Las Vegas DUI Lawyer Reports Diabetics Can Be Falsely Accused of DUI

3 April 2006

The reactions of a person in the early stages of a diabetic attack include dizziness, blurred vision, slurred speech, weakness, loss of coordination and confusion. These are, of course, symptoms which law enforcement officers could take as clear signs that a person under the influence of alcohol.

Was that person arrested for drunk driving under the influence of alcohol -- or could he just be a diabetic? Or maybe on a low-carb diet? A law firm of Las Vegas DUI lawyers say that the similarity in symptoms caused by alcohol intoxication and low sugar levels is striking, and commonly leads to easy -- but false -- conclusions by law enforcement officers.

Diabetes is a very common disease in American society: 15-20% of all drivers on the road are diabetics. The reactions of a person in the early stages of a diabetic attack include dizziness, blurred vision, slurred speech, weakness, loss of coordination and confusion. These are, of course, symptoms which the patrol officer is looking for: the clear signs of a person under the influence of alcohol. And the officer's observations are quickly followed by a failing performance on DUI field sobriety tests.

But, of course, a Breathalyzer will clear him, right? Wrong.

Ignoring for the moment the inherent inaccuracy of these breath alcohol machines, most suffer from a little-known design defect: they do not actually measure alcohol. Rather, they use infrared beams of light which are absorbed by any chemical compound in the breath sample (including ethyl alcohol) which contains the "methyl group" in its molecular structure; the more absorption, the higher the blood-alcohol reading. The machine is programmed to assume that the compound is "probably" alcohol. Unfortunately, thousands of compounds containing the methyl group can register as alcohol. One of these is acetone. And a well-documented by-product of hypoglycemia is a state called ketoacidosis, which causes the production of acetones in the breath. In other words, the Breathalyzer will read significant levels of alcohol on a diabetic s breath where there may be little or none. See "Diabetes, Breath Acetone and Breathalyzer Accuracy: A Case Study", 9(1) Alcohol, Drugs and Driving (1993).

Dr. John Arnold, in a scientific article entitled "Hypoglycemia: Driving Under the Influence", 8 Medical and Toxicological Information Review 1 (Sept. 2003), reports that:

"Hypoglycemia (abnormally low levels of blood glucose) is frequently seen in connection with driving error on this nation's roads and highways, including accidents with personal and material damage. Even more frequently are unjustified DUIs or DWIs, stemming from hypoglycemic symptoms that can closely mimic those of a drunk driver."

Actually, you don't even need to be a diabetic to display hypoglycemic-induced symptoms of intoxication. Perfectly normal, healthy individuals can experience temporary conditions of low blood sugar after consuming small amounts of alcohol, resulting in exaggerated but false symptoms of intoxication. Fasting glycemia can exist where a person has not eaten in 24 hours or has been on a low-carbohydrate diet. Production of glucose in the liver is stopped while the alcohol is broken down. Result: the blood sugar level will drop, affecting the central nervous system -- and producing symptoms of a person under the influence of alcohol.

Please visit the Law Offices of Lawrence Taylor at Las Vegas DUI Attorney for more information about DUI defense in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Source: mediasyndicate

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