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5050 | Controversy stalks Nobel Peace, Literature prizes. | Controversy stalks the Nobel prizes for peace and literature in a way it rarely does for science. | true | AP Top News, International News, Norway, General News, Entertainment, Business, Nobel Prizes, Science, Europe, Donald Trump | The revamped panel at the Swedish Academy who will hand out the Nobel Literature prizes Thursday for both 2018 and 2019 would relish arguments about the winners, rather than intrigue about the #MeToo scandal that forced the institution to suspend the prize last year. And U.S. President Donald Trump has done his part to... |
23951 | On the National Animal Identification System. | "Staples voted for allowing agency to require livestock owners to ""tag"" their animals, but later said he opposes ID mandate" | mixture | Agriculture, Candidate Biography, Texas, Todd Staples, | "At a Tea Party rally in El Paso on April 15, Todd Staples, the state agriculture commissioner, beefed about the government poking where it doesn't belong. ""America's farmers and ranchers have seen firsthand just how quickly a big, intrusive government really can be,"" said Staples, a Republican who seeks re-election.... |
26591 | “Donald Trump would receive $17 million for three hotels closed for four days under Republican bill! How in the hell is this right?!” | The Senate-approved bill prohibits Trump family hotels from getting coronavirus aid from a $500 billion fund that would be set up to help businesses that incurred losses from the coronavirus. It’s possible that Trump businesses could be eligible for other types of assistance under the bill’s provisions. | false | Corporations, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "At one of President Donald Trump’s daily news conferences on the coronavirus, a reporter referenced a bill that was being debated in the Senate to provide billions of dollars in relief for state and local governments, as well as the cruise and hotel industries. ""Will you commit publicly that none of that taxpayer mon... |
7341 | Brazil’s health minister resigns after one month on the job. | Brazil’s health minister resigned Friday after less than a month on the job in a sign of continuing upheaval over how the nation should battle the coronavirus pandemic, quitting a day after President Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients. | true | Brazil, AP Top News, Health, General News, Latin America, Caribbean, Sao Paulo, Pandemics, Donald Trump, Virus Outbreak, Economy | Dr. Nelson Teich, an oncologist and health care consultant, took the job April 17 faced with the task of aligning the ministry’s actions with the president’s view that Brazil’s economy must not be destroyed by restrictions to control spread of the virus. Teich’s predecessor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, also had rejected th... |
13455 | The gun epidemic is the leading cause of death of young African-American men, more than the next nine causes put together. | "Clinton said, ""The gun epidemic is the leading cause of death of young African-American men, more than the next nine causes put together."" As long as you define ""young"" as being between the ages of 15 and 24, Clinton’s statement is accurate, according to CDC data." | true | National, Race and Ethnicity, Public Health, Guns, Hillary Clinton, | "During the first presidential debate at Hofstra University, Hillary Clinton decried gun violence, especially as it impacts young African-Americans. ""The gun epidemic is the leading cause of death of young African-American men, more than the next nine causes put together,"" she said. This is a claim Clinton has made b... |
2490 | Britain plans world's first go-ahead for '3-parent' IVF babies. | Britain is planning to become the first country in the world to offer controversial “three-parent” fertility treatments to families who want to avoid passing on incurable diseases to their children. | true | Health News | The methods, currently only at the research stage in laboratories in Britain and the United States, would for the first time involve implanting genetically modified embryos into women. Critics said the technique was ethically suspect and would eventually lead to a eugenic ‘designer baby’ market. It involves intervening... |
9301 | Drugs that activate brain stem cells may reverse multiple sclerosis | Our review team had a lively debate as to the extent to which this National Institutes of Health news release exaggerates the findings of the study it reports on. We agreed that the release waits far too long to warn readers that this exciting study of potential multiple sclerosis drugs was conducted in petri dishes an... | true | animal research,clobetasol,miconazole,NIH | While one could argue that we should give the release a pass given the early stage of the research, the drugs discussed are commercially available and it would have been easy to provide cost information. The release provides insufficient detail regarding what occurred in this study and the outcomes that were reported. ... |
29003 | A can of wasp spray is a preferable alternative to pepper spray for protection against assailants. | Is a can of wasp spray a preferable alternative to pepper spray for protection against assailants? | mixture | Crime, Crime Prevention Tips, wasp | Canisters of pepper spray (also known as “OC spray” or “oleoresin capsicum”) are a common non-lethal, self-defense product which dispense a solution containing capsaicin, a chemical typically derived from cayenne peppers: Example: [Collected via e-mail, May 2009] Wasp SprayI have a friend who is a receptionist in a c... |
11018 | Study: Cancer drug may endanger heart | The introduction of Gleevec represented a major advance in the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). This story reports on a study printed in Nature Medicine describing 10 patients who developed heart failure while taking the drug. The authors of the study suggest that this drug needs to be thoroughly evalua... | false | The story never mentions the cost of Gleevec, which is very expensive. These new reports on side effects may decrease the cost-effectiveness of the drug. Cost should not have been left out of the story. Although the main focus of the story is on new reports of toxicity from Gleevec, the story still allowed some promoti... | |
41742 | Remember after the shooting in Las Vegas, he [Trump] said, yeah, yeah we’re gonna ban the bump stocks. Did he ban the bump stocks? No. | Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand claimed President Donald Trump failed to keep his promise after a mass shooting in Las Vegas to ban bump stocks. In fact, Trump has enacted a bump stock ban, which went into effect in March. | mixture | bump stocks, gun control, gun violence, | Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand claimed President Donald Trump failed to keep his promise after a mass shooting in Las Vegas to ban bump stocks. Trump may not have moved as quickly as Gillibrand would have liked, but Trump did enact a bump stock ban, which went into effect in March.At a town hall event hosted by Fox News on Ju... |
22223 | For every 33 pregnant women that walk into a Planned Parenthood clinic, 32 receive an abortion. | Rep. Jean Schmidt says 32 of every 33 pregnant women who visit Planned Parenthood get abortions | false | Abortion, Ohio, Deficit, Federal Budget, Jean Schmidt, | "Soon after taking control of the House of Representatives, Republicans opened a new front in the abortion war by attempting to block Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal money. Federal law already prohibits tax dollars from paying for abortions, but Republicans argue that the $363 million that Planned Parenth... |
39290 | There are various rumors surrounding the events of the bombing at the April 15, 2013 Marathon in Boston, MA. At least three people have been killed and 140 people have been injured as a result of two bombs that exploded near the finish line. | Various Rumors about the Terrorist Attack at the 2013 Boston Marathon | false | 9/11 Attack on America, Crime / Police, Terrorism | Updated April 19,2013: Suspects Identified. One killed after shoot out with police. According to an April 19, 2013 article by the Associated Press the two bombing suspects were “identified by law enforcement officials and family members as Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, brothers from a Russian region near Chechnya, w... |
37852 | A photograph appears to show small schoolchildren playing alone in marked-off chalk squares drawn on playground asphalt. | ‘Striking’ Photograph of Children Playing in ‘Chalk Squares’ During Coronavirus Pandemic | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On May 12 2020, the following image of small children separated by “chalk squares” on a playground during the COVID-19 pandemic began circulating:In a caption on the above iteration, the user wrote “Their reality …😢🌈,” but did not include any contextual information about the image or the events it showed. In it, five... |
376 | U.S. ambassador says don't let farming 'smears' stop post-Brexit trade deal. | Britain should not follow the European Union’s “Museum of Agriculture” and let false concerns over U.S. farming practices get in the way of a post-Brexit trade deal, the U.S. ambassador to London said on Saturday. | true | Environment | On Thursday, the United States laid out its objectives for a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain, seeking to entirely eliminate or reduce barriers for U.S. agricultural products and streamline regulatory differences. Opponents of Brexit have argued that such a U.S. accord would open up Britain’s markets to the likes of... |
5731 | Couple asks state for quick decision about vaccination data. | A Connecticut couple seeking to stop the public release of additional information about schools’ immunization rates is asking the Department of Public Health to expedite its decision. | true | Immunizations, Health, General News, Connecticut, Bristol, Public health | Brian and Kristen Festa, of Bristol, said Saturday they asked the department for a declaratory ruling on their petition because officials plan to release additional data this month. A Superior Court judge dismissed their lawsuit in September. The couple had sought to stop the release of additional immunization informat... |
36249 | "North Carolina has banned ""sharia law." | Did North Carolina Ban Sharia Law Statewide? | mixture | Disinformation, Fact Checks | On July 29 2019, frequent Facebook disinformation purveyor Joseph Rudy Rullo posted a meme (archived here) claiming that North Carolina had banned sharia law.Above a map highlighting North Carolina, the meme read:NORTH CAROLINA HAS BANNED ISLAMIC SHARIA LAW AND REGARD IT AS CRIMINAL, AS IT SHOULD BE….LETS MAKE IT NATIO... |
32257 | The discovery of a vaccine for the autoimmune disease diabetes has been announced. | Type 2 diabetes is often referred to as “adult onset” and, depending on the severity, can in some cases be controlled with diet and lifestyle changes. It results from cells becoming resistant to the effects of insulin and is often linked to obesity. | false | Junk News, diabetes, Health Care, scams | On 18 September 2016, the English-language clickbait web site called Time for You shared an article reporting that “The vaccine against diabetes promises to be the solution for the advance of the illness and even reverses its effects.” The story cited work of two supposed Mexican scientists, Salvador Chacón Ramírez, pr... |
28929 | A Virginia lawmaker proposed a bill that mandates on-site physical examinations of children's genitals to determine which gendered bathroom they're authorized to use. | "What's true: Virginia lawmaker Mark Cole proposed controversial bill HB663, which in part requires the use of bathrooms be based on ""anatomical sex"" in public schools. What's false: Cole's proposal explicitly stated that schoolchildren would be subject to ""genital checks"" before being allowed to use restrooms." | mixture | Politics, bathroom controversies, transgender | On 12 January 2016, the web site Raw Story published an article (with the grammatically incorrect headline “Virginia GOP bill would require schools to verify children’s genitals before using the restroom) reporting that Republican Delegate Mark Cole had proposed a bill mandating that schools physically examine children... |
34317 | GlaxoSmithKline is recalling 600,000 Ventolin inhalers. | On 21 February 2018, the company announced a separate recall of certain lots of the Ventolin Accuhaler in the U.K. Once again, the cause was a manufacturing problem which led to “a small number of units not delivering the full number of doses,” according to the U.K. government’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency... | unproven | Inboxer Rebellion, FDA, product recalls, safety recalls | Hundreds of thousands of Facebook users in February 2018 shared an article warning that the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline had issued a massive recall of Ventolin inhalers, an essential medicine for many people with asthma. The post. by TodayViral.News, was a hoax. It rehashed an actual Ventolin recall which to... |
10135 | Acupuncture May Help Restore Lost Sense of Smell | How journalism has changed – when a journalist gets a byline and a paycheck for a meager rewrite of a news release. In the daily drumbeat of news like this – a study of 15 people – we drown the audience with a firehose of incomplete information. And HealthDay’s client, BusinessWeek, picked up the story as is and republ... | false | "No discussion of costs. Again, because the scope of the benefits (how improved smell function was measured) was not explained, it’s almost meaningless to say that there was improvement in 8 people in the acupuncture group. How much improvement? How significant was the improvement? And how limited is the conclusion one... | |
22138 | "Benzene has ""never been proven to be harmful." | State Rep. Rick Hardcastle says benzene has never been proven to be harmful | false | Environment, Texas, Rick Hardcastle, | "During House debate, state Rep. Rick Hardcastle brushed off a colleague’s concerns about benzene emissions near Texas schools. ""Are you aware benzene is also a compound in soap?"" Hardcastle said April 28. ""Found at every car wash in this state — and several other industries in this state? And it’s never been proven... |
6554 | Measles cases confirmed in Vancouver and Portland. | Authorities in Vancouver, Washington, have confirmed a case of measles in a child while the Oregon Health Authority has confirmed a separate measles case in Portland, Oregon. | true | Health, Washington, The Dalles, Vancouver, Oregon, Measles, Portland | Clark County Public Health says people who visited PeaceHealth Urgent Care - Memorial in Vancouver in the afternoon Dec. 31 may have been exposed. The Oregon Health Authority said a measles case was confirmed in a person who spent time in The Dalles and Hood River. People in The Dalles may have been exposed Dec. 29 at ... |
26554 | “We were slow with the testing, but very quick with the travel ban. And that's been much more critical in saving lives.” | When the Trump administration had imposed restrictions on people traveling from China or Europe to the United States, the virus had already reached communities across the country. Travel restrictions can buy a government some time in stopping viral spread. But with that time, research shows, authorities need to put a d... | false | Immigration, National, Public Health, Health Check, PunditFact, Coronavirus, Jesse Watters, | "Defending President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response, Fox News commentator Jesse Watters highlighted federal efforts to restrict international travelers who may be infected – a ban he claimed mattered more than diagnostic testing. ""We were slow with the testing, but very quick with the travel ban. And that's been ... |
26606 | JB Pritzker Says it was “unquestionably” not within his “legal authority” to postpone Illinois’ primary election by changing the date or shifting to vote-by-mail. | It’s difficult to know for sure that Pritzker could not have done anything to delay the March 17 election. But experts told us the governor spoke correctly in describing the limits of his powers under existing law. | true | Elections, Illinois, Coronavirus, JB Pritzker, | "The coronavirus pandemic has governors grappling with the implications of holding primary elections even as some are insisting everyone stay at home until the public health crisis subsides. Of 23 states that have not yet held primaries, at least eight are now postponed, according to news reports. Illinois was one of ... |
7430 | Charges dropped against Florida pastor over stay-home order. | Misdemeanor charges were dropped Friday against a Florida pastor accused of violating stay-at-home orders by holding Sunday services with hundreds of people in March amid the coronavirus pandemic. | true | Health, General News, Florida, Arrests, Virus Outbreak, Public health, Tampa | Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren said in a statement that the prosecution of Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne of the River at Tampa Bay Church would not proceed. Warren said Howard-Browne has conducted operations responsibly since his arrest in March. Howard-Browne had been charged with unlawful assembly and... |
10572 | New inhaler protects lungs against effects of air pollution | This is a romp through a field of unsubstantiated claims on the benefits and promise of a new device that purports to protect the body from air pollution-induced illnesses. The hyperbole begins with the title and continues through the story. The story hints at evidence but provides no substantiation of the claims made ... | mixture | The Guardian | The expected cost to UK consumers is noted ($17 pounds/month). The reader is provided with no information on the presumed benefit of ectoine other than glowing comments and two references available via URL. The two studies noted include one in rats and one in human cell culture. No information is provided about studies... |
36089 | "Excess consumption of coffee during periods of high stress can cause people to experience ""schizophrenic-like symptoms." | Can Consuming Too Much Coffee Under Stress Cause Schizophrenia Symptoms? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On October 15 2019, the Facebook page “Weird Facts” shared the following “fact meme,” which claimed that the combination of a lot of coffee and a lot of stress could cause symptoms of schizophrenia — presumably in people not already diagnosed with the condition:Underneath a stock image of coffee beans, text read:Consum... |
34715 | Part of the process of determining that a Pope has died and is not merely sleeping calls for him to be tapped on the forehead with a silver hammer. | Legend holds that part of the process of determining that a pope has died is to call for him to be tapped on the forehead with a silver hammer. | unproven | Religion | The Vatican customs surrounding the passing of a Pope and the election of his successor seem mysterious to outsiders, both because of their arcane nature and because members of the general population gain exposure to them only at those rare instance in their own lifetimes when the Pontiff dies. Consequently, just about... |
35087 | "The COVID-19 coronavirus disease is ""spreading quickly from gas pumps." | What's true: Gas pump handles are a potential source of surface contact transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus. What's false: Gas pumps are only one of many commonly-handled objects that could transmit the COVID-19 coronavirus, and we have found no substantiated reports of anyone's having been infected in that fashio... | mixture | Medical, COVID-19 | In March 2020, during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic, social media users began sharing warnings about the virus’ allegedly “spreading quickly from gas pumps.” Such warnings cautioned readers to use gloves or paper towels while pumping gas and to discard them immediately afterward: One particular version of... |
29348 | There is a proven natural cure for cancer called sour honey, but pharmaceutical companies and politicians are trying to keep it under wraps for financial gain. | To the latter point, the entire concept of the “Clinton Cartel” and a “sour honey” subversion conspiracy is rooted in a company with a history of promoting extremely dubious claims using politically motivated narratives. As such, we rate this claim, allowing only that there has been some legitimate research into bee pr... | false | Politics Conspiracy Theories, cancer, cancer cures, propolis | In the buildup to the November 2016 presidential election, a viral marketing campaign attempted to promote a substance dubbed Brazilian “sour honey” as a cure for cancer which Hillary Clinton and her “Crooked Cartel” were trying to hide from the public for their own personal financial gain. Examples of this narrative c... |
26685 | Viral image Says if you donate blood, “they HAVE to test you” for coronavirus. | Blood donors don’t get a coronavirus test if they donate blood. The American Red Cross is asking for donations in anticipation of a blood shortage caused by the coronavirus. | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Viral image, | """CORONAVIRUS LOOPHOLE!!!!"" screams a screenshot of a tweet being shared on social media. ""If you don’t have insurance and can’t afford to take the $3,200 test for the virus ($1,000 with insurance), DONATE BLOOD. They HAVE to test you for the virus in order to donate blood. Tell your friends! Tell your family!!!!!""... |
4673 | Michigan halts sale of marijuana e-cigs unless re-tested. | Michigan on Friday halted the sale of marijuana vaping products until they are tested for a compound that has been identified as a culprit in e-cigarette-related lung illnesses. | true | Medical marijuana, General News, Marijuana, Vaping, Michigan | The state Marijuana Regulatory Agency’s emergency rules, which prohibit vitamin E acetate, apply to existing medical marijuana businesses and those in the process of being licensed to sell for recreational use as soon as Dec. 1. Regulators noted that U.S. health officials found the compound in the damaged lungs of 29 p... |
28413 | "An animator for the ""My Little Pony"" cartoon series was arrested for child pornography, proving that the PedoGate conspiracy is real." | "What's true: Animator Tom Wysom, who worked on children's productions including 'My Little Pony,' was sentenced to 28 months in prison for possession of child pornography. What's false: #PedoGate is part of a far-ranging but bogus conspiracy theory about a large ring of ""elite"" child predators." | mixture | Viral Phenomena, #QAnon, conspiracy theories, pedophilia | On 31 July 2018, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Tom Wysom, an animator for several children’s cartoon series including My Little Pony, had been sentenced to more than two years in prison after pleading guilty to charges associated with possession of child pornography: Tom Wysom, 55, has worked on TV productions such... |
15890 | Georgia lawmaker pushes bill banning creation of ‘glow in the dark’ human-jellyfish hybrids. | Human-jellyfish headline misleading, but spawned by real bill | mixture | Georgia, Science, States, Raw Story, | "Let’s be honest. The headline looked like it belonged in Florida. ""Georgia lawmaker pushes bill banning creation of ‘glow in the dark’ human-jellyfish hybrids,"" it screamed over a photo of a contorted face adorned in fluorescent paint. Sure, back in 2010, the state Senate was roundly mocked for voting to oppose forc... |
308 | Will Europe's clampdown on faulty medical devices hurt patients?. | When a Californian company founded by a U.S. veteran wounded in Afghanistan sought to register a new medical device this year, it turned to Europe before the United States. The European approvals system had long been quicker, the company said, but the introduction of new rules is changing all that. | true | Health News | "“Now it has flipped,” said Bill Colone, CEO of San Clemente-based Spinal Singularity, which hopes to launch a ‘smart’ catheter for men with spinal injuries or disease early next year after squeezing in its application under the old European rules. Colone is part of a chorus of industry voices warning that a switch to ... |
30394 | "Sen. John McCain was referred to as ""Songbird John"" following his imprisonment during the Vietnam War." | The remark harkened back to the long-running series of clashes between McCain and President Donald Trump. In July 2015, then-candidate Donald Trump said of the lawmaker, “He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” | false | Politics, john mccain | A Fox News analyst was fired from the right-wing network in May 2018 after regurgitating a long-standing, long-debunked smear against Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and his experiences as a prisoner of war. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney was terminated from Fox just one day after insulting the lawmaker for o... |
8987 | Blood test predicts spastic cerebral palsy | This release focuses on a small study (22 children with spastic cerebral palsy and 21 controls) that examined whether a new method for sequencing blood samples might be a way of identifying people with cerebral palsy (CP) earlier than the methods used now. The work centers on the early findings of differences in methyl... | false | blood test,cerebral palsy,Nemours Children's Health System | There is no mention of the cost of this proposed diagnostic approach anywhere in the release. The entire approach to the claims made in this release relies on next generation sequencing of blood samples which can run into hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. The research paper points out that the approach relie... |
9687 | Sleeping in on weekends may help reduce diabetes risk | This article describes results of a very small observational study suggesting some tantalizing links between sleep and diabetes risk. But it’s probably fair to say that this article, although it pretty accurately reflects the proffered data and does a solid job of pointing out study limitations, may have served readers... | true | sleep problems | The cost of the ‘intervention’ (catching up on sleep) is what is at issue here, and that is ‘free’. So we’ll rule this Not Applicable. Benefits are not quantified in a meaningful way. The story says, “insulin sensitivity had fallen by 23 percent and their bodies had started to produce extra insulin. But when researcher... |
4623 | Sweden: No Ebola virus detected in hospital patient. | Swedish health officials say a suspected Ebola case reported by a hospital has turned out to be a false alarm with tests carried out on the unidentified patient showing no signs of the deadly virus. | true | Health, Ebola virus, Africa, Sweden, Stockholm, Burundi, Europe | Medical authorities said late Friday that the young male patient was admitted to an isolated emergency ward at a hospital in Enkoping, northwest of Stockholm, with symptoms including blood in his vomit and stools. Officials said the condition of the man, who had spent several weeks in Burundi, improved over the course ... |
37368 | A forwarded email turned into a social media meme uses statistics to show the effects of undocumented immigration. | List of ‘Facts and Figures’ About Undocumented Immigrants? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks, Immigration, Politics, Viral Content | Immigration is a topic filled with disinformation and misinformation, which is often offered up in fact-free (but media-friendly) soundbites and their online corollary, memes. That they often contain no citation whatsoever is no hindrance to their spread.One such enduring meme, which incidentally started out as a chain... |
10893 | Adding To Aspirin’s Reputation | "This is a 230-word story done by the Los Angeles Times but picked up by the Hartford Courant. It is described as a ""capsule."" There are often inherent problems with such brief stories, as we discuss elsewhere on this site. The story describes a study in which aspirin use was associated with a lower risk of developin... | mixture | "The story does not mention the costs of daily aspirin treatment, but the relatively inexpensive over-the-counter cost is well known. The story states the benefit was a 22% reduction, which is a relative vs. absolute risk. However, the story then provides absolute numbers of people experiencing asthma. Yet, the numbers... | |
8936 | Tiny implantable device short-circuits hunger pangs, aids weight loss | UW-Madison graduate student Guang Yao (left) and Xudong Wang (right) hold a small implantable device for weight loss This release about an experimental implanted device to promote weight loss tells readers that it has been tested only in rats (though not until the third paragraph), but then it goes on to proclaim that ... | false | implant,University of Wisconsin-Madison,weight loss | Although this device is still in early testing, the news release notes that it is intended to improve upon a similar device that is already available. The procedure to implant the existing device may cost more than $20,000. This release could have told readers what the current price range is for such a device. If the r... |
34632 | Nike didn't sign Steph Curry because the NBA star insisted on putting a Bible verse on his sneakers. | Neither Curry nor Nike stated or implied that the endorsement deal fell through because of Curry’s religious beliefs, nor did Curry claim that Nike would not let him put Bible verses on his shoes. We could find no articles that stated religion was a motivating factor for Curry’s deal with either Nike or Under Armour; t... | unproven | Politics, nba, nike | On 18 February 2016, a Facebook post appeared claiming that NBA star Steph Curry refused to sign a contract with Nike because the shoe company wouldn’t allow him to put Bible verses on his sneakers: Nike approached Steph Curry to endorsed their shoes but Steph said I will sign a contract only in one condition to put… P... |
41834 | "After 44 years, we just got it passed ... veteran's choice. ... I said, I have the greatest idea. We're going to do this."" " | In his midterm campaign rallies, President Donald Trump has repeatedly made the preposterous claim that he came up with “the greatest idea” for “veterans choice” — a program that was launched in 2014 during the Obama administration. He also claimed it took “44 years” to get the legislation passed. | false | health care, veterans, veterans choice program, | In his midterm campaign rallies, President Donald Trump has repeatedly made the preposterous claim that he came up with “the greatest idea” for “veterans choice” — a program that was launched in 2014 during the Obama administration. He also claimed it took “44 years” to get the legislation passed.In fact, nothing he sa... |
3895 | Tennessee officer fired after working 2nd job while on duty. | A Tennessee police officer has been fired after an internal investigation found he was working a second job as a psychiatric social worker while on duty. | true | Chattanooga, Police, Mental health, Health, General News, Tennessee | The Chattanooga police investigation found Shawn Hickey had counseled at least six Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute patients who had been criminally charged by the department, creating a conflict of interest, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports, citing an internal affairs report. In January, the 23-year depa... |
26400 | “Ultraviolet Radiation is administered into the body as a disinfectant to kill bacteria and viruses and this has been used for a while now.” | Health experts say there is no evidence that injecting ultraviolet light into the body would kill viruses like the novel coronavirus. There is no scientific evidence to support alternative health treatments like ultraviolet blood irradiation. | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Health experts have debunked President Donald Trump’s idea to potentially use sunlight to treat coronavirus patients. But some social media users say the president is onto something. An April 24 Facebook post shows an image of what appears to be someone hooked up to an IV that is emanating blue light. The caption clai... |
38055 | The deadly Klebsiella plague from China is coming to the United States, and citizens have been warned to take action. | Deadly Klebsiella Plague from China Poses Public Health Threat to U.S. | false | Health / Medical | Chinese researchers have identified a form of pneumonia that’s drug-resistant, very deadly and spreads easily. It’s a new strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae, and an outbreak caused five deaths in China in 2016. The threat is real, and serious. But it’s also been overblown by scammers looking to make a quick buck on what t... |
4287 | Malawi fights tsetse flies, disease after wildlife relocated. | The relocation of hundreds of elephants to Malawi’s largest wildlife reserve was meant to be a sign of hope and renewal in this southern African nation. Then nearby residents began falling ill. | true | Wildlife, Elephants, Southern Africa, General News, Africa, Health, Malawi | The cause of the headaches, weakness and pain were trypanosomes, tiny parasites spread by the bite of the tsetste fly — a companion of the elephants. Trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, is the result. Local families described the toll the disease can take. “I feel too weak,” said Chiomba Njati, who was still recover... |
26889 | "Scientists ""are shocked to discover that weed kills corona virus”" | Marijuana not shown to treat 2019 novel coronavirus | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Instagram posts, | "An instagram post claims that weed can kill the novel coronavirus. It isn’t true, bud. The image resembles a breaking news story with a picture of a cannabis bud in the background. Similar to another claim that cocaine kills the coronavirus, this picture was made using a breaking news generator. There is no proof that... |
5978 | Elevated opioid risks found at Native American hospitals. | U.S. government hospitals put Native American patients at increased risk for opioid abuse and overdoses, failing to follow their own protocols for prescribing and dispensing the drugs, according to a federal audit made public Monday. | true | Opioids, Health, General News, Native Americans, Epidemics, Business, AP Top News, U.S. News, Protocols | The report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General does not say whether patients suffered because of the hospitals’ practices. But all five Indian Health Service hospitals that were reviewed had patients who were given opioids in amounts exceeding federal guidelines, the report ... |
35123 | "COVID-19"" is named so because it is the 19th ""Chinese-Originated Viral Infectious Disease." | There are different processes and purposes for naming diseases. | false | Junk News, COVID-19 | As the World Health Organization (WHO) has noted, viruses and the diseases they cause often have different names: “For example, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. People often know the name of a disease, such as measles, but not the name of the virus that causes it (rubeola).” During the pandemic of 2020, most everyone... |
36896 | A report that the assassination of a top Democratic Party official named Seth Rich while he was on his way to testify about Hillary Clinton has led to the FBI capturing a so-called Clinton “Hit Team.” | Assassination of Top Democratic Official Leads to Capture of Clinton Hit Team | false | Crime / Police, Government, Politics | It’s true that Seth Rich was an employee of the Democratic National Party that was murdered in Washington, D.C., in July 2016. But reports that Rich was on his way to testify about Hillary Clinton, or that his “assassination” has led to the FBI capturing a Clinton “hit team” are false. WUSA 9 in Washington reported tha... |
18367 | Buono voted 154 times to raise our taxes -- like the sales tax, the income tax, health care taxes, even small business taxes. | "A Christie for Governor TV ad claims, ""Buono voted 154 times to raise our taxes -- like the sales tax, the income tax, health care taxes, even small business taxes."" Although a narrator only mentions tax increases, scrolling text in the ad also mentions fee increases. And in this case, the ad is accurate: Buono did ... | true | New Jersey, Taxes, Chris Christie, | "The gloves are off. Chris Christie may be more popular than ever, but the Republican isn’t taking any chances with seeking re-election in a majority Democrat state. Witness a new TV ad released Monday by his re-election campaign, Christie for Governor. The ad starts off with pictures of Christie’s Democratic challenge... |
29793 | Canada was placed under a nationwide boil-water notice in the spring of 2019. | As such, the article’s core claim is false and appears to be no more than a cynical effort to manipulate the public’s concern about water safety in order to gain shares on social media. Genuine drinking-water advisories are periodically put in place across Canada, just as they are in many other countries, but concerned... | false | Junk News | In mid-May 2019, concerned readers inquired about the accuracy of a blog post, spread widely on social media at the time, claiming that the nation of Canada had been placed under a “boil water” notice after the discovery of E.coli in the water supply. The 16 April post on the website “Canada Eh?” bore the headline, “Ca... |
19057 | Jason Isaac Says that over the past 20 years, Texas public school spending rose 142 percent and per-pupil spending more than tripled when adjusted for inflation. | India’s health ministry has proposed a ban on the production and import of electronic cigarettes, documents seen by Reuters showed, potentially jeopardizing the expansion plans of big firms like Juul Labs and Philip Morris International. | false | Education, State Budget, Texas, Jason Isaac, | The ministry has proposed that the government issue an executive order banning the devices in the public interest, saying it was needed to ensure e-cigarettes don’t become an “epidemic” among children and young adults. “E-cigarettes and similar technologies that encourage tobacco use or adversely impact public health a... |
8530 | Global coronavirus death toll hits 100,000, cases over 1.6 million. | The number of deaths linked to the novel coronavirus reached 100,000 on Friday, as the tally of cases passed 1.6 million, according to a Reuters tally. | true | Health News | The first death came in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Jan. 9. It took 83 days for the first 50,000 deaths to be recorded and just eight more for the toll to climb to 100,000. The toll has been accelerating at a daily rate of between 6% and 10% over the past week, and there were almost 7,300 deaths globally repor... |
15128 | Just about half of rural hospitals operate in the red in Virginia. They operate at a loss. | Mannix said about half of the rural hospitals in Virginia are operating at a loss. Figures from the group that tracks hospital finances back her claim and suggest, if anything, her estimate is on the low end. | true | Health Care, Virginia, Mary Mannix, | "Hospital officials from across Virginia flocked to Richmond last week to air concerns about tightening revenues at their facilities. Among them was Mary Mannix, president and CEO of Augusta Health, a rural hospital in Fishersville about 90 miles west of Richmond. Mannix said her facility is on solid financial footing ... |
36512 | Active duty Naval officer Jordan Lee Grinnell assaulted a black middle schooler. | Did a 38-Year-Old White Active Duty Naval Officer Assault a Black Middle School Student? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On January 23 2019, a Facebook user shared what appeared to be a screenshot of an unlinked Facebook post, alleging that a man named Jordan Lee Grinnell assaulted an unnamed black middle school student:Above three images (a handcuffed man sitting on steps, presumably the same man in an unrelated photograph, and what loo... |
10378 | Medical Breakthrough: Amazing New Heart Valve Procedure | "Open heart valve replacement is a major procedure, involving risks and a long recovery period. To be able to do a minimally invasive valve replacement would represent a major improvement for the patient but would need to be demonstrated as effective and safe as the open procedure. At Columbia, a clinical trial of mini... | false | The story does not mention the costs of the procedure. The story does not quantify the benefits of the new procedure. The story does not mention any harms of the procedure. The story does not comment on the strength of the available evidence to support the new procedure. The story does explain that the procedure is now... | |
3417 | Growing algae bloom in Arabian Sea tied to climate change. | The Gulf of Oman turns green twice a year, when an algae bloom the size of Mexico spreads across the Arabian Sea all the way to India. | true | Climate, AP Top News, Climate change, Local food, Oman, Middle East, Gulf of Oman, Algae, International News, Science, Awash in Algae, Asia Pacific, Muscat | Scientists who study the algae say the microscopic organisms are thriving in new conditions brought about by climate change, and displacing the zooplankton that underpin the local food chain, threatening the entire marine ecosystem. Khalid al-Hashmi, a marine biologist at the Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, wrinkles ... |
10202 | A Better Option? A trial of cancer drugs yields a surprise–and questions | This article story does an excellent job of reporting the initial results of the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene Trial (STAR) for post-menopausal women at high risk of developing breast cancer. Tamoxifen is currently the only drug with FDA approval for both treatment and prevention of breast cancer in high-risk women... | true | The cost of treatment is provided in a side bar: raloxifene is about $75 for a month’s supply, while tamoxifen is about $100. Story notes that medication is taken daily for 5 years. Provides relative risk reduction of chemoprevention with hormone therapy for high-risk women, however, no absolute risk reduction provided... | |
27416 | IKEA released a magazine ad which includes a pregnancy test. | We contacted Akestam Holst seeking further comment. A spokesperson for IKEA’s U.S. division confirmed the veracity of the advert, and told us that there are not plans for the advertisement to run in any other markets. | true | Business, Akestam Holst, ikea, Pregnancy tests | In 2012, a New York Times Magazine article sparked privacy concerns by describing big box retailer Target’s attempts to use data to find out whether their customers were pregnant. An IKEA ad campaign in January 2018 takes away the need to gather complex data to determine whether customers are pregnant by simply asking ... |
10116 | CVS Health Research Institute Study Shows that Home Infusion Care Improves Patient Outcomes and Quality of Life While Reducing Overall Costs | This news release describes the cost savings and safety of home infusion services from 13 previously published studies compared with infusion services at a clinic or hospital. Home infusion appears safe and clinically effective while saving money in the studies reviewed, but the release does not address limits in the r... | true | Health care costs,industry/commercial news releases | The news release includes information about costs. We would have liked a little more context. The release states: “The costs associated with home infusion were also consistently lower than services provided in a health care facility, with savings ranging between $1,928 and $2,974 per course of treatment.” We need to kn... |
34695 | An 8-year-old Yemeni girl was forced to marry a 40-year-old man and then died of vaginal injuries on their wedding night. | Two Meedi residents contacted by Reuters confirmed the incident and said tribal chiefs had tried to cover up the incident when the news broke, warning a local journalist against covering the story. | unproven | Politics | In September 2013, the Kuwaiti daily Al Watan (citing a local Yemeni newspaper called Al Mashhad) reported that an 8-year-old girl named Rawan had died of internal hemorrhaging related to vaginal tearing the night after she was married to a 40-year-old man in northwestern Yemen. That story was then picked up and spread... |
6342 | State finding better air during new tests at Howell factory. | State regulators say follow-up tests near a factory in Livingston County show low levels of a chemical linked to cancer. | true | Health, General News, Michigan, Howell | The health department says emissions at Diamond Chrome Plating in Howell reveal TCE levels below “health screening values.” TCE stands for trichloroethylene, which is used to remove grease from metal parts. Diamond Chrome turned off the degreaser this week. Earlier tests had revealed TCE levels that were considered a h... |
36627 | Leeds Trinity University banned capital letters to avoid upsetting or frightening delicate students into failing classes. | Did Leeds Trinity University Ban Capital Letters to Avoid Frightening Students? | false | Disinformation, Education, Fact Checks, Viral Content | In November 2018, an odd little article about a leaked internal memo at Leeds Trinity University appeared in the British tabloid the Express. According to the story, the university told professors not to use all capital letters in order to avoid “frightening” students:Staff at Leeds Trinity’s school of journalism have ... |
38700 | Some are questioning the old adage that eating carrots improves your vision. | Eating Carrots Improves Your Vision | mixture | Food / Drink, Health / Medical | Eating carrots can help improve vision in certain conditions, but the effect of carrots on eyesight has been exaggerated for decades. The reason carrots have been given too much credit for improving vision is rooted in World War II. Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) began using on-board Airborne Inception Radar (IA) to s... |
11182 | Experimental diet pill shows promise, little risk | So, yes, it mentioned the drop out rate but then said it wasn’t unusual. But didn’t ever explain why so many dropped out. Yes, it said the drug hadn’t been priced yet, but we don’t find that sufficient (details given below). Yes, it had one external perspective, but that was someone who works for another diet drug comp... | mixture | "At least this story thought about the cost issue, when it stated: ""San Diego-based Arena hasn’t put a price on lorcaserin."" But we don’t think that’s good enough. At the very least, the story could have mentioned what the other currently-available drugs cost for some frame of reference. And we also know that SOME es... | |
11059 | Stem cell therapy for macular degeneration | It’s a tough thing for a reporter to write about a study that hasn’t been conducted yet. Without any actual data to work with, the temptation is talk too much about what the researchers hope they will find in the study; discussion of harms and other caveats often gets overwhelmed by this optimistic speculation. The sto... | mixture | Los Angeles Times | Although it’s too early in the game to know exactly what this treatment is going to cost, our rule of thumb is to expect some kind of cost discussion whenever there is talk of benefits. This story didn’t meet that standard. The story could at least have said that we do not know how much the new treatment will cost, but... |
36272 | People are putting hair removal creams in conditioner, causing hair loss. | Is Someone Putting Nair in Hair Conditioner Bottles? | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | A pair of posts shared to Facebook on July 28 and 29 2019 carried a warning to consumers, claiming that a woman’s hair had “fallen out in clumps” because someone had added Nair (or another cream-based depilatory) to conditioner purchased at Walmart.The first post was shared by the mother of the woman who purportedly bo... |
13333 | If you look worldwide, the number of terrorist incidents have not substantially increased. | "Obama said, ""If you look worldwide, the number of terrorist incidents have not substantially increased."" There is no universally accepted definition of a terrorist incident, so there is no universally accepted count. Based on State Department data, there’s been a 7 percent increase in terrorist attacks worldwide fro... | false | National, Homeland Security, Terrorism, Barack Obama, | "President Barack Obama spoke with veterans and active military members at a CNN town hall, discussing extended wait periods at VA hospitals and and the threat of terrorism. A major serving in the West Virginia Air National Guard asked Obama if the United States is doing anything greater to combat Islamic jihadists. He... |
32135 | Washington, D.C., has no 'J' Street because city designer Pierre L'Enfant bore a grudge against Chief Justice John Jay. | Old historical legends holds that architect Pierre L'Enfant omitted 'J' Street from his plans for Washington, D.C., because he disliked John Jay. | false | History, American History, district of columbia, john jay | Our natural tendencies drive us to find order in randomness, to make sense of the nonsensical, to seek an explanation for the inexplicable … even if we have to make stuff up to achieve that satisfaction. One of the conundrums that has puzzled our orderly American minds for hundreds of years is why the neatly laid out g... |
3519 | Know what to say when postpartum depression hits a loved one. | Gwyneth Paltrow, Chrissy Teigen, Adele: The charge to destigmatize postpartum depression has never before had so many high-profile sufferers willing to share their stories. | true | AP Top News, Mental health, New York, Gwyneth Paltrow, North America, Lifestyle, Health, Sports, California, Serena Williams, Chrissy Teigen, Postpartum depression, Depression | Add Serena Williams to the list. The 23-time Grand Slam champion playing in the U.S. Open took to Instagram last month after a loss in San Jose, California, to describe her feelings of inadequacy as a mother since the birth nearly a year ago of her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. “Talking things through with my mo... |
27959 | Teachers have gotten into trouble over using 'The L.A. Math Test,' a piece of online humor, in the classroom. | Teachers have been censured over using 'The L.A. Math Test,' a piece of online humor, in the classroom. | true | Humor, Qwazy Questions | The Internet humor piece variously entitled “The L.A. Math Proficiency Test” or “The City of Los Angeles High School Math Proficiency Exam” has been part of online lore since at least 1993, and some of our readers recall having seen photocopied versions of it as far back as the mid-1980s: Name:_______________________... |
36973 | The United States government is paying people $3,000 a week to smoke marijuana through a federal clinical study. | Does the Government Pay People $3,000 a Week to Smoke Marijuana? | false | Fact Checks, Politics, Viral Content | A rumor that the United States government is paying people $3,000 a week to smoke marijuana through a federal clinical study has all the ingredients it needs to go viral: Money, marijuana, and federal involvement.This particular rumor began with now-defunct repeat offender News Watch 33, which only published hoax and s... |
15579 | Georgia is on track for 1,200 traffic fatalities this year, a reversal of nine years of declines. | Georgia DOT Commissioner Russell McMurry said in recent news reports that the state is on pace to see 1,200 people die in traffic accidents this year – all before the start of the busy summer driving season. Transportation numbers back up that claim. That data, and figures about the number of registered vehicles in the... | true | Georgia, Public Safety, Transportation, Russell McMurry, | "PolitiFact Georgia was revving up for the summer driving season when a statement from the head of the Georgia Department of Transportation caught our attention. The state is on pace to see 1,200 people lose their lives on Georgia roads this year, Commissioner Russell McMurry said in news reports. If that happens, it w... |
14482 | "When New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer wanted to ""provide driver’s licenses to those who are undocumented. (Hillary Clinton) said don’t do it." | Climate change protesters blocked traffic across London’s government district of Westminster on Monday as they launched two weeks of peaceful civil disobedience to call for urgent action to curb carbon emissions. | true | Immigration, Florida, Bernie Sanders, | Police said they had arrested 135 activists from the Extinction Rebellion group by 1130 GMT. The group expects 10,000 people will come to the capital from across Britain to join the two-week protest, which is part of a coordinated international movement. There were similar climate protests on Monday in Berlin, Vienna, ... |
3458 | Wichita VA hospital moves to remove former Missouri doctor. | The Department of Veteran Affairs hospital in Wichita has begun the process required to remove a doctor who is under scrutiny for allegedly harming patients in Missouri while performing robot-assisted surgeries that were beyond his capabilities. | true | Michael Brown, Health, General News, Kansas, Wichita, Business, Veterans | The VA hospital said it has proposed that Christel O. Wambi-Kiesse be removed from the hospital but declined to give a reason After the proposal for removal is made, the employee has seven business days to respond. The VA then must make a final removal decision no later than 15 business days from the date the proposed ... |
5742 | Amendments end California governor’s unease on vaccine bill. | Amendments to an emotionally fraught bill designed to crack down on fraudulent vaccine exemptions change the legislation’s focus just two days before a key Assembly committee hearing. | true | Immunizations, Health, General News, Legislation, California, Gavin Newsom | The bill’s author, Sen. Richard Pan, negotiated the amendments after Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed reservations about shifting too much power to state bureaucrats. He now says he’ll sign it. Among the changes: — Instead of every medical exemption, state health officials would target their reviews to doctors who issue fiv... |
3208 | Florida governor calls for teacher raises, new abortion law. | Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for teacher raises, the eradication of Burmese pythons in the Everglades and a new law to force girls to get their parents’ permission before getting an abortion during his State of the State address on Tuesday. | true | Legislature, General News, Florida, Ron DeSantis, Environment, Education, Laws | DeSantis said keeping taxes low, improving education and protecting the environment will help Florida continue to grow. He said he wants to build on some of his successes from his first year in office. “In 2019, we took bold steps to expand educational opportunities, protect our environment and natural resources, refor... |
24812 | The biggest job of the surgeon general is to translate health care and health care needs into plain English. | Surgeon General is more than spokesman, oversees public health | mixture | National, Health Care, Howard Dean, | "President-elect Barack Obama's widely reported intention to appoint Sanjay Gupta, a 39-year-old neurosurgeon and CNN reporter, as the nation's surgeon general has drawn flak from several directions. Gupta is known primarily for his work as a TV reporter, though he's clearly identified as a medical doctor. A number of ... |
36288 | People sometimes ingest metal fragments from grill brushes and become seriously injured. | Can Grill Brushes Cause You to Ingest Metal and Become Ill? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On July 14 2019, a Facebook user shared a photograph purportedly illustrating the risks posed by grill brushes and the metal they can leave behind attaching to food that is consumed. In an attached status update, the poster warned:I would suggest to anyone that has a metal brush to clean your grill get rid of it. This ... |
26531 | Viral image Says Queen Elizabeth said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte “is the kind of leader who knows the way .... Filipinos are very lucky to have him.” | Queen Elizabeth delivered a speech addressing the coronavirus on April 5, but she didn’t mention President Rodrigo Duterte. | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Viral image, | "Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned that people who flout the country’s lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus could be shot. On April 5, Al Jazeera reported that police had killed a man for refusing to follow restrictions. Did Queen Elizabeth offer words of support for the president the following day?... |
37848 | "A COVID-19 protester held a sign that said ""muzzles are for dogs and slaves,"" alongside an illustration of a masked woman of color." | ‘Muzzles are for Dogs and Slaves’ COVID-19 Protest Sign | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On May 18 2020, a photograph purportedly from a COVID-19 anti-lockdown protest began circulating, which showed a white woman holding a sign reading “muzzles are for dogs and slaves” alongside an illustration of a black woman wearing a mask or a face covering:Inside the mind of white conservatives. pic.twitter.com/wflis... |
36445 | "Each week, 21 fathers die by suicide influenced directly by ""child access issues"" or child custody disputes." | Do 21 Fathers Die of Suicide Each Week Because of Child Custody Disputes? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | In March 2019, a photo-based Facebook image post (archived here) contained the claim that 21 fathers died by suicide every week specifically because of “child access issues”:The post included a status update comment and a message on a sign which read, respectively:To all you women who play god with your kids just to ge... |
18255 | The United States has never stood by and seen innocent people slaughtered to the extent that's happening in Syria. | "Chambliss said, ""The United States has never stood by and seen innocent people slaughtered to the extent that's happening in Syria."" That claim is undercut by myriad examples in which more than 100,000 civilians were killed yet the United States did not take direct and significant action." | false | National, History, Foreign Policy, Military, Saxby Chambliss, | "Last week, the United States announced that it was convinced that the Syrian regime led by Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons, thus crossing a line set by President Barack Obama that would trigger U.S. involvement in the three-year-long rebellion and resulting civil war. On CNN’s The Situation Room, Sen. Saxby ... |
7537 | Fauci warns: More death, econ damage if US reopens too fast. | The U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert issued a blunt warning Tuesday that cities and states could “turn back the clock” and see more COVID-19 deaths and economic damage alike if they lift coronavirus stay-at-home orders too fast -- a sharp contrast as President Donald Trump pushes to right a free-falling ... | true | AP Top News, International News, Anthony Fauci, General News, Politics, Health, Infectious diseases, Travel, Donald Trump, Asia Pacific, Virus Outbreak, Europe, Economy | “There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control,” Dr. Anthony Fauci warned a Senate committee and the nation as more than two dozen states have begun to lift their lockdowns as a first step toward economic recovery. The advice from Fauci and other key government officials — d... |
34492 | Panhandling is a lucrative business, averaging an hourly rate of $50. | We have contacted Sims as well as the original article’s author, but have not yet received a response to our question about the origin of the $50 figure. | unproven | Business, begging, homeless, panhandlers | On 12 December 2016, the Dallas Morning News published an article about a new initiative to recruit panhandlers for day labor — but as is sometimes the case, a single excerpt of the piece caught readers’ attention: The proposed jobs program would pay people $10.37 an hour for day labor, either cleaning up litter or wor... |
8949 | Surgery technique reduces strokes in atherosclerosis patients | This release from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center describes a phase 2 clinical trial that looked at whether an existing surgical procedure could be used to reduce the rate of recurrent strokes or death among patients with severe brain artery blockages. It gives a numerical comparison between those benefiting from the surge... | mixture | atherosclerosis,Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,stroke | The release doesn’t mention cost although the surgical procedure used in the research is both already established practice and a complicated and extensive operation. Given that the surgery is being compared to simple medical management, the cost of the new approach will be substantially higher, and therefore deserves m... |
24735 | "Claims that former Sen. Tom Daschle said, ""Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them." | Daschle didn't say seniors should accept rather that treat conditions that come with age | false | National, Health Care, Chain email, | "Some chain e-mails remind us of a bad Three's Company episode. One roommate overhears something a little wrong and leaps to all sorts of misguided conclusions. Hijinks ensue. The latest chain e-mail sent to us from a reader puts some words into the mouth of former Sen. Tom Daschle that raised our eyebrows. Daschle... |
1623 | Venom experts say global snake bite death tolls 'grossly underestimated'. | Venom specialists said on Wednesday disease and disability caused by snake bites is far higher than official global health estimates suggest and antivenom stocks are running dangerously low. | true | Health News | In a joint statement after a five-day conference in Britain, the international experts said snake bites kill more people than all other so-called Neglected Tropical Diseases combined, yet get little attention or funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO) or from governments. Citing new evidence from a study in In... |
33822 | "The nursery rhyme ""Ring Around the Rosie"" is a coded reference to the Black Plague." | People love to create and spread invented backstories for simple nursery rhymes. | false | Language, Literary Legends | “Ring Around the Rosie” is simply a nursery rhyme of indefinite origin and no specific meaning, and someone, long after the fact, concocted an inventive “explanation” for its creation. Every child has happily joined hands with friends and recited the familiar nursery rhyme, “Ring around a rosie, a pocket full of posies... |
33845 | The lobster with which a woman was masturbating defecated into her vagina, implanting brine shrimp eggs which hatched inside | See Brine Shrimp Direct's FAQ: Hatching for more than you likely would ever want to know about raising brine shrimp. | false | Risqué Business, bestiality, Juvenilia | [Collected via e-mail, 2000] If you read one disgusting story this year . . . LET IT BE THIS ONE ! Susy DeLucci and the Miracle of Life. One morning around 5am 22 year old Susan DaLucci of Kittery Maine, woke up with a painful need to urinate. At first she thought she had diarrhea, but when she stood up out of bed, s... |
34700 | "Disputed parentage of a child born aboard a ship was resolved by listing the newborn as a ""son of the gun." | A more believable postulation for the origin of the term shifts the focus onto the occupation of the father and away from the location of the whelping (which fanciful lore would have us believe was on a deck between two guns, rather than in a cot in an officer’s cabin or in a screened-off corner of the sick bay). In th... | unproven | Language, folk etymology, Phrase Craze, son of a gun | The faintly derogative epithet “son of a gun” has been documented as part of the lexicon of the English language since 1708, but no one can really lay claim to knowing how it began or what the phrase originally signified. Numerous interesting backstories have emerged in the centuries since, and it’s possible one might ... |
7343 | More Guatemalan deportees from US test positive for virus. | Three Guatemalans deported from the United States this week tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival in their country, Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry said Friday. | true | Alexandria, Health, General News, Latin America, Guatemala City, Caribbean, Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, Virus Outbreak, Louisiana, Protocols, United States | The May 13 flight from Alexandria, Louisiana carried 65 adults, according to the country’s immigration institute. More than 100 Guatemalan deportees have tested positive after arriving from the U.S. The Foreign Ministry said that after the infections were detected, the Health Ministry was asked to get in touch with the... |
8781 | Study finds 140,000 bad reactions to antibiotics. | Bad reactions to antibiotics, mostly allergic ones, send people to U.S. emergency rooms more than 140,000 times each year, government researchers reported on Wednesday. | true | Health News | The findings offer another reason for doctors to limit their use of the drugs, which are overused in the United States, the team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. “This number is an important reminder for physicians and patients that antibiotics can have serious side effects and should o... |
37765 | Four charts show the respective COVID-19 infection rates in the United States, France, Italy, and Spain. | ‘In Case You’re Wondering What Utter, Abject Failure Looks Like’: Are These USA, France, Italy, and Spain COVID-19 Charts? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In late June 2020, a series of four COVID-19 charts began spreading across social media, captioned: “In case you’re wondering what utter, abject failure looks like,” purportedly contrasting COVID-19 infection rates in the United States, France, Italy, and Spain:In case you’re wondering what utter, abject failure looks ... |
33526 | The government forced KFC to stop using the word 'chicken' in their name because they serve meat derived from mutant animals. | Sightings: A scientist breeds headless, boneless chickens on a high-tech farm in the 1967 Italian film Death Laid an Egg (La Morte ha fatto l’uovo). | false | Food, contaminated food, Food Contamination | Every fast food chain gets its own urban legend these days, from claims of worms in McDonald’s hamburgers to roaches in Taco Bell tacos to snakes in Burger King’s ball pits, we’re determined to demonize corporate purveyors of cheap, industrial food products. It appears to be KFC’s turn in the spotlight again (their ori... |
28287 | "If implemented, the provisions of Texas Senate Bill 17 would ""allow doctors to refuse LGBTQ patients." | What's true: SB 17 could reasonably be expected to encourage and embolden licensed professionals to refuse to serve individuals due to religious objections to their identities, and to discourage licensing agencies from punishing those licensed professionals for such behavior. What's false: The bill does not formally an... | mixture | Politics | In March and April 2019, online reports asserted that Texas state legislators had voted for a bill that would allow medical professionals to refuse to treat LGBT patients for religious reasons. On 26 March, for example, the website LGBTQ Nation published an article under the headline “Texas Republicans advance a bill t... |
9031 | Diet shown to reduce stroke risk may also reduce risk of depression | The release focuses on a forthcoming, preliminary study that will be presented at a conference in April. The release reports that people who closely follow the so-called “DASH diet” are less likely to report symptoms of depression than people who do not adhere to the DASH diet. However, there are a number of unanswered... | false | American Academy of Neurology,DASH diet | Costs are not discussed. However, the “treatment” at issue is not a drug or medical technology with clearly defined costs. Rather, the DASH diet focuses on an individual’s food choices. While there are cost constraints associated with any diet, and many people do not have easy access to the fruit and vegetables that ar... |
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