Alcohol Poisoning

An 18-year-old Oxnard College student who went drinking with friends and relatives in Santa Barbara died from acute alcohol intoxication early Sunday, Ventura County officials reported Monday. Edward A. J. Gomez was found unconscious on the living-room floor of his cousin's Ventura apartment about 6 a.m. Sunday, five hours after returning from Santa Barbara, said James Baroni, senior deputy coroner. Relatives told police and coroner's officials that Gomez had consumed numerous beers during the evening and had vomited after arriving at his cousin's home.

A fraternity was permanently banned from Cal State Chico after an underage pledge died of alcohol poisoning, university officials said. A university investigation found that Pi Kappa Phi violated state laws and its own constitution by providing Adrian Heideman, 18, of Palo Alto with alcohol, said Rick Rees, associate director of student activities at Cal State Chico. Heideman, a freshman, died Oct. 7 during a party after he tried to drink a bottle of brandy.

In a strong statement against drinking and hazing, San Diego State University on Monday expelled two fraternities for recent incidents in which underage pledges were forced to drink to excess and became sick. Two pledges were taken to a hospital for alcohol poisoning. "This behavior will not be tolerated," said Jim Kitchen, San Diego State vice president for student affairs, in announcing the expulsion of Beta Theta Pi and Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternities.

In an aggressive exercise of Native American political jurisdiction, the powerful Yakama Nation in central Washington state has adopted a comprehensive alcohol ban that threatens to shut down taverns and liquor stores in three towns inside the reservation--where non-Indian residents have vowed a fight.

Having a few too many drinks can mean more than just a blackout or a bad hangover. People who engage in binge drinking--some without even realizing it--are courting danger, experts warn. Binge drinking is most common at colleges and universities, where many young adults treat drinking to excess as a rite of passage. "Binge drinking is a problem on every campus," said Joe Kertes, vice president and dean of students at Chapman University in Orange.

Coroner's officials Monday said a 20-year-old Cal Lutheran University student found dead in his dorm room in late April died from an accidental overdose of alcohol in combination with GHB, a central nervous system depressant sometimes used by bodybuilders and popular at dance clubs. This is the first GHB-related death in Ventura County, said Jim Wingate, the county's chief deputy coroner. The combination of alcohol and the drug is most likely what killed Kyle Hagmann, he said.

Two members of a North Hollywood alcohol rehabilitation center accused of killing a patient by force-feeding him alcohol as "aversion therapy" were sentenced Monday to one year in prison plus two more years probation after they pleaded no contest earlier this month to involuntary manslaughter charges.

A man who authorities alleged died after being tied up and force-fed alcohol at an unlicensed clinic in fact died of chronic liver disease and had no alcohol in his system, a coroner's report shows. The finding is troublesome for prosecutors, who have charged four men with involuntary manslaughter and false imprisonment in the May death of Enrique Bravo at Grupo Liberacion y Fortaleza in North Hollywood, a clinic that used alcohol aversion therapy.

As the known number of unlicensed alcohol and drug rehab centers of the "aversion therapy" type under investigation in at least four deaths grew past 50 Friday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors scheduled a hearing on the centers.