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37570 | A statement issued by a quarantined nurse in California describes what they believe are insufficient testing protocols. | Statement from a Quarantined Kaiser Nurse in California | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On March 6 2020, an Imgur post with the title “Thank god for unions, but damn” appeared, purportedly showing a statement “by a quarantined nurse from a northern California Kaiser facility”:The statement was dated March 5 2020, and the text in the image read:As a nurse, I’m very concerned that not enough is being done t... |
10671 | Antidepressants’ risks to children slim, study says | The story provides the reader with a comparison of anti-depressants' effectiveness and the risk of suicidal thoughts or actions in young children and teenagers. The story describes results of a recently published meta-analysis and explains why the results of this new study may differ from data on which an FDA warning o... | true | The cost of anti-depressant medications are not mentioned. Cost of generic prozac is about $16/month. Branded versions are about $80-120/month The story does provide absolute data on the positive benefit of these medication for several mood disorders. The story also presents the number needed to harm. The story prese... | |
8844 | Celebrex risky in high-risk patients, study finds. | Doctors should prescribe the lowest doses of Celebrex possible in patients at high risk of heart problems, researchers who did a combined analysis of six studies of the Pfizer Inc pain drug said on Monday. | true | Health News | The analysis suggests the potentially harmful effect of Celebrex dosage is most pronounced in higher-risk patients, researchers said at the American College of Cardiology scientific meeting. “Patients at low cardiovascular risk should take some level of comfort,” said Dr. Scott Solomon, lead researcher of the National ... |
7523 | Presidents in health crises: Trump more hands-on than many . | Woodrow Wilson was more focused on the end of World War I than a flu virus that was making its way around the globe, ultimately sickening hundreds of thousands of Americans, including the president himself. | true | AP Top News, Health, General News, Flu, Politics, Latin America, Financial markets, Natural disasters, Pandemics, George W. Bush, Terrorism, Virus Outbreak, Europe, Public health, World War I, Barack Obama | George W. Bush stood with a bullhorn on a pile of rubble after the 9/11 attacks on lower Manhattan and promised that the people who were responsible “will hear all of us soon.” Barack Obama was in office for just a few months when the first reports came in about the H1N1 virus, which would eventually be declared a pand... |
7835 | Long-distance runners lap up miles for the love of it. | Although many people begin running as a practical path to weight loss or fitness, for many it becomes a love affair as the miles increase. | true | Health News | Tom Holland, running coach and author of “The Marathon Method,” tells his clients that running for 3 miles was horrible for him too, but farther down the road things changed. “It happens for different people at different times and different distances: that runner’s high,” he said in an interview. Holland calls it a car... |
9594 | Your Fitbit Could Help You Get Pregnant — Here’s How | The story focuses on how wearable technology — particularly the Fitbit — could help women track their ovulation cycle in order to increase the odds of becoming pregnant. The story does, briefly, address the fact that this will not help women who have other medical obstacles to becoming pregnant, but could have done mor... | false | Fitbit,Pregnancy | The story quotes a company official calling this a “cheaper” method for those who want to get pregnant. But no numbers are provided to back this up. Fitbits can cost anywhere from 60 to more than 100 dollars. They also require users to have smartphones or tablets to interact with the fitbit — and with the (free) app di... |
4683 | New deal between UPMC, Highmark extends in-network access. | Under a new agreement, Highmark health insurance will maintain in-network access to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center hospitals in western Pennsylvania. | true | Bedford, Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, University of Pittsburgh | Gov. Tom Wolf thanked both health systems in an announcement on Thursday. Wolf, a Democrat, praised the rival companies for reaching the agreement following their 2014 contract. In-network access to UPMC facilities for Highmark patients was set to expire in 2019. Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, UPMC Altoona,... |
2404 | Relapse of 'cured' HIV patients spurs AIDS science on. | Scientists seeking a cure for AIDS say they have been inspired, not crushed, by a major setback in which two HIV positive patients believed to have been cured found the virus re-invading their bodies once more. | true | Science News | True, the news hit hard last month that the so-called “Boston patients” - two men who received bone marrow transplants that appeared to rid them completely of the AIDS-causing virus - had relapsed and gone back onto antiretroviral treatment. But experts say the disappointment could lay the basis for important leaps for... |
41068 | Snakes kill 137 people every day | This is an underestimate. Snakes kill around 378 people per day. | false | online | 26,383 people die of cancer each day. 24,641 die of heart disease every day. This is an underestimate for all cardiovascular disease deaths, but close to the daily figure of those who die from coronary heart disease specifically. 4,300 people die of diabetes every day. Suicide is the cause of death for around 3,000 peo... |
16676 | Since 1999, 440 people have been killed in attacks on church property in the United States. | Gun group's church violence stats can't be verified | false | Georgia, Guns, GeorgiaCarry.org, | "It’s been a month since House Bill 60 became law and cleared the way for Georgians to carry concealed weapons in several new venues – all bars, many government buildings and, generating the most news coverage, churches that allow it. Jerry Henry, executive director of GeorgiaCarry.org --- a pro-gun group that advocate... |
6065 | Michigan probes Detroit-area hospital’s 7 Legionnaires cases. | State health officials are investigating after seven people treated at a suburban Detroit hospital were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. | true | Health, General News, Legionnaires disease, Detroit, Mount Clemens, Michigan | The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says it’s working with the Macomb County Health Department to investigate the illnesses at McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens. The departments say six of the seven Legionnaires’ cases have been reported at the hospital since mid-September. Both agencies are inv... |
33322 | Under Obamacare, patients 76 and older must be admitted to the hospital by their primary care physicians in order to be covered by Medicare. | Finally, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) “Hospital Inpatient Admission Order and Certification” document from September 2013 that covers the procedure for submitting an order for inpatient services under Medicare Part A states that “payment for hospital inpatient services under Medicare Part A, section... | false | Medical, aca, medicare, obamacare | This alarmist warning claims a provision of the Affordable Care Act [ACA] (commonly known as “Obamacare”) supposedly requires that a primary care physician must admit patients of age 76 and older to a hospital in order for those patients’ hospital costs to be covered by Medicare. It originally turned up as a piece tack... |
11974 | Women in our state will continue to have cost-free access to reproductive health care | "Cuomo said women in New York state ""will continue to have cost-free access to reproductive health care"" because of an action the state took earlier this year. But not every woman is in an insurance plan regulated by the state. It’s possible a self-insured large employer in New York state could apply for an exemption... | true | Abortion, Women, New York, Andrew Cuomo, | "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says women in New York state don’t have to worry about new Trump administration rules ending a federal requirement that employers must include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans. The new rules exempt employers from the Obama-era mandate if they have religious or moral reservati... |
4267 | Doctors: Global warming is taking a toll on people’s health. | Global warming is hurting people’s health a bit more than previously thought, but there’s hope that the Earth — and populations — can heal if the planet kicks its coal habit, a group of doctors and other experts said. | true | Climate, Climate change, International News, Environment, Health, Environmental health | The poor and elderly are most threatened by worsening climate change, but there remains “glimmers of progress” especially after the 2015 Paris agreement to limit heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new big study published Monday in the British medical journal Lancet. Comparing the report to a health ... |
18336 | "Mark Warner Says 70,000 children ""have lost their Head Start slots"" because of the sequester." | "Warner said 70,000 children have ""lost their Head Start slots"" because of the sequester. He strains the limit of an Obama administration estimate that ""up to"" that number of children may lose out. There’s no doubt that many children will lose Head Start spots as the budget cuts sink in, but at this point, nobody k... | false | Children, Education, Federal Budget, Poverty, Virginia, Mark Warner, | "Faced with complaints about airport delays being caused by the sequester, Congress last month halted a furlough of air traffic controllers that had been part of its budget-cutting agreement. U.S. Sen Mark Warner, D-Va., recently wondered why members of Congress -- frequent fliers, themselves -- haven’t shown the same ... |
9892 | New Hope for Early Detection of Autism | "In a story reported before the study results were even presented at a scientific meeting, researchers suggest that key differences seen using functional magnetic resonance imaging may be a key diagnostic tool for autism. The story headline suggests the test is a ""new hope"" for diagnosing the disorder. The reader is ... | mixture | "At a minimum, the reporter could have found out what a typical fMRI scan costs for someone without insurance and for someone with basic insurance. It also could have found out what one of the machines costs a hospital to purchase and, perhaps, how many are acutally in use nationwide. It talks about the potential benef... | |
29447 | Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence signed legislation forcing women to hold funerals for miscarried or aborted fetuses. | Pratt’s ruling means that, despite the efforts of Pence and state Republicans, Indiana women will not be asked whether to they wish to bury or cremate (rather than donate) their miscarried or aborted fetuses. Even so, had the law not been suspended, parents would not have been forced to hold funerals for abortions or m... | false | Uncategorized, 2016 presidential election, abortion, mike pence | As the 2016 presidential elections continued to heat up, the vice presidential candidates began to weigh in their own particular interests and issues. Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence spotlighted his views on abortion as part of his platform: I’m pro-life and I don’t apologize for it. We’ll see Roe vs.... |
33815 | A customer who picked up some fried chicken from a fast food outlet discovered that an unusual-tasting piece was actually a batter-fried rat. | The frequency of attachment of an urban legend to the largest company or corporation is so common as to be considered a law of urban folklore. | false | Food, Food Contamination | The “Kentucky Fried Rat” tale is one of the hoariest of food contamination urban legends: [Collected by Fine, 1976] An old lady ordered out for Kentucky Fried Chicken. She was eating along when she noticed teeth; she pulled back the crust and discovered she was eating a rat. She had a heart attack and died, and her re... |
6121 | Seniors can use virtual reality for travel, health issues. | Joy Golliver recently visited the Washington state community where she and her late husband lived for more than 20 years. And her sons, who live in Seattle, texted their 84-year-old mother asking how she was able to travel from Tucson, Arizona, to Kachess Lake without them knowing. | true | Seniors, Virtual reality technology, Arizona, Health, General News, Tucson, Travel, Dementia | Thanks to virtual reality, Golliver actually never left Tucson. “This technology can take us to any memory in our life that we want to visit,” she said. Golliver lives at the Fountains, one of two Tucson retirement communities serving as the launching pad for a program to see how virtual reality technology helps senior... |
10183 | Less Stress, Better Sleep May Help You Lose Weight | The story provided the important viewpoint that it may make sense to manage a chronic health condition such as obesity in a holistic setting that goes beyond consideration of just caloric intake and energy expenditure. However, the insight that those obese individuals who are able to sleep better may be better able to ... | true | HealthDay | Not applicable. The story presented the outcome of 472 obese individuals and examined in more detail those who were able, on average, to loss 14 pounds over a period of 26 weeks. The story did not provide any insight as to whether this amount of weight loss resulted in any health improvement in the obese individuals wh... |
24577 | If we went back to the obesity rates that existed back in the 1980s, the Medicare system over several years could save as much as a trillion dollars. | Obama says lower obesity rates would save Medicare $1 trillion | false | National, Health Care, Medicare, Barack Obama, | "We don't expect President Barack Obama to remember everything we write about him, but when he repeats a claim we had earlier found to be , we think it's worth calling him out. On Aug. 20, 2009, President Obama held a discussion and conference call at a national health care forum sponsored by Organizing for America, th... |
6178 | Highly-contagious bird flu found in Japan, culling start. | Japanese health authorities have confirmed a highly contagious avian flu strain in poultry in two prefectures in northern Japan, with culling of hundreds of thousands of birds starting Tuesday at the affected farms. | true | Health, Asia Pacific, Bird flu, Flu, Japan | The government confirmed that the highly virulent H5 strain was detected in birds at a chicken farm in Niigata, where about 40 of them were found dead Monday. Dead ducks at a farm in another prefecture of Aomori also tested H5 positive. Culling of about 310,000 birds began Tuesday at the Niigata farm and will continue ... |
37553 | More than 12,000 Americans died of H1N1 (swine flu) in the United States in 2009, and 275,000 Americans were hospitalized. | Did 12,000 Americans Die of H1N1/Swine Flu, and Were 275,000 Hospitalized? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | As concerns over novel coronavirus strain COVID-19 crested in mid-March 2020, comparisons between the effects of the strain versus that of H1N1 (or “swine flu”) more than a decade before triggered a flurry of fact checks, a Facebook flag on the memes, and exacerbated distrust in the efficacy of Facebook’s fact-checking... |
9530 | Driving home from night shift may be safer with light therapy | The U. S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which conducts research on driver behavior and traffic safety, estimates that drowsy driving causes at least 100,000 auto crashes each year. This Reuters story describes a recent study that found that exposing sleep-deprived participants to 45 minutes of... | true | light therapy,sleep problems | Cost information is not provided, but the cost of a bright light is presumably reasonable. The story is specific about the number of sleep-deprived participants who crashed their simulated cars after exposure to dim light (5) compared to those whose simulated drive home was preceded by 45 minutes of bright light (0). E... |
9209 | Sun Pharma Announces Positive Topline Results of Confirmatory Phase-3 Clinical Trial for Seciera™ for Treatment of Dry Eye | This release reports on the results of a phase 3 trial of a cyclosporine A ophthalmic solution (trade name Seciera) intended to treat dry eye symptoms. The release states that the randomized, controlled trial involved 744 patient volunteers, which suggests good evidence, but the release omits information from the study... | false | cyclosporine,dry eye,Sun Pharma | There is no mention of the cost of this new product, nor is there any information on its needed frequency of use, which would be helpful to consumers considering it versus other products intended to curb dry eye symptoms. Another prescription cyclosporine ophthalmic product for dry eyes already on the market averages m... |
7949 | Macron warns France that coronavirus epidemic is coming. | President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said a coronavirus epidemic was inevitable in France as his government and others worldwide bolstered measures to fight the spread of infection. | true | Health News | Macron visited a Paris hospital where a 60-year-old Frenchman this week became the second person to die from the coronavirus in France, and sought to reassure a medical profession angry over healthcare spending that it had his support. “We have a crisis before us. An epidemic is on its way,” Macron, dressed in a suit a... |
42011 | Thanks to the immigrants who illegally cross the U.S. Mexican border, and the Democrats who refuse to stop them, the Measles virus has been declared a public health emergency in 2019. | A Facebook meme incorrectly blames the measles outbreak in the U.S. on immigrants from South America. The virus, however, was eliminated there in 2016. The recent uptick in measles cases is due to travelers returning from countries with outbreaks. | false | immigration, measles, Memes, vaccines, | A Facebook meme incorrectly blames the measles outbreak in the U.S. on immigrants from South America. The virus, however, was eliminated there in 2016. The recent uptick in measles cases is due to travelers returning from countries with outbreaks. The outbreak of measles in the U.S. and around the world is due largely ... |
6615 | Einstein proof: Nobel winners find ripples in the universe. | For decades astronomers tried to prove Albert Einstein right by doing what Einstein thought was impossible: detecting the faint ripples in the universe called gravitational waves. They failed repeatedly until two years ago when they finally spotted one. Then another. And another. And another. | true | AP Top News, International News, Physics, Sweden, Technology, Nobel Prizes, California, Science, U.S. News, Europe, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts | Three American scientists — including one who initially flunked out of MIT — won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday that launched a whole new way to observe the cosmos. Sweden’s Royal Academy of Sciences cited the combination of highly advanced theory and ingenious equipment design in awarding Rainer Weiss of the Massa... |
2058 | Hold the lime with Corona, may cause skin reaction. | In a TV advertisement for Corona beer, a woman on a beach, irritated by her companion ogling a bikini-clad blonde, squirts him with the lime sitting atop his beer. | true | Health News | Bottles of Corona beer speed past a worker in the bottling line of Mexico City's Modelo brewery, May 19, 2004. REUTERS/Andrew Winning He may be in for worse than a surprise: a nasty skin reaction that one doctor is calling “Mexican beer dermatitis.” A substance in lime juice, if left on the skin in the sun, can cause... |
9163 | Teaching happiness to men with HIV boosts their health | In a study by Northwestern University, 80 patients newly diagnosed with HIV infection were given training in thinking positively and compared to a control group of 79 who did not receive the training. Measures of viral load — more than a year later — were lower in the group who received the five-week intervention than ... | false | HIV,mental health,Northwestern University | We did not find any discussion of the cost of bringing patients in for five sessions of what is called “positive skills intervention.” While it may be low-cost, we need some mention of that to help evaluate the practicality of this therapy. The study itself devotes space to cost analysis. “The [intervention] was quite ... |
39840 | Several claims: 1. A regimen of drinking water in the morning on an empty stomach can cure several diseases including cancer, arthritis, and diabetes. 2. Drinking cold water with meals can cause sludge in the intestines and lead to cancer. 3. Women should be aware of heart attack symp... | The way you drink water can cause deadly disease. | unproven | Medical, Warnings | Let’s take the topics one at a time: 1. Drink water in the morning on an empty stomach and cure diseases. So called “Water Therapy” is a popular recommendation among practioners of alternative medicine but we have not found any credible evidence of the value of the method suggested in this... |
27843 | NORAD annually tracks Santa's progress because a child trying to reach Santa via a newspaper advertisement called the wrong phone number. | The story of how NORAD came to track Santa's progress every Christmas Eve. | true | Holidays, santa claus | Ever since the mid-1950s, generations of children in North America (and, since the advent of the Internet, children from all over the world) have eagerly turned to an annual service provided by the U.S.-Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to help them track the progress of Santa Claus every Christma... |
7433 | Lamont moving ahead with May 20 reopening despite concerns. | Despite a call on Thursday by a group of Democratic state senators to delay plans to begin phasing out Connecticut’s COVID-19 restrictions next week, Gov. Ned Lamont said his administration is still moving ahead carefully toward the planned May 20 partial reopening of certain Connecticut businesses. | true | Ned Lamont, Health, General News, Connecticut, Business, Virus Outbreak, Public health | The governor, a Democrat, noted that hospitalizations are in the third week of a downward progression and the state is on pace to “blow through” a projected 42,000 tests per week beginning next week, ramping up to more than 100,000 by June. “I appreciate the ongoing concern that people have, but I think we’ve got the r... |
16785 | Without the financial resources provided by hunters to protect habitat and stop poachers, there would be no infrastructure for wildlife management. | "Jones, who has been criticized for posting photos of big game kills while visiting in Africa, claimed that, ""Without the financial resources provided by hunters to protect habitat and stop poachers, there would be no infrastructure for wildlife management."" First, while the quote was published in National Geographic... | false | Environment, Corrections and Updates, Sports, PunditFact, Kendall Jones, | "Texas teenage cheerleader Kendall Jones, the hunter who became the hunted, shot back at critics recently, defending her controversial big game hunts as conservation efforts. Jones made news by posting photos of her hunting trip to Zimbabwe on her Facebook page, posing and grinning next to her kills -- including a lion... |
28575 | NASA will hire someone (with a secret security clearance) to ensure alien life doesn't make its way to Earth. | What's true: In July 2017, NASA opened applications for the job of Planetary Protection Officer, a role primarily concerned with preventing contamination from Earth to other planets. What's false: While the job does have a mandate to prevent extraterrestrial contamination from entering Earth’s biosphere, most of the jo... | mixture | Science, extraterrestrials, nasa | On 2 August 2017, USA Today reported on a NASA job posting for a “planetary protection officer” in a way that — while sure to boost page views — took serious liberties with the nature of, and need for, the position advertised. Several other web sites reprinted the USA Today article, using headlines like “NASA is Hiring... |
11322 | Internet-based therapy shows promise for insomnia | This was a generally well written and balanced story about a small exploratory study on a possible new therapy for insomnia. The story effectively describes the methodology and patient population and includes expert commentary from independent sources. The story also appropriately cautions that larger studies with a mo... | true | The story mentions that the Internet-based program is a “low-cost” option for treating insomnia; however, nothing more specific regarding cost is provided. It is presumed that the site will be proprietary; if so, what are the expected usage fees? The story states that compared to the control group, the treatment group ... | |
10725 | Trial Help for Sex Problems | "The one thing we didn’t like in the story was letting the independent urologist get away with his claim that the findings were ""clinically significant."" We liked the way one observer put it in an online comment posted after the WSJ online story: ""I had to chuckle when reading about the ""clinically significant"" ... | true | "The company behind the product undoubtedly has done market research about how much of this product it might sell and at what price. At a minimum, that information should have been included here. It presents the benefits in both relative and absolute terms in the second paragraph of the story. It would be nice to have ... | |
11635 | Mammograms May Not Be Fool-Proof at Catching Second Cancers | Although the story addressed most of our criteria satisfactorily, it didn’t: include information about the psychological and financial costs of biopsies for women with a false positive mention the possible confounding factors such as the biological factors associated with treatment of the first cancers that were noted... | true | Cancer,HealthDay,Imaging studies,Screening | The article does not include information about the psychological and financial costs of biopsies for women with a false positive diagnosis of breast cancer. Among women with a personal history of breast cancer, 1.7 % were referred for biopsies that determined there was no second breast cancer while 1% of the women with... |
7641 | Bayer CEO says would consider glyphosate settlement depending on costs. | Bayer AG’s chief executive said this week the company might consider settling lawsuits over Monsanto’s glyphosate-containing weed-killers depending on how high court costs rise, but stressed it remained focused on defending the combined company against claims they cause cancer. | true | Environment | Bayer acquired Monsanto this year for $63 billion. “If we can settle nuisances at some point where the defense costs in preparing cases are higher than potential settlement amounts, we will of course consider it from an economic standpoint,” CEO Werner Baumann told reporters when asked whether there was any scenario in... |
10420 | Studies: Bone drugs may help prevent breast cancer | This story covers the results of preliminary findings of two large observational studies presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium which suggest that bisphosphonates, for example Fosamax, Boniva and Actonel, may play a role in reducing the risk of breast cancer. This story was informative and provided a high... | true | This story informs the reader of the cost range for some generic and brand name drugs. It states that a 3-month supply of alendronate, a generic version of Fosamax, costs about $100 and that biannual infusions of the Novartis drug Zometa costs up to $1,200. Although it is not stated, these are estimated retail costs. T... | |
3847 | Salina pharmacist, husband sentenced in opioid diversion. | A 29-year-old Salina pharmacist has been sentenced to three years of probation for diverting prescription drugs containing opioids. | true | Salina, General News, Prescription drugs, Opioids | Kirsty Hartley was sentenced Thursday. The sentence includes 18 months of house arrest. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister says Hartley’s husband, Dalton Hartley, was given the same sentence because he received the drugs from her. Kirsty Hartley pleaded guilty to distributing a prescription painkiller outside the usual c... |
1983 | Special Report: An end to AIDS?. | For his doctors, Timothy Ray Brown was a shot in the dark. An HIV-positive American who was cured by a unique type of bone marrow transplant, the man known as “the Berlin patient” has become an icon of what scientists hope could be the next phase of the AIDS pandemic: its end. | true | Science News | A still image provided by KPIX TV and taken from the broadcaster's video footage shows Timothy Ray Brown during an interview at his home in San Francisco. Timothy Ray Brown, was a young HIV-positive American living and working in Berlin who had developed leukaemia and suffered a relapse after initial treatment. REUTERS... |
11534 | Just 30 minutes a day: Regular exercise relieves asthma symptoms | The news release from Concordia University in French-speaking Montreal highlights a new study published in BMJ Open Respiratory Research, which explored the correlation between regular exercise and patients’ control of asthma symptoms. The release makes good use of direct quotes from the study’s lead author, who brings... | false | Observational studies,University news release | Physical activity was broadly defined in the study and included activities such as walking, dancing and swimming. We rate this, since cost is not a major factor here. But we need to keep in mind that this piece was recommending 30 min per day of activity. That’s 3.5 hours per week. This is time that could be spent doin... |
40777 | The number of EU nurses coming to the UK has fallen by 90% since the Brexit vote. | The number of nurses and midwives from the EEA joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s register fell by 91% from 2015/16 to 2017/18. | true | health | The number of EU nurses coming to the UK has fallen by 90% since the Brexit vote. The number of nurses and midwives from the EEA joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s register fell by 91% from 2015/16 to 2017/18. The number of EU nationals leaving the NHS jumped by 14% in 2017. EU nationals have fallen as a perce... |
35982 | "The @UPS Twitter account sent a tweet ""thanking"" law enforcement for their service just after an innocent UPS driver who had been taken hostage by robbery suspects was shot and killed in a police shootout." | UPS Thanks Police for Killing Driver Frank Ordonez | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On December 5 2019 — after law enforcement officers in south Florida shot and killed a hostage, a bystander, and two suspected thieves during a daytime shootout in a busy intersection during rush hour — a number of popular tweets claimed that UPS had publicly thanked police for killing the hostage, who was one of their... |
17962 | "Chris Larson Says Gov. Scott Walker ""hasn't done a public event this entire year." | "Larson said Walker ""hasn't done a public event this entire year."" Larson may believe Walker needs to be more open, but it’s ridiculous to say Walker hasn’t done even one public event in 2013." | false | State Budget, Transparency, Wisconsin, Chris Larson, | "Gov. Scott Walker has so cocooned himself from regular folks, state Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson contends, that he ""hasn't done a public event in this entire year."" Wait, what? Larson made the statement Aug. 27, 2013, on Madison-area radio station WEKZ-FM (93.7), then quickly told liberal talk show host John ... |
35298 | "Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said COVID-19 social-distancing restrictions should be eased because ""there are more important things than living." | The Texas Democratic Party said in a statement that Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott would put Texans at risk to enrich business interests. | true | Politics, COVID-19 | Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick raised some eyebrows in March 2020 when he seemingly suggested during an appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that exposing vulnerable, older members of the U.S. population to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic was a reasonable trade-off for getting the U.S. “back to work” and “bac... |
35337 | Vice President Mike Pence was filmed delivering empty boxes that were supposed to be filled with personal protective equipment to a rehabilitation center in Virginia. | You can see this exchange around the 9-minute mark of the following video from C-Span: | false | Politics, COVID-19 | In May 2020, a video supposedly showing Vice President Mike Pence delivering empty boxes that were supposed to be filled with personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Alexandria, Virginia, was featured on the show “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” A clip of this segment was later s... |
15834 | The infant mortality rate is 15 percent higher in states with right-to-work laws. | Lassa says right-to-work states have higher infant mortality than states without such a law. She’s right on the raw numbers. But there are many more factors at work -- some of them are vigorously disputed -- when it comes to how such laws affect wages, incomes and especially lower income people whose babies are more a... | mixture | Labor, Wisconsin, Julie Lassa, | "The arguments against right-to-work legislation usually focus on economic matters. Supporters say such a law will make a state more friendly to business; opponents say it will reduce the strength of unions, and depress the state’s wages and incomes. The Republican-pushed bill, which prohibits employers from signing co... |
35165 | A Chinese intelligence officer revealed that a new coronavirus was developed in a lab as a bioweapon. | Ram Dass, who in the 1960s joined Timothy Leary in promoting psychedelic drugs as the path to inner enlightenment before undergoing a spiritual rebirth he spelled out in the influential book “Be Here Now,” died at home on Sunday. He was 88 years old. | false | Junk News, COVID-19 | “With tender hearts we share that Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) died peacefully at home in Maui on December 22, 2019 surrounded by loved ones,” according to his official Instagram account. “He was a guide for thousands seeking to discover or reclaim their spiritual identity beyond or within institutional religion.” T... |
34293 | Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes are causing a number of severe allergic reactions. | We searched for corroborating information indicating that Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes are causing a high number of allergic reactions, but were unable to turn up anything relating to that particular product. We contacted Neutrogena to ask about rumor involving Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes, but... | unproven | Business, consumer warnings, makeup, neutrogena | On 2 May 2018, a Facebook user shared a warning about Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes, claiming that the product caused a violent allergic reaction: Within a few days, the post was shared tens of thousands of times. Several users shared the post on Neutrogena’s Facebook wall, but the brand did not immed... |
23216 | Houston suffered $1.7 billion in operating losses under Mayor Bill White. | Rick Perry says Houston had a $1.7 billion operating loss under Bill White | mixture | Economy, Message Machine 2010, Taxes, Texas, Rick Perry, | "In a recent television ad, Gov. Rick Perry says Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White was a poor financial manager as mayor of Houston Perry's spot levels budget-related charges including this one: ""Houston suffered $1.7 billion in operating losses under Mayor Bill White."" We dug into this figure, which also p... |
18188 | "United Florida Horsemen Says Florida ""rubber-stamped phony horse racing." | "In an ad campaign, United Florida Horsemen contend that Florida ""rubber-stamped phony horse racing."" ""Phony"" is a strong word that takes on a different meaning depending on whom you ask. Someone who just wants to watch horses take off? They may say the Gretna flag drop is cool. Someone from the traditional quarter... | mixture | Gambling, Regulation, Florida, United Florida Horsemen, | "A masked thief fanning $100 bills is the backdrop for an ad blasting ""phony horse racing."" You’re probably thinking, ""Phony horse racing? Huh?"" We thought it too when we recently saw the ad on our website. Here’s the deal: A coalition of horse breeders and owners used the phrase for races they deem improper at a r... |
607 | Death toll in southern Philippines earthquake rises to seven. | The death toll from a strong earthquake in the southern Philippines has risen to seven, disaster and police officials said on Tuesday, as aftershocks continued to jolt many parts of Mindanao. | true | Environment | The 6.6 magnitude quake hit early on Tuesday, damaging buildings, toppling power lines and triggering landslides in the central area of the Philippines’ southern island. A seven-year-old child and his 44-year old father were among those who were killed in the North Cotabato province after they were struck by a boulder,... |
4362 | Tuberculosis case reported in Syracuse school district. | Health officials in central New York say they have identified an active case of tuberculosis in the Syracuse City School District. | true | New York, Health, Tuberculosis, Syracuse | Onondaga County Health Department officials say the infected person is affiliated with Fowler High School’s Public Service Leadership. Officials did not disclose if the person was a student, faculty member or staff member. The district is working with the health department to identify individuals who may have been expo... |
3434 | Rapper T.I.’s remarks spark NY bill to end virginity tests. | New York could bar doctors from performing so-called virginity tests under legislation prompted by the rapper T.I.’s controversial claim that he has a gynecologist check his daughter’s hymen annually. | true | AP Top News, Health, Andrew Cuomo, Entertainment, Hip hop and rap, Music, New York, T.I., Celebrities, U.S. News, General News | Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages said Tuesday the bill she submitted last month would prohibit medical professionals from performing or supervising such examinations, though it’s unclear how common they are in the U.S. New York would also consider it sexual assault when such tests are performed outside of a medical sett... |
32568 | A mother was arrested for tattooing her 2-year-old boy and trading him for drugs. | This image does not show a young boy who was sold for drugs after his mother tattooed him. While the exact origins of this image are unknown, the photograph has been circulating online since at least 2012 and was likely digitally manipulated. | false | Junk News, news4ktla, Shaunetta Wright, tattoo | On 20 June 2016, the clickbait web site News 4 KTLA published an article reporting that a woman had been arrested after she allowed her boyfriend to etch a full-chest tattoo on her two-year-old son and then traded the boy for crack cocaine: A manhunt for 24 year old Shaunetta Wright came to a peaceful end early Monday ... |
17418 | "NFL ""players are living, on average, longer than the average male." | "Goodell said that NFL ""players are living, on average, longer than the average male."" His claim is backed up by a government study that examined former NFL players who played from 1959 to 1988. But the study, which was released in 2012, did conclude that bigger players had an increased risk of dying from heart disea... | true | Sports, PunditFact, Roger Goodell, | "Fox started its wall-to-wall coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII on Fox News Sunday, with host Chris Wallace interviewing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell live from MetLife Stadium. Goodell talked about the weather, and how it appears conditions will be fine for the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks. He addressed a prop... |
5855 | Health officials: Number of syphilis cases have doubled. | New Hampshire health officials say the state is experiencing an outbreak of syphilis, with the number of reported cases so far for 2017, about double that of previous years. | true | Sexually transmitted diseases, New Hampshire, Health, Syphilis | From January to May, 42 cases of syphilis, a reportable sexually transmitted disease, were identified. That’s an increase compared with the past five years, when an average of 20 cases were reported during those months. Health officials say between 2012 and 2016, there were on average about 80 total cases per year of t... |
11543 | Fighting prostate cancer by doing nothing | The article provides an overview of treatment for early prostate cancer. Major strengths of the article are that the true natural history of prostate cancer is accurately described, namely that prostate cancer is slow-growing, many men will die of something else, and that men may not need to be treated at all. The arti... | true | The article doesn’t mention costs of “active surveillance” or any other treatment strategy. There is a cost associated with any of these choices. Because of the uncertainty over treatment benefit, quantification of benefits, such as how much longer can one expect to live or how many lives are saved can’t be known. Howe... | |
11344 | New Non-Surgical Treatment Freezes Breast Cancer in its Tracks | This news release plays up a liquid nitrogen-based procedure for treating breast cancer, called IceSense3 (ICE3). The probe is inserted into the breast via a small incision, guided into the middle of a tumor, and pumped with liquid nitrogen to freeze and kill the cancerous lesion from the inside out. This allows the bo... | mixture | Breast cancer,industry/commercial news releases,Women's health | There isn’t a dollar sign anywhere in this release, but other cryoablative therapies cost about $11,000 to $12,000 per session and multiple sessions are sometimes necessary. The release says that “the benefits of cryoablation over traditional breast cancer surgery are significant.” And it lists many purported benefits ... |
33999 | The U.S. Constitution states that if a president is impeached by the House but not convicted by the Senate, that person's first term is nullified and they are eligible to run for office two more times. | Nowhere in the Constitution, however, does it state that a failed impeachment process would “nullify” a presidential term and allow a president to seek extra time in office. | false | Politics | As talk of impeachment flooded the internet in September 2019, we came across two rumors concerning the impact of the impeachment process on President Donald Trump’s reelection opportunities. The first held that a president who was impeached by the House, but not convicted by the Senate, could run for office two more t... |
26495 | Facebook post Says video of body bags being dumped in a ditch shows the “situation in Italy” due to the coronavirus. | A widespread Facebook post wrongly claims that a video of body bags being dumped in a ditch shows the “situation in Italy” due to the novel coronavirus. The video is actually a scene from the 2007 TV miniseries, “Pandemic.” | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "A video viewed thousands of times on Facebook wrongly claims that footage of body bags being dumped in a ditch shows the ""situation in Italy"" due to the novel coronavirus. The footage is stolen from a 2007 TV miniseries called ""Pandemic,"" a fictional show about the spread of a deadly virus infecting residents of L... |
12043 | Said there is cholera in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. | Krugman said that cases of cholera had been reported in Puerto Rico. By his own account, that was incorrect. He assumed someone he trusted had verified the facts and the person hadn't. Health care professionals raised the concern that massive damage to the water supply system increased the risk of cholera, but that fal... | false | Natural Disasters, Public Health, PunditFact, Paul Krugman, | "In the span of six hours, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tweeted then retracted the claim that cholera had been reported on Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Conservative websites came down hard on Krugman for his error, taking it as a case study of mainstream media spreading fake news. There’s no question tha... |
28741 | During a campaign rally, Chelsea Clinton stated that marijuana use can be fatal. | What's true: Chelsea Clinton made the (ostensibly inaccurate) claim that individuals in states with legal marijuana have died due to drug interactions involving the substance. What's false: Chelsea Clinton didn't claim that marijuana use alone is fatal. | mixture | Politics Ballot Box, cannabis, chelsea clinton, marijuana deaths | At a 24 September 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign event in Youngstown, Ohio, her daughter Chelsea controversially asserted that “anecdotal evidence” from Colorado indicated that marijuana use (which is now legal in that state) has led to drug interaction fatalities: But we also have anecdotal evidence now from Colorado w... |
29299 | Floodwaters in parts of Southeast Texas tested positive for diseases and contaminants including typhoid fever and MRSA in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. | What's true: Some contamination of floodwaters is likely, and floodwaters in nearby Houston have tested positive for E. coli and sewage contamination. What's false: There is no evidence of any testing done on floodwaters in the southeast Texas cities specified in the viral post, and local and state officials were not a... | false | Science, harvey, health warning, hurricane harvey | In September 2017, a viral rumor spread on Facebook, reporting that the waters in southeast Texas had tested positive for a variety of potentially harmful contaminants and diseases. The message typically read: DISEASE WARNING: I just got a call from a Southeast Texas disaster relief group (I was in direct contact with ... |
11244 | Fighting Advanced Thyroid Cancer with Immunotherapy | This release summarizes the preliminary results of an early Phase 1 safety trial using the drug pembrolizumab (marketed as Keytruda) in 22 patients with thyroid cancer that had not responded to chemotherapy. The study was presented at the large American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting as an abstract ... | mixture | Academic medical center news release,Cancer | The release doesn’t mention cost. Immunotherapy drugs like Keytruda that are already on the market have received wide attention specifically because of their high prices..The cost of Keytruda is easily obtainable and is approximately $5,000 per 50mg single use vial. Although the dose was 10mg every two weeks, that woul... |
26293 | “Cannabis may stop coronavirus from infecting people, study finds.” | Cannabis extracts could be part of a treatment that helps prevent coronavirus — according to a preliminary study. The study has not been peer reviewed and it’s based only on lab testing. The lead researcher said more study, including testing on humans, must be done before any conclusions can be drawn. | false | Corrections and Updates, Drugs, Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Marijuana, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Weed preventing COVID-19? That high hope seemed to rise from this headline: ""Cannabis May Stop Coronavirus From Infecting People, Study Finds."" The headline appeared on an article on MerryJane.com that was widely shared on Facebook. But readers should not get too excited. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s e... |
9503 | Acupuncture May Be Effective Painkiller in the ER | This HealthDay story explains the findings from what it describes as the “the world’s largest randomized, controlled trial of acupuncture in the emergency department.” More than 500 patients were seen in four major hospital emergency departments for acute lower back pain, migraine headaches or ankle sprains. For pain c... | false | acupuncture | There was no mention of the cost of acupuncture treatments in the story, nor was there any comparison between such costs and the costs for standard analgesic drugs that might be administered in an emergency department. A provider trained in acupuncture would need to be available at the time the patient needed assistanc... |
32267 | Chelsea Clinton's home is actually a medical care facility for Hillary Clinton in order to more effectively hide and treat her health problems. | Even if Hillary Clinton were receiving clandestine medical care at a secret facility, there would be no reason for that facility to be located at Metrocare Home Services’ former site, as all of the medical care offered by them was, by nature, outside their office. | false | Politics Conspiracy Theories, 2016 presidential election, chelsea clinton, hillary clinton | On 11 September 2016, video of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton swaying and appearing to faint at an event added fuel to already rampant rumors that she was battling everything from a brain tumor to vascular dementia. The rumors were not tamped down by the Clinton campaign’s disclosure that she was, in f... |
37573 | Joe Biden voted for a bill which made it difficult or impossible to discharge student loans during bankruptcy; Bernie Sanders voted against it. | Did Joe Biden Vote for a Bankruptcy Bill Which Made Student Loans ‘Ineligible for Financial Relief’? | true | Fact Checks, Politics | A March 5 2020 r/SandersForPresident (and r/all) thread featured a title maintaining that Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden “passed the bill” making student loans “ineligible for financial relief,” and an attached ten-second clip featured fellow presidential Bernie Sanders making a similar statement:Joe... |
5841 | STD cases increase in Montana. | Health officials say cases of sexually transmitted diseases have increased in Montana. | true | Sexually transmitted diseases, Health, Missoula, Montana, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, United States | Dr. Chris Baumert, a family physician at RiverStone Health, told the Billings Gazette there’s been a steep increase in the number of cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled the threat of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea one of the nation’s most urgent pu... |
26688 | Akira’ is a 1988 movie about an apocalyptic event taking place months before Tokyo 2020 Olympics, showing the (World Health Organization) advising Japan to postpone the Olympics because of a pandemic risk | The movie does not feature a pandemic of any sort. The WHO is never mentioned in the movie. Neo Tokyo, the fictional city in the movie, was scheduled to host the 2020 Olympics. | false | Health Care, Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Viral image, | "The coronavirus is a global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. But it is not one that was predicted by the 1988 Japanese thriller ""Akira."" A viral post circulating on Facebook claims that a conspiracy theory surrounds Katsuhiro Otomo’s 32-year-old animated film. ""‘Akira’ is a 1988 movie about an ... |
36114 | "A Facebook post shows an explicitly anti-abortion sculpture called ""the neverborn child." | Pro-Life Art: ‘The Neverborn Child’ Meme | mixture | Disinformation, Fact Checks | "In early October 2019, the Facebook disinformation page “ForAmerica” shared the following meme, insisting that it shows a “pro-life sculpture” called “the neverborn child”:Captions added to the image and a status update read:PRO-LIFE ART “THE NEVERBORN CHILD” BY ARTIST MARTIN HUDACEKBeautiful! Wish it wasn’t necessary... |
30183 | A girl in need of a kidney transplant receives a $1 donation for that purpose every time her photo is shared on Facebook. | Even if no money actually changes hands in connection with these posts, the sharing of them indirectly assists scammers by driving followers, shares, and likes to their social media pages, creating popular platforms from which they can launch other fraudulent schemes. | false | Fraud & Scams | Many social media users have encountered a post showing a picture of a little girl in what looks to be a hospital bed, along with any one of several captions indicating she is awaiting a kidney transplant and will receive $1 every time her picture is shared via social media: She gets a dollar for every pic that’s sha... |
9881 | New study widens debate on the value of mammograms | This story clearly outlines how a study of mammography screening in Norway feeds into debate about the value of breast cancer screening. It includes the comments of experts who have a variety of perspectives on the latest data. Women have been whipsawed by often confusing statements and claims about whether and when to... | true | The story does not mention the cost of mammography (or of follow up tests and treatments) to the individual, or, collectively, to society. Based on the results of this study, 2,500 women would have to be screened every other year for a decade in order to prevent one death from breast cancer. As the story points out, du... | |
8885 | FDA says Germany recalls blood-thinner heparin. | Germany has recalled supplies of the blood thinner heparin following reports of severe reactions, expanding a withdrawal of the drug linked to 19 U.S. deaths, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday. | true | Health News | The recall brings into question the safety of European supplies of the drug, which become the target of a U.S. investigation after a spike in fatalities and severe reactions in some patients taking heparin sold by Baxter International Inc. “What is significant about the German recall is that the heparin active ingred... |
2643 | Cities' efforts to make exercise easier pays off. | Fitness is often a combination of personal choice and environmental support, experts say, and a ranking of the 50 healthiest U.S. cities seems to reinforce the theory. | true | Health News | A man jogs under a canopy of cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in Washington, March 25, 2010. REUTERS/Jim Young High rates of physical activity helped to propel Minneapolis-St. Paul to the top of the list of the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2012 American Fitness Index (AFI) for the second year in a row, w... |
27407 | "Sen. Tom Cotton's office has sent ""cease-and-desist"" letters to constituents ordering them not to contact him." | We contacted Cotton’s office seeking further comment on the October 2017 letters and explore any connection to the town halls, but did not receive response. | true | Politics, Ozark Indivisible, Sen. Tom Cotton | Activists in Arkansas accused Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of sending constituents “cease-and-desist” letters. But while it’s true that at least one member of the group received one, it is unclear how many constituents at large have as well. A spokesperson for Cotton’s office, Caroline Rabbitt Tabler, confirmed the exist... |
8761 | Tobacco caused 2.4 million U.S. cancers: report. | Tobacco use caused 2.4 million cases of cancer in the United States from 1999 to 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday. | true | Health News | A man smokes a cigarette in front of a pub in Bensheim early July 30, 2008. REUTERS/Alex Grimm As might be expected, lung and bronchial cancer accounted for nearly half the cases but cancers of the larynx, mouth and pharynx, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, cervix, as well as acute myelogenous leukemia ar... |
9305 | How a breakthrough new fertility test is offering hope for families who have suffered miscarriages | ABC News pursues a story idea they heard about in a special issue of National Geographic magazine and calls it a “breakthrough fertility test.” But what ABC delivers is one satisfied success story. We’re given no broader context other than the vague reference to the fact that it hasn’t been tried “on many” women. How m... | false | infertility | This is a tossup. In the online text piece there was no discussion of costs, nor of whether insurers were likely to reimburse for the procedure. If online readers clicked on the video at the top of the piece – and sat through a Ford commercial or some other ad – they would hear that the testing can cost from $800 to $1... |
829 | U.S. scientist to file whistleblower complaint after agency halts his climate work. | A climate scientist for the Trump administration’s health protection agency who was ordered to drop work on climate issues will file a whistleblower complaint this week with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, his lawyers said on Wednesday. | true | Environment | George Luber, who ran the climate and health program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is an expert on the health impacts of climate change including risks to hospitals and public health infrastructure and of diseases borne by mosquitoes and ticks as they increasingly move into northern regions as temp... |
10800 | Study: Ginkgo biloba has no effect on Alzheimer’s, dementia | In fewer words than its HealthDay competitor (404 words vs. 740), this story did a slightly better job on providing context and balance. Americans spend about $100 million a year on this stuff. | true | "The story states that US sales for the product hit $99 million in 2008. But it never explained the cost to the individual. The study ""found no effect,"" the story states succinctly. The story said the researchers found the product to be safe. But it could have mentioned that the National Center for Complementary & Al... | |
11400 | Aspirin May Help Patients Beat Prostate Cancer | Readers of this story gets a fairly detailed description of a study that looked at medical records of prostate cancer patients to see if the use of anticoagulant drugs, including aspirin, was associated with any differences in outcomes. However, readers also get a headline and lead that leap to the conclusion (unsuppor... | mixture | "A story that says that aspirin seemed to account for more benefit than far more expensive drugs certainly should address the cost differential between the inexpensive ""ubiquitous…pedestrian"" drug and others. Cost was never mentioned. When reporting the results of observational studies, it is important to avoid sayin... | |
19692 | "In 2010, Betty Sutton ""voted to destroy Medicare." | NRCC targets Betty Sutton's support for health care reform in claim she voted to destroy Medicare | false | Ohio, Health Care, Medicare, National Republican Congressional Committee, | "Senior citizens, you are dupes and rubes. That seems to be what too many politicians and the political groups think of you, anyway (we disagree vehemently), the way they try to scare you. Both parties are guilty, as PolitiFact has noted repeatedly, but today, it’s the National Republican Congressional Committee’s turn... |
113 | 'Sorry, this is an emergency': Climate protesters block streets around the world. | Thousands of climate-change protesters took to the streets in cities around the world on Monday, launching two weeks of peaceful civil disobedience to demand immediate action to cut carbon emissions and avert an ecological disaster. | true | Environment | In London, police arrested 276 activists from the Extinction Rebellion group as they blocked bridges and roads in the city center, and glued themselves to cars, while protesters in Berlin halted traffic at the Victory Column roundabout. Dutch police stepped in to arrest more than 100 climate activists blocking a street... |
35242 | A CBS News program used a brief clip from an Italian hospital in a segment about the coronavirus crisis in New York City. | After @CBSNews was called out for airing footage of a hospital in Italy and saying it was New York, they apologized and said it was an error. | true | Media Matters, COVID-19 | On March 25, 2020, the “CBS This Morning” news program aired a segment described in a teaser as “Desperation in New York as coronavirus cases there continue to skyrocket”: That segment, which aired above a chyron reading “AMERICA’S EPICENTER — New York Now Accounts for More than Half of New U.S. Cases,” featured a brie... |
31629 | Left-handed people die younger than right-handed people. | This approach, which is not biased by the same statistical issues as the previous studies, agrees with the general scientific consensus that longevity and handedness are completely unrelated. | false | Medical, death rates, left handed, right handed | On 19 May 1988, the scientific journal Nature published a brief report by two psychologists titled “Do right-handers live longer?” It purported to demonstrate a statistically significant difference in longevity between right and left handers, based on data collected on professional baseball players: To investigate furt... |
12183 | (For) white working-class America, death rates among white men are up 20 percent. | "Castellanos said that for the white working class, ""death rates among white men are up 20 percent."" Research has shown that death rates are up for white men, which is a cause for concern because death rates have historically declined. But that research is not without controversy. Also, the researchers who documented... | false | Health Care, Workers, PunditFact, Alex Castellanos, | "President Donald Trump’s supporters continue to back him because they felt so besieged by the political landscape and life in general that it’s literally killing them, a GOP strategist said on ABC’s This Week. Alex Castellanos, who has worked as a consultant for George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, said during an Aug. 20, ... |
26733 | "The Obama administration ""didn't do anything about” swine flu." | There were more than 60 million cases of swine flu in the United States during 2009 and 2010. The Obama administration responded with two emergency declarations, triggering billions in spending and other public health responses. | false | Coronavirus, Donald Trump, | "Asked about reassuring Americans about the coronavirus, President Donald Trump downplayed the number of people stricken, then went on the attack. Without mentioning President Barack Obama, Trump criticized the Obama’s administration response to another outbreak — H1N1, commonly known as swine flu. Trump made the attac... |
30997 | NASA has warned of imminent disaster due to the trajectory of another planet that will intersect Earth's orbit. | The American space agency has not issued any warnings about the trajectory of another planet intersecting Earth's orbit. | false | Junk News, fake news, news4ktla, nibiru | On 10 March 2016, the web site News4KTLA published an article reporting that NASA had issued a frightening advisory concerning the possibility that the trajectory a “rogue planet” known as “Nibiru” or “Planet X” would intersect Earth’s orbit, with potentially disastrous consequences: Is this the end of the world as we... |
35103 | Harvard professor Charles Lieber was arrested for concealing funding from a Chinese lab supposedly connected to the origin of the new coronavirus. | What's true: Professor Charles Lieber was arrested in January 2020 for misleading federal authorities about funds he allegedly received from Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) and his connections to a Chinese government-sponsored recruitment program. What's false: The conspiracy theory that the new coronavirus is a b... | mixture | Science, COVID-19 | On Jan. 28, 2020, Harvard professor Charles Lieber was arrested and charged with making a materially false statement to federal authorities about receiving funding from China. Lieber’s arrest was big news in academic circles; but after internet users noticed that the alleged funding was coming from a university in Wuha... |
11277 | FDA OKs Pfizer Anti-Smoking Pill | This news story covers the recent FDA approval of the drug varenicline for smoking cessation. This drug may help quell nicotine cravings by binding to the nicotine receptors in the brain and only partially activating them, so there is less stimulation than by nicotine itself. Varenicline (trade name Chantix) was given ... | true | The story does not provide the cost of varenciline (which must be taken twice daily), or cost comparison with existing treatments. The story frames the data appropriately. The story avoids the use of only relative risk that the company emphasizes in its press release. The drug was given priority status and fast-tracked... | |
955 | Brazil Senate panel says Vale CFO, ex-CEO should be indicted for murder. | Iron ore miner Vale SA’s chief financial officer and its former chief executive should be indicted for murder, a Brazilian Senate committee probing a deadly dam collapse recommended on Tuesday. | true | Environment | The committee is also seeking the indictment of Vale and dam stability auditor TÜV SÜD for environmental damages and corporate responsibility for actions of their employees in the late-January disaster that killed nearly 250 people. The 400-page report recommended that a total of 15 individuals, including the two execu... |
24584 | I'm 59. In either Canada or Great Britain, if I broke my hip, I couldn’t get it replaced. | At 59, GOP congressman says he couldn't get a hip replacement in Canada or England | false | National, Health Care, Roy Blunt, | "Critics of President Barack Obama's health care plan have often cited problems with government-run health care in Canada and Britain to make a point that there could be long lines or inadequate care under the Democratic plan. During a meeting with with reporters and editors at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in early Au... |
11477 | Simple Test May Spot Early Lung Cancer | This story is based upon new research that examines genes and biochemical pathways associated with lung cancer in smokers with and without lung cancer. This would allow lung cancer to be detected in its early, more treatable stages or before it developed. Hyperbolic writing and choice of quotes resulted in phrases such... | false | "Not applicable because of the early stage of research. Didn’t give any numbers on how well the test performed. And didn’t explain that inositol was tested in just a few people. Very weak in this area. No potential harms are discussed. Bronchoscopy can be risky, especially in those with already compromised lung functio... | |
35191 | A letter providing tips on how to protect against the new coronavirus was authored by pathologist James Robb. | His history with coronaviruses is accurately recounted. In the late 1970s, as professor of pathology at the University of California, San Diego, Robb published some of the earliest descriptions of coronaviruses. He also published a book chapter on this class of viruses for “Comprehensive Virology.” | true | Medical, COVID-19 | In late February 2020, as a new coronavirus spread worldwide, a letter providing advice on avoiding a viral infection was shared and memed heavily. The letter is attributed to pathologist James Robb who described himself as “one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses.” The letter itsel... |
26301 | $100B contact tracing bill “is about controlling/tracking population, not about coronavirus.” | A Facebook post claims new federal legislation to support contact tracing “is about controlling/tracking population, not about coronavirus.” The bill strictly targets the novel coronavirus. It would provide $100 billion to organizations that do COVID-19 contact tracing and testing, or that offer services to people wh... | false | Government Regulation, Public Health, Privacy Issues, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Proposed legislation in the U.S. House would provide new funding for testing and contract tracing to help public-health officials track and control the spread of the coronavirus. But a Facebook post claims that the $100 billion bill ""is about controlling/tracking population, not about coronavirus."" The May 12 post, ... |
4460 | Chimps varied ‘culture’ matters for conservation, study says. | Some chimpanzee groups are stone-throwers. Some use rocks to crack open tree nuts to eat. Others use sticks to fish for algae. | true | AP Top News, Genetics, International News, Fish, Africa, Chimpanzees, Science, Cultures, Animals, Algae | As researchers learn more about Homo sapiens’ closest living genetic relatives, they are also discovering more about the diversity of behaviors within chimpanzee groups — activities learned, at least in part socially, and passed from generation to generation. These patterns are referred to as “traditions” — or even an... |
10663 | Merck Receives FDA Approval of ZEPATIER™ (elbasvir and grazoprevir) for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1 or 4 Infection in Adults Following Priority Review | Merck’s PR release fills us in on its freshly FDA-approved drug — Zepatier (elbasvir and grazoprevir) — to treat two different forms of hepatitis C and claims to “cure” upwards of 94% of infections based on 12- and 16-week trials. The combination pill is taken once a day throughout treatment. The release seems targeted... | true | Health care costs,industry/commercial news releases | We’re told a 12-week regimen costs $54,600. However, we’re not clued in as to how much a 16-week treatment costs and that’s important since some of the trials lasted 16 weeks. Generally, according to the NIH, treatments take anywhere from 24 to 48 weeks. It’s unclear if this is true of Zepatier, although the results se... |
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