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Diabetes and DUI: Legal Defenses for Diabetics charged with DUI
March 28th, 2017
Diabetes and DUI are complicated legal and medical issues. If you have diabetes and are arrested for DUI, you may have a defense. Especially if you took a breath test and blew over the legal limit. Contact our experienced Trinity DUI defense attorneys to discuss your defenses. Most people think breath tests are accurate. Breath tests are not always accurate, especially if you have certain medical conditions. Diabetes can significantly affect the accuracy of the breath test results. Two diabetic syndromes can affect the breath test results.
Hyperglycemia (When a diabetic’s blood sugar drops too low, they can enter a state called hypoglycemia.) The condition can be caused by any number of factors, including skipping a meal. Hypoglycemia can cause
- slurred speech
- stumbling
- lack of focus
- can easily be confused with drunkenness
- Diabetic Ketoacidosis Can cause a false positive on the DUI breath test. It causes the body to produce acetone, a type of alcohol. The breath test - a machine - can't tell the difference between acetone produced by a diabetic reaction and several martinis at happy hour. This compound can be read by the breath testing machine to indicate a high BAC (blood alcohol content), when in fact your BAC may be very low.