Drunk on Life

“In 2019, Mark Mongiardo, then a high school athletic director, was pulled over in Sullivan County, N.Y., after a dinner with the boys’ golf team. He’d eaten a hot dog and some fries, washed down with a soda. He hadn’t had a sip of alcohol, but the officer who stopped Mr. Mongiardo for using his phone while driving smelled it anyway. A breathalyzer test showed Mr. Mongiardo’s blood alcohol content was .18 percent, more than twice the legal driving limit. It was his second drunken driving offense in two years, but these episodes of unexplained intoxication had begun decades earlier.” It turns out that some people can get drunk from the inside. Their bodies essentially make ethanol. And though that might sound fun, it’s anything but. It’s a brewing storm. “D.W.I.s, relationship problems, accusations of secret drinking: Auto-brewery syndrome can wreak havoc on people’s lives and reputations.” NYT (Gift Article): The Mystifying Syndrome That Makes People Spontaneously Drunk.