During the fall 2010 semester, five University of Florida students made sick from drinking too much alcohol were taken to area hospitals. The next year, five times as many students were carted off campus with alcohol-related problems. The difference was credited to the newly initiated medical amnesty program that waives discipline proceedings for students who seek medical help related to drug or alcohol abuse. “We think we save lives through that program,” said Dave Kratzer, UF vice president for student affairs during the biannual meeting of the Alcohol Coalition, a task force of university, police and city officials aiming to reduce underage and excessive drinking. Before the medical amnesty program, if a student was in bad shape, lips turning blue and breathing difficulties, friends would put that person in a back room to sleep it off rather than risk getting their friend in trouble. That fear of getting a misconduct violation led to some risky behavior, UPD Chief Linda Stump said.