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30048 | Precipitation in smoky areas following a wildfire is likely to be extremely toxic. | Oklahoma’s top court on Monday declined to delay a landmark trial set for May in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit accusing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP and two other drugmakers of helping fuel an opioid abuse and overdose epidemic in the state. | false | Science | The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision was a win for the state’s attorney general, whose case is set to be the first to face trial of roughly 2,000 lawsuits nationally seeking to hold opioid manufacturers responsible for contributing to the epidemic. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter’s 2017 lawsuit accuses Purdue, J... |
10346 | Less-invasive appendix surgery shines in new study | It’s also noteworthy that this reporter’s work consistently scores high in our reviews. The commitment to excellence is evident. This is a clear, concise explanation of a journal article’s findings. Elective appendectomy is a common surgical procedure that is now routinely performed using minimally invasive techniques.... | true | Appendicitis,Reuters Health | Nice job on this. The story states: “For uncomplicated cases of appendicitis, in which the appendix is still intact, the tabs for the two surgeries came out about the same, at just over $7,800. …When the appendix had burst, however, the open surgery racked up a considerably higher bill. On average, it cost $17,594, com... |
2420 | Eighth Princeton student diagnosed with meningitis. | An eighth Princeton University student has been diagnosed with meningitis, a potentially fatal infection that causes swelling of the brain and spinal cord, a university spokesman said on Friday. | true | Health News | Health officials will conduct tests to determine whether the latest case is related to the previous seven that have been identified since March. Officials at the New Jersey school could not provide the current health status of the student. The latest case comes shortly after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowe... |
23107 | "Michael Bennet cast the deciding vote"" for the stimulus and the health care bill." | NRSC attacks Michael Bennet for casting 'the deciding vote' for stimulus, health care | false | National, Health Care, History, Message Machine 2010, Stimulus, National Republican Senatorial Committee, | "If you're seeking to tie your opponent to two controversial bills, what better way to do it than to say he cast the deciding vote to pass them? That's exactly what the National Republican Senatorial Committee is doing in the Colorado Senate race between incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet and GOP nominee Ken Buck. On Oc... |
33217 | Facebook has deemed the posting of the U.S. Marine Corps emblem a violation of the network's community standards. | Images of the Marine Corps Flag do not violate Facebook’s Community Standards, and therefore would not be removed from our platform. | false | Politics, facebook | On 28 July 2015, a contributor for the now-defunct Examiner website (to which anyone could submit content on a controversial, easily abused compensation-for-clicks basis) published an article reporting that Facebook had suspended the page “Locked and Loaded” (the companion social media arm for a separate blog of the sa... |
22143 | I’ve been through four campaigns and have not done any negative campaigning. | Sen. Herb Kohl says he’s never done any negative campaigning | true | Bipartisanship, Campaign Finance, Candidate Biography, Elections, Wisconsin, Herb Kohl, | "Twenty-three years into his Senate tenure, Wisconsin’s Herb Kohl hasn’t announced whether he will seek another six-year term in 2012. But as Republicans step up their criticism of him, Kohl is making crystal clear his disdain for the kind of rough-and-tumble campaign environment that almost surely would be part of ano... |
9515 | Bystander CPR may boost survival odds when ambulance delayed | Bystander CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) remains an underutilized resource for victims of cardiac arrest. This story adds to evidence about how important it may be for observers to step in quickly when someone near them collapses, without waiting for the arrival of an ambulance. The story did a good job providing ... | true | CPR | There is no direct cost to bystander CPR, so this category is not applicable. The story does a good job of giving exact numbers of survivors who did and didn’t receive CPR in the study. It provides exact survival times for ambulance arrivals at 5, 10, and 13 minutes. These statistics are provided both in terms of perce... |
34688 | A kitten died after ingesting a chemical sprayed on a Home Depot Christmas tree. | Did a kitten die after ingesting chemicals sprayed on a Home Depot Christmas tree? | unproven | Critter Country, christmas trees, Crusader Habit, home depot | On 10 December 2014, the Facebook page Forever Home Cat Rescue published a warning about an Ontario family who claimed their kitten (named Luna) became ill and died due to ingesting a chemical (ethylene glycol) that had been sprayed on a Christmas tree they had purchased at a Canadian Home Depot location: [Kim] Coates ... |
37410 | U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration took steps to preserve the Affordable Care Act provision covering pre-existing conditions. | Donald Trump Says He ‘Saved Pre-Existing Conditions in Your Healthcare’ | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | On January 13 2020, United States President Donald Trump tried to attack a Democratic Party presidential candidate for “false advertising” by repeating a lie of his own.In a tweet attacking former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Trump claimed that he was “the person who saved Pre-Existing Conditions in your Heal... |
5801 | Collins urges Trump to back effort to restore health subsidy. | A key moderate Republican urged President Donald Trump on Sunday to back a bipartisan Senate effort to shield consumers from rising premiums after his abrupt decision to halt federal payments to insurers. Sen. Susan Collins called the move “disruptive” and an immediate threat to access to health care. | true | Access to health care, AP Top News, Lamar Alexander, Health, Politics, North America, Patty Murray, Business, Susan Collins, Donald Trump | “What the president is doing is affecting people’s access and the cost of health care right now,” said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who has cast pivotal votes on health care in the narrowly divided Senate. “This is not a bailout of the insurers. What this money is used for is to help low-income people afford their dedu... |
30796 | "The group LGBT is adding a ""P"" to their name in order to represent pedosexuals." | A 1994 study, led by Carole Jenny of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, surveyed 269 cases of children who were sexually molested by adults. In 82 percent of cases, the alleged offender was a heterosexual partner of a close relative of the child, the researchers reported in the journal Pediatrics. In on... | false | Junk News, 4chan, 4chan hoaxes, lgbt | Anti-gay activists continue to push the long-disproven idea that homosexuality and pedophilia are somehow connected, despite an utter lack of scientific proof. In December 2017, for instance, Facebook user Keya Hopkins shared an image purportedly showing a flyer in support of “LGBTP” rights, claiming that the “P” for s... |
10788 | Hormone-blocking drug reduces breast cancer risk | This story reports on results from a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, which found that the aromatase inhibitor, exemestane, is an effective option for preventing breast cancer in higher risk, postmenopausal women. The story does a nice job of discussing the study, presenting the outcomes, and framing... | true | Associated Press,Cancer,women's health | According to the story, brand-name aromatase inhibitors cost between $340 and $420 a month, but the story also points out that lower-costing, generic versions are available in the U.S. It would have been useful had the story also provided cost information for the other preventive drug options, tamoxifen and raloxifene.... |
11552 | Promise Seen in Drug for Retardation Syndrome | "This report from the New York Times is a win for almost everyone. The paper gets a big scoop and a drug company gets a nice dose of front-page publicity for its experimental drug. Who loses? Anyone who think it’s important to carefully assess what happens in medical research so that good decisions can be made about tr... | mixture | "Since the drug is in such an early stage of development, we’ll call this one not applicable. Again, the story falls down here when it passes along a Novartis researcher’s vague account of what happened in the study instead of providing us with actual statistics. The researcher says there was ""clear improvement"" in t... | |
14364 | "Chris Larson Says Chris Abele ""has had five years and he’s done nothing"" about the Estabrook Dam." | "Larson says Abele has had five years in office and ""done nothing"" about the Estabrook Dam, with an earlier statement blaming him for a lack of consensus. But records and news accounts show Abele has been consistent in wanting the dam removed, has taken steps to make his wishes known and to build support for removal ... | false | Environment, Wisconsin, Chris Larson, | "The fate of the Estabrook Dam on the Milwaukee River has played an outsized role during the 2016 campaign for Milwaukee County Executive. That’s especially true because, despite a 6-year-old order from the state Department of Natural Resources to either repair or replace the 80-year-old structure, and a circuit court ... |
27234 | Judge Kavanaugh, if confirmed to the Supreme Court, could be a deciding vote on a case that has the potential to dramatically increase the power of the presidential pardon. | Oral arguments for the case have not been scheduled but will occur during this Supreme Court term. If confirmed, Judge Kavanaugh could become a deciding vote in the case. | true | Politics, brett kavanaugh, constitutional law, donald trump | This article discussed the potential implications of a case that was, at the time of writing, undecided by the Supreme Court. On 17 June 2019 the Supreme Court decided that case, rejecting arguments that could have resulted in a stronger presidential pardon. Far from Kavanaugh’s being a deciding vote on the case, the c... |
11378 | Trying brain pacemakers to zap psychiatric disease | We especially appreciate the lack of hype in this story. The reporter clearly worked hard to stick to the evidence – not merely to promote the potential. About 65-70 percent of patients with major depressive disorder improve substantially with 1 to 2 course of standard treatment (medication, psychotherapy or combinatio... | true | Associated Press | We give the story credit for at least citing a $30,000 cost for the “surgeries” but wish it had explained what that included and what it might not. Surgery to change the battery every two years certainly adds to cost. Undoubtedly patients require more intensive expensive followup and perhaps specialized checks to ensur... |
39730 | The Wounded Warriors Project is a fraud and dedicates a small percentage of its proceeds to assisting veterans who were wounded in the line of duty and organizations that support them. | Wounded Warriors Project is a Fraud | false | 9/11 Attack on America | "This claim is false. In fiscal year 2013, the Wounded Warriors Foundation took in $234 million in donations and dedicated 80 percent of that amount to programs for wounded veterans, according to tax records. The eRumor’s claim that the organization spends just 3.5% of its total income on grants for individuals ... |
21431 | "Mitt Romney ""drove to Canada with the family dog Seamus strapped to the roof of the car." | Mitt Romney and the dog on the car roof: one columnist's obsession | true | National, Animals, Candidate Biography, Pundits, Gail Collins, | "Gail Collins loves telling the story of how Mitt Romney drove his family to Canada with the family dog strapped to the roof of the car -- and telling it, and telling it, and telling it. The liberal New York Times columnist has mentioned the incident in print 19 times, by our count. She devoted a column to the incident... |
1495 | The lipstick effect: Greeks discover need to pamper in crisis. | Eva Vorlioti, a divorced mother of two, was forced to move back in with her parents to make ends meet during Greece’s debt crisis. While she cannot change the past, she is trying to efface one of its reminders: Her wrinkles. | true | Health News | Wiping her face with a cotton pad after a Botox injection, the 49-year-old supermarket worker said she has cut down on petrol and entertainment to afford the treatments, which make the skin appear smoother by temporarily paralyzing muscles. “I want to look at myself in the mirror and feel good. I’m afraid of aging,” Vo... |
1995 | "Earth Day organizers call for ""a billion acts of green""." | If the environmental movement has a high holiday, Earth Day is it. | true | Environment | "The annual effort to raise public awareness about the environment and inspire actions to clean it up marks its 41st anniversary on Friday, coinciding with the Christian Good Friday and Judaism’s celebration of Passover. In an effort dubbed ""A Billion Acts of Green,"" organizers are encouraging people to observe Earth... |
14191 | Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump promised to repeal Obamacare, build a wall, ban Muslims, and more. | A Clinton campaign video listed eight steps Trump has promised to take as president. Five of those are firmly on the Trump agenda. That includes repealing Obamacare, building a wall along the Mexican border, deporting illegal immigrants, banning Muslims at the border, and restoring waterboarding and other torture techn... | true | Abortion, Immigration, National, Health Care, Human Rights, Islam, Foreign Policy, Religion, Terrorism, Guns, Hillary Clinton, | "Even before Donald Trump’s Republican rivals bowed out, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton posted a video warning about a potential Trump presidency. The video opens with a clip of Trump at an event saying, ""Everything I say I’m going to do folks, I do."" It then lists eight steps Trump has said he wil... |
10656 | Antibiotics beat cranberries in battle against bladder infections | The headline, sadly, missed the point of the story – which praised cranberries for avoiding creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This short story raises some confusing questions about the risk vs. benefits for women who seek a way to prevent urinary tract infections. But the topic’s complexity is not easily stuffed ... | mixture | health food claims,MSNBC,women's health | The story does not discuss costs and does not examine the relative price of different avenues for urinary health and prevention of infections by women. An important element of cost for these regimens is that women choosing cranberry extract can do so without a physician visit or prescription. Antiobiotics require both ... |
20166 | Crime rises in communities with casinos. | Linking crime to casinos not always a safe bet | mixture | Georgia, Gambling, Crime, Georgia Family Council, | "Developer Dan O’Leary is pushing a big idea that he says will bring scores of jobs and truckloads of money to Georgia. The state’s most powerful political leaders, however, don’t like his plan -- a casino-style entertainment complex with video lottery terminals that could be a source of lottery revenue for the state’s... |
32410 | Leaked medical records document that Hillary Clinton exhibits signs of dementia and serious illness. | "Right after the name of Hillary Clinton's physician appeared in the news, suspect medical records attributed to that doctor were ""leaked"" online." | false | Fauxtography, dementia, hillary clinton, lisa bardack | On 8 August 2016, a new Twitter account titled @HillsMedRecords appeared and published what the user behind the account claimed were leaked medical records attesting to the poor health of Hillary Clinton. The account was quickly deleted by its owner, but screenshots of the purported records continued circulating on Twi... |
16526 | "Mark Begich Says Dan Sullivan approved a ""light sentence"" for a sex offender who got out of prison and is now charged with a gruesome murder and sexual assault." | "Begich said Sullivan approved a ""light sentence"" to a sex offender who is now charged with ""murdering a senior couple and sexually assaulting their two-year-old granddaughter."" Active, who is awaiting trial, received a shorter sentence than he was supposed to, but the mistake that led to this sentence happened bef... | false | National, Criminal Justice, Crime, Message Machine 2014, Mark Begich, | "Sen. Mark Begich, the incumbent Democrat from Alaska, has been forced to pull a television ad that said his Republican opponent’s actions as the state attorney general led to a gruesome murder -- a serious charge based on paper-thin evidence. Begich released an attack ad the Friday before Labor Day that said Dan Sulli... |
10332 | Removal of complex renal tumors performed safely by robotic surgery in selected patients | This news release describes a study published in the The Journal of Urology whose findings suggest that “robotic nephrectomy” — robotic surgery to remove all or part of a kidney — has higher success rates than traditional open surgery when treating patients for complex clots and tumors associated with renal cell carcin... | false | Cancer,Journal news release | No mention is made of the cost of the robotic procedure, nor is there any mention of how much the open procedure costs. As we’ve noted in previous reviews and posts, robotic surgery can be very expensive compared to traditional laparoscopic minimally invasive surgery. In some cases, the costs of the robot and the dispo... |
35437 | "A photograph shows a protester against pandemic stay-at-home orders holding a sign declaring that ""muzzles are for dogs and slaves." | But the photograph is indeed real, and was taken at a protest on May 15, 2020, against California’s stay-at-home order staged at the Humboldt County courthouse in Eureka, California. Kym Kemp’s Redheaded Blackbelt blog features the original photograph, along with a snapshot of another demonstrator holding the same sign... | true | Fauxtography, COVID-19 | In May 2020, as demonstrators in various parts of the U.S. continued to advocate for the lessening of social-distancing measures and forced business closures enacted to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, social media users circulated the following photograph, said to have been taken at an “end the lockdown”... |
16221 | "Jeanne Shaheen Says Scott Brown ""voted to reward"" companies ""to ship jobs overseas." | More and more Britons are being prescribed potentially addictive medicines including sleeping pills, opioids and other painkillers, raising the risk of a drug crisis like the one in the United States, health officials said on Tuesday. | mixture | New Hampshire, Jobs, Government Regulation, Voting Record, Workers, Jeanne Shaheen, | In a government-commissioned report, researchers at Public Health England (PHE) said evidence showed that “since at least 10 years ago more people are being prescribed more of these medicines and often for longer”. In 2017 to 2018 alone, 11.5 million adults in England - more than a quarter of the adult population - was... |
34771 | Texting the word 'HUNGER' to 35350 will cause Sam's Club to donate the monetary equivalent of 12 meals to a local food bank. | What's true: For a limited time, texting the word 'MEALS' to 35350 will prompt General Mills to donate the monetary equivalent of 12 meals to a local food bank. What's false: Texting the word 'HUNGER' to 35350 no longer produces any positive result. | mixture | Business, general mills, sam's club | In March 2015 a message began to circulate on social media sites claiming that texting the word “HUNGER” to the number 35350 would prompt the Sam’s Club chain of membership-only retail warehouse stores to donate meals to local food banks. According to several versions of the claim, each donation would provide twelve me... |
31668 | Children who watch at least 30 minutes of “Peppa Pig” per day have a 56 percent higher probability of developing autism. | Morning News USA has since cast their own (muted) doubt on the story, updating their post with the caveat that University of Harvard epidemiologist Marc Wildemberg “does not seem [to be] a credible person to claim that watching Peppa Pig can lead to autism”. | false | Medical, autism, morning news USA, peppa pig | On 20 October 2016, the website Morning News USA published a story (now with an editor’s note that the claims have been debunked) reporting that a popular children’s television character named Peppa Pig caused children to develop autism by inspiring them to replicate her irreverent attitude toward authority. This trans... |
2499 | Bosnians mourn baby who died for lack of ID number. | Thousands of Bosnians gathered in front of parliament on Sunday evening to mourn a three-month-old baby who died after failing to get timely surgery because a parliamentary wrangle prevented her getting a passport. | true | Health News | Berina Hamidovic was the first victim of politicking over identity numbers, which has united Bosnians in protests against the institutional paralysis that has blocked post-conflict reforms and the country’s path towards the European Union. The somber gathering followed days of protests in Sarajevo and other towns over ... |
28461 | We fact-check a popular meme outlining the purported benefits of living in Sweden. | Overall, the meme accurately states some of the details of Sweden’s social democratic institutions. However, like most politically-charged social media content, it leaves out important context. The most obvious thing to know about Sweden’s famous “cradle to grave” social safety net and good working conditions is that t... | mixture | Viral Phenomena, facebook memes, Health Care, medicare for all | Sweden is often the subject of fierce political debate, with some championing it as an example of a well-run, successful social democracy, while others point to what they see as problems endemic throughout the country. It has also long been the target of misinformation and confusion relating to its integration and assi... |
8321 | Hyundai to provide COVID 19 tests, 'drive through' testing support in U.S. | Hyundai Motor Co’s North American unit will expand its support for “drive through” testing for the coronavirus and donate 65,000 tests to hospitals in the United States, the South Korean automaker said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | The company announced $4 million in grants and said it would support “drive through” testing at 22 hospitals. Hyundai said it would provide the tests, which have been developed by South Korea-based diagnostics company Seegene, to hospitals in cities including New Orleans, Chicago and Detroit. The COVID-19 pandemic has ... |
38154 | A commentary headlined “Why I Left California” about the progressive destruction of California lists detrimental bills and government policies approved by the California Legislature. | """Why I left California"" Commentary About ""The Progressive Destruction of California""" | mixture | 9/11 Attack on America | The “Why I Left California” commentary that began circulating in October of 2017 contains a mixture of truthful and fictional claims about the state’s policies on taxes, fees, environmental controls, criminal justice and more. It’s not clear where the commentary originated, but it has circulate in forwarded emails and ... |
27111 | The Trump Administration is seeking to monitor social media posts of disability recipients. | Furthermore as CBS reports, “it’s hard to imagine how federal disability examiners could even authenticate profiles to evaluate applicants for disability. Social media profiles aren’t tied to Social Security numbers, for example, and many users set their profiles to private, preventing strangers from viewing them.” | true | Politics | On 10 March 2019, The New York Times reported that the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) was considering leveraging people’s social media accounts to determine the veracity of their disability claims: The Trump administration has been quietly working on a proposal to use social media like Facebook and Twitter t... |
15492 | "Forecast the Facts Says Scott Walker runs a state government that bans ""employees from talking about climate change." | "Forecast the Facts said Walker runs a state government that bans ""employees from talking about climate change."" But the group could only name one obscure agency, outside of the governor's jurisdiction, that has such a rule in place. The rule was aimed at barring its workers from doing climate-change work while on st... | false | Environment, Wisconsin, Forecast the Facts, | "If a website from a progressive group is to be believed, state workers in Wisconsin cannot even say the words ""climate change."" So the scottaway.com website, developed by an operation called Forecast the Facts, allows readers to click a red button on the screen and get alternative words to use, like ""weather roulet... |
1792 | Peachy keen: ancient pits reveal origin of peach domestication. | Peaches fresh from the tree or in treats like pie, jam and ice cream have been enjoyed by people for a long, long time. But, until now, it was not clear just how long it has been. | true | Science News | Scientists said on Monday an analysis of well-preserved ancient peach pits traces the domestication of this sweet fruit back at least 7,500 years to China’s lower Yangtze River Valley in the vicinity of Shanghai. Indeed, peaches were among the first tree fruits to be domesticated as early human societies embraced horti... |
5357 | EPA won’t make GE restart Hudson dredging for now. | The Environmental Protection Agency declined for now to make General Electric restart dredging in the Hudson River, triggering a wave of condemnation Thursday from New York officials and environmentalists who say contaminant levels from its industrial pollution remain too high. | true | Peter Lopez, New York, Hudson, North America, Environment, Dredging, U.S. News, Pollution | The EPA issued a certificate to Boston-based GE saying that it has completed its remedial action under the federal Superfund program. Critics of the cleanup wanted the EPA to withhold the certificate and to demand further dredging. EPA Regional Administrator Peter Lopez said more time and testing are needed to fully as... |
9233 | Western and Lawson scientists develop game-changing blood test for concussions | This release summarizes a very small study testing the use of plasma metabolites in diagnosing concussion. The researchers performed a retrospective analysis on blood samples taken from 29 male hockey players who had earlier been diagnosed with or without a concussion at a sports clinic. The authors examined a large nu... | false | blood test,concussion,Lawson Health Research Institute | We are told the test is “relatively inexpensive” as would be the drawing of blood, but we’re not given a hint at what the cost is for measuring more than a dozen metabolites. The release might have better addressed the unknowns about this preliminary test by letting readers know that a commercial test is not yet availa... |
25542 | There are 300,000 babies born deformed every year in this country because of women who are alcoholics while they're carrying those children to term. | Biden way off on alcohol-related birth defects | false | National, Health Care, Joe Biden, | Biden said he wouldn't consider changing the drinking age from 21 to 18 because of the negative effects of alcohol. As evidence, he said 300,000 babies suffer birth defects each year because their mothers are alcoholics. Problem is, that number is way off. The National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome states that... |
5454 | Illness outbreak reported at state prison, 1 inmate dead. | Public health and corrections officials are responding to an illness outbreak at an Alabama prison that left one inmate dead. | true | Meningitis, Disease outbreaks, Prisons, Health, Alabama, Public health | The Alabama Department of Public Health said Friday that here has been a pneumococcal disease outbreak at the Ventress Correctional Facility in Barbour County. Three inmates were hospitalized and one inmate died after developing meningitis. Health officials said the Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria can cause illnesses... |
3881 | This Week from Albany: Break before budget work. | In New York state government news, the Legislature is taking a break before work on the state budget heats up. | true | Legislature, Albany, New York City, Home health care services, New York, Andrew Cuomo, State budgets, New York state government, Health care services, State governments | Most lawmakers will spend the week in their home districts but a select few will gather in New York City for a hearing on what experts say is a looming crisis in home health care services. When the full Legislature returns Feb. 28, lawmakers can look forward to a month of backroom negotiations over the state budget. De... |
35028 | "Radio host Rush Limbaugh once claimed that actor Michael J. Fox was ""exaggerating"" his Parkinson's disease symptoms in a political ad." | Then Limbaugh pivoted to a different critique: “Michael J. Fox is allowing his illness to be exploited and in the process is shilling for a Democratic politician.” | true | Entertainment | In February 2020, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. While U.S. President Donald Trump honored the controversial commentator with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, some social media users noted that Limbaugh had a history of making demeaning comments on his pro... |
8877 | Promising Cancer Drug May Endanger Child's Bones. | A compound that looked promising for treating a brain tumor found mostly in children may damage growing bone — possibly making it too dangerous to use in young patients, researchers reported on Monday. | true | Health News | The drug fully eradicated medulloblastoma tumors in mice in 2004. But further testing showed it caused permanent bone damage in immature mice, Tom Curran of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues found. Writing in the journal Cancer Cell, they said the drug, known by its experimental name HhAntag, will ... |
26059 | “OSHA says masks don't work” to reduce COVID-19 transmission “and violate OSHA oxygen levels.” | OSHA recommends that masks be worn to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Masks aren’t a cure to prevent spread of COVID-19, experts say. But they are an effective tool in slowing transmission. | false | Labor, Public Health, Workers, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "When it comes to fighting the spread of COVID-19, the consensus among health authorities is that masks provide some measure of protection for people around the wearers. So, has the federal agency charged with ensuring healthy conditions in the workplace declared that face coverings don’t work, and actually pose a heal... |
34611 | A Texas man found a dead rat in a partially consumed bottle of Dr Pepper. | As of 11 May 2016, Dr Pepper dispatched a courier to Graves’ location to collect the rat and purportedly contaminated Dr. Pepper bottle for independent third-party testing; Graves refused the pickup attempt. No information is currently available as to whether Graves and the brand managed to come to an agreement about c... | unproven | Fauxtography, contaminated food, dr pepper, food | On 9 May 2016, a Texas man named John Graves published several photographs to Facebook alongside a claim that he had discovered a dead rat in his grandson’s partially-consumed bottle of Dr Pepper: Graves’ status update read: Nothing like your grandson drinking half a Dr Pepper only to find a dead rat floating on the bo... |
26521 | “North Carolina & Virginia State line is closed. Nothing in or out. | A Facebook post said North Carolina's border with Virginia was closed. Some North Carolina local governments have restricted travel. But NC and Virginia have not blocked travel across the border. | false | North Carolina, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Amid the coronavirus outbreak, North Carolina officials have asked residents to limit their movement. Gov. Roy Cooper issued a ""stay-at-home"" order that lasts until the end of the month. And one Facebook post that’s circulating on the social media site suggests there’s a blockade along North Carolina’s northern bord... |
6867 | Woman pushes on 2 years after brain tumor changed her life. | Meah Ezykowsky was lying unresponsive in her bed when her mom rushed into their Latrobe home, knowing something was wrong. | true | Cancer, Pittsburgh, Tumors, Health, Latrobe | That morning of March 20, 2017, the family learned Ezykowsky had a record-sized meningioma tumor — a noncancerous mass that will impact more than 32,000 people this year. The grapefruit-sized tumor had grown so large that it pushed Ezykowsky’s brain to the side until she could no longer function. Rushing to Excela Heal... |
37767 | "Antifa is renting U-Hauls to quietly infiltrate ""residential neighborhoods"" for ""attacks." | Like a game of telephone, a rumor that “antifa U-Hauls” were moving into “residential neighborhoods” for unspecified “attacks” appeared to stem directly from a fake anti-fascist account created by the virulent white supremacist group Identity Evropa. Two days later, Twitter nuisance Jack Posobiec and Fox News spread it... | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | "A June 27 2020 post by user Cindy Kowalczyk was shared thousands of times, claiming (without citations or sources) that “Antifa plans residential Neighborhood attacks” using U-Haul moving trucks:The Rumor and Earlier IterationsIn the above screenshot, black text against a gray background read:Just a heads up for all m... |
11767 | Fentanyl is now killing more Americans than heroin or any other opioid. | "Our ruling Sen. McCaskill said, ""Fentanyl is now killing more Americans than heroin or any other opioid."" Sen. McCaskill said, ""Fentanyl is now killing more Americans than heroin or any other opioid."" The CDC says illegally manufactured fentanyl is primarily responsible for the increase in deaths involving synthet... | mixture | Drugs, Health Care, Public Health, Missouri, Claire McCaskill, | "Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is requesting information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the United States Postal Services and the U.S. Department of States regarding a drug she claims is illegally making its way into the country. In a press release from Nov. 22, 2017, the senator said, ""Fentanyl is now... |
27382 | Over the course of his career, Democratic Congressman Joe Kennedy has received $348,000 in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry. | So Kennedy has given theoretical support to universal healthcare, but has been fuzzy on the details of how it should be achieved, and he did not support specific legislation that, if passed, would have massively expanded health coverage in the United States. | true | Politics, big pharma, campaign donations, ethics | In January 2018, Rep. Joe Kennedy III attracted scrutiny from both left-wing and right-wing observers, after he was designated to give the official Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address in January 2018. On 28 January 2018, this meme appeared, making claims about the Massachuse... |
8102 | Sewing machines become latest weapon against coronavirus as California volunteers swing into action. | Smita Paul has been sewing scarves and clothing for her small fashion business since 2003 but ever since the coronavirus struck the Bay Area and created a shortage in personal protective equipment for hospital workers, she has switched from sewing scarves to sewing masks. | true | Health News | “We are all horrified. The idea of one of my friends having to go into this situation without having any protective gear, I just can’t imagine,” said Paul. “If we can do one little thing, we’re going to do it.” Paul is among a growing number eager to answer desperate calls from healthcare workers on social media and c... |
10156 | An element of mystery in zinc cold treatments | The common cold is just that, common, and there is currently no cure. Treatments focus on reducing symptoms, but do not change the course of the infection. Prevention efforts focus on hand hygiene to reduce transmission. Large doses of vitamin C, echinacea and, more recently, zinc, have become increasingly popular judg... | true | "The story does not mention the costs of zinc products. The story does a good job of describing how many studies showed no effect of the zinc products. In the one study showing a benefit of zinc nasal gel, the story provides quantification of benefits in natural frequencies (days of duration of the cold) rather than in... | |
2382 | "Belgium extends ""right-to-die"" to terminally ill children." | Belgium became the first country to allow euthanasia for terminally ill children of any age on Thursday when its lower house of parliament passed new “right-to-die” legislation by a large majority. | true | Health News | The law goes beyond Dutch legislation that set a minimum age of 12 for children judged mature enough to decide to end their lives. It has popular support in Belgium, where adult euthanasia became legal in 2002. In the Chamber of Representatives, 86 lawmakers voted in favor, 44 against and 12 abstained. Most opposition ... |
9024 | Screening mammography for women 40-49 detects more cancers compared with older age groups | A news release from the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS), one of the oldest radiology societies in the country, summarized a study that found “screening mammograms for women 40-49 detects more cancers compared with older age groups,” according to its headline. But is this true? The language of the news release is c... | false | American Roentgen Ray Society,mammography | Costs are a huge part of the controversy on when to begin breast cancer screenings. This news release doesn’t mention the cost of mammograms, but they can be substantial. One study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that in terms of cost-effectiveness, it was five times more cost effective to do mammogr... |
3960 | Minnesota restricts movement of farmed deer to curb disease. | State officials are asking deer farmers to not transport the animals to and from their properties for a month while investigators trace a new case of chronic wasting disease on a farm in western Minnesota. | true | Animals, Health, Deer, Minnesota, Animal health | The Board of Animal Health issued its request last Wednesday for the state’s 330 deer farms to voluntarily stop moving deer until Jan. 15, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. The board considered putting the state on mandatory lockdown, but opponents argued that would negatively impact breeding. “That designation woul... |
1458 | Therapy through song: Choir helps Hungarian lung patients breathe more easily. | A Hungarian doctor has prescribed her lung disease patients a new form of physical and spiritual therapy - singing in public as part of a choir. | true | Health News | The “Breathing for the Soul” choir, which was formed this spring, gave its second performance on Thursday in the ball room of a Budapest Hotel. Its members, many seriously ill with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and drawn from hospitals across Hungary, say the singing has improved the quality of their liv... |
2076 | Magic mushrooms may ease anxiety of cancer: study. | The hallucinogen psilocybin — known by the street name magic mushrooms — may help ease the anxiety that often accompanies late-stage cancer, U.S. researchers said on Monday. | true | Health News | Cancer patients given a moderate dose of psilocybin — a hallucinogen with effects similar to LSD — were measurably less depressed six months after a single dose compared with a placebo. Patients seemed somewhat less anxious, they reported in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The pilot study of 12 cancer patients was ... |
10219 | Promising Test for Dendreon’s Prostate Cancer Drug | "This story about a drug company’s announcement of positive study results fails readers in every important way. It portrays a ""decisive"" clinicial trial that shows a first-of-its-kind prostate cancer drug ""prolonged the lives of men."" It spins the tale of a determined company rewarded for its persistence against a ... | false | "While the story anticipates approval and comments on the drug maker’s stock price, it fails to anticipate the drug’s cost or comment on the expense required to extend life by several months. The drug maker’s chief executive is quoted saying the results were ""an unambiguous hit on the primary endpoint of overall survi... | |
1497 | Steep alcohol taxes drive Turkey's drinkers to home-brew. | Carefully testing the temperature of a bucket of fermenting beer, Onder Ceyhan pushes back the foam to add a touch of yeast to his latest batch of home-brewed drink. | true | Health News | Ceyhan says he, like many others in Turkey, has been driven to brewing his own beer by the high price of commercially produced alcoholic drinks and the hefty taxes imposed by Turkey’s ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party. “I might never have started this if beer wasn’t so expensive,” the 25-year old university student said.... |
21081 | "The largest number of gamblers are ""from the poorest segments of the population." | "The council's blog stated ""the largest numbers of gamblers comes from the poorest segments of the population."" The council's president said he was speaking in general about gambling -- not specific to lotteries or casinos or to any specific location. The data about the income demographics of gamblers must be explain... | false | Gambling, Poverty, Florida, John Stemberger, | "In the ongoing war about gambling in Florida, some critics have turned to the Bible to state their case. The Florida Family Policy Council, an Orlando-based conservative Christian organization, has sided with gambling opponents. In a post on its blog, the council poses the question Is Gambling Morally Wrong? The blog ... |
41782 | "President Donald Trump sought to ""throw 32 million people off of the health care they had." | In a televised town hall, newly announced presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders repeated several misleading claims that we have written about in the past. | mixture | Affordable Care Act, budget, health care, income inquality, medicare, Social Security, | In a televised town hall, newly announced presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders repeated several misleading claims that we have written about in the past.The town hall was televised on CNN on Feb. 25, just a few days after Sanders launched a second bid for the presidency. As we mentioned, he discussed health care,... |
3988 | Officials: Wisconsin deer herd put down due to disease. | An entire herd of whitetail deer on a farm in southwest Wisconsin has been euthanized because of chronic wasting disease, state agriculture officials said. | true | Animals, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Health, Deer, Animal health, Wisconsin | More than 100 deer in Iowa County were euthanized last month after about 20 tested positive for the disease, The La Crosse Tribune reported . Veterinarians and animal health technicians from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant He... |
9441 | Blood From Young People Safe and Just Might Help Alzheimer’s Patients | This NBC story reports on a tiny “proof of concept” study testing whether it’s safe to give Alzheimer’s patients infusions of plasma from young men. Earlier lab experiments with rodents appeared to show improvement in older animals when getting such plasma. A secondary goal of this “trial” was to see if the infusions i... | mixture | alzheimer's disease,dementia | There is no mention of the cost of this new approach in this story. The story does state that whatever product is potentially developed, it will not be whole plasma. Since we know what the cost to patients would be for current whole plasma transfusions, and for whole blood transfusions as well, it seems plausible for s... |
33665 | Children’s TV host Barney the purple dinosaur was caught with cocaine hidden in his tail and cussed out a child. | Purple dinosaur children's host Barney had cocaine hidden in his tail and cussed out a child? | false | Entertainment, ASP Article, Radio & TV, Television | Barney, the purple dinosaur from television’s Barney & Friends, has been on the air since 1992, hosting a show which uses song and dance to teach preschool tots in an environment of warmth and caring. Barney’s is a loveable persona, and the children he interacts with as part of the show happily sing and dance along wit... |
9721 | How well do flu shots work? Here’s what the science says. | This story asks a simple, straightforward question that annually affects much of the population — do flu vaccines work, and how well? The story looks at the evidence offered from a host of studies, giving a fair appraisal of what the data does and does not tell us. [Editor’s note: for another perspective on this issue,... | true | flu shot,vaccines | While the story only touches on the costs of flu shots in passing, saying that they’re relatively cheap, we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on this category. At least at two points in the story, the issue of costs are raised. We would have liked it even better had the story mentioned the actual range of possible ... |
34393 | A woman narrowly escaped an abduction attempt at the Coon Rapids Walmart in Minnesota. | We contacted Stipp via Facebook to ask about the Coon Rapids Walmart incident, but have not yet received a response. | unproven | Inboxer Rebellion, facebook warnings, human trafficking, stranger abduction | On 4 June 2017, Facebook user Tianna Stipp shared a post cautioning others about an incident she purportedly experienced at the Coon Rapids Walmart in Minnesota: You know those really long posts on Facebook that you just bypass thinking “oh yeah, that will never happen to me? ?” well, this is going to be one of those, ... |
11601 | New Pill for MS Shows Promise in Clinical Trial | Readers are well served by information on the study’s design, the preliminary nature of the research, the industry-funding behind the work and the strength of the study’s findings. The story also took the additional step of making it clear to readers in multiple ways what type of work is left to be done before this dru... | true | HealthDay | Multiple sclerosis is a chronic illness requiring ongoing treatment. So, cost of treatment is an important consideration. This story did not include cost information,in part because the drug in question is not on the market. Acccording to this Bloomberg story, it costs $4,000 a month, and searches on Drugstore.com and ... |
32772 | NASA admitted to dosing Americans with airborne lithium. | Use of lithium as a chemical propellant and research agent by NASA was not novel or secretive — the rudimentary information on NASA’s web site was first published in 1958. Conspiracy theorists latched on to the use of the word “lithium” and extrapolated that it was used by NASA to surreptitiously drug the populace. NAS... | false | Politics Conspiracy Theories, anonhq, chemtrails, lithium | On 19 April 2016, the web site AnonHQ published an article that purported to show “proof” NASA admitted to spraying lithium into the atmosphere: There’s the official explanation for why NASA is spraying lithium, a pharmaceutical drug most often used to treat people with manic depression or bi-polar disorder, into our i... |
9722 | Cheers! For those managing diabetes, wine can help, study says | A trial that randomized people with Type 2 diabetes to drink one glass of either wine or water daily found that there might be some benefits to drinking the wine, according to this story. How much? Some. How much is that? The story doesn’t pin it down. The story is devoid of quotes and specifics, giving readers a vague... | mixture | red wine | The story does not report the cost of wine or mineral water, but these drinks are so commonplace that it seems reasonable to assume that readers already know what they cost. So we’ll rate this Not Applicable, but we’d note that a typical bottle of wine is 750 ml, which is 5 servings of 150 ml (about 5 oz) that were ‘pr... |
11342 | Cervical cancer vaccine sparks debate | This story reports on the movement in some states to make the new HPV vaccine a requirement for all young women. This short piece does a good job of representing the cost, novelty and availability of the vaccine, but fails to mention any harms of the vaccine and does not describe the strength of the evidence to support... | mixture | The story does mention the cost of the vaccine. The story should have compared this cost to the alternative – regular pap smears. This is important information given that women will still need regular pap smears even if they are vaccinated. Although the story does state that the vaccine could reduce HPV-related cervica... | |
6258 | A familiar name: Democrat Kennedy fights GOP on health care. | A familiar name from Massachusetts, Rep. Joe Kennedy III, is carrying his family legacy into a new era, battling Republicans who want to undo Barack Obama’s health care law. | true | Joe Kennedy III, Health, Politics, AP Top News, Massachusetts, Barack Obama | Kennedy, the 36-year-old grandson of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and great-nephew of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and President John F. Kennedy, has been a low-key presence in the House since he was first elected in his Boston-area district in 2012. But he emerged last week as a major Democratic voice against the Repu... |
35252 | "Dr. Anthony Fauci said there was ""nothing to worry about"" in late February 2020 in regards to COVID-19 and it was ""safe"" to do things like go to the movies and the gym." | "What's true: During a Feb. 29, 2020, interview, Dr. Fauci said that at that time and under the circumstances pertaining to that date, Americans didn't need to change their behavior patterns. What's false: However, Fauci did not say there was ""nothing to worry about,"" and although he stated that Americans did not yet... | mixture | Politics, COVID-19 | In early April 2020, the Trump administration was facing strong criticism for its response to the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. Against that backdrop, social media users shared posts critical of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the leaders of the administ... |
10657 | One-a-day pill OK’d for Type 2 diabetes | "This story reports on the FDA approval of a new drug, Januvia, for the treatment of type-2 diabetes. Januvia is yet another option in a large sea of existing therapies for type -2 diabetes. Januvia may represent an improvement over other therapies in its convenience and a possible decreased risk of side effects. Januv... | true | "The story states that the drug will cost $4.86, but there is no indication of how this cost compares to existing therapies. Furthermore, it is likely that often the drug will need to be combined with another drug, adding to the costs. Also the article cites what is likely to be the average wholesale price and not the ... | |
35386 | A squirrel in a rural Colorado town tested positive for bubonic plague in July 2020. | The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that recent decades have seen an average of around seven human plague cases in the U.S. each year that typically occur in rural areas, most commonly in the southwestern states. Globally, between 1,000 and 2,000 people will be diagnosed with plague each year,... | true | Critter Country, bubonic plague | In July 2020, media outlets reported that a squirrel in Colorado tested positive for bubonic plague, making it the first case of plague in Jefferson County. This claim is true, though experts caution that the incident is not cause for immediate concern. “On Saturday, July 11, 2020, a squirrel found in the Town of Morri... |
12608 | "In America, ""more people die from"" prescription narcotic painkillers ""than from heroin and cocaine combined." | Which is deadlier: prescription painkillers, heroin or cocaine? | mixture | Criminal Justice, Drugs, Crime, Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, | "The explosion of deaths from heroin and other opioid drugs promises to be an issue in the 2018 elections, in Wisconsin and across the nation. As Wisconsin’s top cop, Attorney General Brad Schimel has promised aggressive efforts to continue to push back against the tide. In a March 12, 2017, interview on WFRV-TV in Gre... |
4854 | Alabama infant mortality rate hits record low . | Alabama’s infant mortality rate has reached a record low, but racial disparities have persisted, state health officials announced Wednesday. | true | Kay Ivey, Infant mortality rate, Health, General News, Health statistics, Alabama | The Alabama Department of Public Health announced the 2018 infant mortality rate was the lowest in Alabama history with 7.0 deaths per 1,000 live births It is an improvement over the 2017 rate of 7.4 and the 2016 rate of 9.1. “I am committed to improving the health of mothers and babies, and I am glad to see the infant... |
8315 | Northern Ireland authorities give green light to abortion services. | Northern Ireland authorities on Thursday gave the green light for the rollout of abortion services, activists and leading doctors said, although it was unclear when the first procedures would take place. | true | Health News | While abortion was decriminalised last year, the British region’s health ministry missed an April 1 deadline to begin providing wider access to terminations, blaming the pressure the coronavirus has placed on services. That left the British government’s Northern Ireland Office advising women to travel to England for an... |
28646 | Congress passed a law that makes it legal for mentally impaired persons to purchase guns. | What's true: Congress passed a law repealing a measure that was originally intended to make it easier to prohibit the sale of firearms to people deemed “mentally defective” by requiring the Social Security Administration to provide disability benefit information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.... | mixture | Politics Guns, barack obama, donald trump | On 15 February 2017, the United States Senate backed a joint resolution already passed by the House of Representatives that aimed to block an Obama administration rule that sought to limit the sale of guns to some groups of mentally disabled individuals: Congress on Wednesday sent President Donald Trump legislation blo... |
509 | Decorated with butterflies, infant-sized coffins sent to measles-ravaged Samoa. | Volunteers in the New Zealand city of Rotorua are preparing two dozen white-lined coffins to be transported to Samoa at the end of the week as the measles-ravaged Pacific island nation languishes under a growing death toll that has now hit 70. | true | Health News | The smallest of the coffins, designed for the bodies of babies, are decorated with felt butterflies, daisies, stars and hearts. Volunteers have placed a teddy bear in each of the infant-sized caskets. “It’s not easy. No-one is prepared to lose that many children,” said Tagaloa Tusani, a New Zealand-based volunteer who ... |
13139 | "Margaret Sanger ""wanted a black Christian leader to be like a Judas goat and lead the blacks to genocide. Remember that? And they picked Martin Luther King as their spokesman." | "Robertson said that Sanger ""wanted a black Christian leader to be like a Judas goat and lead the blacks to genocide. Remember that? And they picked Martin Luther King as their spokesman."" His statement twists a sentence Sanger wrote in a 1939 letter - discussing the need to seek the support of black ministers in a p... | false | Abortion, History, Public Health, Women, Virginia, Pat Robertson, | "Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson recently said that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. partnered in a conspiracy to promote black genocide. ""Margaret Sanger was the head,"" Robertson said. ""She wanted a black Christian leader to be like a Judas goat and lead ... |
5864 | Wife’s cancer diagnosis hits home for Packers’ Crosby. | Mason Crosby won his competition to remain the Green Bay Packers’ kicker. | true | Mason Crosby, Green Bay, Health, Tumors, NFL, Sam Ficken, Green Bay Packers | His wife beat a more formidable challenger. Molly Crosby, a 32-year-old mother of five, had been dealing with bouts of coughing and congestion all summer. Some preliminary exams in Green Bay showed a spot on her right lung. That led the Crosbys to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for additional tests. A carcinoid e... |
38176 | Sargento Cheese recalled seven types of cheese in August or September 2017 for listeria contamination; consumers have been warned that eating recalled Sargento Cheese products “could kill your family.” | Sargento Cheese Recalls 7 Types of Cheese in August or September 2017 | false | Food / Drink | Sargento Cheese didn’t recall any products due to listeria contamination in August or September of 2017. Those false warnings were based on an outdated recall from February 2017. The false cheese recall warning started with an article that appeared at HealthyFoodTeam.com in early September 2017. The article, which appe... |
20100 | On allowing Shelby County's schools merger commission to finish work before allowing any new merger legislation. | Gov. Haslam, schools merger and new legislation | false | Tennessee, Education, Bill Haslam, | "Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on whether to allow new schools merger legislation before the completion of work by Shelby County’s Transition Planning Commission. Jan. 12: ""My sense is there is a real good-faith effort being made now to come up with the right plan, and I would like to see that play out before anything el... |
4449 | A healthy lifestyle may offset genetic risk for Alzheimer’s. | A healthy lifestyle can cut your risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia even if you have genes that raise your risk for these mind-destroying diseases, a large study has found. | true | Los Angeles, Genetics, Health, General News, AP Top News, Dementia | People with high genetic risk and poor health habits were about three times more likely to develop dementia versus those with low genetic risk and good habits, researchers reported Sunday. Regardless of how much genetic risk someone had, a good diet, adequate exercise, limiting alcohol and not smoking made dementia les... |
13556 | Food stamps have gone up two-and-a-half times under Barack Obama. | "Giuliani said that ""food stamps have gone up two-and-a-half times under Barack Obama."" Due to expanded eligibility and outreach, as well as the after-effects of the Great Recession -- each of which began under Bush -- the number of SNAP beneficiaries and the cost of the program has risen under Obama. However, the in... | false | National, Federal Budget, Poverty, Rudy Giuliani, | "Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a surrogate for Donald Trump, criticized President Barack Obama’s stewardship of the economy as he touted Trump’s efforts to court African-American voters. ""So, now you compare New York to Detroit and Baltimore, and you look at the number of crimes in both of those cities and... |
1040 | Groups sue over Alabama abortion law; judge blocks Mississippi ban. | The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging a law enacted by Alabama last week that bans nearly all abortions and makes performing the procedure a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison. | true | Health News | The lawsuit is one of several the groups have filed or are preparing to file against states that recently passed strict anti-abortion measures in an effort to prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that guarantees a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. On Friday, Missouri Gov... |
35685 | A leaked Pentagon video reveals a government plot to vaccinate people against thoughts, ideas, and religion. | Notably, much of the speculation about FunVax occurred in 2011 and 2012 (Harper registered the domain in April 2011), and almost all claims made about it lead back to Harper and the film project. The clip in question was not “leaked” until September 2011, making the chronology of the FunVax conspiracy even more suspici... | false | Politics | On 20 January 2015, the disreputable web site Natural News published an article titled “600 strains of an aerosolized thought control vaccine already tested on humans; deployed via air, food and water.” According to the article, a “leaked Pentagon video” revealed the government had tested a mind-control vaccine dubbed ... |
8732 | Indonesia says lack of coronavirus cases a blessing from God. | Indonesia’s health minister defended the country’s screening process for coronavirus on Thursday and said the absence of confirmed cases in the world’s fourth-most populous nation was a “blessing from the Almighty”. | true | Health News | The sprawling Southeast Asian country of more than 260 million people has not recorded any cases though some of its citizens overseas have contracted the virus, including eight crew on the Diamond Princess cruise liner off Japan’s Yokohama. Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto said 134 test samples taken from people s... |
7995 | No proof drug touted by Trump is effective against coronavirus: EU. | The European Commission said on Tuesday there was no evidence that a drug touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential miracle cure against COVID-19 was effective against the disease caused by the new coronavirus. | true | Health News | Trump had said that hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, could be among “the biggest game changers in the history of medicine” for its potential effects against COVID-19. “The efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 patients has to date not been proved,” a spokesman for the European Commission ... |
6600 | US Embassy in China sends new alert for mystery health issue. | The U.S. Embassy in China sent its second alert in two weeks Friday to its citizens over unexplained health issues that have prompted the evacuation of a number of U.S. government employees working at a consulate in a southern city. | true | AP Top News, Cuba, Health, Guangzhou, North America, International News, China, Asia Pacific | The alert urged Americans to seek medical help in the event they suffered any “unusual, unexplained physical symptoms or events, auditory or sensory phenomena, or other health concerns.” The alert comes as a U.S. medical team is screening more Americans who work at the Guangzhou consulate. A previous case in Guangzhou,... |
37954 | 2 years, 10 months, 23 days. The length of time Amy Coney Barrett has been a judge. | Several Facebook posts (and tweets) simply read “2 years, 10 months, 23 days, the length of time Amy Coney Barrett has been a judge”; we found no variation of the claim that included a citation. Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on October 31 2017, and received commiss... | true | Fact Checks, Politics | On September 27 2020, a number of Facebook posts claiming that Amy Coney Barrett had been a judge for “2 years 10 months [and] 23 days” began circulating:All three of the posts above read:2 years, 10 months, 23 days.The length of time Amy Coney Barrett has been a judge.Occasionally, a person sharing the post added to t... |
16341 | In Massachusetts, Scott Brown pushed for a law to force women considering abortion -- force them -- to look at color photographs of developing fetuses. | "Shaheen’s ad says that ""in Massachusetts, Scott Brown pushed for a law to force women considering abortion -- force them -- to look at color photographs of developing fetuses."" The measure backed by Brown nine years ago made sure that women were provided photos of developing fetuses, along with a lot more informatio... | true | Abortion, New Hampshire, Legal Issues, Women, Jeanne Shaheen, | "As the 2014 New Hampshire Senate race veers toward a conclusion, the state’s next senator needs the support of women voters. Incumbent Jeanne Shaheen underscored that point when she targeted Republican challenger Scott Brown’s record supporting women’s reproductive rights during his tenure as a state senator from Mass... |
34833 | A November 2019 Trump administration proposal would end Social Security disability payments for thousands of recipients. | "What's true: According to the logic of the administration's own proposals, the changes to how ""continuing disability reviews"" take place would indeed lead to thousands of recipients losing Social Security disability benefits. What's false: That loss of benefits would not be arbitrary, and the criteria and standards ... | mixture | Politics | In December 2019, readers asked us about reports that claimed the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had proposed changes to the way Social Security disability payments are made, which could cause thousands, even hundreds of thousands, to lose their benefits. On Dec. 12, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Chicago... |
8779 | Skin creams seen to cause tumours on mice. | Certain commonly available skin creams may cause skin tumours, at least in mice, and experts should be checking to see if they might cause growths in people as well, researchers reported on Thursday. | true | Health News | They found several creams caused skin cancer in the specially bred mice, which had been pre-treated with ultraviolet radiation. The cancers are not melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, they stressed in their report in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, but another type called squamous cell carcinoma. Suc... |
35246 | Bill Gates is being sued by India over the deaths of girls resulting from vaccinations. | However, the meme jumps the rails at suggesting anything more than that Gates is interested in improving lives through medical research and vaccinations. | false | Politics, COVID-19 | During the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic in 2020, a popular social media meme asserted that philanthropist Bill Gates was partnered with business magnate George Soros in owning a lab in Wuhan, China (the presumed location where the COVID-19 outbreak originated), and was being sued by India over the deaths of gi... |
26770 | ”America has been vaccinating cattle for coronavirus for years, yet the news tells you it’s new and gunna kill you all so go buy mask.” | There is no vaccine for COVID-19, the new coronavirus that first appeared in China. None is expected soon. The vaccine for cattle won’t help humans, and won’t protect against this new form of coronavirus. | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "The fact that there’s already a coronavirus vaccine for cattle should make you doubt claims that the virus causing the current human outbreak is new and deadly. That’s what a Facebook post would lead you to believe. It adds to a long list of misleading claims about the virus that, as of March 1, 2020, had hit 59 count... |
33375 | Data suppressed by the CDC proved that the MMR vaccine produces a 340% increased risk of autism in African-American boys. | The claim put forward in a video is that earlier MMR vaccination is associated with an increased risk of autism in African-American boys and that the CDC has spent the last 13 years covering this linkage up. | false | Medical, ASP Article, Disease | On 24 August 2014 a CNN iReport claiming intentional suppression of data relating to 340% increased risk of autism among specific populations of African-American boys following MMR vaccinations went viral. The story seemed to disappear mysteriously, further fueling the notion that an intentional coverup was underway. T... |
30131 | Christine Blasey Ford is closely linked to the CIA, and her sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh are part of a CIA plot. | Even if Melges were associated with the MKUltra program, the fact of Christine Blasey Ford’s attendance and employment at Stanford several decades later does not even come close to establishing a link between the two. | false | Politics, brett kavanaugh, christine blasey ford, CIA | Dr. Christine Blasey Ford faced a torrent of personal attacks and conspiracy theories in September and October 2018, after she publicly accused federal judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, of sexually assaulting her when they were both high school students in Maryland in the early 1980... |
19169 | "Creative Advocacy Network Says an arts tax would provide ""funding for certified arts and music teachers for every elementary school serving Portland residents." | Would a Portland arts tax put an art or music teacher in every elementary school? | mixture | Oregon, Taxes, Creative Advocacy Network, | "The proposed Portland tax for the arts is nothing if not divisive. Supporters say the tax will mean having arts educators in every city elementary school, as well as better access to the arts throughout Portland. Detractors have called the tax poorly structured and say it uses children as a front for a plan to move mo... |
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