The Pennsylvania State Police recently released data indicating that last year the number of DUI arrests in Pennsylvania reached an all time high.  The new data along with the fact that it was the seventh consecutive year that the number of DUI arrests have increased in Pennsylvania serve as a further reminder that stiffer penalties and increased DUI enforcement have been relatively ineffective at deterring drunk driving in Pittsburgh or throughout Pennsylvania.  The Pennsylvania State Police announced a total of 17,695 DUI arrests that represents a 4.7 increase over the number of DUI arrests in 2009.  Because of the increased resources being employed to increase DUI arrests, many ordinary folks who make a momentary mistake are finding themselves arrested for DUI.

What many people do not realize is that there are many people who are arrested not because they are under the influence of alcohol but because they have a medical condition.  A fundamental flaw in DUI law in Pennsylvania is that it presumes that the physiology and body chemistry of people is homogenous.  Field sobriety testing, blood alcohol testing with breath, blood or urine and even police observations during a DUI stop all assume an average normal healthy person.  The problem is that this fictional hypothetical person does not exist in reality so many people are subject to testing and evaluation that make incorrect assumptions about their health, physical condition and overall physiology.

There are many medical conditions that may compromise test results or officer observations in a Pennsylvania DUI case.  Among the most common medical conditions that may be relevant are the following:

Diabetes

The first part of a DUI investigation typically involves the Pennsylvania State Police’s observations during a traffic stop and field sobriety testing.  Many of the symptoms of a diabetic attack are indistinguishable from the observations that are typical to a diabetic episode including dizziness, slurred speech, confusion and poor coordination.  It is easy to understand how a person suffering an attack of hypoglycemia might appear intoxicated and struggle with field sobriety tests.  The same results can occur for a person who is not diabetic but has a dangerous drop in their blood sugar because they are fasting or dieting.

Diabetes may also compromise breath test results because of the body’s production of ketones.  The same process occurs when people are on low carb diets like the Adkins diet.  The process of burning ketones called ketosis results in the production of isopropyl alcohol.  Pennsylvania breath test machines cannot distinguish isopropyl alcohol from ethanol alcohol, which is what the devices measure when calculating blood alcohol levels in breath.

Gingivitis and Periodontal Disease

Many people have no idea that dental problems like gingivitis and periodontal disease can result in a breath alcohol concentration (BAC) test above .08 percent even though the person’s BAC is much lower.  The reason for this result is that breath testing does not directly measure blood alcohol level.  Instead, the breath testing machine measures the amount of ethanol in a molecule of breath and uses a mathematical conversion called the conversion ratio to convert the volume of alcohol in breath to the volume of alcohol in blood.  The partition ration when converting breath alcohol to blood alcohol is presumed for every molecule of ethanol in your breath there will be 2100 molecules of ethanol in blood.  Because the device cannot distinguish breath alcohol from blood alcohol, the results will be inflated if a person has a dental condition with bleeding gums will mean that applying the 2100:1 partition ratio to blood in the mouth will result in an elevated BAC result.

There are over 25.8 million people in the U.S. with diabetes (8.4 percent of U.S. population) with another 79 million classified as pre-diabetic by the American Diabetes Association.  Though the number of U.S. residents that suffer from diabetes might seem staggering, these numbers are rather meager when compared to the estimated number of people in the U.S. with gum disease.  There have been estimates that as many 75 percent of all adults in the U.S suffer from gum disease.

While diabetes and gum disease are only two medical conditions that may form viable defenses to DUI charges in Pennsylvania, these conditions affect an enormous number of people.

If you have been charged with DUI in Pittsburgh or a DUI in Allegheny County, Pittsburgh DUI lawyer Michael V. Worgul has assisted many people with medical defenses to DUI charges in Pennsylvania so call us today at (412) 475-9217 so we can make sure that we can begin building your Pennsylvania DUI defense.