A DIET COKE WITH THAT RUM?
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Mixing alcohol with a diet drink may cut a few calories, but it also seems to speed alcohol into the blood stream faster, with the hazards that could entail.

Sugar-free mixers speed gastric emptying which rapidly boosts blood alcohol levels, reported Chris Rayner, M.D., of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, Australia, in a presentation at Digestive Disease Week sessions here.

Dr. Rayner and colleagues measured gastric emptying and blood alcohol in eight healthy male volunteers.

The men, who were tested after fasting, consumed vodka mixed with orange juice on one day and vodka mixed with a sugar-free orange-flavored drink on another day. In each case the drink contained 30 g of ethanol, which was the equivalent of about three mixed drinks.

"Both the peak blood ethanol concentration and the area under the blood ethanol concentration curve between baseline and 180 minutes was significantly higher (P<0.001) when the men consumed vodka mixed with the diet drinks," Dr. Rayner said.

The mean gastric emptying time was 21.1 minutes when vodka was mixed with the diet drink versus 36.3 minutes when vodka was mixed with a regular mixer (P<0.01).

It was "really surprising what a marked difference we observed," he said. "In all cases the men's blood alcohol concentrations reached levels that would be considered beyond legal limits when they consumed the diet drinks."

Lee M. Kaplan, M.D., Ph.D of Massachusetts General Hospital commented that the findings are preliminary. Moreover, Dr. Kaplan pointed out that the study volunteers were all men, which is significant because men metabolize alcohol differently than women.

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INNACCURATE BREATH TESTERS PROMPT CONSUMER REFUNDS
Herald Salinas Bureau

If you've been depending on a breath analyzer from Sharper Image to tell you if you're too drunk to drive, your trust has been misplaced -- but you may be in for some money.

Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo announced Friday that his office has reached a settlement with the Sharper Image Corp. for falsely advertising the accuracy of a line of breath analyzers. Under the terms of the settlement, the corporation will pay a $100,000 penalty and reimburse consumers who purchased the devices, a restitution that could amount to $1.2 million.

The case involved Sharper Image's advertising and sales of a digital breath alcohol tester. Marketed under the model numbers BT 300, BT 301 and BT 302, the devices were said to be "accurate to .001 percent blood-alcohol level."

The case was initiated by the San Diego city attorney's consumer protection unit after a city employee compared the device's results to a breath tester used by the San Diego Police Department during a training program. According to the complaint, joined by the District Attorney's Office, the device was not accurate.

Without admitting wrongdoing, Sharper Image has agreed to stop selling the $100 devices and to give full refunds to any California consumer who purchased one. The company has agreed to write to those who purchased them, or consumers can contact Sharper Image directly.

Authorities have no knowledge of any injuries caused by the use of the breath tester, but recommend that people stop using them and not rely on those or similar devices when considering driving or other dangerous activities.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said it is increasingly common for consumer protection units throughout the state to cooperate on cases such as this. The teams post electronic bulletins and meet monthly throughout the state to keep up on work other units are doing that might apply in their jurisdictions.

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