Except that's not what she said.
She said it IS possible that painkiller abuse could've caused his hearing loss. That's not an evasive or ambiguous answer.
She also said the treatment, including using the cochlear implant, would be the same, regardless of whether his hearing loss was due to drug abuse or the aforementioned disease.
A reasonable person would at least admit that that's quite a coincidence, his "disease" surfacing at the same time as his painkiller abuse.
OK, different interpretations. With a lawyer in the family, I tend to look at press conference responses as carefully coached to avoid liability. In a world of malpractice and tort abuse, the doctors were likely highly coached by the Institute's legal staff prior to the conference, particularly since revelations about a patient's normally confidential records was to be discussed.
So perhaps there was coincidence. Who really cares and why does it even matter?
And this brings us to the real question: so what if Limbaugh was using Oxy? If it was prescription abuse, i.e. the drugs were obtained legally, it's pretty much his problem or that of the state medical licensing board. Oxy is used by an enormous percentage of persons and carries little stigma in a society where we have two states engaging in reefer madness.
And based on the opinions being voiced about how his show is less entertaining now than before, maybe his affiliates ought to send him a bag of tabs to get the "old Rush" back.