A driver charged by police for being drunk at the wheel has been found to have a bizarre medical condition that caused his stomach to brew his own beer.
The unnamed 46-year-old was taken to hospital under arrest after telling police in North Carolina he had not been drinking.
The man refused to take a breathalyser test.
Tests showed he had drunk the equivalent of 10 alcoholic beverages.
He told medics he had been experiencing uncharacteristic personality changes for the past three years, including depression, confusion, memory loss and aggressive behaviour.
The builder has now been diagnosed with the auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) whereby the stomach contains so much yeast he was making his own in-house brew.
Researchers from Richmond University Medical Centre in New York, who detailed his case in BMJ Open Gastroenterology, said: "The hospital personnel and police refused to believe him when he repeatedly denied alcohol ingestion."
The breakthrough in his diagnosis came after the man’s aunt said she had heard about another similar case in Ohio and persuaded him to visit the clinic there for treatment.
Auto-brewery syndrome, also known as gut fermentation syndrome, is caused when ingested carbohydrates are converted to alcohol by fungi in the gastrointestinal tract.
Dr Fahad Malik, a gastroenterologist at Richmond University who treated the man, said that it's thought a course of antibiotics triggered his ABS he was prescribed at the time.
He said: "He was extremely happy when he started to recover because, for years, no one believed him.
"The police, doctors, nurses and even his family told him he wasn't telling the truth, that he must be a closet-drinker.
"Now he is off antidepressants, he's back at work and he's finally getting on with his life."
