In May 1974, Elaine Murphy – now Baroness Murphy – joined with John Murphy in submitting a hoax letter to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), which often publishes correspondence from doctors about unusual cases.

Their letter was in response to a doctor's missive about a condition called "guitar nipple."

It described a painful irritation among three young classical-guitar players, which happened when the edge of the guitar was pressed against the breast and eventually inflamed a nipple.

"We thought it highly likely to be a spoof, and decided to go one further by submitting a similar phenomenon in cellists," Murphy and Murphy admit in the latest issue of the BMJ.

"Anyone who has ever watched a cello being played would realise the physical impossibility of our claim. Somewhat to our astonishment, the letter was published."

Baroness Murphy is a former professor at Guy's and St Thomas's hospital in London and is a member of an oversight board of Britain's National Health Service (NHS). She was made a life peer in 2004, and is active on mental health and ageing issues in the House of Lords.