An Austrian tabloid recently published the following remedy to
"relieve rheumatic pain" in its Healthy Living
column:
"Freshly grated horseradish can help to reduce the pain
caused by rheumatism. The affected areas are first rubbed with
vegetable oil or lard, then the grated horseradish is placed on top
and pressed. This can be left on for two to five hours before being
removed."
The claimant in a subsequent lawsuit followed the remedy, and
left the compression on for three hours. The result was,
unfortunately, an extremely painful toxic contact reaction. As it
turned out, two to five hours is far too long; it should have read
"two to five minutes".
The media owner's defence against the damages claim was that
the article had been provided by the "Herbal Priest,"
("Kräuterpfarrer"), an expert in the field
of herbal remedies, with several books and numerous further
publications to his credit, and that in publishing the purported
remedy, it had not acted
