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27869 | A teenaged Laura Bush caused the death of a classmate in an automobile accident. | She was barely 17 and she had taken the life of a friend. She has since carried the weight of this, and it changed her, at least according to those who knew her before and after. Only rarely has she spoken of this with the press (although she has often been asked), but even on those occasions her answers have been obli... | true | Politics Politicians, george w bush, laura bush | Driving is one of the most dangerous activities we engage in, and most of us do it every day, little realizing the peril of it. Every year in the U.S. there are approximately 6.5 million traffic accidents, resulting in about 42,000 fatalities. This is the story of one of those accidents. It resulted in the death of som... |
6306 | Maine’s sole med school to boost opioid disorder training. | The federal government’s supporting an effort by Maine’s only medical school to train medical students to treat opioid use disorders. | true | Opioids, General News, Medical schools, Biddeford, Education, Maine | The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s providing the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine with a $450,000 three-year grant to help with the effort. The university says medical students will learn to use federally-approved medications along with counseling and behaviora... |
9979 | Topical rub eases kids’ cold symptoms, study says | This story of a clinical trial of a generations-old cough and congestion remedy hits almost all the key points that we would expect of a report on even the most aggressive intervention for a life-threatening condition. Where it falls short is in describing the differences in symptom improvement reported by the groups g... | true | CNN | One could say that the cost of VapoRub is not an important factor, but given how easy it would be to note the price of VapoRub, especially for the amount used in the study, we think the story should have included it. The story does not tell readers how much of a difference there was between the treatment groups. The pa... |
41311 | Genetically modified yeast, animal, bacterial and viral DNA in vaccines can be incorporated into the recipient’s DNA causing unknown genetic mutations. | Modified DNA can be used in the production of some vaccines, but is very unlikely to end up in the final product. Even if it did, there’s no evidence it can cause mutations. | unproven | online | Beta-Propiolactone is in vaccines and is known to cause cancer, suspected gastrointestinal, liver, nerve and respiratory, skin and sense organ poison. It may be present in trace amounts of some vaccines. It is potentially carcinogenic, but only in much larger amounts than would be in a vaccine. The antibiotics gentamic... |
22978 | "The cap-and-trade bill before Congress ""prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator." | Chain e-mail claims bill requires EPA permission for homeowners to sell their property | false | Rhode Island, Cap and Trade, Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Chain email, | """If you own a home, you must read this!"" says the e-mail making the rounds in Rhode Island mailboxes. The message says ""It will come as a huge shock to you if you aren't informed as to what Obama is up to"" and warns that if legislation designated as HR-2454 is approved by Congress, ""a year from now, you won't be ... |
235 | J&J says FTC probing efforts to protect arthritis drug Remicade. | The Federal Trade Commission issued civil subpoenas to Johnson and Johnson in June as part of an investigation into whether contracting practices for its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug, Remicade, violated antitrust laws, the company said in a regulatory filing on Monday. | true | Health News | Shares of the company traded marginally down at $132.47, after having closed up 1.7% on Monday. (bit.ly/2ZkZGze) J&J said that the FTC had issued a “civil investigative demand,” or CID, the equivalent of a subpoena to determine if the contracting practices were legal. Pfizer Inc filed a lawsuit against J&J in 2017, ... |
7371 | South Dakota reports 1 more coronavirus death, 95 new cases. | South Dakota health officials recorded one more COVID-19 death and 95 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday. | true | Sioux Falls, Health, General News, South Dakota, Virus Outbreak, Aberdeen, Native Americans, Rapid City | The new figures bring the state’s death toll to 44 and its confirmed case count to 3,887. Health officials have warned the the actual number of infections is higher because many people may not display symptoms or have not sought testing if their symptoms are mild. The death reported Friday was a woman over 80 who lived... |
35870 | Joe Biden lied in claiming that the accident that killed his wife and daughter involved a driver who had been drinking. | What's true: Biden has at least twice publicly stated or suggested that the driver of the truck that struck his wife's vehicle, killing her and the couple's daughter, had been drinking, even though the driver was not charged with drunken driving (or any other infraction suggesting fault on his part). What's false: No d... | mixture | Politics | The seminal moment in the career of Joe Biden occurred in November 1972 when, as a 29-year-old lawyer whose only previous political experience was as a member of the New Castle County Council in Delaware, he pulled off an astounding upset victory over a Republican incumbent and won election to the U.S. Senate by a mere... |
14475 | As a legislator, (Marco Rubio) flipped on a key vote after making a quick $200,000 from selling the house to the mother of the bill's lobbyist. | "Trump said of Rubio, ""As a legislator he flipped on a key vote after making a quick $200,000 from selling the house to the mother of the bill's lobbyist."" There’s no evidence Cereceda met the state’s strict definition of lobbying, and he was not registered as a lobbyist. He did, however, pressure Rubio to extend a P... | false | Candidate Biography, Ethics, Florida, Donald Trump, | "Billionaire Donald Trump likes to talk about his money-making prowess, but lately he’s taken to the airwaves to imply GOP presidential primary rival Marco Rubio has cut deals of his own as a Florida lawmaker. In an ad we first saw on March 7, 2016, Trump’s campaign said Rubio had a history of shady shenanigans as Flor... |
32562 | The bitter almond tree was banned in America in 1995 because it treats and prevents cancer. | It is neither true that the FDA has banned bitter almond trees nor suppressed use of the fruit they yield. Bitter almond trees are grown agriculturally in California, and although the sale of their seeds is somewhat restricted, that restriction is aimed at both preventing the peddling of an ineffective derivative to ca... | false | Medical, cancer | In June 2016 an image macro became newly popular (likely due to a concurrent cancer conspiracy rumor) on social media, holding that the bitter almond tree had been banned across the United States since 1995 because it contains high levels of the cancer-fighting vitamin B17 (also known as Laetrile): The claim was an ol... |
29336 | "Adorable Drug Kingpin"" Sarah Furay avoided charges due to her father's connection to the DEA." | A trial date for Furay has not been set as of May 2017. | false | Crime, america first news, death and taxes, drug enforcement agency | In May 2017, several unreliable web sites (such as America Flash News) published articles with the claim that Sarah Furay, the young woman called the “adorable drug kingpin” after Texas officials found large amounts of methamphetamine, ecstasy, cocaine, and marijuana in her apartment in 2015, had been released due to a... |
2650 | Gravity-defying workouts lift fitness routines. | More exercisers are taking their fitness to the air these days, held aloft by technology borrowed from sources as far-flung as the space program and the circus. | true | Health News | "A student takes part in an ""antigravity"" yoga class at the Om Factory in New York August 16, 2011. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton Experts say if you adhere to the learning curve, going anti-gravity can be just the thing to relieve overused joints and revitalize an earthbound routine. Stephen Csolak, fitness manager at a ... |
13032 | Since the Sandy Hook tragedy, more than seven children PER DAY have died from gun violence. | "California Congresswoman Jackie Speier recently claimed: ""Since the Sandy Hook tragedy, more than seven children PER DAY have died from gun violence."" Speier’s claim is backed up by the CDC’s fatal injury report data, which shows an average of 7.15 young people per day, aged 0 to 19, died in connection with firearms... | true | Children, Crime, California, Guns, Jackie Speier, | "U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, is one of California’s most prominent advocates for gun control -- and one of the few members of Congress to personally experience and survive gun violence. Speier was shot five times at point blank range in 1978 on a trip accompanying Rep. Leo Ryan to Jonestown, the remote commun... |
17823 | Eighty percent of the antibiotics in this country are fed to livestock. | "Slaughter said ""80 percent of the antibiotics in this country are fed to livestock."" The statistic comes from a comparison of FDA sales data for food-producing animals and private sales data for humans since 2009 — not all antibiotics sold in the United States. A letter from the FDA to the congresswoman confirms tha... | true | Environment, Agriculture, National, Animals, Consumer Safety, Drugs, Food Safety, Public Health, Science, Louise Slaughter, | "A salmonella outbreak traced to California chicken processing plants recently prompted Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., to raise a pet issue on MSNBC: antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The federal shutdown was limiting government’s ability to track infection, she said. But then she pointed to a deeper issue: ""the overuse ... |
16653 | "In the ""do-nothing Senate,"" there are 352 House bills ""sitting on Harry Reid’s desk awaiting action,"" including 55 introduced by Democrats." | "Jenkins said that in the ""do-nothing Senate,"" there are 352 House bills ""sitting on Harry Reid’s desk awaiting action,"" including 55 introduced by Democrats. In some cases, committee chairs -- not Reid -- may be blocking or moving slowly on these bills. In other cases, senators are working on their own alternative... | mixture | National, Congress, Lynn Jenkins, | "Members of Congress recently decamped to their home districts for the August recess, but the never-ending partisan skirmishing on Capitol Hill continues. Many readers told us they saw references on social media to a comment by Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., about House-passed bills dying on the doorstep of the Senate. The... |
12361 | When Obamacare was signed into law, CBO estimated that 23 million people would be covered in Obamacare’s exchanges in 2017. They were off by more than 100 percent. Only 10.3 million people are covered by Obamacare. | The White House tweet was correct in saying that the CBO had originally estimated that 23 million people would participate in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges, and that only 10.3 million people currently are participating in these. The White House chose to cite a report that has been updated by the CBO following sig... | mixture | National, Corrections and Updates, Health Care, Donald Trump, | "Seeking to bat down the news in a Congressional Budget Office report about the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act, President Donald Trump’s administration attempted to undermine the CBO’s credibility in a tweet. The official White House account tweeted an image that said, ""When Obamacare was signed into law, CBO... |
6936 | Quarantines at 2 LA universities amid US measles outbreak. | More than 200 students and staff at two Los Angeles universities have been placed under quarantine because they may have been exposed to measles and either have not been vaccinated or cannot verify that they are immune, officials said Thursday. | true | Los Angeles, University of California, Health, Measles, North America, AP Top News, California, Travel, California State University, U.S. News, Public health | The order issued late Wednesday in connection with the University of California, Los Angeles, and California State University, Los Angeles, requires that affected people stay home, avoid contact with others and notify authorities if they develop measles symptoms. Los Angeles County public health officials issued quaran... |
25642 | When I was vice president, violent crime fell 15% in this country. ... The murder rate now is up 26% across the nation this year under Donald Trump. | The violent crime rate fell nearly 16% from 2008, before Biden’s vice presidency, to 2016, his last full year as vice president. An analysis found that in some cities, the total number of murders went up at least 26% in 2020 compared to the same timeframe in 2019. The murder rate increase would also be around 26%. But ... | mixture | National, Crime, Joe Biden, | "Joe Biden told voters that President Donald Trump doesn’t have his facts straight when it comes to public safety, despite Trump’s attempts to cast himself as a law-and-order candidate and Biden as the symbol of chaos. ""If Donald Trump wants to ask the question: Who will keep you safer as president? Let’s answer that ... |
27916 | An Arizona sheriff dismissed prisoners' bellyaching about the heat by pointing out that soldiers serving in Iraq cope with similar conditions. | A popular online piece about an Arizona sheriff's dismissing prisoners' bellyaching by pointing out soldiers serving in Iraq cope with similar conditions. | true | Crime, Just Deserts, Vigilante Justice | A much e-mailed piece about pink-clad prisoners of the Maricopa County Jail was extracted from a July 2003 Associated Press offering about the Summer 2003 heat wave’s effect on the Phoenix area. Those few paragraphs devoted to describing the condition of the inmates held in that jail went on to be widely circulated on ... |
39142 | The eRumor is a protest of the choice of Dr. David Hager to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. It says he is a religious pro-life physician who refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women and opposes th... | Dr. David Hager nominated for FDA panel. | true | Health / Medical, Medical | Dr. David Hager is a part of the teaching staff of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and has developed a reputation as an expert on gynecologic infections. This eRumor was circulated before Dr. Hager actually became a member of the committee. He is now a part... |
7117 | Duke University pays $112M to settle faked-research lawsuit. | Duke University will pay $112 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit after federal prosecutors said a research technician’s fake data landed millions of dollars in federal grants, the school and the government said Monday. | true | U.S. News, Health, Lawsuits, Durham, U.S. News, Duke University | The private university in Durham submitted claims for dozens of research grants that contained falsified or fabricated information that unjustly drained taxpayer money from the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies, the U.S. Justice Department said. The school sai... |
1923 | Do EU summits need a health warning?. | In the small hours of Thursday, George Papandreou thanked his aides for helping clinch a second bailout deal for debt-ridden Greece, and admitted the strain had almost killed one of them. | true | Health News | Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou (C) arrives at a news conference at the end of a euro zone summit in Brussels, October 27, 2011. REUTERS/Yves Herman “Some were under such pressure that they needed medical attention. I see George Zanias, thankfully with us. But George Glynos was unable to join us after sufferi... |
37889 | People are ... forgetting that in 1918 the second wave of the Spanish Flu reportedly killed 20-50 million. The first wave only killed 3-5 million. | Did the Second Wave of the 1918 Spanish Flu Kill 20 to 30 Million, While the First Wave Killed 3 to 5 Million? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | Against the backdrop of spreading (but engineered) COVID-19 anti-lockdown protests in April 2020, a tweet claiming that a “second wave” of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was far deadlier than the “first wave” attracted a large number of likes and shares:People are so ready to get back to life forgetting that in 1918 the... |
3653 | Indonesia’s flooded capital disinfected to fend off disease. | Soldiers and health workers sprayed Indonesia’s capital with disinfectant on Sunday to fend off possible diseases spread by massive flooding that has killed 60 people and affected hundreds of thousands. | true | Monsoons, Health, Floods, General News, Indonesia, Jakarta, Asia Pacific | Monsoon rains and rising rivers submerged a dozen districts in the greater Jakarta area starting Wednesday after extreme torrential rains hit on New Year’s Eve, causing landslides in hilly areas on the outskirts of the capital that buried scores of people. It’s the worst flooding in the area since 2007, when 80 people ... |
2133 | "Male Brain"" book sheds light on how men think." | Men are built to have a lustful, wandering eye but women should not worry that their partners will stray like Tiger Woods. | true | Health News | "The cover of ""The Male Brain"" by psychiatrist Louann Brizendine, known for her bestseller ""The Female Brain."" REUTERS/Broadway Books So says the author of the new book “The Male Brain,” psychiatrist Louann Brizendine, known for her bestseller “The Female Brain.” “The way Mother Nature made us, the man’s job on t... |
11513 | It may be time to can the cola | First, we want to acknowledge that this story was a “brief” in the magazine – one of three such briefs in this particular issue of the magazine. In total, the three health briefs consumed less than 500 words. This particular story was only 106 words. There is a price to pay for brevity, one that was observed in this st... | false | The price of cola products is well known. The story did not include information for the reader that the observed association between bone mineral density and cola consumption exhibited a dose response. In addition, since there is no known biologic basis for finding this association in women but not men, the relationshi... | |
7018 | Mississippi city rejects mental health facility despite need. | Officials in southwest Mississippi have denied a rezoning request for a mental health facility, despite complaints that the area is underserved. | true | Mississippi, Mental health, Health, General News, Natchez | Natchez aldermen on Tuesday unanimously rejected rezoning property to allow a crisis stabilization unit, a small mental hospital meant to keep people from being sent to faraway state hospitals or jail. Opponents said the facility is inappropriate for a mostly residential neighborhood. Crisis stabilization services were... |
24181 | We are the only industrialized nation that relies heavily on a for-profit medical insurance industry to provide basic health care. | Feinstein says U.S. is only nation to rely heavily on for-profit insurers for basic health care | true | National, Health Care, Dianne Feinstein, | "In February, amid the heated debate over health care reform, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation to bar insurance companies from implementing ""unfair"" hikes in health plan premiums. In a March 8, 2010, New York Times story, Feinstein explained why she cares so much about the issue. ""We are the o... |
16273 | "Six convictions are connected to an allegation by prosecutors ""that Gov. Scott Walker is at the center of a criminal scheme." | Pope Francis said on Saturday rapid deforestation and the loss of biodiversity in individual countries should not be treated as local issues since they threaten the future of the planet. | false | Crime, Negative Campaigning, Wisconsin, Mary Burke, | Francis made his appeal on a visit to Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island, which research institutes and aid agencies say has lost about 44% of its forest over the past 60 years, abetted by illegal exports of rosewood and ebony. Francis zeroed in on endemic corruption, linking it with persistent, long-term po... |
2813 | Pig-killing PEDv virus moves into Canada. | Canada has discovered its first two cases of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv), which has already killed more than 1 million pigs in the United States, government and industry officials said on Thursday. | true | Health News | The Ontario government is investigating a hog farm in the province’s Middlesex County after a laboratory finding of the virus, Dr. Greg Douglas, chief veterinary officer for Ontario, said at a news conference. Middlesex County is in southern Ontario near the city of London. Separately, one of Canada’s biggest pork proc... |
11570 | Landmark Surgery: Spinal Fusion Procedure Relieves Back Pain | This major network broadcast–-about a surgical procedure that is purported to quickly relieve pain in hundreds of thousands of people with common low back pain–is devoid of evidence and sound reporting. Among the questions it fails to answer: Is there any evidence suggesting that fusion is an effective treatment for... | false | The story makes no mention of costs. The average hospital charges for a single-level fusion is about $50,000, exclusive of surgeon fees, rehab costs, and related costs such as time lost from work. The addition of screws or and a “bone growth material” adds thousands more. Not trivial issues. This broadcast falls down i... | |
33727 | Disney can legitmately claim that no one has ever died at one of their theme parks, because they always ensure that accident victims are removed from park property before being declared dead. | Disney is, of course, well known for their image consciousness. They have been criticized in the past for policies such as not allowing marked emergency vehicles into their parks (so as not to upset park guests), and so many people perceive them as being willing and overzealous enough to stretch a semantic point for a ... | false | Disney, ASP Article, disney parks, Theme Parks | This legend is a tricky subject to tackle, because it’s based upon the fine (and often confusing) distinction between actual death and declared death. For example, if a seriously-injured victim of an automobile accident were loaded into a ambulance and died en route to the hospital, he generally would not be officially... |
29989 | A man was hospitalized in December 2018 after an Apple Airpod exploded in his ear. | The included image of the supposed Airpods “victim” can be traced to an article about managing external burns of the ear which was published in the Indian Journal of Burns in May 2013, three years before Apple released the first generation of their Airpods. | false | Junk News, huzlers | A few days before Christmas of 2018, the entertainment website Huzlers published an article reporting that one of the season’s hottest gifts, Apple Airpods, were responsible for putting a man in the hospital after one “exploded” in his ear: An Arizona man is being hospitalized after his brand new Apple AirPod earphon... |
538 | Nuclear energy needs greater safety guarantees, pope says. | Pope Francis, who met victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster while in Japan, said on Tuesday that nuclear energy should not be used until there are ironclad guarantees that it is safe for people and the environment. | true | Environment | Speaking to reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome from his trip to Asia, Francis renewed a call for a total ban on nuclear weapons, including their possession for the purpose of deterrence. Francis said declarations on the immorality of the use or possession of nuclear weapons would be incorporated in the Church... |
2503 | Spanish austerity cuts put lives at risk, study finds. | Austerity cuts in Spain could lead to the effective dismantling of large parts of its healthcare system and significantly damage the health of the population, according to a study published on Thursday. | true | Health News | Researchers who analyzed the situation warned that if nothing was done to reverse the trend, Spain risked spiraling health problems and could see increases in infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and the virus that causes AIDS. As part of the analysis, interviews were conducted with 34 doctors and nurses across Cat... |
16253 | "Doug Muder Says Sen. Rand Paul’s 2011 budget ""included a big cut in the CDC." | Muder said that in 2011 Sen. Paul proposed cutting the CDC budget by $1.165 billion. Budget documents confirm that. In fact, Paul’s most detailed budget that year would have trimmed CDC spending by slightly more, about $1.2 billion. While the Senate approved two broad spending measures to fund the CDC in 2014, Paul vot... | true | Ebola, Federal Budget, Public Health, PunditFact, Doug Muder, | "We don’t know yet if the Ebola scare will help either party or be an afterthought in the midterm elections, but liberal blogger Doug Muder argued that confronting Ebola shows that it makes sense to vote Democratic. For Muder, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul is the poster child for a distinct partisan contrast. ""Eb... |
30837 | "A nineteenth-century British man named Edward Mordrake (also spelled ""Mordake"") was born with a rare medical condition in the form of a extra face on the back of his head." | Boese concludes — convincingly, we find — that Edward Mordrake was the literary creation of Charles Lotin Hildreth. He never really existed. | false | Medical, craniofacial duplication, craniopagus parasiticus, Diprosopus | One of the more interesting historical nuggets to cross our transom in recent years is the claim that a certain English gentleman of the nineteenth century named Edward Mordrake (or “Edward Mordake,” according to older sources) was born with a bizarre medical condition so troubling that it drove him to suicide: Albei... |
2571 | Marijuana goes legal in Washington state amid mixed messages. | Hundreds of marijuana enthusiasts huddled near Seattle’s famed Space Needle tower on Thursday night with pipes, bongs and hand-rolled joints to celebrate Washington’s new status as the first state in the nation to legalize pot for adult recreational use. | true | Health News | The public gathering at the downtown Seattle Center, like a smaller turnout at a nearby spot hours earlier, defied a key provision of the state’s landmark marijuana law, which allows possession of small amounts of cannabis but forbids users from lighting up outside the privacy of their homes. Police kept their distance... |
2111 | Gates Foundation gives $1.5 bln for women's health. | The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $1.5 billion on Monday in a joint push with the United Nations to improve the health of women and children, while launching a lobbying effort to get governments and other non-profit groups on board. | true | Health News | The program aims to cut across the “silos” of health initiatives focused on one thing — AIDS, for example, or nutrition — and get broader initiatives into place. “That is in addition to grants that we already make in vaccines, diarrhea, malaria,” Melinda Gates told reporters. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he ... |
9734 | Powdered Ginger May Ease Seasonal Allergy Symptoms | A mouse study from Japan showed that rodents that had been fed powdered ginger responded with fewer sneezes and had a lower level of immune response to an allergen. This short piece about the research earns praise for stating clearly in the subheadline and in the lead sentence that the study was conducted in mice. We w... | true | allergies,ginger,mice studies,rhinitis | The story did not talk about the cost of adding a daily dose of ginger to one’s diet. But since that cost can’t be very significant, we’ll rate this Not Applicable. The story did a good job of sharing the limited results of the rodent study. Mice sneezed less (2.1 rather than 15.2 times) in the group that swallowed gin... |
32057 | A groundbreaking study showing that algae can draw an alternative source of energy from other plants suggests that humans might be able to draw energy from each other in a similar way. | This viral news story is a good example of a poorly executed bait and switch. It provides results of an actual study to gain credibility before switching into unsubstantiated, unverifiable, and illogical claims, forcing a connection that — like “Dr. Olivia Bader-Lee” herself — will not appear, no matter how hard you lo... | false | Science, algae, energy, prevent disease | In August 2016, web site Simple Capacity posted a curious story (“Science Finally Confirms that People Absorb Energy from Others”) which subsequently went viral on a number of meditation or alternative health and science social media pages. The article is a reprint of something first written on 22 November 2012, and pu... |
17210 | Kesha Rogers is not a Democrat. | Hinojosa said Rogers isn’t a Democrat. We don’t see how to factually reconcile this statement, tied to disagreement with Rogers’ anti-Obama views, with Rogers twice winning primaries to become the party’s nominee for a House seat. Under state law, too, a voter affiliates with a party by voting in its primary, which Rog... | false | Candidate Biography, Voting Record, Texas, Gilberto Hinojosa, | "Kesha Rogers of Houston, whom we’ve described as a Lyndon LaRouche Democrat, isn’t even a Democrat, according to the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party. Gilberto Hinojosa said in a Feb. 25, 2014, email blast, ""Kesha Rogers is one of the candidates on the ballot for U.S. senator in the Democratic primary -- but do... |
276 | India asks its states not to partner with Philip Morris-funded foundation. | India’s health ministry has asked all state governments in the country not to partner with the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW) because of its links to tobacco giant Philip Morris International Inc (PM.N), a letter seen by Reuters showed. | true | Health News | Established in 2017, the FSFW focuses on eliminating usage of cigarettes and works toward smoking cessation using new technologies and alternative products. It says it works independently, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has said there are “clear conflicts” due to the $80 million in annual funding the foundatio... |
4893 | Librarians facing new tasks say crisis isn’t in the catalog. | When Jackie Narkiewicz switched careers and became a librarian, she thought she’d spend her workdays “drinking hot beverages and discussing literature with people.” | true | Mental health, Opioids, Health, General News, Homelessness, Libraries, New York, Poverty, U.S. News, Careers | But during her 16 years as a librarian on New York’s Long Island, Narkiewicz has also faced a man threatening to kill her and a patron screaming while cutting her own hair in the bathroom. For her job, Narkiewicz has been trained in CPR and mental health crisis response and carries the opioid overdose antidote naloxone... |
3383 | Washington’s Clark County reports 1st vaping-related illness. | Health officials say the first case of severe lung illness associated with vaping has been reported in Vancouver’s Clark County. | true | Health, General News, Washington, Vancouver, Vaping, Public health | KGW-TV reports a woman in her 40s was hospitalized for a lung injury after she reportedly vaped products containing nicotine and THC. The products were purchased at local licensed retailers, Clark County Public Health said. A medical provider reported the illness to health officals. As of Dec. 10, the CDC reports 2,409... |
8705 | UK's Prince William and Kate say: look after mental health in coronavirus crisis. | Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate urged people to look after their mental health during the novel coronavirus outbreak and drew attention to the particular psychological strain felt by frontline health workers. | true | Health News | “We can feel frustrated, miss loved ones or get anxious,” William, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth, and Kate said in an interview promoting a government Every Mind Matters online platform which gives tips on mental health. “There are things we can all do to look after our mental wellbeing at this time.” Prince William... |
10934 | FDA rejects green tea health claims | This story reports on the FDA’s recent rejection of a petition to allow sellers of green tea to make claims that the product can lower heart disese risk. Oddly, the story gave almost equal time to the supposition of benefit from green tea as it did to an explanation of the science behind the FDA’s decision. This story ... | true | Although it was mentioned that the largest maker of green tea had profits last year of $14 million, there was no estimate for the cost of green tea for the consumer. This was a report on the lack of evidence to support the contention that green tea consumption provided benefit in terms of heart disease risk. This repor... | |
12027 | "Steve Israel Says the Dickey Amendment ""prevents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from even researching the relationship between gun violence and public health. ... The government can’t study gun violence but is spending $400,000 analyzing the effects of Swedish massages on rabbits." | Israel said the Dickey Amendment prevents the CDC from researching the relationship between gun violence and public health. As a matter of law, it only prevents money going toward research aimed at promoting gun control. But as a matter of politics, that distinction is murky, and as a result, research has been limited.... | true | National, Guns, Steve Israel, | "The mass shooting in Las Vegas prompted former Democratic Congressman Steve Israel of New York to write that these horrific events have little impact on public policy. In a New York Times op-ed, Israel walked through a list of shootings -- the murder of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown... |
11070 | Scientists develop blood test for Down’s Syndrome | This was a single-source story that didn’t adequately explain availability, costs, limitations of the evidence, or potential harms. The researchers wrote: “Such a noninvasive approach will avoid the risk of miscarriages of normal pregnancies caused by current, more invasive procedures.” That would be a big step. But t... | false | Reuters Health | No discussion of cost. If a story can claim that something “may soon be” available, it ought to be able to project cost. Of course, it’s probably way too early to project anything meaningful on either count, but therein lies the weakness in such story framing. The story stated that the researchers “were able to correct... |
3871 | Site chosen for veterans’ clinic expansion in Traverse City. | U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow says the federal Department of Veterans Affairs has chosen a site for an expanded health clinic in Traverse City. | true | Michigan, Debbie Stabenow, David Shulkin, Health care services, Veterans, Veterans affairs, Traverse City | The Michigan Democrat says the expansion will cover about 22,000 square feet and help alleviate crowding at the existing clinic. Plans for the expansion have been in the works for years. Stabenow says former VA Secretary David Shulkin selected the site before his recent departure. The VA clinic in Traverse City provide... |
9777 | MD Anderson researchers find potential way to detect pancreatic cancer early | This brief article announces the discovery of a potential new and highly effective way to detect pancreatic cancer by looking for the presence of a certain type of protein in the blood. The article would have been much stronger had it included interviews with independent sources, and provided attribution for some of th... | false | pancreatic cancer | The study includes no mention of costs for the screening test. While it’s noted that the test has not yet been developed, it would be possible to give a ballpark figure based on similar screening tests. The benefits of the tests are presented only in vague terms. The expert quoted claims that earlier diagnosis of pancr... |
3891 | Tax changes, mental health parity among new Connecticut laws. | As revelers ring in the new year, a host of new laws will take effect in Connecticut, including expanded sales taxes, mental health parity requirements for insurers, an effort to help rehabilitate more blighted properties, and extended periods between driver’s license renewals. | true | Ned Lamont, Mental health, Health, Connecticut, Sales taxes, Laws | Wednesday marks one of several dates when large blocks of new laws take effect in Connecticut. Some of the latest new laws: ___ TAX CHANGES A handful of items and services will be subjected to the state’s 6.35% sales tax as of Jan. 1. They include safety apparel, metered and other previously exempt parking, dry cleanin... |
4891 | Niagara Falls school district adopts new health curriculum. | School officials in the city of Niagara Falls have voted to approve a new health and sex education program. | true | Health education, Health, Niagara Falls, Sex education, Education | The Niagara Falls City School Board voted 8-1 in favor of the overhaul at a meeting Thursday night. Superintendent Mark Laurrie says the new curriculum will include physical, mental and emotional health education. Under the new program, students will learn about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. The Comm... |
26557 | "Daniel Kelly Says rival Jill Karofsky wants ""to disarm law abiding citizens." | The Kelly campaign said Karofsky, in tweets, called for increased gun control laws following two incidents in Wisconsin schools. The Kelly campaign equated a tweet calling on lawmakers to “step up to the plate” to wanting to “disarm law abiding citizens” But it is a major overreach to equate the two. | false | Elections, Legal Issues, Wisconsin, Daniel Kelly, | "In the race for a seat on the state Supreme Court, Justice Daniel Kelly and challenger Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karofsky have clashed on many fronts, but perhaps especially so on guns and the Second Amendment. Kelly faced criticism after hosting a fundraiser at a Brookfield gun range the day after the Molson Coo... |
8812 | Cilostazol found may be safer than aspirin post-stroke. | The anti-platelet drug cilostazol is as effective as aspirin at preventing recurrent stroke and appears to be linked to fewer bleeding events, a study in China has shown. | true | Health News | Published in the online version of The Lancet Neurology, the study suggests that cilostazol could be a safer alternative to aspirin for post-stroke Chinese patients, who seem to be at higher risk of cerebral hemorrhage, according to previous studies. Anti-platelet drugs have an “anti-clotting” effect and long-term... |
15537 | "The Texas Senate ""approved a bill to put a special label on the insurance cards of anyone who bought a plan through Obamacare"" that includes the letter ""S"" for subsidy." | "Sharpton said that the Texas bill would add a label to insurance cards for coverage purchased through the federal exchanges and that people receiving a subsidy would see the letter ""S"" on their insurance card. That provision was dropped more than two weeks before Sharpton said it. The bill that passed the Legislatur... | false | Health Care, PunditFact, Al Sharpton, | "MSNBC host Al Sharpton accused Texas Republicans of trying to slap a ""scarlet letter"" on people who use private health insurance under Obamacare. ""The Texas Senate just approved a bill to put a special label on the insurance cards of anyone who bought a plan through Obamacare,"" Sharpton said on PoliticsNation on M... |
33898 | A transcript reproduces '60 Minutes' commentator Andy Rooney's explaining his political views. | The final two items on the list are probably a good tipoff that either this collection was written (by an as-yet unidentified author) as a parody of the “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney” spots on 60 Minutes or that someone appended Andy Rooney’s name to an unattributed piece because it “seemed like something he would sa... | false | Politics Soapbox, andy rooney | Andy Rooney, the 60 Minutes commentator “known to generations for his wry, humorous and contentious television essays” passed away in 2011 at the age of 92. Although the curmudgeonly commentator Andy Rooney may have delivered some vituperative essays during his time (such as a 2003 piece on French politics), a popular ... |
9769 | Weight-Loss Surgery Better Than Diet and Exercise in Treating Type 2 Diabetes, Study Finds | A model depicting the adjustable gastric band device. This article describes a small randomized clinical trial comparing the results of weight-loss surgery (with either the gastric bypass procedure or placement of an adjustable gastric band) to dietary and exercise (“lifestyle”) treatments to rid people of type 2 diabe... | mixture | bariatric surgery | The article carries no information about the cost of bariatric surgery, particularly some of the newer, more minimally invasive procedures. Costs are not trivial, particularly because the overall economic costs of type 2 diabetes aren’t either. The piece cries out for some dollar signs. The story quantifies overall out... |
26615 | Huge! Results From Breaking Chloroquine Study Show 100% Cure Rate For Patients Infected With The Coronavirus. | A French study of 20 COVID-19 patients indicates the drug might help treat the coronavirus. But it is no “100% cure.” U.S. health officials stress the evidence is only anecdotal and that much more study is needed. | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Along with sheltering in place, social distancing and immunocompromised, you can add this word to the lexicon of COVID-19: chloroquine. The drug ""could be a game changer"" in the fight against the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump has said, raising hopes as the nation ramped up its lockdown. This post shared o... |
2935 | Hospital, family agree on moving brain-dead girl. | The family of a 13-year-old girl declared brain dead after a tonsillectomy gone wrong will be allowed to take their daughter to a new facility without removing the ventilator that is keeping her heart and lungs working. | true | Health News | The agreement on Friday between Children’s Hospital and Research Center in Oakland and the family of Jahi McMath would allow relatives to move the child if they do so before 5 p.m. PT Tuesday (0100 GMT Wednesday), when a restraining order keeping the hospital from removing her from life support is set to expire, said h... |
12375 | "A waiver in the American Health Care Act ""doesn’t apply to things like maternity coverage." | "Faso said a waiver in the American Health Care Act ""doesn’t apply to things like maternity coverage."" The waiver applies specifically to maternity coverage. If a state does not require maternity coverage and is approved for a waiver, insurers there would not be required to cover maternity care." | false | Health Care, New York, John Faso, | "The U.S. Senate health care bill would allow states to waive federal requirements for what insurance plans must cover. With state waivers, insurers could skip coverage of what the current Affordable Care Act now requires to be covered, known as essential health benefits like prescription drugs, laboratory services and... |
26295 | Facebook post Says only certain face masks are effective and others, such as cloth masks, are not. | N95 masks offer the most protection from viral particles, health officials say, but they should be reserved for health care workers who are in direct contact with infected patients. Mask effectiveness varies, but claims that cloth masks provide 0% protection aren’t accurate. More studies need to be done to examine vari... | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Face masks have become a controversial symbol of the fight against COVID-19. Varying state rules and shifting guidance from leading health officials has caused confusion over who should be wearing masks and whether some types are effective at slowing disease transmission. Take this Facebook post, for example. It displ... |
37708 | "In an interview that aired August 3 2020, President Trump said ""when I took over, we didn't even have a test"" for COVID-19." | A popular Imgur post purporting to be a “real quote” from an Axios interview, in which Trump says “when I took over, we didn’t even have a test” for COVID-19 is accurate, based on the video and transcript of the July 28 2020 segment. Trump turned the discussion back to testing, and claimed that no test existed when he ... | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On August 5 2020, a quote meme was shared to Imgur referencing an Axios interview which August 3 2020, and it quoted United States President Donald Trump as saying that when he “took over … we didn’t even have a test” for COVID-19:Cart Before The HorseThe meme showed Trump sitting on the left and interviewer Jonathan S... |
35228 | Ingestion of hand sanitizer by children can result in alcohol poisoning. | What's true: Hand sanitizer gels and wipes include enough alcohol that, if ingested, could possibly lead to alcohol poisoning. What's false: Such poisonings are rare due to the relatively large amount of sanitizer that a toddler would have to ingest. | mixture | Medical, Toxin Du Jour | Two emails hit our inbox in 2007: Hi All- Just wanted to send you a quick email and warn you about using hand sanitizers wtih your young kids. We have been using that with Sydney in place of hand washing for convience sake. Today she told me she was going up to her room to get a toy, while I was downstairs feeding Gri... |
28579 | A home pregnancy test can detect testicular cancer. | A home pregnancy kit can detect testicular cancer in some circumstances, but it's not a reliable diagnostic test. | mixture | Medical, pregnancy test, reddit, testicular cancer | Back in November 2012, a Reddit user with the screen name ‘CappnPoopdeck’ posted a humorous rage comic to that site, one that detailed the experiences of a male friend who had jokingly taken a pregnancy test left in his medicine cabinet by an ex-girlfriend and surprisingly obtained a positive result: Although the post... |
41919 | 1 in 5 children in America goes to sleep hungry at night. | In talking about the importance of the 2018 midterm congressional elections, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi misrepresented government data to claim that “1 in 5 children in America goes to sleep hungry at night.” | unproven | childhood poverty, hunger, | In talking about the importance of the 2018 midterm congressional elections, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi misrepresented government data to claim that “1 in 5 children in America goes to sleep hungry at night.”There is no precise measurement for childhood hunger in the United States. But the Census Bureau’s most ... |
32849 | Milk-Bone dog treats cause cancer in one of every two dogs that eat them. | We were unable to substantiate claims that BHA, which is commonly used as a preservative in Milk-Bones (and many other dog treats), posed a risk to pets. Decades of research indicated that BHA was generally regarded as safe in both human and animal food products, and the only information cited by sites claiming otherwi... | false | Uncategorized | "On 22 March 2016, the Facebook page “Planet Paws” published a video claiming that Milk-Bone dog treats contained a known canine carcinogen, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA): // <! [CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = ... |
9237 | Male birth control shots prevent pregnancy | This news release describes an efficacy and safety study of an injectable hormonal contraceptive for men that involved 320 men in seven countries. The news release quantified benefits and described adverse effects in some detail while emphasizing the need for more research. However, it did not discuss an important stud... | true | hormonal contraceptive,male birth control | The cost of these hormone injections isn’t mentioned, and there’s no assessment of how the cost might compare with other forms of birth control. It should be noted that people interested in using this injection for birth control would also need to factor in clinic visit costs and potential treatment of side effects. Th... |
4100 | A third of Kentucky students haven’t had Hepatitis A vaccine. | The Kentucky Department for Public Health says more than a third of students haven’t received the mandated Hepatitis A vaccination. | true | Immunizations, Health, General News, Hepatitis, Infectious diseases, Kentucky, Public health | The Lexington Herald-Leader reports immunization rates released Tuesday show about 65% of the 209,904 mandated students have received the shot. The state’s target compliance rate is 85%. Results show seniors had the lowest compliance rate at 46% and kindergartners had the highest with 84.3%. University of Kentucky infe... |
9010 | Screenings miss half of diabetic, prediabetic patients | The head of the largest U.S. energy industry group on Tuesday warned that Americans risk choosing the “wrong path” in the 2020 presidential election if they vote for a candidate seeking to fight climate change by banning drilling. | false | diabetes screening,Northwestern University | The chief executive of the American Petroleum Institute said such proposals from Democratic candidates seeking to unseat Republican President Donald Trump pose a threat to the economy, and urged a room filled with nearly 800 energy executives to push back against them. The industry group also announced a multi-million ... |
705 | U.S. scientists join effort to solve mysterious vaping-related illnesses. | The U.S. investigation into hundreds of cases of life-threatening lung illnesses related to vaping has turned up a curious abnormality: Many of the victims had pockets of oil clogging up cells responsible for removing impurities in the lungs. | true | Health News | Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman, who has been leading the inquiry at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, wants to know where that oil came from. The answer will help explain whether these cells play a key role in the vaping-related outbreak that has killed seven people and sickened 530 so far. ... |
15269 | If you look at the results of Obamacare, what you see is emergency room visits are up over 50 percent. | "Fiorina said, ""If you look at the results of Obamacare, what you see is emergency room visits are up over 50 percent."" Fiorina has raised a legitimate concern about the health care law, but the eye-popping statistic she cites is not supported either by official federal data or by a recent survey of members of the Am... | false | National, Polls and Public Opinion, Carly Fiorina, | "The Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, may have been signed in 2010, but it continues to shape the 2016 Republican presidential campaign. Carly Fiorina -- fresh off what many commentators considered a strong debate performance on Aug. 6 -- discussed her opposition to the health ca... |
8674 | Venezuela confirms coronavirus cases amid public health concerns. | Venezuela on Friday confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus amid concerns that the economically struggling South American nation is unprepared to confront a pandemic that is spreading rapidly around the globe. | true | Health News | “We are declaring a state of alarm,” President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised appearance Friday night, urging Venezuelans to take precautionary measures and asking those over 65 to stay inside. Speaking with a blue mask covering his mouth, he encouraged people to wear face masks - even if it means making their own ... |
33531 | The acids in Coca-Cola make it harmful to drink. | The rest of the claims offered here are specious. Coca-Cola does contain small amounts of citric acid and phosphoric acid; however, all the insinuations about the dangers these acids might pose to people who drink Coca-Cola ignore a simple concept familiar to any first-year chemistry student: concentration. Coca-Cola c... | false | Cokelore, coca-cola, cokelore | Many of the entries below are just simple household tips involving Coca-Cola, as provided by Joey Green in his 1995 book Polish Your Furniture with Panty Hose and on his web site: Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2001] 1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the truck to remove blood f... |
7423 | Battling exhaustion and trolls, Fauci says he’s OK. | Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, owns up to doing some not-so-smart things as he helps lead the White House effort to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. Things like forgetting to eat and not getting enough sleep. | true | AP Top News, Technology, Anthony Fauci, General News, Politics, Health, Infectious diseases, Virus Outbreak | The blunt-speaking Fauci also has had to contend with a deluge of online threats and uncomfortable personal encounters with admirers as the pandemic consumes his every waking hour. Nevertheless, the 79-year-old epidemiologist insists he’s doing just fine. “I’ve chosen this life. I mean I know what it is,” Fauci said Th... |
31156 | "Justine Damond became one of dozens of holistic doctors fighting ""Big Pharma"" who suspiciously died." | Although questions have been raised in news reports about Noor’s and Yanez’s training in relations to the deaths of the two Minnesota residents, there is no evidence to suggest that “Big Pharma” somehow influenced the two officers who responded to Damond’s 911 call to target her for assassination in an ongoing conspira... | false | Uncategorized, health nut news, holistic doctors conspiracy, justine damond | On 16 July 2017, alternative health blogger Erin Elizabeth reported on her web site Health Nut News that Justine Ruszczyk (who primarily used her fiance’s surname, Damond), a 40-year-old Australian woman living in the U.S. who was shot and killed in mid-July 2017 by Minneapolis police, was among a growing list of holis... |
34553 | A person's intelligence is genetically determined by the mother alone. | Looking at the even bigger picture, we find that none of the assertions provided in any of the viral news stories took into account the interplay between genetics and environment, which scientists view as intrinsically important. | unproven | Uncategorized, intelligence | The factoid that intelligence is passed down only through your mother has been carelessly meandering across social media users’ trending bars after a September 14th, 2016 article published on a site called “Second Nexus” was reposted bynotable accounts, including George Takei‘s Facebook page: As savagely reported by Fo... |
9191 | New method reduces adverse effects of rectal cancer treatment | This brief news release describes a lengthy randomized trial at Sweden’s prestigious Karolinksa Institutet that compared various treatment regimens for patients with rectal cancer and concluded that delaying surgery after radiation therapy resulted in fewer postoperative complications. The study, published in The Lance... | mixture | Karolinska Institutet,rectal cancer | There’s no discussion of costs. Perhaps just changing the timing of the same treatments is cost neutral, but maybe not. It would be interesting to know if delaying surgery affects total treatment costs, particularly if it results in fewer complications. One 2009 study put the mean total colon cancer cost per U.S. Medic... |
9656 | A Paralysed Man Can Play “Guitar Hero” Using A Computer That Reads His Thoughts | This is a story about a case study involving one man with a specific type of partial paralysis, who regained some motion via an experimental device implanted in his brain and connected to a device worn on his arm. The case study is undoubtedly newsworthy, but BuzzFeed’s coverage was unbalanced. It starts off with a “be... | true | device,neurology,paralysis,spinal cord injuries | It is too early in the development of this experimental technology to begin talking about what the price of such a system might be. But readers would have gotten a clearer idea of the preliminary state of this work if the story had noted that the brain mapping, device implantation, sophisticated equipment and hundreds ... |
29315 | In June 2017, the FDA announced it would be banning the use of triclosan in various products, including Colgate Total. | What's true: In September 2016, the FDA ruled that a host of products could no longer be sold due to their containing triclosan, an antimicrobial agent. What's false: Despite containing triclosan, the toothpaste was conspicuously not included in the list of banned products, and continues to be approved by the FDA; the ... | false | Medical, colgate, food and drug administration, toothpaste | On 26 June 2017, Woman Daily Tips published an article appearing to report that the Food and Drug Administration had just announced it would be banning the antimicrobial agent triclosan, which is commonly found in soaps and toothpaste: The FDA has just issued a warning this week noting that they will be putting a ban ... |
41711 | Men in Teesside have the same life expectancy as those in Ethiopia. | Men in one very deprived ward of Stockton have the same life expectancy as men in Ethiopia, according to figures from the World Bank in 2017. This isn’t the case for Teesside as a whole. | mixture | health | Men in Teesside have the same life expectancy as those in Ethiopia. Men in one very deprived ward of Stockton have the same life expectancy as men in Ethiopia, according to figures from the World Bank in 2017. This isn’t the case for Teesside as a whole. The gap in UK life expectancies is falling. Not true. The life ex... |
23244 | "Rand Paul ""wants us to pay $2,000 just to get Medicare." | Jack Conway says Rand Paul backs a $2,000 deductible for Medicare | true | National, Health Care, Medicare, Message Machine 2010, Jack Conway, | "During this election season, Republicans have been hammering Democrats over cuts they say were made to Medicare as part of the health care bill. Now, in a television ad in the Kentucky Senate race, Democrat Jack Conway is turning the tables, attacking Republican Rand Paul over Medicare deductibles. Here's the transcri... |
5739 | Health panel: Millions of US kids should get hepatitis shot. | A scientific panel is recommending that more than 2 million U.S. kids get vaccinated against hepatitis A. | true | Health, General News, Immunizations, Hepatitis | Thirteen years ago, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended hepatitis A shots for all U.S. children at age 1. On Thursday, the panel said the shots should be given to older children who weren’t vaccinated earlier, including 14- to 18-year-olds who turned 1 before the recommendation was made. The pa... |
7241 | Whitmer: Care for injured drivers will ‘still be there’. | Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday defended a pending overhaul of Michigan’s auto insurance law, saying treatment for injured drivers will “still be there” if they forego what has been a one-of-its-kind, mandatory unlimited personal injury protection benefit. | true | Auto insurance, Health, Michigan, Legislation, Gretchen Whitmer | The Democrat, who will sign the legislation as soon as this week, told The Associated Press she fought to ensure that all motorists buying car insurance have coverage — whether it is through their auto insurer or a private- or government-provided plan. Asked about criticism that severely injured people will no longer h... |
9125 | Radiosurgery reduces depression and improves quality of life for patients with facial pain | In this release from medical journal publisher Elsevier, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic recommend using sterotactic radiosurgery as a first-line treatment for trigeminal neuralgia (TN), a very painful nerve disorder of the face. The study involved 50 people and used patient submitted questionnaires to evaluate the... | false | Elsevier,facial pain,Radiosurgery | We know surgery has many costs involved but none of them are discussed in this news release. The release mentions performing a “cost-based analysis” at the end but this is insufficient to give credit here. There are no numbers to back up the claims in the release. The release does not share information about the actual... |
7733 | Polar vortex freezes U.S. Midwest with snow, dangerously cold air. | A blast of Arctic air from the polar vortex brought dangerous, bone-chilling cold to a wide swath of the United States on Tuesday, stretching from the Dakotas through Maine, with snow expected as far south as Alabama and Georgia. | true | Environment | The Midwest was the hardest-hit region, as temperatures plunged below zero Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius). By nightfall the mercury was hovering at 0F in Chicago, 7F (minus 14C) in Detroit and minus 21f (minus 29C) in Minneapolis. Local television pictures showed the Chicago River and Lake Michigan filled with ... |
15412 | Florida has reduced its carbon emissions by 20 percent since 2005. | "Bilirakis said, ""Florida has reduced its carbon emissions by 20 percent since 2005."" It may not be immediately clear from Bilirakis’ speech, but he’s only talking about carbon dioxide emissions from power plants that would be affected by the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Those are the guidelines that would be put on hold ... | true | Environment, Energy, Florida, Gus Bilirakis, | "Editor’s note: While researching this fact check, Rep. Bilirakis’ office on July 2, 2015, provided us with its research methodology using data through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Markets Program Data. Using this database, Bilirakis’ aides showed a 21.82 percent change in carbon dioxide tonnage emitted fr... |
10207 | CDC To Doctors: Anti-HIV Pill No Magic Bullet Against Virus | Clear, succinct, and important reporting that tones down some of the celebratory tone that greeted a drug’s “landmark study” from a few months ago. The story notes that there was a lot of celebrating when news came out in November that taking a pill can reduce the risk of getting HIV. But the story delivered a clear do... | true | NPR | Strong point. The story said, “There’s one other thing, the CDC says. Make sure patients understand that warding off HIV isn’t cheap. Each pill currently costs around $36, which adds up to more than $13,000 a year. Some insurers might pay, but some might balk” The story stated the benefits clearly – albeit only in rela... |
33118 | Syrian refugees are bringing a communicable flesh-eating disease into the United States. | In short, leishmaniasis infections in Syria increased due to a breakdown in the country’s infrastructure during a larger, ongoing conflict. However, Syrian refugees are not known vectors of the illness. While human-to-human transmission is possible in rare circumstances, the disease’s vector is the sandfly. Leishmanias... | false | Politics Immigration | On 20 December 2015, the web site Breitbart published an article titled “EXCLUSIVE – Syrian Refugees Bringing Flesh-Eating Disease into U.S.?”, which held: There is a risk that Middle Eastern refugees entering the U.S. could be infected with a flesh-eating disease that is sweeping across Syria. Health agencies confi... |
6719 | Paper: Old turf fields raise environmental, health concerns. | The hulking wall of rubber was first discovered by a borough maintenance crew. | true | Environment, Health, General News, Financial markets, Pennsylvania, York | About 6,000 rolled pieces were neatly stacked about 10 feet high, covering more than an acre of private land, according to the mayor of Cleona, Pennsylvania. The green blades of artificial grass peeking through the coiled logs offered the first clue. “This is what it looks like when someone gets rid of a dozen turf fie... |
4888 | Planned Parenthood picks Chinese-born doctor as new leader. | A Chinese immigrant who fled her native country when she was 8 was named Wednesday as Planned Parenthood’s new president, the first doctor to hold the post in five decades. | true | Planned Parenthood, Health, Kavanaugh nomination, Abortion, Immigration, North America, International News, Asia Pacific, Sex education, Education | Dr. Leana Wen will assume the role Nov. 12, six days after midterm elections in which Planned Parenthood’s political wing plans to spend $20 million on behalf of candidates who support abortion rights. Wen, who has been Baltimore’s health commissioner for since 2015, will be Planned Parenthood’s sixth president over a ... |
12256 | In order to sell insurance in Florida there are over 40 separate individual conditions that must be covered. ... far beyond the essential health benefits included in Obamacare. | "Rubio said, ""In order to sell insurance in Florida there are over 40 separate individual conditions that must be covered. ... far beyond the essential health benefits included in Obamacare."" Rubio’s spokesman pointed to a list of about 50 state mandates, about half of which pertained to health conditions. But many o... | false | Health Care, States, Florida, Marco Rubio, | "Republicans attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, have been met with concerns about whether health insurance will still offer comprehensive coverage under new rules. But U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio says Florida law mandates that insurers cover more essential health benefits than the federal law. ""... |
20650 | "Newt Gingrich Says a federal judge in San Antonio ""issued a ruling that … not only could the students not pray at their graduation, if they used the word ‘benediction,’ the word ‘invocation,’ the word ‘God,’ asked the audience to stand or asked for a moment of silence, he would put the superintendent in jail." | "To recap, Gingrich’s claim is that Biery ""issued a ruling that … not only could the students not pray at their graduation, if they used the word ‘benediction,’ the word ‘invocation,’ the word ‘God,’ asked the audience to stand or asked for a moment of silence, he would put the superintendent in jail."" The judge’s ru... | mixture | Legal Issues, Religion, Texas, Newt Gingrich, | "Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has his eye on a U.S. district judge in San Antonio. Gingrich has mentioned Fred Biery on the stump when arguing that the legislative and executive branches of government should remove judges perceived as abusing their power and acting out of sync with the nation’s cultu... |
17816 | No doctors who went to an American medical school will be accepting Obamacare. | "Coulter said that ""no doctors who went to an American medical school will be accepting Obamacare."" Nothing in the law bars American-trained physicians from treating newly insured people under Obamacare. It’s a ridiculous claim -- one with a whiff of xenophobia." | false | National, Health Care, Pundits, Ann Coulter, | "Conservative commentator Ann Coulter is not known for mincing words, but a recent column prompted many PolitiFact readers to contact us, seeking a fact-check. In the Oct. 9, 2013, column -- titled, ""Democrats to America: We Own the Government!"" -- Coulter pummels Democrats over provisions of President Barack Obama’s... |
6179 | ‘No human is limited’: Kipchoge runs sub-2 hour marathon. | Roger Bannister, 1954. Eliud Kipchoge, 2019? | true | AP Top News, Roger Bannister, Health, Eliud Kipchoge, General News, Entertainment, Sports - Europe, Oddities, Lifestyle, Sports, Kenya, Olympic Games, Sports - Africa, Vienna | Like the sub-four minute mile, running a marathon in less than two hours had seemed impossible — until Saturday. But this time there’s an asterisk: Olympic champion Kipchoge performed his feat under conditions so tightly controlled to maximize his success that it won’t appear in the record books. The 34-year-old Kenyan... |
30596 | The accused school shooter in Florida is a Dreamer, a DACA recipient, or undocumented. | In the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting on Valentine's Day, social media users began speculating the suspect was undocumented. | false | Horrors, daca, florida, mass shooting | On 14 February 2018, 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, an affluent community north of Miami. Authorities named Nikolas Cruz — a 19-year-old former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — as the suspect in custody for the crime. Almost immediately after his name wa... |
1741 | In modernizing India, suicide is on the rise among young. | Pinki Chauhan, a straight-A physics and maths student, arrived at her university campus in India shortly after breakfast, poured petrol over her wispy frame and lit a match.The 19-year-old ran screaming across the college grounds in Gurgaon, near the capital New Delhi, before falling to her knees in flames outside the ... | true | Health News | Her brother, Arun, said the incident a couple of months ago came after Pinki had been upset after receiving zero marks in an exam, and had been arguing with teachers for her paper to be re-marked. But Pinki’s problems ran much deeper. Highly ambitious, she was anxious she wouldn’t fulfill her dreams. At the same time s... |
3584 | Petition seeks medical marijuana for ailing household pets. | New Mexico will consider whether to extend its medical cannabis program to help dogs with epilepsy and people with attention deficit disorder. | true | Medical marijuana, General News, Marijuana, Veterinary medicine, Pets, New Mexico | Five new petitions submitted to the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board seek new qualifying medical conditions for patients in the state’s medical marijuana program. The board meets in December. The Department of Health withheld the names of petition sponsors on Wednesday in response to a request for public records. One pe... |
34501 | Despite a decision that halted construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), Energy Transfer Partners continued to build it and accept a $50,000 daily fine. | The earliest versions of the rumor that DAPL construction would continue unabated despite the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision referenced the statement from ETP. Although the company said it is “fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion” and that it expects to complete construction o... | unproven | Politics Legal, army corps of engineers, dakota access pipeline, dapl | On 4 December 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied an easement necessary for Energy Transfer Partners to complete the Dakota Access pipeline, seemingly bringing an end to months of protests over the project. By the next day, widespread rumors asserted that the decision was not as final as it seemed. In the abo... |
4097 | Infant death related to whooping cough in Minnesota. | Minnesota health officials say the death of an infant has been linked to whooping cough. | true | Health, General News, Infectious diseases, Whooping cough, Minnesota | The baby died in November after being hospitalized for three months, the Department of Health said Wednesday. The last pediatric death related to pertussis, or whooping cough, was in 2013. The department’s preliminary data shows that in 2019 there were 25 cases of pertussis in babies less than 6 months. Of those, eight... |
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