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32405 | Bees are born fully grown. | The phrasing of the Snapple “real fact” and the above-displayed commercial led some viewers to believe that bees give live birth to fully grown adults. But this is not the case: Bees come from eggs and hatch as larvae, and while the majority of a bee’s growth occurs before it emerges from the pupa stage as an adult, th... | false | Critter Country, bees, bees born fully grown, Bugs | Are bees born fully grown? This question has plagued Snapple drinkers since at least 2009, when “real fact” #775 was issued on the drink’s bottle caps: Renewed buzz about this “fact” was heard in May 2016 when a Snapple aired a television commercial based on this permise: However, this “fact” about bees being born ful... |
18545 | Expanding Medicaid will worsen health care options for the most vulnerable among us in Texas. | "Cruz said that ""expanding Medicaid will worsen health care options for the most vulnerable among us in Texas."" Not only does this assertion make no logical sense -- some health coverage should always be an improvement over none -- but the evidence Cruz and others have pointed to also doesn’t back up his point. None ... | false | National, Health Care, Medicaid, Poverty, Ted Cruz, | "Editor's note: After we published this report, the staff at Cruz's office gave us more information to consider. We considered that evidence in a separate report, but it did not change our initial findings or our ruling. Our original report remains below. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who is gaining a reputation ... |
26226 | Right now, China controls 80% of all ingredients and raw materials going into our generic prescription drugs. | The FDA does not track the volume of drug imports from outside the U.S. About 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients come from overseas, but not just from China. | false | Health Care, Foreign Policy, Missouri, Vicky Hartzler, | "Earlier this month, Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., co-signed a letter urging President Donald Trump to bring drug production back to the U.S. and out of China. She’s been a consistent voice against Chinese-made pharmaceutical ingredients, co-introducing a bill last year that would require the Department of Defense to onl... |
11598 | Scalpel-Free Surgery Proves Safe, Effective for Treating Essential Tremor | This release reports the results of a randomized, multicenter, sham-controlled clinical trial testing the safety and efficacy of a new approach to controlling essential tremors in the elderly — magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound — to alter the thalamus in the brain and thus control tremors. The ... | mixture | Academic medical center news release | The release mentions cost, saying, “Because the approach is so new, insurance plans will not yet cover the procedure, though that may change in the coming months. The cost at UVA has not yet been determined.” But the procedure is still neurosurgery which is inherently expensive. Readers might benefit from knowing the ... |
11175 | Lilly buoyed by findings on Evista | This story reports the initial results of the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene Trial (STAR) for estrogen-receptor positive women at high risk of developing breast cancer. This study was partially funded by Eli Lilly, though this is not mentioned, and the results here are presented as a financial boon for the company. ... | true | No mention of the cost of treatment for women outside clinical trials. Some quantitative benefit mentioned of taking hormone therapy for chemoprevention. Incomplete discussion of reduced rate of side effects in raloxifene group. Mentions harms of hormone therapy, such as an increased risk of blood clots and uterine can... | |
36421 | Colorado introduced a free birth control program, causing unplanned births and abortions to plummet, and saving millions of dollars. | Did Free Birth Control in Colorado Drop Unplanned Pregnancies by 40 Percent? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On March 31 2019, a Facebook user shared a meme (archived here) about the purported effects of “free birth control” in the state of Colorado:Across an image of mountain scenery, the meme (watermarked by The Other 98%) read:COLORADO HAS OFFERED FREE BIRTH CONTROL FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS AND HAS SEEN:* UNINTENDED PREGNANCIE... |
1687 | Youth e-cigarette data prompts new calls to speed regulation. | Public health advocates are stepping up pressure on the U.S. government to quickly regulate and restrict access to e-cigarettes after new data showed use of the products tripled among high school and middle school children last year. | true | Health News | The figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday raised concern among health officials who fear e-cigarettes will create a new generation of nicotine addicts who may eventually smoke conventional cigarettes. Cigarette smoking fell more than 25 percent over the same period. E-cigarette ... |
37718 | Rugby fans in New Zealand attended a live match on June 26 2020, because the country has successfully suppressed COVID-19. | A pair of viral Reddit posts — “New Zealand rugby game today as we have no COVID cases” and “New Zealand enjoying their rugby game with no Covid- 19 cases :)” — featured a photograph from an attendee at a June 26 2020 rugby match in Auckland, New Zealand. Overall, the claim is true with some very minor caveats — video ... | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On July 26 2020, a post to Reddit’s r/Damnthatsinteresting purportedly showed images from a rugby game in New Zealand on the same day, in a stadium full of fans — because the country has successfully suppressed COVID-19:New Zealand rugby game today as we have no COVID cases. from DamnthatsinterestingIterations and the ... |
9427 | Migraines plague millions, especially women. Now there's new hope | Getty Images The news peg of this Philadelphia Inquirer story (the “new hope” mentioned in the headline) is a clinical trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, for the monoclonal antibody drug, fremanezumab, which has shown promise in treating migraines. But, the story spends so little time discussing t... | mixture | migraine | The cost of the drug is not discussed. Other media coverage of this new proposed drug, fremanezumab, sets its price as high as $8,500, although it’s not clear if that is for a year’s treatment or a single administration. The story only states that, “fremanezumab, an immunotherapy drug, has been found to reduce the numb... |
24576 | "The health bill's plan for comparative effectiveness research ""would be used by the government to ration care." | here may seem something of a paradox because, as we note above, | false | National, Health Care, John Boehner, | "Many opponents of health care plans being considered by Congress have warned they would lead to government rationing of health care services. To which we say, yes they would. Health care is already rationed. Public and private plans have limited resources, and you can't just get any medical service you want anywhere a... |
10633 | Electrical stimulation in the nose induces sense of smell in human subjects | The news release focuses on a recent paper regarding the use of electrodes in the nose to stimulate the brain and produce a sense of smell. The release is careful to highlight that this is only the earliest stage of research into developing a technology that might be able to restore a sense of smell to people with “sme... | mixture | Hospital news release | Cost isn’t addressed, but we wouldn’t expect much here in regard to cost. The work is far too preliminary to attach a price tag, and the release highlights just how far off any relevant technology is from becoming a reality. Ideally, some discussion of cost, even in the most general terms (even if, for example, it were... |
5697 | Northam proposes $22M to improve maternal health outcomes. | Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday that his budget proposal will include about $22 million for efforts to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies and reduce the racial disparity in the state’s maternal mortality rate. | true | Ralph Northam, Race and ethnicity, Health, General News, Virginia, Richmond, Medicaid | Part of the funding in the spending plan for the legislative session that begins in January would expand Medicaid coverage for new moms and increase home visits from care providers, said Northam, who was surrounded by advocates holding babies and young children as he spoke in Richmond. The plan also would fund access t... |
27910 | Several actors have kicked the bucket in front of an audience. | ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott, formerly of the metal act Pantera, was shot by a jilted fan while performing with his new group, Damageplan. | true | Entertainment, died onstage, freakish fatalities, Radio & TV | Long part of the canon of contemporary lore is the tale of an unfortunate actor who expires on stage, his adoring audience unaware of his sudden deceasement because they think his collapse part of the show — while they clap and cheer at the brilliance of his death scene performance, unknown to them he is gasping his la... |
23872 | Gov. Crist's veto also clears the way for taxpayer funding of abortion in Florida. | Expectations were high last year for three new migraine drugs hitting the market from Amgen Inc, Eli Lilly and Co and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. | false | Abortion, Florida, Marco Rubio, | Priced around $7,000 each, the drugmakers called them “breakthrough” treatments designed to prevent migraines when taken year-round, and estimated that millions of patients could benefit. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration said Amgen’s Aimovig – the first of the three drugs approved – was an “important addition” to av... |
9442 | ‘Unbelievable’: Heart Stents Fail to Ease Chest Pain | This New York Times story describes startling news that a very common procedure–inserting a stent to open a blocked blood vessel–does not add benefit over medication in patients with angina. Angina is chest pain due to blocked heart arteries, and is common among people with heart disease. Sourcing is a strong point for... | true | angina,heart disease,stent | The story says the procedure to insert stents costs from $11,000 to $41,000 in the U.S. The story makes clear there was no significant difference between a sham procedure or stent insertion, but it only describes the benefit as “less pain.” We would like to see how the pain was measured, some numbers on how much pain w... |
36297 | Riots and war ended Japanese internment, slavery, and the Holocaust. | Did Riots and War End Japanese Internment, Slavery, and World War II? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On July 16 2019, the Facebook page “Close the Camps” shared the following screenshot (archived here) of a Facebook post asserting that riots, rebellion, and war were necessary to put a stop to concentration camps, World War II, and slavery:The original post was published by Facebook user Rick Glass that same day. In fu... |
6884 | Elizabeth Smart says kidnapper being released still a threat. | Elizabeth Smart says a woman who helped kidnap her when she was 14 and stood by as she was sexually assaulted should be committed to a mental-health facility after she’s released from prison next week. | true | Health, Utah, North America, Elizabeth Smart, Salt Lake City, U.S. News | Smart said Thursday she was shocked to find out about Wanda Barzee’s prison release and she’s deeply concerned because the inmate hasn’t been cooperating with treatment. “She is a woman who had six children yet could co-conspire to kidnap a 14-year-old girl, and not only sit next to her while being raped but encourage ... |
10362 | Report: A bit more vitamin D is good, not too much | The story includes multiple voices that explain the rationale for the new recommendation, as well as comments from prominent experts who dissent with some of the committee’s recommendation. The story does not give readers any information about whether any of the experts quoted have potential financial or other conflict... | true | Associated Press,Supplements | The story does not address costs. While the price of a supplement pill is typically just a few cents, this story would have been better if (like another story about this report that we reviewed) it had pointed out that Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on vitamin D supplements. This story repor... |
10260 | Test evaluates pregnancy, and it can deliver calm | "Preterm labor occurs in 8 to 10 percent of all births. Despite various strategies to reduce this percentage, it has remained relatively stable. Diagnosing preterm birth is difficult and has a high false-positive rate. As a result, many women are needlessly hospitalized, miss work or restrict their activies. The fetal ... | mixture | "The story mentions the cost of the test and comments that most insurance companies cover it, however it is not clear if insurance companies will cover it in asymptomatic women. The story does not quantify the benefits of the test. How many hospitalizations could be prevented? The story does not really comment on the h... | |
34787 | "Students have developed a nail polish called ""Undercover Colors"" that can detect the presence of drugs linked to date rape." | The idea for a nail polish that could help detect the presence of date-rape drugs in drinks morphed into a different form of product. | mixture | Crime | In August 2014, interest in an in-development product called “Undercover Colors” swept the social web. According to the students who hatched the idea behind Undercover Colors, this nail polish formula would work to detect the presence of drugs commonly used to facilitate date rape. Undercover Colors maintained a Facebo... |
29 | Bayer asks U.S. appeals court to reverse $25 million Roundup verdict. | Bayer AG on Monday said it has asked a U.S. federal appeals court to throw out a $25 million judgment it was ordered to pay to a California man who blamed the company’s Roundup weed killer for his cancer. | true | Health News | In a filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit dated Friday, Bayer said the verdict defied regulatory findings and sound science, adding that the “speculative case” should never have made it before a jury. Bayer in a statement said it stood behind the safety of Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosat... |
4967 | New, old drugs may offer fresh ways to fight heart disease. | Novel drugs may offer fresh ways to reduce heart risks beyond the usual medicines to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. | true | Heart disease, AP Top News, Health, Gene therapy, General News, Philadelphia, Business, Heart attack, Cholesterol, U.S. News | One new study found that heart attack survivors benefited from a medicine long used to treat gout. Several experimental drugs also showed early promise for interfering with heart-harmful genes without modifying the genes themselves — in one case, with treatment just twice a year. The research was featured at an America... |
3772 | Officials list pot vape brands reported in US outbreak. | Health officials investigating a nationwide outbreak of vaping illnesses have listed, for the first time, the vape brands most commonly linked to hospitalizations. | true | AP Top News, Health, General News, Marijuana, Business, Vaping, U.S. News | Most of the nearly 2,300 people who suffered lung damage had vaped liquids that contain THC, the high-inducing part of marijuana. In a report released Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed the products most often cited by patients, noting that some of them said they vaped more than one. Dan... |
8388 | France to shun strict discrimination by age in lockdown exit. | France will try to avoid setting different rules for older people and other forms of discrimination once the government starts easing its coronavirus confinement measures, the French President’s office said. | true | Health News | France’s lockdown to combat the outbreak, which like in Spain, Italy and many other European countries includes restrictions on store openings and people’s movements, will remain in place until at least May 11, President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this week. After that, schools and shops are set to reopen, though it ... |
9468 | PSA screening for prostate cancer saves lives after all, study says | This story about a new analysis of data on PSA screening includes many important details about the meaning of the study results. It points out harms of prostate cancer treatment and concerns about overdiagnosis and overtreatment. However, the cautionary statements are pushed down to the bottom half of the story. The he... | mixture | prostate cancer | The story does not address the cost of the PSA test itself or of follow-up testing or treatment. The story reports only the study’s estimate of a relative risk reduction of 25 to 32 percent. This figure is meaningless without reporting the underlying absolute risk of dying from prostate cancer. The American Cancer Soci... |
2294 | Britain becomes first nation to legalize three-parent babies. | - Britain will become the first nation to legalize a “three-parent” IVF technique which doctors say can prevent some inherited incurable diseases but which critics fear will effectively lead to “designer babies”. | true | Health News | After more than three hours of debate, lawmakers in parliament’s upper house voted on Tuesday for a change in the law to allow the treatments, echoing a positive vote in the lower house earlier this month. The treatment, called mitochondrial transfer, is known as “three-parent” in vitro fertilization (IVF) because the ... |
9104 | Specialists make breakthrough in the treatment of anal cancer | This news release summarizes a review of 65 randomized controlled trials and observational studies that included some 10,000 people with anal cancer. The analysis itself is important: it exposes the potential for misclassification of disease severity leading to over-treatment of many patients with radiation and chemoth... | mixture | anal cancer,University of Manchester | There is no actual “treatment breakthrough” in the data that needs a price tag. The implication is that less treatment is acceptable, which should cost less. The release could have made this point but we won’t penalize it for not doing so. The release states that the study “uncovered a phenomenon suggesting rates of ly... |
349 | French court finds Bayer's Monsanto liable for farmer's sickness. | A French court has ruled that Monsanto was liable for the sickness of a farmer who inhaled one of its weedkillers, in another legal setback for the Bayer-owned business over health claims. | true | Health News | In the latest stage of a decade-long legal tussle, the appeals court in Lyon on Thursday found in favor of farmer Paul Francois’ claim that Monsanto’s Lasso weedkiller had made him sick and that the product’s labeling had been inadequate. Francois, 55, says he suffered neurological problems, including memory loss, fain... |
29047 | "An account describes Muslims' engaging in a ""dry run"" hijacking on AirTran Flight 297." | (Contrary to common belief, the fact that a replacement crew was used to complete the flight is not an indicator that the original flight crew refused to continue or felt the situation to be unsafe. When flights experience substantial delays in taking off, as Flight 297 did that day, that situation sometimes requires t... | mixture | Politics, muslims | In mid-November 2009, a brief Associated Press news account reported an incident that had taken place on an AirTran Airways flight from Atlanta to Houston, one which resulted in the plane’s returning to the gate and departing 2½ hours late due to a passenger who would not shut off his cell phone when so directed by a f... |
35379 | President Trump gave a talk during the COVID-19 pandemic in which he remonstrated about showers and dishwashers not functioning properly due to low-flow standards. | Based on the way Trump talks about efficient lightbulbs, it seems his complaint is with compact fluorescent bulbs, which were the only low-energy bulbs widely available 10 years ago. But today, store shelves are full of LED bulbs with warmer-looking light and even longer life spans. Gleick suspects Trump’s toilet compl... | true | Politics, COVID-19 | On July 16, 2020, as the U.S. recorded its single highest number of COVID-19 cases since the coronavirus health crisis began, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke at an event held on the South Lawn of the White House, ostensibly on the subject of “Rolling Back Regulations to Help All Americans.” During his talk, according... |
3196 | House passes bills to expand medical marijuana. | The New Hampshire House approved a pair of bills Wednesday to make medical marijuana available to more patients, but a more expansive bill died in the Senate. | true | New Hampshire, Opioids, Medical marijuana, General News, Marijuana, Bills | The House voted to add insomnia and opioid use disorder to the list of qualifying conditions, though the latter would carry significant restrictions, including a requirement that certifying providers have specialized knowledge in addiction treatment. An earlier version of one of the bills also sought to add anxiety and... |
33653 | Dell Hospital will donate 15 cents towards the care of Maria, a raped child, every time a particular text message is forwarded. | If you want to make a difference in a sick child’s life, the best way is still the old-fashioned one: donate your money or your time, don’t passively share a worthless message. | false | Inboxer Rebellion, Medical Appeals | An entreaty to help save the life of a victimized child who had been raped by an AIDS-positive attacker began circulating as a cell phone text message in June 2010. At that time, the message being zinged from phone to phone represented the rapist being sought with a photograph of an African American male bearing gold t... |
2454 | Use of sleeping pills highest among older Americans: CDC. | Older U.S. adults, particularly women, are more likely to use prescription sleep medications to try to get the minimum seven hours of sleep experts generally recommend, U.S. data released on Thursday showed. | true | Health News | Use of such pills, which include Sanofi SA’s Ambien and other similar drugs, was significantly higher for those in their 50s as well as age 80 and older, according to the findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall about 8.6 million people, or 4 percent of U.S. adults reported recently using s... |
22639 | "Twelve judges have thrown out legal challenges to the health care law because they rejected ""the notion that the health care law was unconstitutional." | "President Obama says 12 judges have rejected ""the notion that the health care law was unconstitutional""" | false | National, Health Care, Supreme Court, Barack Obama, | "Ever since a federal judge in Florida ruled the health care law unconstitutional, the White House has portrayed the opinion as an outlier made by an activist judge. Many other judges have come to a different conclusion, the argument goes. This was the tack President Barack Obama took in a pre-Super Bowl interview with... |
8154 | Canada's coronavirus death toll rises to 13 as repatriation efforts step up. | Canada’s death toll from the coronavirus rose to 13 on Saturday, and the country stepped up efforts to repatriate Canadians stranded overseas as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the situation “unprecedented, exceptional and very difficult.” | true | Health News | The government has tested around 83,000 people so far for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer Howard Njoo told reporters. There have been 1,099 confirmed cases. Canada has taken several measures to contain the fast-spreading virus, including closing its bor... |
9192 | Phase III COMPASS study with Bayer’s Rivaroxaban in Patients with Coronary or Peripheral Artery Disease Shows Overwhelming Efficacy and Meets Primary Endpoint Early | This release touts the end of the biggest clinical trial to date on the drug Xarelto (rivaroxaban), used to prevent major adverse cardiac events such as heart attacks and strokes in people with coronary artery disease or peripheral artery disease. As we found with a recent release on the drug Repatha (which we also rev... | mixture | Bayer,rivaroxaban,Xarelto | There is no mention of costs in the release. That’s too bad because the drug costs about $375 for a 30-day supply. It’s worthwhile to let people know about costs. Many older people use their Medicare drug coverage to pay for the drug for the most common indication (atrial fibrillation), with a typical copay of $75 per ... |
21169 | If Rhode Island does a hybrid [retirement] plan we’ll be the first state in the nation to do this.’’ | Gov. Lincoln Chafee says Rhode Island would be first state in U.S. to adopt hybrid retirement plan for public employees | false | Rhode Island, Pensions, Public Service, Retirement, Workers, Lincoln Chafee, | "If state lawmakers approve the Chafee administration’s plan to overhaul Rhode Island’s ailing public pension system, most state workers, teachers and many municipal employees will be enrolled in a so-called hybrid retirement plan. The hybrid plan that Governor Lincoln Chafee and General Treasurer Gina Raimondo have be... |
600 | Twin Southern California wildfires menace Reagan Library, Getty Museum, homes. | A major wildfire threatened thousands of homes and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Los Angeles on Wednesday as the fiercest Santa Ana winds yet lashed Southern California, forcing meteorologists to create new alert levels to warn of the danger. | true | Environment | The blaze erupted early on Wednesday morning in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, and by nightfall had charred 1,300 acres (526 hectares) as crews fought to protect the Reagan library and some 7,000 homes in the path of the flames. The Easy Fire, which forced 26,000 people to flee, broke out some... |
22460 | Secretly, unbeknownst to members of Congress, over $105 billion was hidden in the Obamacare legislation. | Michele Bachmann charges health care bill spent $105 billion 'secretly' | false | National, Federal Budget, Health Care, Michele Bachmann, | "Tea party favorite Michele Bachmann used a recent appearance on Meet the Press to attack the health care law for what she said was secret spending. ""It is shocking the revelations of all the money that's been spent,"" said Bachmann, R-Minn. ""There is a Congressional Research Service report that just was issued in Fe... |
34091 | Image shows an x-ray of a man with a fork in his urethra. | Rumor has it an image shows an x-ray of a fork stuck in a man's urethra. | true | Medical | The annals of emergency medicine provide numerous accounts of patients who have sought treatment for the removal of sizeable foreign objects from the rectum or urethra, items which sometimes ended up penetrating those openings by accident, but most commonly were deliberately inserted by patients seeking some form of se... |
28544 | "NASA had to relabel the size chart used for a condom-like urination contraption built into the Maximum Absorbency Garment space suit system because astronauts refused to choose the ""small"" size." | Given the differing accounts provided by Schweickart, Collins, and Dr. Flush, it is highly unlikely this name change was made on any official level at NASA. It does appear, however, that potty humor is alive and well in outer space. | mixture | Science | NASA may be known for its brilliant employees, technical advances, and lofty projects, but according to a persistent Internet rumor, its astronauts are not immune to penis envy: This rumor about urinary sleeve sizes stems from the “Space Suit” episode of Moon Machines, a 2008 Science Channel documentary miniseries d... |
9804 | Tiny electrical shocks to the brain enhance memory: study | This story does a bit better job than the other one we reviewed of describing electrical brain stimulation treatment as it is used in other types of patients, and pointing out that it is “very invasive.” Still, it could have been more specific about the inherent risks. Like the other story, it misses a chance to compar... | true | Epilepsy | This line of research is so preliminary that we don’t think it’s necessary that stories report specific cost estimates. This story did include a comment about similar treatments being very expensive. The story is clear that this test was just a preliminary experiment to see if brain stimulation can have any memory effe... |
34508 | Donald Trump owns a stake in Energy Transfer Partners (the builders of the Dakota Access Pipeline) as well as Phillips 66, an affiliated company. | What's true: Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said that he had sold the small number of his remaining shares in Energy Transfer Partners as of mid-2016. What's undetermined: Whether Trump sold shares for both ETP and Phillips 66. | unproven | Politics Legal, blind trust, dapl, donald trump | After the 8 November 2016 election of Donald Trump, and amidst the backdrop of ongoing protests at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, rumors circulated that the President-elect owned a stake in the Dakota Access Pipeline. On 29 November 2016 the blog Gothamist published a piece about Trump’s stock in the pipeline’s ... |
5664 | Ebola responders on ‘lockdown’ after Congo city’s unrest. | Ebola responders are on lockdown in the eastern Congo city of Beni after angry residents attacked a United Nations base to protest repeated rebel assaults, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. At least four protesters were killed, a local official said. | true | AP Top News, Health, General News, Africa, International News, United Nations, Ebola virus | Every day that health workers don’t have full access to Ebola-affected areas is a “tragedy” that prolongs the second-worst Ebola outbreak in history, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter. No one in the city could be vaccinated against Ebola on Monday, WHO said. The U.N. health agency previous... |
10130 | Topical Gel Catches Up With Pills for Relief | This story about topical gels that contain pain relief medication similar to ibuprofen makes a strong showing when examined point-by-point. Nevertheless, readers may end up with a skewed impression because of the personal anecdote and opinion that open and close the story. The headline and lead, as well as the last wor... | true | "The story says that the average copayment for a month’s supply of some of the topical NSAID medications is around $30. It would have been nice to include the cost of comparable oral medications. Although the story explains the available evidence comparing topical NSAIDs to oral pain relievers, highlights the limited n... | |
3066 | Search warrants target illegal Southern California pot grows. | More than 15,000 marijuana plants were eradicated and six people were arrested during raids on illegal grows in Southern California, authorities said Tuesday. | true | San Diego, General News, Marijuana, Environment, Arrests, California, Riverside, United States | Thirteen search warrants involving marijuana cultivation were served Monday by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies and state Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel in the unincorporated Aguanga area. In addition to the eradicated plants, 2,356 pounds of processed marijuana and 14 firearms were seized, the Sheriff″s ... |
5333 | Kasich, Gee group to push opioid settlement toward hospitals. | West Virginia University President Gordon Gee and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich are creating a nonprofit that will fight to steer cash from any national opioid settlement to hospitals, rather than to local and state governments already sparring for control of the dollars. | true | John Kasich, AP Top News, State governments, Opioids, Gordon Gee, Health, General News, Politics, Epidemics, West Virginia, Ohio, Education, U.S. News | Gee and Kasich say Citizens for Effective Opioid Treatment, a 501(c)4 organization announced Thursday, will educate policymakers and the public about the negative impact the opioid epidemic has had on health care infrastructure and advance health-related research solutions to the crisis. “It’s an educational effort,” G... |
8566 | U.S. nurses who can't get tested fear they are spreading COVID-19. | In New York City, an intensive care nurse treated patients for three days after she started displaying symptoms of COVID-19 - but couldn’t get a test from her hospital. In Georgia, a nurse was denied a test after treating an infected patient who died. | true | Health News | In Michigan, one of the few hospital systems conducting widespread staff testing found that more than 700 workers were infected with the coronavirus - more than a quarter of those tested. More than a month after the pandemic hit the United States, the persistent test shortages mean that health workers are treating pati... |
8041 | Turkey adopts 'voluntary' stay-at-home quarantine. | President Tayyip Erdogan called on Friday for a “voluntary quarantine” in which Turks stay at home except for shopping or basic needs to stem a surge of coronavirus cases, which jumped by a third in a day to 5,698 with 92 dead. | true | Health News | “If we don’t want these measures to reach a further stage, we must abide by the voluntary quarantine rules verbatim. What does this voluntary quarantine mean? It means do not leave your house,” Erdogan told a press conference late on Friday. The rate of infections in Turkey has outstripped most other countries in the l... |
3779 | "Bipartisan Medicare drug bill gets makeover to lower copays." | A bipartisan Senate bill to curb prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients got a makeover Friday to lower copays and make it easier for seniors to budget for their expenses. | true | Seniors, Ron Wyden, Health, General News, Legislation, Politics, Prescription drug benefits, Impeachments, Prescription drug costs, Business, Prescription drugs, Chuck Grassley, Medicare, Bills, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump | The updated legislation unveiled by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., would lower the standard copay to 20% from the current 25% for seniors enrolled in Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit. It also introduces a feature that would let Medicare enrollees spread out their copays in monthly insta... |
8424 | Africa may see millions of coronavirus cases, tentative WHO forecast shows. | Coronavirus cases in Africa could shoot up from thousands now to 10 million within three to six months according to very provisional modelling, a regional World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday. | true | Health News | But Michel Yao, head of emergency operations for WHO Africa, said that was a tentative projection which could change and noted worst-case predictions for the Ebola outbreak had not come true because people changed behaviour in time. “This is still to be fine-tuned,” he told a media teleconference. “It’s difficult to ma... |
17892 | Terry McAuliffe Says Ken Cuccinelli tried to make it more difficult for mothers to obtain divorces. | McAuliffe’s ad says Cuccinelli introduced legislation in 2008 that would have made it more difficult for mothers to obtain divorces. Cuccinelli’s unsuccessful bill would have eliminated the ability for a spouse in a couple with minor children to unilaterally file for a no-fault divorce. The legislation would have allow... | mixture | Families, Marriage, Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, | "Editors Note: On Sept. 16, PolitiFact Virginia rated a statement by Terry McAuliffe’s campaign that Ken Cuccinelli wants to make it more difficult for mothers to get divorces. After reconsidering the evidence available, we’ve decided to change the rating to , which means the statement is partially accurate but leaves... |
9143 | Strategic brain training positively affects neural connectivity for individuals with TBI | This news release from the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas describes findings from a recent study on the effects of brain training for people with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI). The release is a little fuzzy on the details. The news release should have included numbers to put the ben... | mixture | brain training,Center for BrainHealth,traumatic brain injury | The news release does not mention how much the brain training costs. The release could have stated that the cost of cognitive training usually includes repeat visits to a therapist. The release said that brain training “can stimulate structural changes in the brain and neural connections even years after a traumatic br... |
12472 | NASA will pay you $18,000 to stay in bed and smoke weed for 70 straight days. | Persistent story about NASA paying people $18,000 to lie in bed and smoke ganja is fake | false | Fake news, PunditFact, Bloggers, | "An online story that claimed NASA pays people thousands to smoke marijuana in bed for months is actually a viral legend that has been in orbit for quite awhile now. ""NASA will pay you $18,000 to stay in bed and smoke weed for 70 straight days,"" read the headline on a Jan. 2, 2017, post on TheSolExchange.com, a blog ... |
2670 | Vatican broadens case for condoms to fight AIDS. | Pope Benedict’s landmark acknowledgement that condoms are sometimes morally justifiable to stop AIDS can apply to anyone — gays, heterosexuals and transsexuals — if that is the only option to avoid transmitting the HIV virus to others, the Vatican said Tuesday. | true | Health News | The clarification, which some moral theologians called “groundbreaking,” was the latest step in what is already seen as a significant shift in Catholic Church policy. It came at a news conference to launch the pope’s new book, “Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Sign of the Times.” In the book, a long ... |
10217 | Study: Lower salt intake could be riskier than thought | The difference between this story and the story we reviewed on the same topic by the New York Times can be seen even in the headlines. This one leads readers to believe that there is a risk in eating less salt. The New York Times, though, took the more cautious approach of saying, “Low-Salt Diet Ineffective, Study Find... | mixture | Diet studies,USA Today | As with the harms, the benefits were not quantified. There is no quantification of harms or benefits in this story. Instead we are told, “They found that systolic blood pressure (the top number) was slightly lower in those who excreted less sodium, but this didn’t translate into a lower risk of cardiovascular death — i... |
2807 | EU regulator backs Bayer, GSK drugs, knocks back Novartis, Teva. | Europe’s drugs regulator gave its backing on Friday for marketing approval to be granted for Bayer’s pulmonary hypertension drug Adempas and for GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes medicine Eperzan. | true | Health News | The European Medicine Agency (EMA) also backed a new drug from Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma called Latuda, for the treatment of schizophrenia, and Bemfola, a new biosimilar medicine for the treatment of infertility. But the regulator decided against recommending Teva’s new multiple sclerosis (MS) pill Nerventra, or laquin... |
16991 | "Obamacare is ""one big fat VA system." | "Guilfoyle said Obamacare is ""one big fat VA system."" We found no health policy expert who agreed with that comparison. The VA is owned and operated by the federal government. Its staff are government employees. In contrast, Obamacare builds upon the existing private sector health industry. The law sets standards for... | false | Health Care, Veterans, PunditFact, Kimberly Guilfoyle, | "The uproar over allegations of secret waiting lists at a Veterans Administration hospital in Phoenix, and delays that potentially cost veterans their lives has opened the Obama administration to criticism that it was slow to respond to the VA’s own internal reports. Some also see a connection between troubles at the V... |
9218 | A potential pharmaceutical intervention for co-occurring PTSD and substance use disorder | This news release describes the outcomes of a small randomized placebo controlled study on the use of N-acetylcysteine, an inexpensive over-the-counter supplement, along with cognitive behavioral therapy in male veterans with PTSD and substance use disorder (SUD). Overall, the release provides a balanced report on the ... | true | Medical University of South Carolina,N-acetylcysteine,PTSD | There is no discussion of the cost of N-acetylcysteine although it is on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines, is available over-the-counter and is not very expensive. An online search reveals prices ranging from about $6 for 100 capsules containing 600 mg to around $12 for 50 high-dose capsules ... |
5849 | Maine sees increase in reported syphilis cases. | Public health officials in Maine say there has been an increase in syphilis cases, mirroring a national trend. | true | Health, Syphilis, Public health, Maine | According to the Maine Center for Disease Control, the number of syphilis cases reported in the state increased from 48 in 2016 to 84 last year. The number of national syphilis cases increased by 18 percent in between 2015 and 2016. Maine Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman tells the Bangor Daily News t... |
8986 | Blood Test Predicts Treatment Response and Survival for Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer | This news release touted a study that showed a blood test for a biomarker called AR-V7 can identify patients with aggressive prostate cancer who would benefit if they switched from hormone therapy to chemotherapy. The study, which observed 142 patients who received the test and subsequent treatment, was published in JA... | false | blood test,Epic Sciences,liquid biopsy,prostate cancer | The $3,980 price tag for this test wasn’t mentioned. The release notes that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are currently evaluating whether the test will be covered in the future. In other words, it is not currently covered by Medicare. We aren’t told whether other insurers cover the test. There w... |
10668 | Cholesterol Drug Cuts Heart Risk in Healthy Patients | This story described the results of the JUPITER study which found that use of the statin medication Crestor reduced the risk of heart-related death, heart attacks and other serious cardiac problems in people who would be calculated to be at low risk of these but who had elevated levels of C-reactive protein. The story ... | true | While the story included a calculation that suggested that the intervention was as cost effective as strategies screening for elevated LDL, the story failed to indicate the actual cost to the consumer. Although the story mentioned the number of people in the two study groups who had heart-related death, heart attacks a... | |
1733 | DASH named best overall diet for fifth year: report. | The DASH diet, rich in vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy, has been named the best overall diet for the fifth consecutive year, outpacing Weight Watchers and the Mediterranean diet, U.S. News & World Report said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | DASH, which was developed to lower blood pressure without medication, was also chosen by a panel of health experts as the top diabetes diet and the best plan for healthy eating. Weight Watchers retained the No. 1 spot as the best diet for weight loss, followed by the HMR (Healthy Management Resources) low-calorie, meal... |
33819 | "The numerous current sayings listed in a ""Life in the 1500s"" article sprang from ordinary living conditions in that era. " | A later version of this piece was prefaced with a putative explanation of origins of the term “piss poor,” which we have covered in a separate article. | false | Language, Phrase Craze | An article about “Life in the 1500s” was nothing more than an extended joke, someone’s idea of an amusing leg-pull which began its Internet life in April 1999. All of the historical and linguistic facts it purported to offer were simply made up and contrary to documented facts: Anne Hathaway was the wife of William Sh... |
12348 | "The New York State Senate ""passed legislation allowing minors to race snowmobiles, get their own hunting licenses, and not be employed gathering or picking rags, cigar stumps, or collecting bones." | "Comedian Samantha Bee said the New York State Senate ""passed legislation allowing minors to race snowmobiles, get their own hunting licenses, and not be employed gathering or picking rags, cigar stumps, or collecting bones."" Each of the bills is real and passed the Senate this year. Her claim is True. " | true | Children, New York, Samantha Bee, | "State lawmakers have left Albany for the year without taking up a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims. Current law allows those victims to bring criminal charges against their alleged abuser until the age of 23. The Child Victims Act would extend the age to 28 and create a one... |
2089 | Mental health experts ask: Will anyone be normal?. | An updated edition of a mental health bible for doctors may include diagnoses for “disorders” such as toddler tantrums and binge eating, experts say, and could mean that soon no-one will be classed as normal. | true | Health News | A patient watches TV at the activity room at a mental hospital of Changzhi, north China's Shanxi province May 18, 2007. REUTERS/Stringer Leading mental health experts gave a briefing on Tuesday to warn that a new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is being revised now for ... |
9582 | Injected Drug May Help Fight Osteoporosis in Women | The story reports on research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association studying an experimental drug known as abaloparatide and its ability to prevent a new vertebral fracture in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. A standout positive for this story is its choice to report the absolute risk, rat... | true | osteoporosis | Although it is not known how much abaloparatide will cost at this stage, the article does discuss the cost of its would-be competitor, Forteo, which costs about $2,500 a month for those without insurance. The story does a good job discussing the quantitative evidence from the study. (The few missteps, which are actuall... |
36006 | Since 1958, a four-megaton atomic bomb has been missing off the coast of Georgia, and we don't know if it's active. | A Four-Megaton Atomic Bomb Was Lost off Georgia’s Coast in 1958 (And No One Knows If It’s Active) | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In November 2019, the Facebook page “Weird History” shared the following meme, which claimed that a four-megaton atomic bomb remained missing near Georgia — and that it might be live:Under an image of a Cold War-style bomb or missile (which was incidentally published to Wikipedia in 2008), text read:There’s been a four... |
2957 | The painful path to Obamacare deadline. | Tuesday is a moment of truth for Obamacare. | true | Health News | It marks the final deadline for most Americans to sign up for health insurance under President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, if they want coverage starting on January 1. If enough people - and the right mix of young and old - do not enroll, the ambitious program designed to prov... |
37345 | A preteen shot and killed two undocumented intruders in her family's Montana home. | 11-Year-Old Girl With Shotgun Stops Invaders? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks, Politics, Viral Content | Since 2007, a rumor about a young girl with a gun (Patricia Harrington) and two undocumented people breaking in (Ralphel Resindez and Enrico Garcia) plays on xenophobia and fear to make its point during its cyclical appearances on Facebook and in email boxes:Shotgun Preteen vs. Illegal alien Home Invaders: Butte, Monta... |
2776 | J&J chooses Yale to review requests for clinical drug data. | Johnson & Johnson has selected the Yale School of Medicine to review requests from investigators and physicians looking for access to clinical trial data involving the diversified healthcare company’s pharmaceuticals. | true | Health News | Under the agreement, the “Yale Open Data Access Project,” will independently review and make final decisions regarding all requests for information on the company’s drug clinical trials, including anonymous patient data. The action comes amid growing pressure from outside scientists for access to raw data from clinical... |
35260 | Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banned the sale or purchase of American flags during the COVID-19 pandemic. | Increasing tremors on a volcanic island in New Zealand on Wednesday heightened the risk of another massive eruption, preventing the recovery of bodies two days after an eruption engulfed dozens of tourists in steam and hot ash. | false | Politics, COVID-19 | Six people were killed in Monday’s explosion at White Island, which lies some 50 km (30 miles) off the mainland, with another nine officially listed as missing, and 30 injured. Australian Gavin Dallow, 53, and his stepdaughter Zoe Hosking, 15, were the latest victims to be identified on Wednesday. “Our hearts break at ... |
9266 | Study shows acetaminophen can be tolerated by children with mild, persistent asthma | This study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is the first randomized, double-blind, controlled trial comparing acetaminophen to ibuprofen to treat pain and fever in children with asthma. No statistically significant differences were found between the two treatment arms. Previous observational stud... | mixture | acetaminophen,asthma,University Hospitals Case Medical Center | Like the Boston Children’s Hospital news release, the University Hospitals Case Medical Center news release does not address costs. The acetaminophen medication used in the study, Little Remedies, costs about 50 percent more than Children’s Advil — $8.86 for 4 fluid ounces versus $4.96, respectively — at Walmart. It wo... |
27808 | "Hyland's Teething Tablets have been discontinued for causing ""adverse events"" in children." | Over a 10-year period, from 2006 to 2016, the FDA collected reports of “adverse events” in more than 370 children who had used Hyland’s homeopathic teething tablets or gel, a similar product that is applied directly to a baby’s gums. Agency records show eight cases in which babies were reported to have died after takin... | true | Medical, homeopathic, hyland's | Note: As of 2016, Hyland’s has stopped distributing their teething products in the United States. In October 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified consumers that Hyland’s Teething Tablets, a homeopathic product, intended to provide temporary relief of teething symptoms in children, was being recalled af... |
12088 | Even with a permanent income tax increase... the budget is more than $1 billion out of balance… | "Gov. Bruce Rauner said Illinois’ current operating budget is ""is more than $1 billion out of balance…"" The head of the Illinois Teachers Retirement System confirms Rauner’s claim that the new pension plan expected to generate $500 million in anticipated savings won’t be enacted during the current fiscal year (or eve... | true | State Budget, Taxes, Illinois, Bruce Rauner, | "Illinois’ record budget standoff ended July 6 with legislative Democrats, joined by a handful of Republicans, approving a $36 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that began July 1, which is underpinned by a 32 percent hike in the state income tax rate. Enactment came July 6 over the objections of Republican Gov.... |
2876 | Drugmaker AstraZeneca forecasts faster return to growth. | AstraZeneca expects new drugs and a recent diabetes deal to offset a wave of patent expiries and return it to growth faster than analysts predict, with 2017 revenue likely to be broadly in line with the 2013 level. | true | Health News | The company’s forecast implies a potential $3 billion upgrade to the consensus estimate from analysts and marks an attempt to call a bottom to a sales decline driven by the loss of exclusivity on several top-selling medicines. Britain’s second-biggest drugmaker is already suffering from generic competition to its antip... |
9060 | Minimally invasive treatment provides relief from back pain | To read this release, one would come away with the impression that nearly everybody suffers from low back pain and that nearly everybody could benefit from “image-guided pulsed radiofrequency treatment.” This impression is built on a faulty structure. There is not enough data provided in a clear enough way. The true co... | false | back pain,radiofrequency treatment,Radiological Society of North America | There is no mention of costs in the release. The release addresses benefits with this statement: “Of the 80 patients treated, 81 percent were pain free one year after a single 10-minute treatment session. Six patients required a second pulsed radio-frequency session. Ninety percent of the patients were able to avoid su... |
2748 | Pfizer breast cancer drug succeeds in mid-stage trial. | Pfizer Inc’s experimental breast cancer drug significantly delayed progression of symptoms in a mid-stage trial, meeting the study’s primary goal and keeping Pfizer in the forefront of a race for a new standard of care for the disease. | true | Health News | Pfizer shares were up nearly 4 percent on positive findings for the oral treatment, called palbociclib, one of the company’s most important experimental drugs that some analysts believe could eventually claim annual sales of more than $5 billion, if approved. The trial tested the pill in post-menopausal patients with l... |
11246 | Mammogram Rate Declining, Study Suggests | "The story focuses on the documented decrease in use of mammography, which is portrayed here as a negative. The anchor and her guest, a breast cancer surgeon, speculate why fewer women have been getting mammograms; they attribute this trend, in part, to legal issues closing mammography centers. They also speculate that... | false | "The broadcast does not provide the cost of mammography, but does address health insurance coverage and notes that a lack of insurance may be a deterrent in women’s choice to have an annual mammography. The reporter does cite data, but just relative not absolute (see our primer), and probably paints a rosier picture th... | |
3189 | WHO: Death toll from measles outbreak in Congo hits 6,000. | The death toll from a measles epidemic in Congo has surpassed 6,000, the World Health Organization said Tuesday as it warned that more funds are needed to save lives during the world’s worst outbreak of the infectious disease. | true | Health, Measles, General News, Africa, Epidemics, Senegal, Infectious diseases, United Nations, Ebola virus, International News | Measles has killed nearly three times as many people in Congo than an Ebola outbreak in the country that has garnered far more international attention, particularly after health teams came under attack from armed militias operating in the area. “Lack of funding remains a huge impediment to successfully curbing the outb... |
41720 | Joe Biden wrote in a 1981 op-ed “that he believed that women working outside the home would, quote, ‘create the deterioration of [the] family.’” | Several of the factual distortions concerned what the candidates had to say about one another. | mixture | child care, climate change, DREAMers, health care, insurance, pay inequality, Police, Taxes, | Another debate, and another crop of false and misleading claims.CNN hosted the second of two Democratic debates on July 31 in Detroit, with another field of 10 candidates. For our story on the first night, see “FactChecking the Second Democratic Debate.”Biden initially said that his health care plan would cover the “va... |
37541 | United States President Donald Trump made several statements downplaying the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. | ‘Timeline of Trump’s COVID-19 Statements’ Meme | true | Fact Checks, Politics | As criticism spread against United States President Donald Trump’s administration for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March 2020, one graphic disseminated on social media listed his multiple attempts to downplay the disease:In this case, the graphic is completely accurate. The various statements are correc... |
9147 | Children and adolescents who eat pasta have better overall diet quality new research shows | This news release from the National Pasta Association claims a new study shows that American children and adolescents who eat pasta consume a higher quality diet than children who don’t eat pasta. But this association is based on survey data measured against recommended dietary guidelines — which makes for a less-than-... | mixture | diet,National Pasta Association,pasta | The release does not address the cost of including pasta in meal preparation but it’s generally known to anyone who buys food that a box of dry noodles can be purchased for less than $1. The release does not give us any numbers that allow us to see the proof of the association described. Here is one statement from the ... |
4491 | Child advocacy group: Kids in 173 countries better off now. | A children’s advocacy group says youngsters in all but three of the 176 countries it evaluated have a better chance of growing up healthy, educated and protected from harmful practices like child labor and child marriage than at any time in the past two decades. | true | U.S. News, Health, Africa, Marriage, Save the Children, United Nations, Niger, U.S. News, Central Africa, Child labor | Save the Children said in a report released Tuesday saying that U.N. statistics show at least 280 million children are better off today. But it said a quarter of the world’s children are still denied the right to a safe and healthy childhood, with youngsters fleeing or caught in conflict the most disadvantaged. Singapo... |
120 | Sanofi pulls Zantac from U.S. and Canada after carcinogen found. | Sanofi SA said on Friday it would recall popular heartburn medicine Zantac in the United States and Canada, after the medicines were linked with a probable cancer-causing impurity. | true | Health News | The French drugmaker said it was working with health authorities to determine the level and extent of the recall, which it called a precautionary measure being taken due to possible contamination with a substance called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Sanofi has sold over-the-counter Zantac in the U.S. and Canada since ... |
10930 | Study: Proton treatment for prostate cancer results in few complications | This story provides a very unbalanced look at one highly-promoted treatment option for men with prostate cancer. It reported on a talk given at a meeting (meaning that the information has not undergone rigorous peer review). Journalists need to understand that talks at scientific meetings may not be ready for prime tim... | false | Cancer | Adequate job. The story explained: “proton therapy is expensive for hospitals and for patients. It typically costs $100 million to build a proton treatment center and treatment may be $20,000 more expensive than conventional radiation treatments. That’s why the medical community is still debating whether the expense i... |
27712 | A young woman named Elisa Lam disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Los Angeles, her body later found in a hotel's water tank. | A young woman named Elisa Lam disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Los Angeles in 2013, her body later found in a hotel's rooftop water tank. | true | Horrors, elisa lam, freakish fatalities | On 31 January 2013, Canadian student Elisa Lam was last seen alive by an employee of the Hotel Cecil in Los Angeles. Lam disappeared on that day, and she remained missing for several weeks after she failed to check out of the property as scheduled in February 2013. On 6 February 2013, the Los Angeles Police Department ... |
33277 | A gun-toting Australian granny blew the testicles off the two men who raped her granddaughter. | It’s no accident that this work of fiction features two adult male rapists (which one immediately pictures as strong, overpowering creeps), a teenage girl victim, and a frail little old lady of 81 years (a retired library worker, at that). The contrast makes for a more thrilling tale, and the cheers over David’s toppli... | false | Crime, Vigilante Justice, weekly world news | MELBOURNE, Australia Gun-toting granny Ava Estelle, 81, was so ticked-off when two thugs raped her 18-year-old granddaughter that she tracked the unsuspecting ex-cons down — and shot their testicles off! “The old lady spent a week hunting those bums down — and when she found them, she took revenge on them in her own sp... |
4156 | Study: Stopping global warming only way to save coral reefs. | Reducing pollution and curbing overfishing won’t prevent the severe bleaching that is killing coral at catastrophic rates, according to a study of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. In the end, researchers say, the only way to save the world’s coral from heat-induced bleaching is with a war on global warming. | true | Climate, AP Top News, Climate change, Australia, Science, Corals, Asia Pacific, Coral reefs, Overfishing, Pollution | Scientists are quick to note that local protection of reefs can help damaged coral recover from the stress of rising ocean temperatures. But the new research shows that such efforts are ultimately futile when it comes to stopping bleaching in the first place. “We don’t have any tools to climate-proof corals,” said Terr... |
7917 | Healthcare group Novacyt wins U.S. approval for coronavirus test. | Novacyt, a healthcare company specializing in clinical diagnostics, announced on Monday approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regulator for its product aimed at testing for coronavirus. | true | Health News | Novacyt said the FDA’s approval meant that hospitals and laboratories in the United States would be able to use the test for clinical diagnosis of the coronavirus, and that the test was now available for immediate distribution in the U.S. market. “The U.S. FDA EUA authorization is another important endorsement of the p... |
32381 | "List of double entrendres collects ""the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators during the Summer Olympics." | "Dubious list of old jokes and double entrendres purportedly collects ""the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators during the Summer Olympics.""" | false | Humor, ASP Article, Laughable Lists, olympics | This mirth-provoking list of “the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators during the Summer Olympics,” a collection of facepalm statements and double entrendres, is dusted off every four years and recirculated online to much social amusement. Although we can’t guarantee that no sports commentator anywhere eve... |
8841 | Actos arrests heart disease in diabetics: study. | The popular diabetes pill Actos prevented the build-up of fatty deposits in heart arteries in a study of patients with type 2 diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Monday. | true | Health News | They said the Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltddrug Actos, known generically as pioglitazone, is the first diabetes therapy shown to reduce the progression of atherosclerosis. “The results are very striking. In my view, this is really a breakthrough study,” Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, who led the study, s... |
21094 | "The United States' regulations ""are among the most difficult in the world." | "Scott said ""our regulations are among the most difficult in the world."" As his evidence, he cites companies moving their oil rigs from the Gulf Coast overseas and a medical device manufacturer cutting more than 1,000 jobs ""because of new Obamacare taxes."" Even if some companies move overseas or cut jobs and attrib... | false | Environment, Economy, Health Care, Regulation, Florida, Rick Scott, | "Republican Gov. Rick Scott repeated a familiar politician's mantra when he bashed ""overregulation."" In a Nov. 14, 2011, press release, Scott criticized President Barack Obama for accusing America of being ""lazy"" in attracting investment: ""Obstacles to job creation in America are a result of policy, not of motivat... |
7828 | "Psychiatrists unveil their long-awaited diagnostic ""bible""." | The long-awaited, controversial new edition of the bible of psychiatry can be characterized by many numbers: its 947 pages, its $199 price tag, its more than 300 maladies (from “dependent personality disorder” and “voyeuristic disorder” to “delayed ejaculation,” “kleptomania” and “intermittent explosive disorder”), eac... | true | Health News | But to the psychiatrist who shepherded the tortuous creation of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” perhaps the single most important number is the “5” in its title: This is the DSM-5, not the DSM-V. That may seem like a cosmetic change, but the American Psychiatric Association, which will rel... |
10991 | Promise Seen for Detection of Alzheimer’s | "This is a story that celebrates the ""eureka moment,"" so much so that it includes three eureka moments. The problem with eureka moments and with stories like this is that they don’t reflect the true nature of scientific discovery. Yes, scientists get excited about breakthroughs, as they should, but those breakthrough... | mixture | "There is one glancing reference to cost. ""The type of scans used in this study, PET scans, are expensive and patients have to go to a scanning center, get injected with a radioactive dye, wait for the dye to reach their brain and then have a scan."" How expensive? (The average cost of a PET scan is $3-6,000.) And, i... | |
33574 | "The lyrics of James Taylor's ""Fire and Rain"" chronicle his reaction to the death of his girlfriend in a plane crash." | Although James Taylor’s eponymous debut album was not a tremendous commercial success, he sufficiently overcame the personal issues with which he had been grappling to leave Apple Records, sign with Warner Bros., and record an album (Sweet Baby James) that, propelled by the success of its second single, “Fire and Rain,... | false | Entertainment, james taylor, music, Songs | Gentle, plaintive, and compelling, “Fire and Rain” was the hit that launched the career of James Taylor, one of the 1970’s premier singer-songwriters: Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000] The real story behind ‘Fire and Rain,’ as I understand it, is that some friends of James were going to surprise James by bri... |
13305 | Sen. (Richard) Burr voted no on the Violence Against Women Act. | "Ross’ ad said Burr ""voted no on the Violence Against Women Act."" Burr did vote against the 2012 version of the law’s reauthorization, which was important because it effectively meant delaying the revival of an act that had expired. However, the ad ignores that three other times over 13 years Burr voted for a reautho... | mixture | Criminal Justice, Women, North Carolina, Deborah Ross, | "In a recent campaign ad, North Carolina Democrat Deborah Ross blasted her opponent, Republican Sen. Richard Burr, for voting against the landmark Violence Against Women Act. ""Sen. Burr voted no on the Violence Against Women Act,"" a narrator says in the ad, while the text, ""Richard Burr: Opposed Violence Against Wom... |
9375 | Earlier Mammograms May Mean Less Need for Aggressive Treatments | This HealthDay news story reports on findings among women diagnosed with breast cancer: those who had longer intervals between mammograms end up getting more aggressive treatments, including chemotherapy and surgery. The story would have been stronger had it described the findings using absolute rather than relative nu... | true | breast cancer,mammography,screening | The article did not discuss costs. Screening mammograms impose a significant cost on the U.S. health care system and insurers, particularly Medicare. The story detailed the relative harms of earlier mammograms, but did not translate those percentages into absolute numbers. For instance, women who were diagnosed with br... |
5798 | Oregon effort to declare health care a right falters. | An effort to insert an amendment in Oregon’s Constitution making health care a right died amid concerns by lawmakers that it would expose the state to lawsuits. | true | Legislature, Access to health care, Constitutions, Health, Lawsuits, Oregon, Portland, State legislature | Such an amendment would have been unprecedented among U.S. states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The Democratic-controlled state House approved the measure 35-25 on Feb. 13, but it never reached the floor of the Democratic-controlled Senate for a vote. Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, chairwom... |
11188 | Telephone-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety in Rural Older Adults | The news release reports on the outcome of a randomized clinical trial testing how well telephone-based therapy can be used for older rural patients experiencing general anxiety disorder. It’s an interesting and important topic. The release would have been improved significantly with just a few more details. The resear... | true | Journal news release,mental health | At no point in the release was cost mentioned. Psychotherapy and counseling can be costly, especially for the elderly on fixed incomes. Readers would be well-served with some estimate of the costs of the services provided through this trial. Also, a mention of a comparison between the costs of office visits for such th... |
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