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February 13, 2002

Hyperglycemia and DKA

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Question from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA:

My 19 year old son, who has type�1 diabetes, was pulled over for a traffic violation and asked to take a breathalyzer test which was negative. However, he was still required to go to the hospital for a blood alcohol level, which was positive. I thought that I read somewhere that ketones can impact the clinical results of a blood alcohol test so that there could be a false positive. Is that true? If someone with type 1 diabetes is in DKA [diabetic ketoacidosis], will that have an effect on a blood alcohol test?

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

Although I am not a lab pathologist, I think that the false positive readings for alcohol are with the breath test and not the blood test which is more sensitive. Was your son hypoglycemic? I would suggest legal opinion with a lawyer as these are technicalities in the law.

JTL