In April 2022, Belgian patrol officers conducting a routine roadside check smelled a suspicious odor from a stopped driver. After requesting a breathalyzer, they were stunned by the result: 0,91 mg/l of alcohol in their breath, which was four times the legal limit of 0,22 mg/l.
The man was fined, deprived of his license and sent to trial. The litigation lasted two years, but in the end the driver managed to achieve an acquittal.
It turned out that the man suffers from autobrewery syndrome, a rare genetic disease in which ethanol is formed in the human intestines due to endogenous fermentation. According to the lawyer, 20 people in the world have been officially diagnosed, but the real number could be much higher.
This case may set a precedent for other people with autobrewery syndrome. However, it is worth noting that in order to be acquitted in court, he had to undergo a series of examinations that confirmed the presence of the disease.
Treatment for autobrewery syndrome is possible. There is a known case, described in BMJ Open Gastroenterology, when an American who suffered from this disease for 10 years got rid of it after a course of antifungal drugs and probiotics. This is reported by vokrugsveta.ru.
