The death of a 22-year-old MSU student and member of the Alpha Gamma Rho faternity was ruled as accidental, according to federal officials last Wednesday. Earlier in the evening, Brian McMillen was drinking with his faternity brothers and friends later carried an incapacitated McMillen upstairs to a couch.
Later in the evening, Brian’s roommate found him unresponsive on the couch and immediately called 911 at about 5:40 a.m. Brian was taken to Sparrow Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. According to Ingham County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Dean Sienko, Brian’s blood-alcohol level was .35 percent and other tests showed that it was at .39 previously. In Michigan, a blood-alcohol level of .08 is considered grounds for a drunk-driving charge.
Sienko ruled the cause of death as alcohol poisoning and warned that someone who is in that type of condition after excessive drinking should seek medical attention immediately. According to the Gordie Foundation, binge drinking by 18 to 24 year-olds contributes to an estimated 1,700 deaths annually.
