Mar 15, 2017
Rare Medical Conditions Can Mimic Drunkenness And Get You A DUI
A woman who had a previous DUI conviction had been sober for 10 years. It was much to her surprise that she was arrested on a charge of DUI after she collided with a parked car and was found to have a BAC of 0.10. Needless to say, she was astonished! How could this happen? She had been sober for a decade! Let's call this woman Helen. Helen had giving up alcohol but had taken up drinking another substance - orange juice. The orange juice made her drunk! How? A very rare medical condition called Auto-Brewery Syndrome. This is a condition where yeast in the digestive tract interacts with sugars and literally "brews" alcohol. Given her condition she was allowed to plead to a lesser charge of Reckless Driving and received probation.