BoatBanter.com - (OT) Limbaugh admits addiction

Nicely done Harry, a good piece showing the two sides of his calling the
kettle black argument.

I wonder if now he will put all his efforts into the Florida Drug Treatment
Initiative. To keep from going to jail. Coming to a Florida ballot near
you in 2004.
http://www.drugreform.org/florida/fulltext.tpl

If Rush Was a real Man, and believed in what he preaches. He would take the
full punishment for using an illegal controlled substance. Then ask his
republican friends. To keep him out of jail like Jeb Bush's daughter. But I
am willing to bet that he pleads not guilty if charges are brought forth.
But he won't be a stand up guy and plead nolo contendere.

Jack

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 23:39:58 GMT, "Jim -"
wrote:

"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .
Just announced on WMAL radio in Washington, DC: Rush has admitted to
being
addicted to pain killers and will be off the air for a month while
undergoing
treatment.

Sure hope someone takes up the noble battle! (Come on Hannity!)

John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD

Do you have a link to the story?

Here's a really interesting piece about Rush and his drug habit.

Rush Limbaugh is going in for detox, the third time. Previously he has
gone to the ARI in New York for overnight detox. This time he says he
is going in for 30 days - and this the guy that said of the ordinary
user: "Send them up." Always destructive, even self-destructive (he
destroyed his own hearing), Limbaugh has attempted to destroy others
for their vices; but he now blames "severe pain in my lower back and
also in my neck now due to two herniated discs" and tells us, "I'll be
back." It's just a good thing he isn't judging himself as he has
judged others - or he would be up the river for a long time.

This article attempts to forestall the lies Rush Limbaugh might tell
in answer to the National Enquirer story about his alleged criminal
drug abuse. It presents, as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the
story" that the Enquirer left out -- such details as the doctor's name
and location where he went for drug detoxification in New York, the
size of the OxyContin tablets he was abusing, the massive extent of
his doses, and how drugs caused his hearing problems instead of the
other way around. Rush is a Big Fat Crybaby who is going to claim
victimization by drugs after years of "send them up" rhetoric about
other drug abusers.

[LIMBAUGH ON JERRY GARCIA'S DEATH: When you strip it all away, Jerry
Garcia destroyed his life on drugs. And yet he is being honored, like
some godlike figure. Our priorities are out of whack, folks."

ADDICTION RECOVERY INSTITUTE IN NEW YORK CITY

Limbaugh was treated for drug use at least twice at the Addiction
Recovery Institute in New York City. His cleaning lady/drug pusher
told the Enquirer that, "Several months after she began supplying
him...she got a shock when he confided to her that he was leaving town
to undergo a rapid detox technique at a New York hospital." Actually,
it was not a hospital but a secret clinic location of the Addiction
Recovery Institute. The ARI operates two centers for detoxification.
Its web site gives the location of the one in New Rochelle, NY, north
of the city. The secret location on the exclusive upper-east side of
Manhattan is at 128 East 91st Street. There, Dr. Joel A. Nathan
performs Ultra-Rapid Opiate Detoxification.

If you were a celebrity drug abuser who could afford the price, you
would check in there and they would perform a full history, physical
examination, and laboratory tests. Then they would anesthetize you and
administer buprenorphine (an opiate, but milder than the opiate you
abused) to accomplish the detoxification. Being asleep, you would not
experience the worst effects of withdrawal. Two hours later, you would
be awakened and then monitored overnight. You would be given
medication to help with any lingering side effects and would be
discharged onto 91st Street at about 7 a.m. the next morning.

The story began when the multimillionaire radio host bummed a few
pills off his $370-a-week housekeeper in March 1998. She continued
supplying pills off a prescription for her husband until early 1999.
Then the prescription ran out and Rush bullied her into being his
pusher. Several months later Limbaugh went to Nathan for his first
detox. This time frame means that you could have seen Rush on E. 91st
some morning in the summer of 1999.

The Enquirer reported Cline as saying: "It lasted for a month. Then he
told me his left ear was acting up and he was in pain." Instead of
seeing Dr. Nathan for drugs or an otologist for his ear, he turned to
Dr. Wilma, who began supplying him with OxyContin (oxycontin
hydrochloride), which has a street name of "Hillbilly Heroin."

[RUSH LIMBAUGH ON SENDING DRUGGIES TO JAIL: "There's nothing good
about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys
families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is
destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs,
pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good
because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborheads
which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law
by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be
convicted and they ought to be sent up."

WILMA CLINE accused him, and Limbaugh promptly hired dream-team
attorney Roy Black, who won a rape acquittal for William Kennedy
Smith. Smith, ironically, was once a victim of Limbaugh's hypocritical
tirades.

THE AIED CLAIM

This will be the crux of the plea that Limbaugh cops with the public:
He acquired an ear disease that made his ear hurt and he took
prescription medicine for the pain. The medicine happened to be
addictive and he, inadvertently, became an addict. Of course he didn't
consult a physician but instead consulted his erstwhile pusher. And of
course he had never abused drugs before (except the ones he bummed
from Cline). Only the story won't wash.

Limbaugh said his hearing loss began on May 29, 2001. On October 11,
at the House Ear Clinic, there was a press conference with Dr. Antonio
De la Cruz and Dr. Jennifer Derebury, of House, and Dr. Michael
Weisman of Cedars-Sinai Hospital. Dr. Derebery said: "We are treating
Rush Limbaugh for hearing loss resulting from autoimmune inner ear
disease (AIED). We base our diagnosis on Mr. Limbaugh's medical
history and hearing tests. Other symptoms of AIED may include
fluctuating hearing, dizziness, ear fullness, rapidly progressive
Meniere's disease or sudden hearing loss. Mr. Limbaugh does not
display most of the symptoms associated with AIED, but he has suffered
rapidly progressive hearing loss since May 2001, which we are
currently treating with medication at the House Ear Clinic."
In other words, he didn't display most of the symptoms of AIED, but
the was the diagnosis regardless. She said it was based on his medical
history, and it is a safe bet he didn't tell them about Dr. Wilma.
House began treating him with prednisone (a steroid), methotrexate,
and entanercept (antiinflamitory).
In response to questions, his physicians explained that overuse of
medications was not a factor in Mr. Limbaugh's case, and while
noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is common among professionals in
radio broadcasting, Mr. Limbaugh did not demonstrate the symptoms of
NIHL. Of course he didn't demonstrate the symptoms of AIED either, but
that is the official line.
The symptoms of OxyContin abuse include somnolence, dilated pupils,
and slowed respiration. A physical exam may reveal these symptoms. Of
course the drug can be detected in the urine and blood. It stretches
credulity that these doctors did not test Limbaugh for ototoxic drugs
before treating him with more drugs.

This is especially incredible considering that the House Institute was
among the first to connect the painkiller Vicodin with hearing loss
http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/f98fa.htm . Vicodin is a Schedule III drug
consisting of 9 percent hydrocodone bitartrate (a narcotic) and the
rest acetaminophen (active ingredient in Tylenol). "Lorcet" is another
trade name for the same thing and is a drug Limbaugh allegedly abused.
The Los Angeles Times reported on September 10, 2001, in an article on
Vicodin abuse, "Doctors at the House Institute reported the hearing
loss incidents to the Food and Drug Administration in 1999, and then
again last month." This (August 2001) was just before they treated
Limbaugh.

Dr. Richard Wiet, a professor of otology at Northwestern University,
said he began noticing cases of hearing loss tied to Vicodin use after
learning of the findings of House Institute researchers. "Then I
started watching for it and found two patients. There's definitely
something to this." Why didn't the House doctors watch for this
problem and why did they instead leave Limbaugh to his "house doctor"
(Wilma Cline)? If Limbaugh took the drugs House prescribed, wouldn't
they have dangerous interactions with the painkillers?

Limbaugh's preferred drug was the even more powerful Schedule III drug
OxyContin (ocycodone hydrochloride), which is mostly what Cline
supplied him with since at least after his first detox in summer 1999,
according to Cline. Oxycodone is an opiod analgesic that is about
twice as strong as morphine. He apparently was taking the 40- and
80-milligram versions, since in his emails to Cline on May 28 and May
29, he said he had been using the "little blues" and seldom had only
the 80s. "Blues" are OxyContin tablets, and 40s and 80s are the 40-
and 80-mg sizes. The Vicodin House had reported on contained about
half a milligram of hydrocone. The OxyCodins contain 80 to 160 times
as much narcotic. Limbaugh was reportedly buying them at the rate of
93 per day at one time. One wonders how he could have survived and
what the interactions with the AIED drugs would have been.

RUSH ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN SENDING DRUGGIES TO PRISON: "What this
says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug sales.
Too many whites are getting away with traficking in this stuff. The
answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail
because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The
answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it,
convict them, and send them up the river, too."

THE AIED TIMEFRAME CLAIM
One of the most likely deceptions, once Limbaugh makes a statement
about drugs, is to argue about the time frame of the hearing loss.
Limbaugh says it took place over 4 months. According to Newsweek: "In
light of last week's news reports [originating with the National
Enquirer and Wilma Cline], the Institute reaffirmed Limbaugh's AIED
diagnosis and noted that he lost hearing over several months, while
hearing loss from Vicodin usually occurs over a period of days."
Actually, the first patient that House diagnosed with Vicodin-caused
hearing loss had lost his hearing over a period of one month.
http://www.latimes.com/features/heal...1vicodin.story
Immune-mediated hearing loss occurs over a similar period -- weeks to
months. Also, AIED is rare, probably accounting for less than 1% of
all cases of hearing impairment or dizziness. It is diagnosed by
seeing if the patient responds to the drug therapy.

http://www.tchain.com/otoneurology/d...mune/aied.html
Limbaugh's case didn't respond, because it wasn't a case of AIED; and
two months after the news conference, in December 2001, Limbaugh
received a cochlear implant (an electronic transducer that converts
sound to electrical impulses that are applied to the auditory nerve by
tiny electrodes) at the House Institute.
One wonders whether, before this surgery, House did blood and urine
tests and whether they asked Limbaugh what medications he was on and
whether he told them. Surgery without this information would not be
standard medical practice and would be risky.
During the period of his hearing loss (June, July, August, and
September 2001) and the period of his steriod therapy, October and
November 2001, Limbaugh continued to take massive doses of OxyContin.
The chance for improvement under these conditions was nil.

RUSH ON TED KENNEDY: "Ted Kennedy, whose liver is said to be shaped
like a Chivas Rigas bottle..." AND WHAT IS RUSH'S SHAPED LIKE, A
SQUARE BOTTLE?

Limbaugh might claim that pain drove him to painkillers, and he became
innocently addicted to them. However, according to House: "Autoimmune
Inner Ear Disease (AIED) is a disease that causes progressive hearing
loss or dizziness. The hearing loss usually affects both ears and
progresses over a period of just a few weeks to months. A ringing,
hissing or roaring sound in the ear often accompanies the hearing
loss. AIED is rare, occurring in less than 1% of all cases of hearing
loss and dizziness." http://www.hei.org/news/factshts/aiedfact.htm
Pain is not one of the symptoms.

HOW BAD WAS IT?
Over one 47-day period, Limbaugh was buying OxyContin tablets from
Cline at the rate of 93 a day. If these were 80-mg tablets, he was
ingesting 7440 mg a day! Even if he was taking 40-mg tablets, that's
3720 mg a day. The maximum therapeutic dose is two 80-mg tablets a
day, or 160 mg. Limbaugh was taking 465 times the maximum dose, if
Cline sold him that much and if he didn't give it away. At other
times, he was "only" using 30 tablets a day.

THE SECOND DETOX AT DR. NATHAN'S
Even after he allegedly had destroyed his hearing with drugs and been
fitted with a cochlear implant, Cline says she continued to supply
OxyContin to Limbaugh. His email of May 29, 2002, told Cline that he
needed the drugs for just a little over 2 weeks more. Then he
apparently went back to Dr. Nathan's for his second detox. Around the
beginning of this year, the Clines reported Limbaugh to the Palm Beach
County Assistant State Attorney.

[RUSH ON LEGALIZING DRUGS, IN 1993: :I'm appalled at people who simply
want to look at all this abhorrent behavior and say, 'People are going
to drugs anyway - lets legalize it.' It's a dumb idea. It's a rotten
idea, and those who are for it are purely, 100 percent selfish."
RUSH IN THE WILMA CLINE ERA (1998): "What's missing in the drug fight
is legalization. If we want to go after the drugs with the same fervor
and intensity with which we go after cigarettes, let's legalize drugs.
License the Cali cartel. Make them taxpayers and then sue them. Sue
them left and right and then get control of the price and generate tax
revenue from it. Raise the price sky high and fund all sorts of other
wonderful social programs."