Alcohol Poisoning

Michigan football coach Gary Moeller was so intoxicated after his arrest last weekend that jail officials refused to admit him, suggesting he be taken to a hospital to check for alcohol poisoning, police reports indicate. Moeller was arrested Friday night outside the Excalibur restaurant after punching an officer in the chest. Earlier, he had harassed a waitress, bothered other restaurant patrons and challenged the manager to a fight. Moeller, 54, has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

LANCASTER - A Lancaster County woman will spend six months in prison for the alcohol-related death of a teenager who passed out on her living room floor. Norma Edkin hosted at least 15 underage drinkers at her Mountville home at a June 2010 party that led to the death of Joseph Blankenmyer, 18, authorities said. Blankenmyer died of alcohol poisoning; his blood-alcohol level was between 0.357 and 0.438 percent the night he died, authorities said. Pennsylvania's legal threshold for intoxication is 0.8 percent.

A 16-year-old Monroe Township girl returned to school yesterday after spending the weekend in a hospital being treated for severe alcohol poisoning, police said. Police found the girl unconscious on a Clementon cul-de-sac early Saturday. Tests revealed her blood-alcohol level was 0.43 percent, more than five times the state's legal limit of 0.08 percent for impairment, Clementon Police Lt. David Kunkel said. "It's a good thing someone called 911," he said. "Another couple hours lying out there and she would have been dead" of alcohol poisoning.

It happened again. A young college student, partying with his buddies during fraternity rush, drank himself to death. This time the victim was Benjamin Wynne, 20, a Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge at Louisiana State University. He had a blood alcohol level of .588 - nearly six times the limit at which a person's judgment is considered impaired. Deaths from drunkenness are relatively rare and usually involve inexperienced drinkers, medical experts said. "They get to college, and they don't know how to handle it," said Dr. Iris Reyes, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Taking aim at a collegiate tradition, Rowan University has put the kibosh on kegs. School officials yesterday announced that the silver barrels of beer would no longer be permitted at parties hosted by Rowan's 25 fraternities and sororities. The policy is effective immediately. If a fraternity or sorority is found in possession of a beer keg, the house will be fined $500. Subsequent violations carry a $1,000 fine and revocation of student organization status. Some students yesterday were skeptical about the policy's likely effectiveness.

The second of two North Philadelphia teenagers who pleaded guilty to raping a classmate as she lay dying after a day of hooky and heavy drinking was sentenced Wednesday to 6 to 12 years in prison. Shareef Clemons, 18, said nothing before Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler imposed a prison term agreed to as part of his guilty plea. Ceisler said that when Clemons gets out, he will be on five years probation and registered as a sex offender under the state "Megan's Law" for the rest of his life.

An 18-year-old foreign exchange student was hospitalized with alcohol poisoning after a party last month at the home of Jenkintown Mayor Ed Foley. Now, Montgomery County detectives are investigating allegations that the mayor knew teens were drinking at the April 15 get-together and used his office to cover it up, prosecutors said Monday. Foley, who could not be reached for comment, said through his lawyer that the accusations were baseless and that he had no knowledge of any underage drinking that might have occurred.

Four Rowan College students have been charged with furnishing alcohol to an underage person after an 18-year-old Glendora man died from excessive drinking at a party at their off-campus residence, police said. Charged with making alcohol available to persons under the legal age were Gayle DeFeo, 22, and Tara Schina, 21, both of Somerdale; and Nicole Carango, 21, and Donna Regan, 21, both of Laurel Springs. All four women attend Rowan College and reside together at the Crossings Apartments.

It was the sort of bad decision - skipping school and drinking booze - made too often by too many teenagers. Only this time, it meant that John C. Smyth would later be sitting in his South Philadelphia living room, talking about his eldest son in the past tense. John H. Smyth, 16, a sophomore at Masterman High School and an expert chess player, was found dead on Lincoln Drive in the Wissahickon section of Fairmount Park on Tuesday afternoon. After drinking shots of alcohol at a friend's house, Smyth tried to climb the steep sides of the roadway to reach a SEPTA station, police said.

MAY IS A magic time for high school seniors. The end of the academic year is clearly in view. It is the season of proms, graduation and anticipation of summer. A time of celebration and expectation before going on to more adult roles at college or in the business world. Tragically, these special times are often clouded by the use of alcohol. Young people often become sick or injured by overindulging. Even worse, deaths occur from alcohol poisoning or from driving while impaired.

No teen wants to dial 911 at the risk of cutting a party short or being labeled a "loser," but what is an underage drinker to do if a friend needs immediate medical attention? The students of the Coalition for Youth of Lower Merion and Narberth's Youth Advisory Council (YAC) answered that question with a YouTube video to educate their peers about alcohol poisoning and a new law that eliminates the disincentive for underage drinkers to make that call. "If you're underage, it takes a lot of courage to make the call and break up a party," YAC codirector Paula Singer said, explaining that youths are often worried about getting in trouble at the same time for their own behavior.

LANCASTER - A Lancaster County woman will spend six months in prison for the alcohol-related death of a teenager who passed out on her living room floor. Norma Edkin hosted at least 15 underage drinkers at her Mountville home at a June 2010 party that led to the death of Joseph Blankenmyer, 18, authorities said. Blankenmyer died of alcohol poisoning; his blood-alcohol level was between 0.357 and 0.438 percent the night he died, authorities said. Pennsylvania's legal threshold for intoxication is 0.8 percent.

Ndamukong Suh got his wish. Detroit's star defensive tackle met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his staff yesterday to clarify questions about his play and the game. "I have gained a better understanding how I need to continue to play the game to help my team win," Suh said in a statement. "I look forward to the rest of the season and doing everything we can to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Detroit. " Detroit, aiming for its first postseason appearance this century, is 6-2 for the first time since 2007 and next plays Nov. 13 at Chicago.

Amy Winehouse , who was found dead in her bed in her London home on July 23 at age 27, died of alcohol poisoning, a British coroner ruled Wednesday. Suzanne Greenaway said Winehouse had a blood alcohol level of 0.4 percent, more than five times the British drunken-driving threshold. Winehouse is thought to have resumed drinking after weeks of sobriety. Her bedroom was littered with empty vodka bottles. "The unintended consequence of such potentially fatal levels [of alcohol]

An 18-year-old foreign exchange student was hospitalized with alcohol poisoning after a party last month at the home of Jenkintown Mayor Ed Foley. Now, Montgomery County detectives are investigating allegations that the mayor knew teens were drinking at the April 15 get-together and used his office to cover it up, prosecutors said Monday. Foley, who could not be reached for comment, said through his lawyer that the accusations were baseless and that he had no knowledge of any underage drinking that might have occurred.

Saint Joseph's University confirms that a handful of students were hospitalized after drinking Four Loko, a fruit-flavored, caffeinated malt-liquor beverage. The drink has the same amount of liquor as three or more beers and as much caffeine as several cups of coffee, authorities say. "We're not talking about epidemic numbers," Cary Anderson, vice president of the Office of Student Life, said of the students taken to hospitals. He declined to give a specific number of students who are believed to have been sickened by the controversial drink, but said "we started seeing Four Loko come up as something that people had been drinking that got them to the point where they needed hospitalization.

The second of two North Philadelphia teenagers who pleaded guilty to raping a classmate as she lay dying after a day of hooky and heavy drinking was sentenced Wednesday to six to 12 years in prison. Shareef Clemons, 18, said nothing before Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler imposed a prison term agreed to as part of his plea. When Clemons gets out, he will be on five years' probation and registered as a sex offender under the state Megan's Law for the rest of his life, Ceisler said.

A young North Philadelphia man who pleaded guilty to raping a classmate as she lay unconscious and dying after a day of hooky and heavy drinking was sentenced Thursday to five to 10 years in prison. Juan Williams, 19, apologized to the judge, his family, and the families of codefendant Shareef Clemons and of the victim, 15-year-old Kierra Johnson, in a letter read by defense attorney Donald Chisholm II. Assistant District Attorney Eileen Hurley said Williams' sentence from Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler was in the "aggravated range" she had requested but she also credited Williams for pleading guilty and offering to testify against Clemons.