Pubdate: Wed, 18 Feb 2004
Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL)
Copyright: 2004 News-Journal Corp
Contact:  http://www.n-jcenter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/700
Author: Jill Barton

LIMBAUGH, ACLU FILE COURT PAPERS TO KEEP MEDICAL RECORDS PRIVATE

WEST PALM BEACH -- Rush Limbaugh's attorneys accused law enforcement 
officers of breaking the law when they seized the conservative radio 
commentator's medical records, searching for evidence he illegally bought 
prescription painkillers.

Joined by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, Limbaugh's 
lawyers argued in court documents filed Tuesday that authorities should 
have first notified Limbaugh and given him a chance to challenge the 
seizure, rather than using search warrants to remove the records from his 
doctors' offices.

Limbaugh, his attorneys and the ACLU have argued that the seizure violated 
Limbaugh's right to privacy and the confidentiality of the relationship 
between patients and doctors. The attorneys want the state 4th District 
Court of Appeal to rule that the records should remain sealed.

"What meaning would the patient protections in the Constitution and the law 
have if prosecutors could disregard them any time they wanted to?" Limbaugh 
attorney Roy Black said in a statement.

Palm Beach prosecutors seized the records in November for their 
investigation into whether Limbaugh illegally went "doctor shopping" to 
obtain pain pills. The crime refers to visiting several doctors to receive 
duplicate prescriptions of controlled narcotics. Limbaugh sought treatment 
for his admitted addiction in October and has not been charged with a crime.

Prosecutors had no immediate comment Tuesday but Palm Beach State Attorney 
Barry Krischer has repeatedly insisted that investigators have followed the 
law and "scrupulously protected" Limbaugh's rights.

A circuit court has kept the records sealed since investigators obtained 
the medical records. But prosecutors had a brief opportunity to review the 
documents Dec. 22 after Palm Beach Circuit Judge Jeffrey A. Winikoff ruled 
to unseal the records and before Limbaugh's attorneys won a delay to keep 
them sealed.

The investigation is now on hold until the appeals court rules.

Limbaugh told listeners to his afternoon radio show Tuesday that the 
investigation "is all political, disguised as a legal case" and that it was 
a "search- and-destroy mission."

He accused prosecutors of leaking details about the investigation to plant 
"false stories in the press."

"How many of you people think I was drug trafficking? How many of you 
people think I was laundering money? Pure leaks," Limbaugh said. "And 
there's nothing to it."

Limbaugh kept his comments brief, saying, "It's tough for me to talk about 
it. I mean, I can, but it's uncomfortable for me to do so."

Prosecutors have drawn criticism for other actions in the case. Last month, 
the state Attorney General's office questioned the motives of Krischer and 
his staff after they released letters from Black about negotiating a guilty 
plea. Prosecutors cited support from the Attorney General's office and the 
Florida Bar, but both groups contradict those claims.

Krischer's office began investigating more than a year ago after his former 
maid, Wilma Cline, told them she sold Limbaugh "large quantities of 
hydrocodone, Oxycontin and other pharmaceutical drugs" for years. She 
provided investigators with e-mails and answering machine recordings to 
support her claims.

Investigators then examined records from Palm Beach pharmacies near 
Limbaugh's $24 million oceanfront mansion that they say support the 
doctor-shopping allegations before seizing the medical records.

In arguing to unseal the records, prosecutor James Martz told a judge in 
December that they "are the only way to clarify the violation of law that 
we're investigating."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens