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Subscribe to RSSA company that markets massive parties encouraging young to drink until they black out is under fire in New York.
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Binge drinking — considered a rite of passage by many college kids — costs the health care system half a million dollars in blackout-related emergency room visits each year at the average large university, newly published research indicates.
 M. Alex Johnson is a reporter for msnbc.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. |
The report, by researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, extrapolated the cost by studying college students who were "problem alcohol users" over a two-year period.
A blackout — the inability to recall events without a full loss of consciousness — means sufferers can walk, talk, drive or have sex but can't remember any of it — creating a greater risk for car crashes, other accidents, unwanted pregnancy and STDs.
Just this month, nine young people ended up in a New York hospital for alcohol poisoning after a "barstool blackout party" marketed as being "by the C-student, for the C-student," NBC station WNBC reported.
NBCNewYork.com: 'Blackout' party blasted as 9 hospitalized
BodyOdd: New study explains why some drinkers black out
Forty-four percent of college students engage in binge drinking at one time or another, previous research indicates. For the first time, the University of Wisconsin researchers tabulated the direct financial costs of blackouts among college students who are problem alcohol users.
In a report published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs, Marlon P. Mundt and Larissa I. Zakletskaia surveyed nearly a thousand students at five universities — four in the U.S. and one in Canada.
The students were all identified as problem drinkers and about half had experienced an alcohol-induced blackout in the year preceding the study.
During the two-year study, 30 percent of the men and 27 percent of the women visited the emergency department at least once, some with major injuries like broken bones and head or brain trauma. Of the 404 emergency department visits reported by 954 participants in the study, about one in eight were associated with blackout drinking, the researchers found.
Using federal figures on the average cost of ambulance-assisted emergency room visits, Mundt and Zakletskaia calculated that blackouts create $469,000 to $546,000 in direct medical expenses a year at the average large university (that is, one with 40,000 or more students). That, in turn, strains the health care system and drives up insurance rates.
The results were consistent across students' age levels and — "in spite of the fact that the women in the study drank 30 percent less alcohol than the men" — gender, the report said.
The findings are especially pertinent now as thousands of students flock to Florida, Texas and Arizona on spring break.
"The problem we run into on spring break is that people really load up on alcohol very, very quickly before it's really had a chance to kick in," said Dr. Kevin Kulow of Gulf Coast Medical Center in Panama City, Fla.
"When you down a dozen Jello shots in the space of 30 minutes, that alcohol is going to hit you all at once, and you can really load up and get a stomach full of alcohol before it's really absorbed," Kulow told NBC station WJHG of Panama City.
"When it really hits you, it comes on like a ton of bricks," he said.
Mundt and Zakletskaia called binge drinking that can lead to a blackout (usually defined as drinking five or more alcoholic drinks by men or four by women during one occasion) "a pervasive public health problem" among college students. They said their research could point the way to better public service efforts to reduce heavy drinking by students.
"Fifty percent of college students who drink report alcohol-induced blackouts, and alcohol abusers in general put a heavy burden on the medical care system," they wrote, concluding:
"In our cost estimate, potentially close to half a million dollars could be saved in emergency department utilization costs on a large university campus each year if interventions targeting blackout sufferers were successful."
NBC station WJHG of Panama City, Fla., contributed to this report.
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Who came up with this term "binge-drinking"? When I was in school it was called "gettin' drunk once in a while".
Yep. Now they call it binge drinking. When I was in college, we called it "weekends". And the cost would rise to billions if they included bail and car repairs in the equation.
A few hundred thousand dollars? In this day and age, that's a mere pittance barely worthy of mention. Yet, for some inane reason, MSNBC thinks this tripe is newsworthy.
Lower the drinking age and let kids learn how to drink before they're free from their parents for the first time. I guarantee you so-called binge drinking incidents would happen less.
It's like a game show question:
"College binge drinking blackouts cost hundreds of thousands a year":
1. Their dignity
2. The walk of shame in the morning
3. Their book money
4. Another semester of college
5. A trip to a clinic to take care of the evening's results
The problem with America is the attitude towards drinking.If it werent considered so taboo, there would not be a problem. I look at Europe and they dont seem to have this issues. Kids growing up drinking wine or beer at dinner and there is less of a problem. I cracked up when they said more than 4 or 5 drinks can cause a black out. A hell of a lot more can cause a blackout. THese researchers consider 4 or 5 drinks binging. This is not even realistic and I doubt any of these researchers have ever had a drink or are not social drinkers at all. I went to college, partied hard, and I mean hard. I went to Ohio University. I graduated in 4 years, with my degree, according to them when I do go out Im a binge drinker. I go out 2 or 3 times a month. Im 48 years old.. This is why the research falls on deaf ears. Lets get realistic and send a message that will be received.
Britain thought the same way about alcohol and the relationship their youth had with it. Even though their laws are laxer, they looked to the Continent for a model. Then, just a few years ago, they adopted 24 hour licensing and made liquor available in off-licenses on Sundays etc. The result was not a mature "cafe culture" like in France. The result was drunken mayhem worse than we have here. Unfortunately, the Continental European attitude towards alcohol, sex and drugs (ala Amsterdam) does not transfer over to Anglo-Saxon societies. 25 years ago (when I was in College) we also did not have young women "woohoo-ing" and outdrinking the men. I studied in Britain and here in the U.S., and I thought that I partied like a rock star. It was actually pretty tame in retrospect.
Ban jello!
Binge drinking accidents at colleges costs money!!!? Where do they get this kind of information? <sarcasm>
Why is it costing the health care system? Are the kids being given free trips to the emergency room and provided free medical tratment?
Of course not. The kids get the free ride; the parents get the bill.
As a prior college student; that about sums it up. Guy passes out, friends can't wake him, friends freak out and drive him the the ER or call 911 to a location away from the party. Kids not covered by health care get service anyway since it's required for an ER to assist those that are in "medical need". Tax dollars at work.
Im not sure why the think taxpayers are paying. This most colleges require that you buy their insurance and for the rest the parents continue to cover them. My daughter was forced to buy this insurance until she graduated. These kids are sending the bill to mommy and daddy.
Let's get drunk! Woo hoo!
Sad
College kids drinkin??? Shocked! I am SHOCKED, I say! Seriously, so freaking what! It's part of growing up. Leave the kids alone, so long as they're not driving afterwards!!
Wow who would of thought there would be health concerns with alcohol? The worst drug you can put in your body.
its not a drug....that's bs. everything has its place. Just seems ignorance has a bigger place in america today than ever before.
not a drug?? are you kidding?? what the heck do you think it is? Vitamins? Sounds like you need to curb your drug use.
Like everything else is moderation, however this has been going on for years at colleges. If we had a healthier and less puritan attitude towards alcohol, we would not see these issues. Now researchers have run out of real projects and are going after the alcohol industry because of the money. Research real issues, cancer, drug interactions, poisons being put in our food...
It saddens me to see so many comments saying so what to college binge drinking. I am a college student, and i have binge drank a time or two, however it wasnt until my best friend looked like she was dying that it made me stop. She had alcohol poisoning and it was really bad. For those of you saying so what to it, it is serious. If you got a phone call one day or night saying your college age kid died because of binge drinking how would you feel? I think that before everyone just shrugs this article off, you should actually think about the effects of binge drinking, especially in the cases of alcohol poisoning and blacking out.
The effects are a fun college experience. Let loose a little bit, it might help you get out there a little more.
Rachel its called responsibility for your actions. It was irresponsible for your roommate to have drank that much liquor to get to that point. We had rule in college, we were responsible for each other and if someone was out of control, we went home to protect them.We never let anyone drink that much or leave alone.We did not care how much you cussed at us and we knew our limits. Not every college student gets alcohol poisoning, few do and the ones I know who did had issues before the incident. Her failure to control her actions may impact you but the way you are saying it sounds like you were doing the same thing or did not step in. That is a different conversation.
It upsets me that Teenagers get involved with something as stupid and detrimental as this. I have two grandchildren in college, one I know smokes weed, the other one seems to be pretty straight.
I did all I could to let my Grannies know that to be part of a crowd, you don't sell your soul to be liked; being a loner, hooking up with good kids is your objective, that also requires STRENGTH!
I rather be called a NERD any day, than to visit my child in a hospital from trying to PLEASE their Peers. this Peer pressure is just sad, and STUPID, and WEAK, for kids you have NO COURAGE!
There are SMART and WISE kids on Campus, find them and hang out with them! Those Binge Drinkers are nothing but LOSER'S, that LOOK STUPID, and don't have a brain on their shoulder's! How they got in college, is the BIG QUESTION!
Of course it is upsetting, but unfotunately strength of character and abstemiousness are not requirements for what passes for success in this country. I can offer a very long list of presidents, legislators, business leaders and celebrities as proof.
i dont drink and i wont until im 21. not all college kids are dumbasses thank you very much
Do yourself a favor--don't start at all. I didn't take my first drink until I was in my middle 30's--sorry I ever did...
You probably should never start. Judging from the way you type, you don't seem to have many brain cells to spare.
Chris, you are rude. There are many college students who don't drink. It shows that they are smart enough to obey the law (even if they don't like it) and that they care about their health.
You
do your best, You turn them loose, you hope they don't die. It's not fair to
get mad at them for doing the same stupid stuff that we did. All you can do is
offer advice. If you tell them they can't...they always will. As it stands now
we treat them with such inconsistency that I am surprised they listen to us at
all. "Sure you can join up! Here's an M4 and a box of grenades. But if you
try to have a drink you'll get a time out! Go to school and hurry up so you can
yoke yourself up to the same miserable, Sisyphean stone that I pull.” If they
are lucky, they’ll have some fun before they get here.
Dang! Where did that darkness come from? Think I need a drink.
And how many emergency room visits do they get from marijuana poisoning? Yet getting drunk to the point you pass out and possibly gang raped (for girls) by the local football team or dying of alcohol poisoning is considered a "right of passage". While sitting around smoking a joint and watching a movie with friends is considered a crime.
Half a million?
That's it?
The average cost per emergency room visit in the US is in the ballpark of $1000.
You mean to tell me that there were only 500 college kids who drank themselves into the hospital last year? Nah. I think someone did their math wrong.
Hundreds of thousands?! Cheap! It is a good time for the kids and obviously they can learn something from it. Don't always believe that you have to be "wasted" to have a good time. And the term "blackout"...meaning what ? Drink until you black out"...OR... "The fun starts when the lights are blacked out and the light show starts"? Better at the Paramount than at a NASCAR race wasted and getting into a car to drive home thinking they are the next Dale Ernhart or whoever is the great thing today. Out of the 9 to the emergency rooms the important thing is "How many of those 9 LEARNED something"! Prohibition cost the USA tens of billions of dollars. Maybe that is next! POOR REPORTING AND NOT BALANCED...JUST SENSATIONAL. DISAPPOINTED
@Chris 62... I was thinking the same thing. Very low. I can only remember one person going to the hospital during my younger years, but plenty of people passed out drunk
Viva La Stool
College students drink alcohol? Doesn't that interfere with their studies?
Drink for pleasure, not for pain. Why drink so much so fast that you really only enjoy it for an hour and then spend the next 24 recovering from the effects of it?
In the olden days, if someone was "dead drunk" you didn't bother taking them to the hospital or trying to wake them. You just made sure they didn't suffocate on their own vomit and left them to sleep if off. Fortunately that extreme never happened to me. However, I can offer this bit of advice, after one particularly nasty evening praying to the porcelain god ('twas the fall of '96 as I recall):
Rum and Cokes do not mix with chocolate fondue desserts. Ever! Believe it or face the consequences.
the cause......age discrimination prohibition. Young men and women are not allowed to drink until their 21. think about that. They can have sex, work at a job, even defend and die for our country....but dont let them have any fun.....so what happens. They go crazy. Legalize and educate. Parents should be the first to get their kids drunk so they can help them learn how not to over do it. but then....its america....parents want the government to do everything.
I went to college in the dark ages, when the drinking age in most states was 18. Loads of kids got smashed regularly then. I don't think it is any worse now.
ps my college held a freshman mixer on campus, free unlimited beer!! So if it seems worse now, it is because the colleges themselves were involved and didn't report binge drinking.
Maybe they should rename the parties the "Barstool Blackout and Date Rape Tour." Not making a joke, because unfortunately, these sorts of things are directly related to marked increases in sexual assault.
But how much income does it generate for booze companies, stores, waiters, bars, etc.?
And by the way, most college students are supported by their families. Why do these parents spend the money to send them to these events anyway?
Blackouts suck.
Cannabis forever!!!!