Rush
Limbaugh smiles after teeing off on the fourth hole of the Spyglass Hill
Golf Course during the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National
Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif. in this Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 file photo.
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. [AP
Photo] |
US radio anchor Rush Limbaugh will likely have to
wait several days to find out if he violated his deal with prosecutors in a
prescription fraud case when authorities found him in possession of a bottle of
Viagra that was apparently prescribed to someone else, a spokesman for the state
attorney's office said Tuesday.
Limbaugh, 55, was detained for more than three hours Monday at Palm Beach
International Airport after he returned on his private plane from a vacation in
the Dominican Republic. US customs officials found Viagra in his bag, but
his name wasn't on the prescription, Palm Beach County sheriff's spokesman Paul
Miller said.
Limbaugh's lawyer, Roy Black, said the prescription was written in his
doctor's name "for privacy purposes." The conservative radio host was released
without being charged and investigators confiscated the Viagra, which treats
erectile dysfunction.
Limbaugh joked about the search on his radio show Tuesday, saying Customs
officials didn't believe him when he said he got the pills at the Clinton
Library and he was told they were blue M&Ms. He later added, chuckling: "I
had a great time in the Dominican Republic. Wish I could tell you about it."
It is generally not illegal under Florida law for a physician to prescribe
medication in a third party's name if all parties are aware and the doctor
documents it correctly, said Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney
in Palm Beach County. He would not discuss specifics in the Limbaugh case
Tuesday.
The sheriff's office was continuing its investigation and would turn the case
over to prosecutors in several days, Edmondson said. The alleged violation could
be a second-degree misdemeanor if Limbaugh's doctor doesn't confirm the
prescription.
Under last month's deal with prosecutors, authorities will dismiss a "doctor
shopping" charge if Limbaugh doesn't get arrested for 18 months, among other
terms. Prosecutors had said he illegally deceived multiple doctors to get
overlapping painkiller prescriptions. Limbaugh denied the charges but admitted
he was addicted to painkillers.
This latest case may simply be dismissed if prosecutors can confirm with
Limbaugh's doctor that the prescription was indeed for Limbaugh, said Kendall
Coffey, a former U.S. attorney in Florida.
"It's perhaps a little embarrassing but not highly incriminating," Coffey
said.
In addition, possession of Viagra is in a "completely different universe than
a matter that would involve Schedule Two (controlled) substances such as
OxyContin" Coffey added.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Viagra is not considered a
controlled substance because "it's not something you can be addicted to," said
DEA Investigator Maria Gilbert.
The US Food and Drug Administration oversees regulations concerning
non-addictive drugs that are not considered controlled substances, Gilbert said.
A telephone call to the FDA was not immediately returned
Tuesday.
