Pharmacokinetic analyses using absorption kinetics in low-alcohol dose cases of drunken driving

•Widmark's formula may not be applicable to analyzing a low-alcohol dose case of drunken driving.•First-order absorption kinetic model is thought to be suitable and useful for medicolegal practice.•Further study of the estimation of the time-course of blood and breath alcohol concentration is essential.

In Japan, low-alcohol dose cases of drunken driving, where drivers drink just before getting behind the wheel, are increasing for expert witnesses since the penalties for drunken driving have become stricter. Widmark's equation has generally been used for the pharmacokinetic analysis of blood alcohol concentration, which encompasses the one-compartment model with zero-order elimination kinetics but ignores absorption kinetics. We therefore propose that the formula might not be applicable to the analysis of low-alcohol dose cases of drunken driving because the issue is focused on the absorption phase. In this paper, we present two representative low-alcohol dose cases, which were analyzed using the one-compartment model with first-order absorption and zero-order elimination kinetics. This formula is thought to be more suitable and useful for medicolegal practice than Widmark's formula.

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