The estimation of blood alcohol concentration |
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Authors: | Douglas Posey Ashraf Mozayani |
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Institution: | (1) Institut für Rechts- und Verkehrsmedizin, Verkehrsmedizin/Verkehrspsychologie, Bergheimer Strasse 147, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany;(2) Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität München, Frauenlobstrasse 7a, 80337 München, Germany |
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Abstract: | Expert witnesses and others involved in toxicology are frequently asked to perform retrograde extrapolation of blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) or to estimate BAC based on a proposed drinking scenario. Although many individuals are reluctant to perform
these calculations and some jurisdictions expressly prohibit them, a significant number of practitioners routinely estimate
BAC based on this type of calculation, using as a basis the fundamental work of Widmark. Although improvements to the Widmark
formula and other data pertaining to the pharmacology of alcohol have been published, these improvements are frequently ignored
when estimating BAC. This article summarizes five published models for the estimation of BAC and proposes a sixth model that
incorporates recent data on the rate of absorption of alcohol from the GI tract into the existing five models. The five improved
models can be computerized and used to construct comparative snapshots of the BACs calculated by the different algorithms.
This will allow practitioners to provide a more balanced picture of the variability in BAC calculations. |
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