Seattle DUI due to "Drug Dumping?"
A Washington State DUI arrest almost always involves alcohol. Although the legal consequences of a DUI in Seattle and elsewhere in Washington State are fully discussed elsewhere on our blog and within our firm website, recent research has revealed a medical risk that may occur when “time release” medicine is taken and alcohol is present in the stomach at some point during the “time release” phase. Science Daily reported on September 29, 2009, about a review of existing studies by author Hans Lennin in the September-October issue of ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics. The author draws the conclusion that alcohol in the stomach may, in some cases, cause “dose dumping,” where the medicine is released immediately, rather than over time. The conclusions and recommendations in the article are preliminary but the author calls for appropriate testing of time release drugs to determine whether “dose dumping” may occur in the presence of alcohol.
The implication for a Seattle DUI (or a DUI elsewhere in Washington State) is that an individual might take, for instance, a time-release pain medication that if properly dosed, would not impair driving. If that same individual had consumed a non-impairing amount of alcohol before taking the time release drug, and the alcohol caused the medication to “dose dump,” the individual might unwittingly become very impaired by the drug and find himself or herself charged with DUI due to alcohol, drugs, or both. The possibility of “dose dumping” is yet another reason to strictly heed all instructions regarding the use of prescribed drugs, including warnings about not consuming alcohol while taking the drug. This is the safest way to avoid a Seattle DUI arrest.
Our law firm has vast experience defending DUI charges throughout Washington State and in the Seattle metropolitan area. We are very experienced Washington drug DUI attorneys, so please contact us for a free consultation about your arrest.
