LIMBAUGH'S FALL DELIVERS MESSAGE IN A PILL BOTTLE

I'm not much of a "dittohead," but I do have a soft spot in my heart for
Rush Limbaugh for reasons unrelated to politics.

When my father was lying nearly comatose in the intensive care unit the
final two weeks of his life, he rallied only once -- to request a radio "so
I can listen to my buddy Rush."

Say what you will about Limbaugh, he brought life to the party. His
admission now to drug addiction caused me to say to a friend, "I feel sorry
for him." Why? "Because I feel sorry for anyone who suffers addiction."

If he is an addict -- the verdict is still out despite what the evidence
suggests. Also, pain specialists are distressed that all the piling on
following Limbaugh's admission of drug use may set pain management back 100
years.

There's a difference between physical dependence on drugs and addiction. If
you use legal medications as prescribed, you're unlikely to become addicted.

Recent research shows that only 6-10 percent of all chronic pain patients
on opioids become addicted. That's the same percentage as the general
population who becomes addicted to alcohol, shopping or gambling. The risk
for opioid addiction is no greater than the risk for other addictive
behaviors and substances.

The key to avoiding addiction to pain medications such as Oxycontin, the
opioid Limbaugh was taking, is presence of pain, according to Joan Wentz,
an assistant professor and specialist in pain management at Jewish Hospital
College of Nursing and Allied Health in St. Louis. If you have pain and
treat it with opioids, you're unlikely to become addicted, though you may
develop a physical dependence.

Dependence means that your body adjusts to the medication and if you
withdraw abruptly, you will suffer unpleasant symptoms such as sweats,
palpitations and hallucinations.

Addiction is defined as compulsive craving and uncontrolled use despite
harm. The number of pills Limbaugh reportedly procured doesn't necessarily
indicate addiction, says Wentz. He indeed may have been in pain and,
because of his body's adjustment, needed more medication to manage it.

Wentz and others in pain management worry that people who need medication
will fail to seek treatment for fear of addiction, and that doctors may
hesitate to prescribe it when needed.

In a recent bulletin to pain specialists, the American Pain Foundation
charged the media with perpetuating "long-standing myths and misconceptions
about pain management and pain medications" in its Limbaugh coverage.

The fact that Limbaugh could continue functioning in his career makes Wentz
skeptical about his being an addict. As to whether he's a hypocrite, well,
that's a tougher charge to dismiss. It's hard to swallow Limbaugh's
punitive line for drug users when he tossed back Oxycontin like M&M's.

Not surprisingly, Limbaugh's critics are delighting in his humiliation,
though some have leavened their comments with sympathy for his obvious
pain, whether emotional, physical or both. Fans and colleagues are trying
to draw a distinction between Limbaugh's addiction to legal medications to
treat pain and those who become addicted to illegal drugs merely to get high.

Whatever Limbaugh's official designation as an addict or someone who is
drug-dependent, he crossed the line in seeking drugs illegally, just as
addicts do. People seek to get high not out of the evil of their hearts,
but out of the weakness of their spirits.

Limbaugh's fall ultimately may be a blessing not only for him, but also for
people who suffer pain and those who succumb to addiction. The message in
the bottle is this: Suffering pain is not heroic, and becoming an addict is
not a crime.

Maybe even Limbaugh will allow as much when he brings his irrepressible,
and doubtless humbled, spirit back to the party.