Blood ethanol testing.

The justification for blood ethanol testing springs from the ubiquitous abuse of alcoholic beverages. Those dealing with patients who abuse alcohol must understand the correlations between dose, time, blood level, and behavior. Enumerated here are the strengths of various testing methods and the requisites for legally defensible testing. The challenge remains to determine blood ethanol levels in such a manner that the results are scientifically valid and legally defensible.