Prosecutors seized Limbaugh's medical records in 2003 for an investigation into whether he illegally purchased prescription painkillers, but the records have remain sealed, pending the outcome of Limbaugh's appeals.

Limbaugh lost at the appellate court level and now wants the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that would open his medical records and possibly allow prosecutors to build a criminal case against him.

Limbaugh has maintained his innocence throughout the investigation and argues that the case threatens the privacy rights of all Floridians - a point that has drawn the support of the American Civil Liberties Union.

He has acknowledged he became addicted to pain medication, blaming it on severe back pain, and took a five-week leave from his afternoon radio show in 2003 to enter a rehabilitation program.

Prosecutors argue that they used search warrants to obtain the medical records to ensure they were not tampered with or destroyed. They seized the records after learning that Limbaugh received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion. They contend that Limbaugh engaged in "doctor shopping," or illegally deceived multiple doctors to receive overlapping prescriptions.

But Black argues that patients cannot be forced to give up their privacy rights because of the possibility that the physician who holds the records might destroy them. He said a physician would have no reason to destroy records relating to a patient's criminal case.

"The mere possibility ... provides no support for the argument that the state should always be allowed to use warrants, in violation of the confidentiality statutes," Black wrote.

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