Can A Police Breath Test Give An Inaccurate Level Of Alcohol In A Thalessemia Patient?

Posted on Fri, 4 May 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 4 May 2012 Answered on

Sun, 8 Jul 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : could a police breath test give an inaccurate level of alcohol reading to a b-thalessemia patient

Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (7 hours later)

Hello and thank you for somebody your question.

This is a very good question. The answer is very simple however. The police blood test for alcohol is completely independent of the red blood cell. The police blood test simply detects the level of alcohol in the circulating bloodstream.

Thalassemia has no impact on tHe reading obtained by the police blood test and the result should be interpreted as accurate.

Thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be clear and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert

Note: For detailed guidance on genetic screening consult a genetics specialist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar