clock Jun 26, 2006 7:52 pm US/Eastern
Limbaugh Detained At Airport
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Joy Purdy
Reporting

(CBS4 News) WEST PALM BEACH Sources have confirmed to CBS4 News that conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been detained at Palm Beach International Airport for the possible possession of illegal prescription drugs Monday evening.

Limbaugh was returning on a flight from the Dominican Republic when officials found the drugs, among them Viagra.

Limbaugh entered a plea deal back in April in a previous case where his charge of fraud to conceal information to obtain prescriptions was dropped under the condition he continue undergoing treatment for addiction.

Limbaugh had admitted to being addicted to pain killers on his radio program and had entered a rehabilitation program prior to that arrest.

http://cbs4.com/local/local_story_177194808.html

, Jun. 26, 2006

Limbaugh detained at Palm Beach airport
Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Rush Limbaugh was detained for about three-and-a-half hours Monday at Palm Beach International Airport after authorities said they found a bottle of Viagra in his possession without a prescription.

The 55-year-old radio commentator's luggage was examined by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his private plane landed at the airport around 2 p.m. from the Dominican Republic, said Paul Miller, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

ICE officials found in Limbaugh's luggage a prescription bottle labeled as Viagra, a prescription drug that treats erectile disfunction, Miller said.

"The problem was that on the bottle itself was not his name, but the name of two Florida doctors," Miller said.

The matter was turned over to the sheriff's office, whose investigators interviewed Limbaugh.

"He said he had the Viagra in his possession for his use and that he did obtain it from his doctors," Miller said.

Sheriff's investigators confiscated the drugs, and Limbaugh was released around 5:30 p.m. without being charged.

However, the sheriff's office plans to file a report with the state attorney's office.

"We believe there may be a second degree misdemeanor violation, which is possession of certain drugs without a prescription, because the bottle does not have his name on it," Miller said.

A doctor had prescribed the drug, but it was "labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes," Roy Black, Limbaugh's attorney, said in a statement.

Last month, Limbaugh reached a deal with prosecutors who had accused the conservative talk-show host of illegally deceiving multiple doctors to receive overlapping pain pill prescriptions. Under the deal, a single charge commonly referred to as "doctor shopping" would be dismissed after 18 months if he complies with terms that include submitting to random drug tests and continuing treatment for his acknowledged addiction to painkillers.

so urgently needed to bring Viagra on a trip to the Dominican Republic?

I suppose the most innocent explanation would be that he believes "anywhere I hang my hat is my home"...

Or not.

His ratings are down. He has to get something up!

repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & ineffiency with authoritarian tendencies.

This is the type of thing, we'll see over the next few days. He deserves every one of them!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- NEW YORK – June 29, 2006 -- Pfizer Inc. today announced conservative talk radio commentator Rush Limbaugh has been signed as the new spokesman for the company's erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra (sildenafil citrate). Limbaugh went public with his use of the medication following a security incident June 26 at the Palm Beach International Airport.

Limbaugh has long been a known supporter of the pharmaceutical industry. "We feel very fortunate to have Rush on board," said a Pfizer spokesperson. "I don't know why Purdue didn't snatch him up years ago." Purdue Pharmaceuticals manufactures the painkiller OxyContin.

For his part, Limbaugh says he looks forward to the partnership as an opportunity to represent the Hard Right with unflagging firmness. "I know there are those who have accused me of being inflexible in my views," he commented. "All I can say is, they have no idea how rigid I can be, thanks to this little blue pill."

(...)

However, Pfizer's representative denied reports that ultra-right-wing commentator and author Ann Coulter was also being wooed to push the erection-enhancing medication. "We feel that would be antithetical. As clinically effective as Viagra has proven to be, it has its limits."

link *cough*