Police dropped DUI charges against a New York woman after it was proven that her body automatically brews its own alcohol.
The rare condition is called Auto-Brewery Syndrome (ABS) and has been documented by researchers since 1912. A person who has this disease basically has abnormal levels of yeast that "brews" inside the body, thus making that person register a high blood alcohol level.
This particular woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, registered a 0.33 percent alcohol level when she was pulled over by police. With the woman weighing only about 55 kgs, this alcohol level should supposedly mean that she recently consumed around eight to 10 alcoholic drinks, Tech Times reported.
The legal limit in New York being 0.08 percent, plus her failure at the roadside sobriety test, made it necessary for the police officer to place an arrest, the Examiner reported.
However, her case was dismissed with the help of lawyer Joseph Marusak, who handled her case despite realizing the strange circumstance of his client.
"I had never heard of auto-brewery syndrome before this case. But I knew something was amiss when the hospital police took the woman to wanted to release her immediately because she wasn't exhibiting any symptoms," Marusak said, according to CNN. "That prompts me to get on the Internet and see if there is any sort of explanation for a weird reading. Up pops auto-brewery syndrome and away we go."
