A New Brunswick woman with a serious respiratory disease says she has been wrongfully charged with refusing to take a breathalyzer test because she is physically unable to complete it.

Connie McLean, 64, was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease about three years ago. The condition leaves her with about 46 per cent lung capacity, roughly the same as an 87-year-old, she says.

On March 2, McLean said she was on the road about four hours after having a single beer with dinner. An RCMP officer pulled her over and asked if she had anything to drink.

“I told him I had a beer before supper, and then he said, ‘Well let's just see if it's gone through,’” McLean told CTV Atlantic.

McLean says she tried the breathalyzer about seven times and could not blow long enough for the device to register.

“I tried to use it and I couldn't do it,” she said. “I told him I was trying, but he said: ‘You're not trying, you're not trying.’”

McLean says she was not given another option and was charged with refusing to take the test. Her driver’s licence has been suspended for three months and her vehicle has been impounded.

The New Brunswick Lung Association is calling for the wording to be changed so it isn’t considered a refusal if you can’t complete the test

“You either fail to comply…or you fail the test. Well, in this case you can have a person who’s more than willing to try but cannot breathe long enough into the machine,” said Barbara Walls, director of Health Promotion for the New Brunswick Lung Association.

McLean is planning to fight the charge when the case heads to court in May.

The New Brunswick Department of Public Safety deferred any comment on the matter to the RCMP. The RCMP declined to comment while the case is before the courts.

With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore