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News of the Day ... In Perspective12/13/2005Prosecutors must charge Limbaugh in order to interrogate his doctors In what attorney Roy Black called a victory for patient-doctor confidentiality, Judge David Crow ruled that the State could not ask Rush Limbaugh�s doctors the questions it posed to the court during a hearing unless it files criminal charges of �doctor shopping.� In a written statement, Black said: �We�ve said from the start there was no doctor shopping but Mr. Limbaugh should not have to give up his right to doctor-patient confidentiality to prove his innocence.� The Judge also ruled, however, that medical confidentiality does not extend to the courtroom if �that information is shown to be relevant to the prosecution of a crime.� At the hearing, prosecutor James Martz said: �I would be devastated, and I kid you not, to go forward with a case against Rush Limbaugh or anybody else in the state of Florida, to find out at trial � (when) I actually get to hear what the writer intended, that we put somebody through a criminal prosecution wrongly.� Prosecutors declined to comment on the ruling, citing an ongoing investigation (South Florida Sun Sentinel 12/13/05). Additional Information: Rush Limbaugh v. State of Florida, including AAPS amicus brief defending right to privacy: http://www.aapsonline.org/judicial/limbaugh.htm Florida sentences pain patient Richard Paey to 25 years for pleading not guilty: AAPS News, August 2004. Appeals brief for Richard Paey: www.aapsonline.org/painman/paeyappeal.pdf
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