Kitty Dukakis Ingested Rubbing Alcohol

Kitty Dukakis was hospitalized because she drank a small amount of rubbing alcohol and experienced a “severe reaction,” her doctor disclosed Wednesday.

Gerald Plotkin said in a statement that the wife of Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis said she swallowed the liquid “in a state of exhaustion, with flu symptoms and depression.”

He did not comment on whether or not she was knowingly trying to hurt herself.

Plotkin said the family and Mrs. Dukakis were deciding what steps to take next.

Plotkin said that Mrs. Dukakis, who had been taking anti-depressants prescribed by her psychiatrist, was “completely out of danger.” Tests indicated that no other drugs or alcoholic beverages were involved, he said.

Susan Kaplan, a spokeswoman for the governor, was asked if the incident amounted to a suicide attempt. She said: “All I can tell you is that you can read the statement.” She also would not say how much rubbing alcohol Mrs. Dukakis had ingested.

“Kitty has suffered from chemical dependency and struggled with depression for many years. These two problems often are related. Autumn has been a particularly bad season for her,” Plotkin said.

Rubbing alcohol is most commonly sold as isopropyl alcohol, according to a spokesman for the Massachusetts Poison Center at Children’s Hospital in Boston. It is more toxic than ethanol alcohol, which is in liquor, and is irritating to the stomach. But it causes the same effects as regular alcohol, and could be deadly only in very large amounts.

Mindy Lubber, another Dukakis spokeswoman, said she believed the Dukakis family had removed all alcoholic beverages from their home after Mrs. Dukakis entered a treatment program for alcoholism last February.

Mrs. Dukakis was brought by ambulance Monday night to Brigham and Women’s Hospital complaining of what a spokeswoman said were “flu-like symptoms.”

She was admitted to the intensive-care unit and underwent tests Tuesday, one year to the day after her husband lost his presidential bid. She was moved Wednesday to a private room.

The governor, who spent Monday and Tuesday with his wife and canceled all appointments, also refused comment.

The health of Mrs. Dukakis, who turns 53 on Dec. 26., is of intense interest because of a high visibility she has never avoided. Her ready disclosures about her addictions to pills and alcohol were applauded as courageous and refreshing.

During her husband’s run for the White House, Mrs. Dukakis underwent neck surgery. Then, a week before the presidential election, she entered a Minneapolis hospital suffering fever and chills.

Earlier this year, she underwent four weeks of treatment for alcoholism. She has previously admitted to a 26-year addiction to diet pills.