Limbaugh Loses Court Appeal

A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday that prosecutors did not violate Rush Limbaugh's privacy rights when they paid a surprise visit to his doctors and seized his medical records for an investigation into his use of painkillers.

Investigators raided the doctors' offices last November to see if the conservative radio commentator had engaged in "doctor shopping," or illegally visiting several doctors to receive duplicate prescriptions.

Limbaugh, 53, has not been charged with a crime and the investigation had been at a standstill pending a decision on the medical records, which prosecutors have not yet been allowed to examine.

The 4th District Court of Appeal rejected Limbaugh's claim that his privacy rights trumped investigators' power to seize his records, and also said prosecutors did not have to notify him of their search warrants or give him an opportunity to challenge them.

"The state's authority to seize such records by a validly issued search warrant is not affected by any right of privacy in such records," the three-judge panel ruled.

Limbaugh's attorney said he will appeal.

"We lost this decision today. We're going to appeal it further. We are deciding now exactly where but we will appeal it," said Limbaugh in a radio address and statement posted on his Web site.

"Quite obviously we strongly disagree with the decision of the court majority because the majority does not recognize a patient's right to medical privacy that the Congress of the United States, the Florida legislature, and the citizens of Florida have granted to patients such as me. I want to remind everybody: I have not been charged with anything," the statement said.

"This was a fishing expedition from the outset to see if there was anything they could find to charge me with," Limbaugh said on his afternoon radio show. "There was no doctor-shopping, but it was my contention all along that I shouldn't have to give up my right to privacy to prove my innocence. That's not the way it works in this country."

He also said: "The issue here goes beyond me, actually. It goes to the privacy of everyone's medical records."

Prosecutors went after Limbaugh's medical records after learning that he received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion.

Limbaugh admitted his addiction to pain medication last October, saying it stemmed from severe back pain. He took a five-week leave from his afternoon radio show to enter a rehab program.

State Attorney Barry Krischer, a Democrat accused by Limbaugh of pursuing him for political reasons, said the ruling will allow the case to move forward.

"This office did not violate any of Mr. Limbaugh's rights, constitutional or statutory, but to the contrary acted in accord with Florida law," Krischer said.

Limbaugh was supported by an unlikely ally — the American Civil Liberties Union. Randall Marshall, legal director for the Florida ACLU, said Wednesday's decision threatens the privacy rights of all Floridians.

If the ruling stands, Marshall said, "you would never have an opportunity to try and limit the information that police can go through."