Pubdate: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 Source: Miami Herald (FL) Section: Courts Copyright: 2005 The Miami Herald Contact: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262 Author: Evan S. Benn Related: Supreme Court's ruling found at http://www.miami.com/multimedia/miami/news/0429rush.pdf COURT RULING A SETBACK FOR LIMBAUGH The State's Highest Court Ruled In Favor Of Prosecutors Who Are Looking To Charge Rush Limbaugh With Illegally Buying Painkillers Investigators should be able to examine the medical records of conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, Florida's Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In a 4-3 vote, the court declined to review Limbaugh's appeal from a lower court, where he argued that a seizure of his medical records was a violation of his privacy. Thursday's decision may bring prosecutors one step closer to charging Limbaugh if they determine he illegally bought prescription painkillers. Limbaugh's attorney and a representative for the American Civil Liberties Union said the ruling Thursday jeopardizes the privacy rights of all Floridians. The ACLU's Role "This is a quintessential ACLU case," said Howard Simon, executive director of the group's Florida branch. "If you look beyond the central figure, the celebrity of this case, what it boils down to is diminishing the privacy of medical records for everyone in the state of Florida." Roy Black, the Miami lawyer who is representing Limbaugh, issued a written statement Thursday promoting his client's innocence. "I have said from the start that there was no violation of the . . . statute, but that Rush Limbaugh should not have to give up his right to privacy in order to prove his innocence," Black wrote. Prosecutors at the Palm Beach County state attorney's office have said they need to review the medical records before any charges could be filed against Limbaugh. 2,000 Painkillers Investigators seized Limbaugh's medical records in November 2003 after learning that he had received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach home. The records had been sealed from prosecutors pending the outcome of Limbaugh's appeals. Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office, said he could not comment about the ongoing criminal investigation. He said the next step in the case may be another appeal from Limbaugh's attorney, but he declined to speculate on details of such an appeal. Limbaugh, a conservative commentator who can be heard every afternoon on WIOD-AM 610 in South Florida, took a five-week leave from his radio show in 2003 to enter a rehabilitation program. He acknowledged an addiction to pain medication, blaming it on severe back pain. "Only those who have suffered the long-term agony of chronic, severe pain will understand what Mr. Limbaugh was going through and why the appropriate medical treatment for his pain was so important," Black wrote. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth