apart in the family. My girlfriend lost her house over her husband's cocaine addiction.

But users who refuse rehab, and who finance their addictions by stealing and such, are a detriment to society, and are given many chances - what would you do with them?

[SJackson]

"If you're a citizen, no guns till you satisfy the state that you're not a threat." -SJ-

I don't think we're in disagreement, unless somehow you're mistakenly attributing those statements to me, rather than the laws in Illinois.

I'm simply pointing out the abuseiveness of the existing law.

[Hildy]

Kitty Dukakis was somebody's wife. Rush Limbaugh is...well...Rush Limbaugh.

[I still care]

My orthopedist (yes I am on painkillers) prescribed an antidepressant for me after the death of my husband. He said the stress and depression I was suffering was causing my pain to be far worse.

He said that it was biochemical; that stress causes pain to be increased not because of mental difficulties but it was a physical thing. He said as long as I was depressed I would not heal properly from the surgery. FYI.

[I still care]

Well he says he already went through detox twice. So if I was his doctor, I would be aware of it - and would carefully monitor what pain pills I gave him. And once you are a true addict, it takes quite a few to do what one would do before.

Besides, even when your pain has greatly diminished, you often have one of "those days". I just had two great months, but this past week I have been woken up every night by pain.

I have always suspected Rush is an addictive personality - he just seems the type - expansive, confident, independent. He has had a weight problem and admits freely he enjoys smoking. Nobody is probably more surprised than him to find this happened. It just sometimes takes a cold bucket of water to wake them up to what they have allowed to happen to them.

[Ichneumon]

Man, there are about 10 people on this forum that should be apologizing to me regarding their comments that I didn't know WTF I was talking about.

Why should we apologize for speaking the truth? You did indeed not "know WTF" you were talking about, you chose to repeatedly ridicule those who tried to explain things to you (as you continue to do here without provocation), and posture about how everyone's stupid and laugh in their faces.

This seems to be your standard behavior.

LOL! But that aint going to happen.

Nor should it. But you owe several people an apology of your own, which I am sure will not be forthcoming.

When I stated all he had to do was make a brief statement stating, "I don't use drugs obtained illegally or use drugs illegally", every shiit house lawyer came out of the wood work saying, "he can't say anything until charges are filed, his lawyer, bla bla bla.....

No, the thrust of the replies was that you were extremely naive (to be kind) when you repeatedly stuck to your uninformed statement that one would be a "fool" to refrain from making public statements if one were innocent (and you further asserted that no lawyer would so advise a client). Both of your beliefs were shown to be in error (for example, by quoting a Freeper who had been innocent, but got in deep legal trouble by saying things he thought were safe to say about the situation), yet you chose to ridicule those who tried to educate you.

As for "every shiit house lawyer" who stated his opinion (so when did you earn *your* law degree, bud?), you sort of "forget" to mention that even Freeper lawyers like "TheConservator" were explaining to you why you were wrong.

Get over yourself, please. No one owes you an apology for your own mistakes or your inability to accept them.

[Cracker Jack]

To those that are relishing Rush's "moral failure":

Addiction to prescription pain killers is no more morally suspect than getting AIDS from a blood transfusion.

[Timesink]

If he's still experiencing the pain, what's the point of getting off of the pain medication? There's nothing noble about living your life in constant pain.

Oddly enough, there are now electronic implants available not entirely dissimilar to Rush's cochlear implants, except that the control pain instead of interpret sound. Surgeons implant a little device in (I think) your back, and it causes electrical interference to the nerves that are causing your back pain. The pain signals never make it to your brain, and thus you feel no pain, or at least greatly reduced pain.

For someone genetically predisposed to addiction, as it appears Rush might be, it would be far preferable for him to get another implant and become The Bionic Limbaugh than to remain on pain medication the rest of his life. They were talking about this on CNN this afternoon (and, ironically, treating the story quite fairly, with no gloating or obsessing over Donovan McNabb), and the doctor on there said that if someone becomes addicted to these pills, as the tolerance builds up that person will eventually end up with all the classic signs and physical problems of opiate addiction, and possibly even die ... but that it could take years for that point to arrive.

So, ironically, the RATS' attempt to destroy Rush once and for all may have ended up literally saving Rush's life and allowing him to stay on the air for decades to come, because if he hadn't been forced to confront the problem now, he may have ended up dead or in jail in just another couple years. Thanks, Democrats! BWA-HA!

[Joe Hadenuf]

Hehehe, I love being right....

[Jack Black]

I think there is something wrong with obsessing about "sobriety". Spinal nerve pain is known as one of the most severe types of pain. In some cases it can not be cured. It seems entirely reasonable for persons in this sad state to choose a permanant use of pain killers over permanant pain. If doctors are not willing to prescribe in this event it is yet another unintended side effect of the absurd WOD than of any realistic cost/benefit analysis of what is better for the patient.

It may very well be true that for some people pain killer addiction is the best of several bad choices. They should not be ridiculed with ridiculous terms like "sobriety".

[Timesink]

As predicted, the DUmmies are going to new lows with this. They're calling dittoheads hypocrites. They are the real hypocrites.

Let's see. Since DU has come into existence, they've lost all power in Washington, were annihilated in the 2002 elections across the country, have produced one of the most pathetic lineups of potential presidential candidates in modern memory, and just this week began to lose Cal-ee-forn-ee-uh, which is their last true stranglehold on power. They are so screwed that they see Rush Limbaugh going into a rehab for a month as a major strategic victory.

I say let them cheer. It's the last bit of happiness they're going to feel for a long, long time.

[cwb]

I agree. And consider this: For years now we've debated euthinasia with many objections against it. One of the reasons we've heard why we don't need it is becasue we have medicines that can alleviate the pain and improve peoples lives. Yet, at the same time we talk about these wonderful pain relievers, we have some in the government who are making it impossible to get access to them...threatening doctors with lawsuits and even jail time. Suicide is often a result from those who can't get releif from their pain.

Ironically, other than addiction, the physical damage that narcotics cause is often less than that caused by NSAIDs and even OTC Tylenol. Liver damage and stomach bleeding is often associated with chronic pain patients who take "non" narcotic pain relievers over an extended period of time. That's not to minimze the addiction...but if pain is properly managed, I don't see the problem in helping people live pain-free if it works. Narcotic pain relief usually, only becomes a problem when people abuse it and take excessive amounts...or just don't have pain. For those who have severe pain, the body uses the medicine differently than those who are taking it for a buzz and addiction is less a problem.

[Grig]

Correct.