Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Apr 20;16(4):e58650.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.58650. eCollection 2024 Apr.

Severe Ethanol Poisoning Among United States College Fraternity Pledges

Todd S Ing  1 , Armen Sam  2 , Hon-Lok Tang  3 , Keith K Lau  4
Affiliations
Review

Severe Ethanol Poisoning Among United States College Fraternity Pledges

Todd S Ing et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Hazing is a longstanding tradition in university and college fraternities. This practice often uses alcohol as a penalty during hazing rituals, resulting in severe ethanol poisoning and even death among pledges. Typically, the serum ethanol levels in these poisoned students are extremely high. Preventing severe ethanol poisoning is crucial, and can be achieved through education about the harms of these hazing activities. Hemodialysis is an effective treatment for severe ethanol poisoning as it removes the excess alcohol in a timely manner.

Keywords: ethanol; hazing; hemodialysis; pledgers; poisoning.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Anonymous Anonymous. Reader's Digest. White Plains, NY: Trusted Media Brands, Inc.; 2022. An Alcoholic’s Letter To His Son; pp. 167–172.
    1. Kleinschmidt KC. Haddad and Winchester's Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose, Fourth Edition. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders; 2007. Ethanol; pp. 589–604.
    1. Illinois Rules of the Road Workbook. [ Feb; 2024 ]. 2021. https://www.ilsos.gov/publications/pdf_publications/dsd_ds9.pdf https://www.ilsos.gov/publications/pdf_publications/dsd_ds9.pdf
    1. The rate and kinetic order of ethanol elimination. Winek CL, Murphy KL. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0379073884901890. Forensic Sci Int. 1984;25:159–166. - PubMed
    1. Acute hemodialysis for the treatment of severe ethanol intoxication. Driscoll D, Bleecker G, Francis J, Jaberi A. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590059520301862. Kidney Med. 2020;2:793–796. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources