A young man, aged 26 and struggling with alcoholism, resorted to stealing multiple bottles of hand sanitizer in order to satisfy his addiction by consuming the alcohol content within.

The unnamed patient, from France, visited his local emergency room complaining of severe abdominal pain. 

Despite a normal exam and receiving pain medications, the patient continued to claim his pain had not subsided and he grew agitated.

Despite undergoing several tests and consultations with various doctors, no conclusive issue was identified with the man. It was only when his roommate confided in a nurse that the patient had been stealing and drinking hand sanitizer throughout his hospitalization that the truth came to light.

Doctors found several bottles of sanitizer in his bag, of which about 1.5 were consumed. 

The man eventually confessed that he had been feigning symptoms to obtain the sanitizer, which typically contains around 80 percent pure alcohol, as he was experiencing withdrawal effects due to his dependency on alcohol.

When the patient first arrived in the ER, doctors wrote he was irritated and ‘sometimes verbally aggressive.’

They noted that his abdominal exam and vitals were normal, though he had ‘general poor hygiene’ and a slightly elevated heart rate. 

He was given several IV medications, including morphine for pain, though he remained agitated. When the patient continued to complain of pain, additional doctors sent him for a scan of his abdomen, which did not reveal any potential cause for his pain, but rather showed he had a fatty liver, which is often a sign of alcohol use disorder.

His blood tests showed slightly elevated liver enzymes, a sign of liver damage or inflammation. 

Shortly after the tests, the patient’s roommate spilled the news about the hand sanitizer. Hospital staff found seven 16-ounce bottles in his bag, and about one and a half had been consumed in roughly four to six hours. 

Further blood tests revealed the patient’s blood alcohol level was 0.2 percent, or two and a half times the legal limit. 

The doctors said this hand sanitizer contains 80 percent alcohol. A can of beer is just five percent. This means that the one and a half bottles this patient drank is the equivalent of 24 drinks.  

The patient admitted that he had been drinking the sanitizer to ease his alcohol withdrawal symptoms. 

The patient’s medical team warned alcoholics can become so desperate that they display bizarre alcohol-seeking behaviors to get a fix. 

Each bottle contained about 16 times more pure alcohol than the average beer. 

Doctors who treated the patient warned of an increase in such incidents, as the Covid pandemic made hand sanitizer more widely available, particularly in hospitals.  

‘Hand sanitizers are in no doubt essential tools to fight infection, protecting both the user and others,’ the physicians wrote.

‘It is a major challenge to ensure the safety of alcoholic patients inside the ED while maintaining a good hand hygiene policy.’

For instance, one study found calls to poison control centers have increased by 79 percent since the start of the pandemic. 

And deaths from excessive alcohol use jumped 29 percent from 2020 to 2021 compared to 2016 to 2017, according to the CDC’s latest data available.  

‘With the increased production and availability of hand sanitizer, there has been an increase in their abuse for intoxication cases, and physicians and staff should always be alert to prevent abuse,’ the doctors wrote.

The team also called for more sanitizer dispensers that are securely fastened to walls and monitored by staff. They also warned that substance abusers ‘tend to be manipulative.’ 

The National Capital Poison Center warns that ingesting hand sanitizer can slow heart rate and breathing, possibly placing patients into a coma. It has also been shown to lead to liver and kidney damage. 

The agency recommends calling your local poison control center immediately if you ingest hand sanitizer. 

Doctors gave the patient fluids and infusions of vitamins B1, B3, and B6 to reduce the toxicity from the alcohol and hydrate him. He was admitted to the hospital under observation for 24 hours.

When he was discharged, he was referred to addiction specialists.

The case was published in the American Journal of Case Reports.