Prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will not charge conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh with possession of Viagra without a prescription. Limbaugh was found carrying the drug in his luggage at Palm Beach International Airport on June 26 after returning from the Dominican Republic. The Viagra was prescribed for someone else.
Had Limbaugh faced charges, it could have jeopardized the deal his lawyers made with prosecutors in his earlier case. Limbaugh pled guilty to 'doctor shopping' after admitting he was addicted to prescription painkillers. Limbaugh was charged with lying to doctors to obtain extra painkilling medication to feed his addiction.
The Florida State Attorney's office agreed to drop the charges when Limbaugh's doctor, Steve Strumwasser, said that his name was placed on the bottle to help Limbaugh avoid the embarrassment associated with taking erectile dysfunction medication.
In a statement released by the state attorney's office, it noted that Dr. Strumwasser 'agreed to have his name on the label in an effort to avoid potentially embarrassing publicity for the suspect.'
'Thus, the medication contained in the subject pill bottle was legitimately prescribed to the suspect by his physician,' the filing said.
As part of Limbaugh's deal, all charges in the doctor shopping case will be dropped if the talk show host stays out of trouble for the next 18 months.
Prosecutors in Palm Beach indicate they are turning the evidence to the Miami-Dade County office for review since that's the county where Strumwasser wrote the prescription.
Thus far, however, it appears that Limbaugh will avoid prosecution.
