Good news — you don’t have to feel guilty next time you call out sick from work with a hangover. According to a German court, hangovers are a legitimate medical condition.
While that may be good for hungover German employees, it’s bad news for the makers of an anti-hangover drink the court ruled against. According to BBC, the unnamed company was taken to court in Frankfurt over accusations of making false and illegal claims about the health qualities of its products.
It is illegal for food and drink products to be marketed as treatment for illnesses, which, according to the court that ruled against the hangover cure company, includes hangovers.
“By an illness, one should understand even small or temporary disruptions to the normal state or normal activity of the body,” the court said in its decision, noting that common hangover symptoms such as nausea, tiredness and headaches constitute such bodily disruptions.
“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,” the court concluded.
So while you can’t legally peddle your go-to hangover cure as a food product, it looks like you can take a guilt-free sick day after a night of heavy drinking in Germany. That’s good news, too, considering Oktoberfest just kicked off in Munich.
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