Health insurance IKK classified toadstool as edible

Health insurance IKK classified toadstool "greenling" as edible.

The statutory health insurance IKK made an embarrassing mistake. In her member sheet „Active and healthy“ she had classified and listed a poisonous wild mushroom as edible. This was reported by the newspaper „Westfalen-Blatt“ in her latest issue on the weekend.

Such mistakes must not happen and can endanger the health of people: The health insurance IKK classified in the issue 03/2010 of its member magazine „Active and healthy“ a poisonous mushroom as edible one. This was the green stuff (agaric). The mushroom was considered in a post „Autumn asks for a table“ classified as edible. Agaric can cause severe symptoms in some people. As possible complaints the poison center leads to: fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle pain, nausea and vomiting as well as strong sweats. If mushroom pickers notice such symptoms, a doctor should be contacted immediately.

The health insurance has already responded and published a correction to it. It says: „Our external agency has made a significant mistake that can endanger life and limb. We urge you not to collect the green stuff and not to consume“.

The fungus is also so dangerous because it can also be confused with the cone-shaped tuberous mushroom. The tuber-tree mushroom is highly poisonous and can lead to heavy liver damage and finally to the death of the patient. The poison center north reported in the past week that the requests for possible mushroom poisonings have almost doubled by the good mushroom weather. For this reason, it is advisable to obtain comprehensive information before eating collected mushrooms. If after the consumption of self-collected mushrooms complaints appear, an emergency doctor must be informed immediately. Because only a quick treatment against poisoning can provide a successful relief.

The membership sheet could have been read by about 1.6 million people. Because just as many people are covered by health insurance at the IKK. (sb, 26.09.2010)

Also read:
Mushroom poisoning increases dramatically
Naturopathy: mushrooms as medicine
Mushroom poisoning: collectors poisoned themselves in Berlin

Picture credits: Matthias Renner, description: Grünling Mushroom.