Hungover People Are Legally Ill, Proclaims German Court

Yet another reason for booze lovers to rejoice, hangovers are now considered an illness, legally. In a case held against the manufacturers of an anti-hangover drink, a German court has now ruled hangovers are an “Illness”.

The ruling comes just days after the nation’s Oktoberfest celebrations kicked off in Munich.

Frankfurt’s state court has announced that the firm’s marketing has violated the ban on claiming that food/beverage products could potentially treat or heal illnesses. And it also rejected an appeal against a lower court’s verdict.

According to the judges, an illness should be defined broadly in the interest of protecting people’s health and the term “illness” would include even the slightest or temporary disruption of the body’s normal state (which would include all the symptoms pertaining to hangovers including headaches, tiredness, and nausea).

"Information about a food product cannot ascribe any properties for preventing, treating or healing a human illness or give the impression of such a property,” said the court in a statement. "By an illness, one should understand even small or temporary disruptions to the normal state or normal activity of the body," it added.

The court which ruled hangovers as illness said that they do not occur as a part of the natural ‘ups and downs’ of the body but happens during alcohol consumption, which is harmful. The court also ruled that the company (whose name wasn’t mentioned) cannot claim that their products could cure hangovers. Though the Frankfurt upper court’s decision can be appealed, there aren’t any other details known pertaining to the case, beyond the ruling. Both the company that manufactures the hangover-fighting product and the consumer who filed the case remain unidentified.

Although there isn’t any cure for hangovers, they can be managed effectively. According to The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, there is no way to kill a hangover and the only possible way to prevent one is to not get drunk in the first place.

But we can still hope that hangovers can be managed. Consuming foods enriched with Vitamin A, Zinc and potassium can help replace the nutrient loss due caused due to alcohol consumption. And to cope up with dehydration, drinking plenty of water or coconut water the next day can help.