Court verdict: alcohol hangover is a disease

Those who are hungover feel bad. That much is clear. But is he sick too? This question was quarreled before the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt.

The procedure involved dietary supplements, which according to the manufacturer can prevent or relieve a hangover. Whether this form of advertising is allowed depends on whether you classify the hangover as a disease or not.

The OLG now ruled that the cat is a disease (Az 6 U 114/18). The decision is not final.

"Information about a food must not attribute to it any properties of prevention, treatment or cure of a human disease or give rise to the impression of this property," emphasizes the Higher Regional Court with reference to provisions of the Food Information Regulation.

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Not relevant, if a medical treatment is necessary

In advertising, the hangover is described with symptoms such as tiredness, nausea and headache. Such symptoms would be beyond the natural range of variation of the human body. "They do not occur as a result of the natural 'up and down' of the body, but because of the consumption of alcohol, a harmful substance, a," said the Higher Regional Court. It is not relevant that the symptoms disappear regularly and no medical treatment is necessary.

It is an interest of health protection to interpret the term disease broadly. "Illness is any, so even a minor or temporary disorder of the normal nature or normal activity of the body to understand," said the Higher Regional Court.

Before the court, a club had sued the advertising claims of the manufacturer of an "anti-hangover drink". After the district court of Frankfurt allowed the action, the OLG confirmed this decision on appeal.