claim_id stringlengths 1 234 | claim stringlengths 14 491 | explanation stringlengths 1 4.18k | label stringclasses 5
values | subjects stringlengths 0 223 | main_text stringlengths 18 41.7k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6073 | 4 cases of Legionnaires’ disease investigated at hospital. | The Illinois Department of Public Health says it’s investigating four cases of Legionnaires’ disease in individuals at a suburban Chicago hospital. | true | Chicago, Health, General News, Legionnaires disease, Illinois, Water management | It said Thursday that two of the four were patients at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn within the past two months. The agency says it will visit the hospital this week to test its water and that the hospital is working with it to strengthen its water management. The agency says it has recommended the hospital info... |
15376 | Donald Trump Says Florida had five sanctuary cities while Jeb Bush was governor. | Trump said Florida had five sanctuary cities while Bush was governor. There’s no legal definition of a sanctuary city, and therefore no official classification. A federal report from 2006, when Bush was governor, didn’t name any Florida cities. We found one list on the Internet that claimed five Florida locations as cu... | false | Immigration, Florida, Donald Trump, | "Donald Trump criticized GOP primary rival Jeb Bush’s stance on immigration, implying the former governor allowed parts of Florida to shield illegal immigrants from federal laws while Bush was in office. ""The polls just came out, and I'm tied with Jeb Bush. And I said, oh, that's too bad, how can I be tied with this g... |
8677 | Kenya, Ethiopia join expanding list of African states with coronavirus. | Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Guinea and Mauritania all confirmed their first cases of the new coronavirus on Friday, giving the disease a foothold in 19 countries on the African continent. | true | Health News | Africa had until now largely been spared the rapid spread of COVID-19, which has infected at least 135,000 people and killed around 5,000 worldwide. Most of Africa’s reported cases were foreigners or people who had traveled abroad. Rapid testing and quarantines have been put in place to limit transmission. But concerns... |
10954 | 1st Bird-Flu Vaccine Only Partly Effective | This is an informative summary on the results of the trial of the vaccine against the bird flu stockpiled by the U.S. government as a first step toward a preventative measure against a virulent though not yet highly contagious flu among humans. This article did a good job of summarizing the results of the current study... | true | Costs were not mentioned, but since the story is about an early vaccine trial (one that showed the vaccine to have less than desirable effectiveness), we think cost is not applicable in this case. The benefit of treatment, immune responsiveness to bird flu, was accurately reported as occurring in 54% of those receiving... | |
1683 | Medical marijuana farm blooms in conservative Chile. | Latin America’s first medical marijuana farm has taken root in a dusty yard at a secret location in Chile’s capital, with the blessing of a prominent right-wing official and high hopes the idea could sprout elsewhere in the socially conservative nation. | true | Health News | A debut crop of around 100 kilos (221 lbs) of prime cannabis bud - with a value of $2 million on the street - was harvested this month from the farm in La Florida, a middle-class Santiago neighborhood, and sent to a laboratory for processing. The project is the brainchild of a curious alliance between Rodolfo Carter, a... |
11605 | Less Invasive Biopsies Gain Favor | "This story fails to deliver the stuff that people need to know about less-invasive vs. traditional biopsies, such as: With which method are outcomes better? How much better? For which uses was which method’s outcomes better? How much better? Rather than lots of numbers about increased useage, why not give us somethin... | false | "No discussion of costs – which is curious in a story describing the growth in use of less invasive biopsies, supposedly allowing for shorter hospital stays. This was perhaps the most glaring omission in the story. No numbers were given to back up some vague, extravagant claims, such as: ""Minimally invasive"" does not... | |
14459 | "Viral image Says Hillary Clinton told the Des Moines Register on Aug. 8, 2015: ""I will get the NRA shut down for good if I become president. If we can ban handguns, we will do it." | "A post spread via social media quotes Clinton as telling The Des Moines Register, ""I will get the NRA shut down for good if I become president. If we can ban handguns, we will do it."" Clinton was quoted in The Des Moines Register several times about gun control in the months leading up to the Iowa caucuses, but she ... | false | Iowa, Guns, Viral image, | "Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton explicitly stated her plans to ""shut down"" the National Rifle Association and expressed hope at banning handguns in an interview with The Des Moines Register last summer. At least, that’s according to a viral image that first cropped up on an anti-Clinton Tumblr blog... |
3834 | Montana’s battle against opioid abuse shows progress. | Montana’s decade-long battle against opioid abuse is showing progress, but there is more to be done, state officials said Wednesday. | true | Montana, Prescription drugs, Opioids, Steve Bullock | From 2012 to 2017, Montana physicians prescribed fewer and less powerful doses of opioids while the number of people on high doses also declined, according to a report compiled by the state health department and the Montana Board of Pharmacy after analyzing data from the Montana Prescription Drug Registry. The report a... |
13252 | "Gary Johnson Says he and his running mate ""are the only candidates that do believe in free trade." | Johnson said he and his running mate were the only candidates who support free trade. While his statement has truth to it — they are the only candidates supporting the largest free trade agreement currently on the table — Clinton and Trump say they support the idea of free trade deals if executed to their liking. Clint... | mixture | Economy, Trade, Wisconsin, Gary Johnson, | "Amid a presidential election that seems to grow stranger every day, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is looking to stand out the old-fashioned way: with good, clean political claims. Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, appeared on UpFront with Mike Gousha, a public affairs show on WISN-TV (Channel 12), when he... |
7233 | Kate Spade Foundation to donate $1M for suicide prevention. | Kate Spade New York has announced plans to donate $1 million to support suicide prevention and mental health awareness causes in tribute to the company’s late founder. | true | Mental health, Kate Spade, Health, Entertainment, North America, Suicide prevention, Business, New York | To start, the company said Wednesday the Kate Spade New York Foundation is giving $250,000 to the Crisis Text Line , a free, 24-hour confidential text message service for people in crisis. The company also said it will match public donations made to the service from June 20 through June 29, up to an amount of $100,000.... |
10824 | New study reveals fresh avocado-substituted diet significantly changes lipid profile | This news release from the Hass Avocado Board, an agriculture promotion group, summarizes findings from a retrospective analysis that involved combing through hundreds of studies on avocados to find 10 very small ones that addressed the fruit’s impact on cholesterol. When data from the studies were analyzed together th... | false | industry/commercial news releases | Avocados are expensive and that should be acknowledged when advising consumers to add 1 or 1.5 daily to their diets. According to the Hass Avocado Board’s own website, the average retail price of a conventionally grown avocado is $.89, while an organic one is $1.52. A family of four could potentially spend $25 to $42 a... |
12999 | On resigning her Texas House seat. | Summing up, Dukes said in September 2016 that she’d resign her seat in early 2017. On Jan. 10, 2017, however, she was sworn in to serve an additional two years representing the Austin-area district. We find this a FULL FLOP. Full Flop A major reversal of position; a complete flip-flop. UPDATES, Jan. 10, 2017: This stor... | false | Candidate Biography, Corrections and Updates, Ethics, Texas, Dawnna Dukes, | "Months ago, Dawnna Dukes declared that she’d resign her Texas House seat, effective Jan. 10, 2017. Yet on that date, the 11-term Austin Democrat, who's been under investigation for possibly using taxpayer resources for nongovernmental purposes, joined House colleagues in getting sworn in to serve a fresh two-year ter... |
4582 | Trump administration eases Obama-era rules on coal pollution. | The Trump administration accelerated the pace of its environmental rollbacks for the country’s coal-fired power plants Monday, proposing to weaken two Obama-era rules aimed at cleaning up dangerous heavy metals and ash from coal plants and keeping them from washing into groundwater and waterways. | true | Electric utilities, Wastewater, General News, Utilities, Politics, Environment, Science, Pollution | The new proposals — the latest in a series of regulatory breaks granted by the administration for the sagging U.S. coal industry and for electric utilities using coal-fired power plants — reduces “heavy burdens on electricity producers across the country,” EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement. One of th... |
10190 | Heart CT Scans Outperform Stress Tests in Spotting Clogged Arteries | This release from Johns Hopkins describes results from a head-to-head comparison study that found computed tomography (CT) scans of the heart’s vessels outperformed single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) stress tests in detecting clogged arteries. The analysis came from a trial that compared how well the tw... | mixture | Academic medical center news release,cardiovascular disease | The release says the price tags of the two tests are similar, between $750 and $1200. But the release says it is unclear whether there are differences in total costs, after taking into account follow-up testing. The journal article provides a clearer picture by citing some other studies that found CT angiography may le... |
6701 | Emails: Trump official pressed NASA on climate science. | Once a skeptic about climate change, Jim Bridenstine came around to the prevailing view of scientists before he took over as NASA administrator. That evolution did not sit well with a Trump environmental adviser, nor a think-tank analyst he was consulting, according to newly disclosed emails that illustrate how skeptic... | true | Jim Bridenstine, Climate, AP Top News, Climate change, General News, Politics, Environment, Science, National security, Donald Trump | “Puzzling,” says the May 2018 exchange between William Happer, now a member of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, and Thomas Wysmuller of the Heartland Institute, which disavows manmade climate change. Their exchange calls scientifically established rises in sea levels and temperatures under climate ch... |
7524 | 1st child death this year from flu reported in Pima County. | Pima County health officials say the county has recorded its first death this year of a child from complications related to the flu virus. | true | Tucson, General News, Virus Outbreak, Flu, Public health | The child’s death is not related to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the county Health Department said in a statement Wednesday. According to the department, the elementary school-age child got ill and died in late February and that an investigation has determined that the death was cause by a flu infection. “We pay v... |
666 | Steak is back on the menu, if a new red meat risk review is to be believed. | Cutting back on red and processed meat brings few if any health benefits, according to a review of evidence drawn from millions of people, but the finding contradicts dietary advice of international agencies and has prompted criticism from many experts. | true | Health News | The researchers who conducted the review said their findings suggest most people can eat red and processed meat at current average intake, typically three or four times a week for adults in North America and Europe, without significant health risks. “Based on the research, we cannot say with any certainty that eating r... |
4817 | Trump remaking federal policy on women’s reproductive health. | Step by methodical step, the Trump administration is remaking government policy on reproductive health — moving to limit access to birth control and abortion and bolstering abstinence-only sex education. | true | AP Top News, Health, Birth control, Abortion, Politics, North America, Government policy, Sex education, Education, Donald Trump | Social and religious conservatives praise the administration for promoting “a culture of life.” But women’s-rights activists and some medical experts view the multi-pronged changes as a dangerous ideological shift that could increase unintended pregnancies and abortions. “When I ran for office, I pledged to stand for l... |
15638 | "A Penn State University study found that ""electronic cigarettes . . . are far less addictive than cigarettes." | "Dino Baccari said that a Penn State University study found that ""electronic cigarettes … are far less addictive than cigarettes."" He's not blowin' smoke. His characterization of the study's conclusion is accurate. But it's important to note that the conclusion is based on an open-to-anyone survey that relied on the ... | true | Rhode Island, Children, Consumer Safety, Drugs, Legal Issues, Public Health, Public Safety, Recreation, Regulation, Science, Dino Baccari, | "Electronic cigarettes are devices designed to mimic cigarettes without burning tobacco. Instead, a liquid is rapidly heated, turning it into a gas that users inhale. Often the liquid contains nicotine, the highly addictive substance that keeps smokers hooked. Many smokers say e-cigs have allowed them to stay away from... |
6730 | 5 Alabama school systems closed because of flu. | At least five north Alabama school systems with about 25,000 students total are canceling classes because of the flu. | true | Kay Ivey, Health, Flu, Alabama, Albertville | The city school systems in Albertville, Boaz and Guntersville have joined the Cullman County and Marshall County system in shutting down until next week. State statistics show Marshall County is the largest system affected by the illness with 5,468 students in kindergarten through the 12th grade. Marshall County plans ... |
11005 | Drug Ends Spread of AIDS From Mom to Child | This story is about nevirapine, a drug of choice for the prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child during labor and delivery. Nevirapine crosses the placenta, and studies such as those cited in this story show that taking nevirapine decreases the chance of passing HIV to a child during labor. The story failed... | mixture | No mention of the cost of this drug, though it is labeled “inexpensive”. Inexpensive is relative and may not be viable for health centers w/out funding from clinical trials. However, there is explicit consideration of cost for resource-limited countries. Some quantitative benefits of treatment provided, but it would ha... | |
26778 | "Cal Cunningham Says Sen. Thom Tillis voted to ""take away"" coverage for people with pre-existing conditions." | Tillis has repeatedly voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. If those repeal experts had been successful, people with pre-existing conditions could have been left without health care coverage. Tillis later introduced legislation that attempts to protect people with pre-existing conditions, bu... | true | Corrections and Updates, Health Care, Voting Record, North Carolina, Cal Cunningham, | "From Republican U.S. Senate candidates, voters are likely to hear about the economy under President Trump. From Democratic Senate candidates, voters are likely to hear about the need for better health care policy. Nowhere is that more true than North Carolina, where a handful of Democrats are vying to knock out incumb... |
18478 | "The Boston Marathon bombing ""is the fifth case"" in which U.S. government officials examined individuals potentially involved in terrorism ""and felt they were no threat and they went on to carry out terrorist murders." | "King said the Boston Marathon bombing ""is the fifth case"" in which U.S. government officials examined individuals potentially involved in terrorism ""and felt they were no threat and they went on to carry out terrorist murders."" It’s clear that there are at least four prior instances -- Anwar al-Awlaki, David Headl... | true | National, Terrorism, Peter King, | "Several days after the capture of Dzokhar Tsarnaev, one of two brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombing, U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., cited a pattern in which the U.S. government looks into suspicious individuals who later are charged with terrorist acts. According to media reports, the FBI has acknowledged ... |
4586 | Zimbabwe’s government criticized over cholera outbreak. | Zimbabwe’s new government is battling criticism over a cholera outbreak that has killed at least 25 people. | true | Cabinets, Health, Cholera, Africa, Epidemics, Zimbabwe, Non-governmental organizations, Government spending | A crowdfunding initiative by the finance minister amid reports of government spending on new vehicles for Cabinet members has only swelled public anger. Some local non-governmental organizations on Friday blamed the government for the deaths in an outbreak that is spreading beyond the capital and raising fears of a rep... |
10765 | Clot-Busting Drug May Prevent Disability From Mild Stroke | The story never explains its headline that tPA “may prevent disability from mild stroke.” How often was this seen? How can you draw that conclusion from the records of 4 people? This story may have received a generous score of 3 stars but its shortcomings are very difficult to overlook. Mild stroke is an important hea... | mixture | Stroke,WebMD | The story states that the drug costs about $2,000. No, as in “evidence” above, the benefits in the 4 patients are really never explained. Not good enough. The story only says the drug isn’t without risks, chiefly brain bleeding. How often does this occur? This is a big issue. If even one of the 4 people whose records s... |
28688 | Bee sting venom can kill HIV. | What's true: A specific component of bee sting venom, melittin, has been shown to destroy strains of HIV in lab cultures. What's false: A bee sting on its own would have no antiviral effect, and even isolated melittin would have to be delivered via complex nanoparticles to be viable as a therapy. | mixture | Medical, aids, bees, HIV | A recurring scientific item spread online since 2013 has presented variations of the claim that bee sting venom can kill HIV, the disease that often leads to AIDS. This assertion is rooted in a 2013 study published in the journal Antiviral Therapy. As stated in that paper, the goal of the research was to establish a pr... |
34788 | New federal regulations are reclassifying as safe for human consumption meat from animal carcasses containing cancers, tumors, and open sores. | A disturbing photograph supposedly documents a recent move to approve animal carcasses with cancers, tumors, and open sores for human consumption. | mixture | Fauxtography, Food Fauxtography | In January 2014, many Facebook users were appalled by a widely shared item announcing that “meat from diseased animals has been approved for consumers” and featuring a nauseating picture seemingly documenting the sort of thing that shoppers might now be purchasing from grocery store meat departments: The federal agenc... |
5469 | No training, no gloves: Zimbabwe’s desperate childbirths. | When her contractions became unbearably painful, 18-year-old Perseverance Kanyoza rushed to a maternity hospital in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. But the doors were closed amid a weekslong strike by public health workers. With no money for private care, panic set in. | true | Financial markets, AP Top News, Harare, International News, General News, Africa, Health, Zimbabwe, Southern Africa | A hospital guard directed her to a tiny apartment in the poor suburb of Mbare nearby. The midwife: a grandmother with no formal training and claiming to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Thirteen hours later, Kanyoza gave birth to a healthy baby girl. “It was a miracle,” she told The Associated Press with a beaming smile. ... |
2289 | World's first penis transplant patient to father a child. | A young South African man who had the world’s first successful penis transplant last December has impregnated his girlfriend, the doctor who led the surgery said on Friday. | true | Health News | The 22-year-old man, who has not been named, is among around 250 South Africans who lose their penises each year in botched traditional circumcisions. The nine-hour transplant operation formed part of a pilot study by Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town and the University of Stellenbosch. The patient was sexually active fi... |
12167 | "Jake Tapper Says the Joker's ""Red Hood"" origin story is ""the true one." | "Tapper said the Joker's ""Red Hood"" origin story is ""the true one."" That's right, we're fact-checking where the Joker came from. So sue us! This claim is throwing down the gauntlet for comic book nerds, pointing to a 1951 backstory about the Joker wearing a disguise and swimming through chemical waste as the one, t... | false | Pop Culture, PunditFact, Jake Tapper, | "For Batman fans, the history of the Joker is no laughing matter. A report that said Warner Bros. is working on a spinoff featuring the origins of the arch-villain led to a Twitter tussle between DailyWire.com editor Ben Shapiro and CNN’s Jake Tapper. On Aug. 23, 2017, Shapiro tweeted his dismay at the news that Warner... |
2400 | Church in Italy's 'Triangle of Death' demands cleanup of mafia waste. | Church leaders in southern Italy have demanded a cleanup of waste dumped illegally by the mafia in a racket that has polluted farmland and earned the region the name the “Triangle of Death”. | true | Environment | The Camorra mafia has been dumping and burning toxic waste for decades in the area between Naples and the province of Caserta. Ten million tonnes have been buried there in the last 22 years, according to environmentalist group Legambiente, and the World Health Organisation says that higher congenital abnormalities and ... |
31205 | Recent seismic activity in Yellowstone Park portends a coming cataclysmic volcanic eruption. | Our progeny will reassess at a later date. | false | Uncategorized, volcano, yellowstone | Every so often, a seemingly high number of earthquakes strike the Yellowstone National Park region. Whenever this happens, with an inevitability rivaling Old Faithful itself, the Internet takes the opportunity to remind anyone with a clicking finger that Yellowstone sits above a massive reservoir of magma capable of gl... |
3746 | 4 Legionnaire’s cases originated in New Hampshire beach town. | Public health authorities in New Hampshire say four people who have been identified with Legionnaire’s disease likely acquired the disease in Hampton. | true | Health, New Hampshire, Public health, Pneumonia | The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Public Health Services says the four people likely acquired Legionella at the end of July or beginning of August in a localized area of Hampton. Legionnaire’s disease, also called Legionella pneumonia, is a bacterial pneumonia. The public health dep... |
30559 | "The vice president of Pfizer said human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil is ""deadly." | There’s always some group of people who have a skepticism of big institutions, sometimes big pharmaceutical companies or Western medicine as it is, and that sort of underlies all of this. | false | Viral Phenomena, anti-vaccine, antivax, erin elizabeth | In late February 2018, an article posted to “alternative health” blog HealthNutNews.com began circulating, leading readers to believe that the vice president of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer had “blown the whistle” on Gardasil, a vaccine that protects against human papillomavirus, an umbrella term for several viruses... |
35596 | COVID-19 could lose its epidemic status in the United States because of declining coronavirus death rates according to CDC data. | The “epidemic threshold” refers to the point at which the observed proportion of deaths is significantly higher than would be expected at that time of the year in the absence of substantial influenza, and now COVID-related mortality. This “epidemic threshold” wording only refers to deaths related to COVID-19, which are... | false | Medical, COVID-19 | As the United States reported a record increase in the number of coronavirus infections during the middle of July 2020, online reports claimed a decreasing percentage of deaths attributable to the disease meant it would no longer be classified as an epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Snop... |
2888 | China reports second H7N9 bird flu death in a week. | China reported one more death from the H7N9 strain of bird flu in southwestern Guizhou province, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday, in the second death from the virus in the past week. | true | Health News | A 38-year-old man from Zunyi city died last Thursday, Xinhua said, citing health authorities in Guizhou. Xinhua said it was the first human case of H7N9 in Guizhou this year. Last Friday, China said a 38-year-old man in eastern Fujian province died from H7N9. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said last week that seve... |
8579 | 'Hardest day': New York's Cuomo sees virus slowing despite record death toll. | Even as medical teams struggled to save an onslaught of gravely ill coronavirus patients and deaths hit new highs, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations seemed to be leveling off in New York state, the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | New York was one of several states, along with the nation as a whole, to post their highest daily loss of life from COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the virus. A staggering 731 fatalities were reported in Cuomo’s state alone. But early statistical signs the crisis might be peaking provided ... |
27866 | "A child suffocated while playing a ""Chubby Bunny"" marshmallow-stuffing game. " | Account of a child's death while playing the 'Chubby Bunny' marshmallow-stuffing game. | true | Horrors, ASP Article, deaths, marshmallows | Actual occurrences can sometimes take on folkloric lives of their own, making the shift from news stories to cautionary tales through emotional responses to elements of those events. That was the case with the 4 June 1999 death of 12-year-old Catherine “Casey” Fish, who did indeed die while playing the marshmallow-stuf... |
15458 | "46 percent of women between the age of 16 to 24 despise sexual contact"" in Japan." | "Ansari said, ""46 percent of women between the age of 16 to 24 despise sexual contact"" in Japan. Despise seems a slightly bold word for it. Still, the surveys on this question all point to a healthy proportion of the young Japanese population having little interest in sex, relationships and dating, and one survey in ... | true | Sexuality, PunditFact, Aziz Ansari, | "Aziz Ansari departs from the usual comedian slapstick in his first book, Modern Romance, teaming up with a sociologist and traveling overseas to examine the science of how people date in the Internet-at-your-fingertips age. The academic effort intrigued The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart during his June 16 interview with An... |
10397 | Annual Mammography Starting at Age 40 Still Best Way to Saves Lives from Breast Cancer | In what is a short and fairly straightforward news release, we’re told by the American College of Radiology and American Society of Breast Imaging that all women age 40 and over should get an annual mammogram. Furthermore, readers are told that if they have any questions about the practice, they should consult their do... | mixture | Association/Society news release,Breast cancer,Cancer,Imaging | The average cost of an annual mammogram is relatively easy to find, but this news release didn’t address it. The average out-of-pocket expense, per mammogram visit, is about $33. This is about 1/7th the cost of the full tab (approximately $266), according to a 2011 study in Journal of Women’s Health. There aren’t any n... |
41003 | Doctors in India have been successful in treating coronavirus with a combination of drugs (Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine) and are going to suggest the same medicine globally. | India’s ministry of health has advised that the anti-HIV drugs, Lopinavir and Retonovir, are used in some groups of Covid-19 patients. But it is unclear how successful this treatment has been. The other two drugs from the claim are not mentioned in their guidance. | true | online | Doctors in India have been successful in treating coronavirus with a combination of drugs (Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine) and are going to suggest the same medicine globally. India’s ministry of health has advised that the anti-HIV drugs, Lopinavir and Retonovir, are used in some groups of... |
29707 | "A migrant girl was found with ""20 types of semen in her."" Also, three people were in quarantine for an ""unknown"" disease." | In another example of hoaxes about immigration intertwining with child-trafficking conspiracy theories, a group of men alleged in viral social media posts that they had found a bunker used for child sex trafficking in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson police, however, confirmed that the site was nothing more than an abandoned ho... | false | Politics Immigration, big league politics | In late June 2019, the junk news site Big League Politics reported a rather disturbing but baseless story that a 10-year-old migrant girl had been found with “20 types of semen in her.” The same story also reported unrelatedly that three people were under quarantine in El Paso, Texas, with an “unknown disease.” The two... |
14196 | ColoradoCare would have higher revenues than McDonald’s. | The Colorado Health Institute analysis said the Colorado universal health care system would have a projected $38 billion in revenues, larger than major corporations. The numbers seem to add up if everything with ColoradoCare goes according to its supporters’ plans. The revenues would be larger than some big companies. ... | true | Colorado, Elections, Health Care, Colorado Health Institute, | "An independent analysis says Colorado's proposed universal health care system would have $38 billion in projected revenues -- dwarfing Fortune 500 companies like McDonald's, Nike and American Express. The report, by the Colorado Health Institute, is a primer on the potential benefits and drawbacks of ColoradoCare, a p... |
32730 | A Newark woman was arrested for raping and killing her toddler son. | Previous Empire Herald hoaxes included claims about a dog meat restaurant, a serial killer who purportedly carved “Black Lives Matter” into his victims’ skin, a falsehood about a man committing suicide over the Harriet Tubman $20 bill, and a yarn about a mother caught masturbating with a Happy Meal toy in a McDonald’s ... | false | Junk News, content warning, disturbing, empire herald | In early February 2016, the fake news web site Empire Herald published an article titled “Newark Woman Arrested For Raping Her 2 Year Old Son With A Toy, Child Dies From Injuries.” Its content was no less disturbing than the title: Newark mother arrested for raping her 2 year old son with a vibrator resulting in his d... |
11181 | Higher dietary fiber intake in young women may reduce breast cancer risk | Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will lead a push by the United Nations to make the finance sector take proper account of the risks posed by climate change, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday. | mixture | Academic medical center news release,Breast cancer,Women's health | Guterres said the Canadian, due to leave the bank on Jan. 31, was “a remarkable pioneer in pushing the financial sector to work on climate”. He told a news conference before a U.N. climate summit in Madrid beginning on Monday that Carney would be the U.N. special envoy on climate action and climate finance from next ye... |
10323 | In Test of Stents, Old Standby Wins Out | Our review names some story elements that we think could’ve been added or removed. To us, the most notable omission was the litany of financial conflicts of interest the researchers had with stent manufactures. | true | Costs aren’t discussed. The article gives the absolute rates of major adverse cardiac events for each treatment group. Also, while this is likely not a major issue for most readers and not an official strike against the article, as an FYI we point out that there are some interwoven concepts that can be confusing. The a... | |
28327 | "Cellphone users are being increasingly targeted by a ""SIM swap fraud,"" in which their phones will briefly stop working before they receive a call tricking them into surrendering their information." | What's true: SIM swap fraud, in which a cellular service provider is duped into assigning a mobile phone number to a new SIM card is real and on the increase, according to experts. What's false: SIM information cannot be gathered or swapped via a phone call, and victims will often not be aware that their information ha... | mixture | Fraud & Scams | One of the many new forms of crime that modern technology has brought us is a form of identify theft known as SIM swap fraud. Subscriber identification modules (SIMs), commonly referred to as SIM cards, store user data in Global System for Mobile (GSM) cellphones. In simple terms, your phone’s SIM card stores identifyi... |
33780 | Television journalist Geraldo Rivera was born Jerry Rivers but changed his name to appeal to Latino viewers. | While one might find much to criticize about Rivera’s reportorial techniques, his ethnicity is genuine. His father’s surname was Rivera, his given name was Gerald, and the only concession he made to fashion was to agree to go by the Spanish pronunciation of his given name to satisfy an employer who wanted an identifiab... | false | Media Matters | A brash young lawyer-turned-journalist named Geraldo Rivera burst upon the New York news scene in the early 1970s as a reporter for WABC-TV, and by 1972 he had garnered national acclaim and an Emmy Award for his series of investigative reports exposing deplorable conditions at the Willowbrook State School for the Menta... |
38736 | Critics argue that Mark Zuckerberg isn’t really “giving away” 99% of his Facebook stock (about $45 billion), as he announced in December 2015. | "Mark Zuckerberg Isn't Really ""Giving Away"" $45 Billion" | mixture | 9/11 Attack on America, Celebrities | After Mark Zuckerberg announced that he plans to “give away” 99% of his Facebook stock, critics argued that Zuckerberg wouldn’t exactly be “giving away” his fortune because of the business model that Zuckerberg plans to use. Claims that Mark Zuckerberg isn’t really giving away $45 billion aren’t true or false. The answ... |
11115 | An Apple a Day May Help Keep Heart Disease Away | Granted, it sought an independent nutritionist’s perspective but she was reacting to the same incomplete information from an abstract of a talk not yet given. It also reports cholesterol-lowering results only in relative risk reduction terms, giving readers no good sense of the scope of the potential benefit. Cardiovas... | false | Diet studies,HealthDay,heart disease | Not applicable. The cost of apples is not in question. Again, the supposed benefits were only stated in terms of test scores – and then only in relative risk reduction terms, not absolute. Read our primer on this topic. We can’t think of any potential harms, and the story stated that “Despite the addition of several hu... |
32204 | "A mother sued a hospital and claimed that a flu shot had ""turned"" her son gay." | Previous World News Daily Report fictions include claims an infant in the Philippines was born with stigmata, a lottery winner died trying to gold-plate his genitals, a 14-year-old virgin was impregnated solely by a flu shot, a slaughterhouse employee killed dozens of coworkers in a period of twenty years, a donor hear... | false | Junk News, flu shot, gay, that viral feed | On 26 September 2015, the World News Daily Report web site published an article (later aggregated by fellow fake news outlet That Viral Feed) claiming a woman had sued a hospital because she believed a flu shot had “turned” her son gay: Andrea Benenacci, the mother of a 16-year-old teenager who recently received a flu ... |
28946 | Patients can circumvent insurance company claim denials by requesting a specific form of documentation, as the insurance company will opt to simply cover the cost rather than provide the paperwork. | "What's true: HIPAA laws entitle patients to access to their medical records (with limited exemptions), and insurers unable to document adherence to healthcare laws could conceivably reverse a denial decision to avoid hassle. What's false: Insurers are not required to designate a ""HIPAA Compliance Officer,"" nor are t... | mixture | Medical, HIPAA, insurance companies, medical hack | On 11 December 2015, a Facebook user published the above-reproduced image advising: MEDICAL HACK: So, your doctor ordered a medical test or treatment and your insurance company denied it. That is a typical cost saving method. OK, here is what you do: The user indicated that the image was back by “popular demand,” but i... |
9439 | Regular painkillers work as well as opioids for sprains, strains and fractures | The news story reports on the findings of a recent study published in JAMA, which evaluated the effectiveness of four painkillers in addressing acute arm or leg pain in emergency room patients. One of the painkillers was a combination of the over-the-counter medications acetaminophen and ibuprofen; the other three pain... | mixture | ibuprofen,opioid drugs,pain relief | Cost isn’t addressed. As we noted when reviewing the news release, the costs of ibuprofen and acetaminophen are fairly low — but the relevant opioids are also relatively inexpensive. For the relevant dosages, the costs would be more or less comparable, with the hydrocodone/acetaminophen combination likely being the mos... |
15873 | "Homeopathy, acupuncture and aromatherapy ""have been given elevated legitimacy under the Affordable Care Act." | "Goldberg wrote that homeopathy, acupuncture and aromatherapy ""have been given elevated legitimacy under the Affordable Care Act."" The law does provide a leg up for alternative therapies (although it’s unclear whether homeopathy and aromatherapy would ultimately benefit). In practice, though, it’s important not to ov... | mixture | Corrections and Updates, Health Care, PunditFact, Jonah Goldberg, | "Editor's note, Feb. 25, 2015: One of the core principles of our work, and the work of all journalists, is to contact the subjects whom we are writing about. In this fact-check, we didn’t meet our high standards. While we emailed Jonah Goldberg five days before publishing our fact-check, we never followed up with a pho... |
26371 | A photo shows a “Center for Global Population Reduction” at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters. | This photo has been altered to make it look like the words “Center for Global Human Population” appear on the Gates Foundation’s building. | false | Public Health, Viral image, | "Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has emerged as a prominent voice in public discussions about how to combat the coronavirus. In 2015, he was already warning Americans that the country was unprepared for an inevitable infectious virus. More recently, he’s become a target for misinformation concerning the pandemic. We’ve... |
17016 | "Julián Castro Says Dan Patrick ""proposed Arizona-style show-me-your-papers legislation." | "Castro said Patrick ""proposed Arizona-style show-me-your-papers legislation."" Patrick’s unsuccessful proposal was similar to, and modeled on, Arizona’s show-your-papers provision." | true | Immigration, Criminal Justice, Crime, Texas, Julián Castro, | "In an April 15, 2014, debate on immigration, Democrat Julián Castro said Republican Dan Patrick filed legislation akin to the 2010 Arizona mandate that police officers ask individuals about their immigration status. ""He filed (Senate Bill) 1070-like show-me-your-papers legislation,"" the San Antonio mayor said in the... |
28483 | In 1862, Abraham Lincoln ordered the execution by hanging of 38 Dakota Sioux fighters. | What's true: Lincoln approved the execution of 39 Dakota men convicted by a military commission of perpetrating massacres during the Dakota War of 1862. What's false: The military commission had sentenced 303 Dakota fighters to death, but Lincoln commuted 264 of those sentences despite threats of mob violence and inten... | mixture | History, abraham lincoln, indigenous peoples, native americans | In March 2018, thousands of Facebook users shared a meme which asserts that President Abraham Lincoln had ordered the executions of 38 Native American warriors in 1862: That claim is largely accurate, but it’s also misleading; it omits to mention that although Abraham Lincoln did approve 39 death sentences (one of th... |
42088 | Suggests the flu shot was responsible for the death of a New York state senator. | A self-described “alternative news” story suggests the flu shot was responsible for the death of a New York state senator. The official cause of death is still pending. | false | flu shot, influenza, vaccines, | A self-described “alternative news” story suggests the flu shot was responsible for the death of a New York state senator. The official cause of death is still pending.The weekend before Thanksgiving, New York State Sen. José Peralta worked at a community event offering the flu shot for free.“The senator was a huge adv... |
8870 | Novartis sued in Calif. over kids' cough medicine. | A California mother has sued drug maker Novartis AG in what the company believes to be the first proposed class action involving its Triaminic children’s cough and cold medicines since overdose fears prompted a recall of the drugs. | true | Health News | A general view shows the headquarters of the drug making company Novartis in Basel January 17, 2008. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, said several studies have shown deaths and serious injuries linked to over-the-counter children’s cold remedies. As a resul... |
37839 | You have to go to Settings -> Privacy -> Health -> COVID-19 Exposure to turn off automatic contact tracing on your iPhone and/or Android device. | Do You Need to Disable COVID-19 Contact Tracing on Your Phone? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In mid-May 2020, the following status update screenshot circulated on Facebook, urging people with iPhones (and possibly Android devices) to “turn off … exposure COVID notifications” via a series of directions in settings:It’s likely the image above circulated as a screenshot due to Facebook’s organization of COVID-19-... |
38342 | A widely circulated obituary claims that the Great Barrier Reef has died after an impressive 25 million year run. | Obituary: Great Barrier Reef is Dead | false | Environment | Scientists have disputed claims that the Great Barrier Reef has died — arguing that the reef is dying, but not dead. Claims that the Greater Barrier Reef has died can be traced back to an obituary published by Outside magazine in October 2016 under the headline, “Obituary: Great Barrier Reef (25 Million BC-2016).” The ... |
26247 | “Children don’t seem to be getting this virus” | Children do contract the coronavirus. Hundreds of cases in people 17 and under have been reported in Wisconsin, and tens of thousands in the U.S. But early evidence shows that children are not at higher risk for the virus, and in most cases, experience milder symptoms than adults. | false | Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Janel Brandtjen, | "There are several diseases that are especially tough on kids. Measles, chickenpox and even this year’s most common strain of influenza in Wisconsin target children and can cause serious, even life-threatening complications. So the world breathed a sigh of relief when the first reports about children and COVID-19 seeme... |
37290 | The day after Colorado legalized marijuana, dozens of people died from cannabis-related overdoses. | Marijuana Overdoses Kill 37 in Colorado? | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | Just days after Colorado legalized the sale of recreational marijuana, an opportunistic satirist wrote an article reporting that smoking weed had triggered dozens of fatal overdoses on its first day of legalization. The January 2014 article went viral as readers either tried to make sense of how it happened, enjoyed th... |
37624 | "Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said that ""95 percent of your murders"" are committed by ""male minorities 15 to 25." | Did Michael Bloomberg Say Young Men of Color Commit ’95 Percent of Your Murders’? | true | Fact Checks, Politics | Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s defense of “stop and frisk” police tactics disproportionately targeting young people of color was brought back to light after audio from a 2015 speech found new life on social media five years later:Audio of @MikeBloomberg’s 2015 @AspenInstitute speech where he expl... |
24748 | "Obama nominee Dawn Johnsen ""called motherhood 'involuntary servitude.'" | Republicans accuse nominee Johnsen of supporting abortion rights but opposing motherhood | false | Abortion, National, House Republican Conference, | "Republicans have made it clear they're opposed to the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to head the White House Office of Legal Counsel. They're unhappy with her support of abortion rights, but a recent blog posting made a surprising allegation: That she said motherhood was ""involuntary servitude."" We wondered if she was r... |
3369 | Legionnaires’ case identified at Quincy veterans’ home. | Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is investigating a case of Legionnaires’ diseases at the veterans’ home in Quincy, the site of 13 deaths from the malady starting with a 2015 outbreak. | true | Veterans affairs, Quincy, Chicago, Health, General News, Illinois, Veterans, Public health | The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and the Illinois Department of Public Health are reviewing the case of the resident with the flu-like illness. Officials say the resident of the home 312 miles (500 kilometers) southwest of Chicago has received medical treatment and is recovering. Officials say no other cases... |
8998 | Procedure plus medication is better than standard treatment for heart disease patients | A dozen Swiss climate activists appeared in court on Tuesday after refusing to pay a fine for playing tennis inside branches of Credit Suisse bank last year in a stunt intended to highlight the bank’s fossil fuel investments and “stop people acting like nothing is happening.” | mixture | heart disease,Percutaneous coronary intervention,St. Michael's Hospital,stent | The young activists, mostly students, were fined 21,600 Swiss francs ($22,254) for trespassing at Credit Suisse branches in November 2018. Lawyers for the students who are appealing the fine said on Tuesday they were acting as whistleblowers for the climate emergency. “..It is not enough to just go out on the street or... |
37696 | Beginning in 2020, Boston University will begin awarding posthumous degrees to students who die before completing their studies. | Will Boston University Begin Awarding Posthumous Degrees in 2020? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | A story published by the student newspaper at Boston University attracted attention online on August 12 2020, after revealing the school’s move to formalize the process behind awarding posthumous degrees.The Daily Free Press first broke the story on its Twitter account before following up with a story on its website an... |
5615 | South Burlington police to hold forum on heroin. | The South Burlington Police Department is holding a community forum on heroin and heroin addiction. | true | Health, Burlington, Police, Heroin addiction | The event takes place April 20 at the South Burlington High School. The first half of the forum will provide some basic information about heroin and heroin addiction and how it’s affecting South Burlington. The second half will be a question and answer session with a panel of professionals, including a doctor, mental h... |
12531 | Malia Obama arrested with a gang of thugs in Chicago. | This time fake news says Malia Obama arrested for drugs, dog fighting in Chicago | false | Fake news, PunditFact, Bloggers, | "A fake news post falsely said former first daughter Malia Obama was arrested with a group of seven men after a day of drinking, drugs and dog-fighting. The headline on a May 6, 2017, post on ConservativeFlashNews.com read, ""Malia Obama arrested with a gang of thugs in Chicago."" The post was flagged by Facebook users... |
20874 | "Congress gave an unelected board ""the power to deny care to seniors." | Price worries about health care law's impact to seniors | mixture | Georgia, Health Care, Medicare, Tom Price, | "For critics of the controversial federal health care law, there are few elements of it that are discussed with as much disdain as the Independent Payment Advisory Board. Rush Limbaugh, for example, has called the 15-member board ""death panels."" U.S. Rep. Tom Price, a Republican from Roswell, explained some of his co... |
5428 | Uganda: 9-year-old girl from Congo dies of Ebola. | A 9-year-old Congolese girl who tested positive for Ebola in neighboring Uganda has died, Ugandan authorities said Friday, as the World Health Organization said that the outbreak has neared 3,000 cases. | true | Travel, International News, General News, Africa, Health, Uganda, Ebola virus | The girl’s body was repatriated to Congo for a funeral upon the request of her father, according to Uganda’s health ministry. The girl, who was traveling with her mother, was identified at a border screening Wednesday as a possible Ebola patient and isolated. Although cases of cross-border contamination have been rare,... |
11157 | Scientists find way to predict timing of menopause | Anti-Mullerian Hormone, or AMH, is a hormone produced by cells in the ovary during reproductive years and can be detected with a blood test. Declining AMH levels has been shown to correlate with poor response to in-vitro fertilization, a marker of poor ovarian reserve. This has led to the idea that the test could be us... | false | "The story does not mention costs, or potential costs of the test. On one website, the cost was of the test was $183. It is unclear whether insurers would pay for this, unless in the setting of an infertility evaluation.http://www.acubalance.ca/ovarian-reserve-testing-including-anti-müllerian-hormone-amh. The story doe... | |
20394 | Medicare will be bankrupt in nine years. | Pat Boone claims Medicare will be bankrupt in nine years | false | Ohio, Medicare, Pat Boone, | "The 60 Plus Association, an advocacy group that bills itself as ""the conservative alternative"" to the AARP, has a fondness for golden oldies. The group hired singer Pat Boone as its pitchman in an ad that targets the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, the health reform bill often called Obamacare app... |
31364 | A new, rare tick burrows under your skin and moves about undetected. | Gallagher told us that even though as of 23 May 2017 the post has been shared more than 50,000 times, no one bothered to ask him where he got the information — or whether it was real or fake. | false | Uncategorized, Bugs, deer ticks, hoaxes | In early May 2017, a viral post started circulating on Facebook, warning viewers that there was a new type of tick for which to be on the lookout. The post contains two photographs, one of a tick, and the other showing a person’s skin — supposedly after the tick has burrowed inside. It was shared thousands of times: T... |
16377 | The last time there was a sustained surge of confidence in government's competence was under Ronald Reagan. | "George Will said the last time there was a ""sustained surge"" in confidence in government was under Reagan. While trust did rise and generally hold level in the Reagan years, it also had a steady and larger increase under Clinton. However you slice the numbers, it is clear that the American public had a ""sustained s... | false | History, Polls and Public Opinion, PunditFact, George Will, | "As the midterm elections get closer, Republicans are questioning the competence and trustworthiness of President Barack Obama. This is a theme that came into sharp focus during the immigration debate when House Republicans said they wouldn’t move forward because they didn’t trust the president to enforce the law. The ... |
9519 | Heart Failure Drug Shows Promise in First Human Trial | This HealthDay story reports on the very early results of a phase one trial of a drug, cimaglermin, intended to improve the left ventricular function among patients with a type of heart failure known as “severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction.” The story does clearly say that it is a phase one trial and explains ... | true | heart failure | There is no mention of the cost for the tested drug, cimaglermin, in this story. The costs for regularly prescribed drugs for the medical condition that’s the focus of the study — weakened left ventricular function — are well known and although cimaglermin is an experimental drug, it should be possible to predict wheth... |
5009 | Flu outbreak sickens over 30 migrants at border center. | More than 30 migrants have tested positive for influenza at a major processing center where a flu-stricken teenage boy died, the latest evidence of growing public health threats posed by inadequate facilities to deal with a surge of families and children reaching the U.S. border. | true | U.S. News, Health, Flu, McAllen, North America, Public health, Texas | It was unclear if anyone ill came in contact with a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy who was held at the facility in McAllen, Texas, and died Monday, a day after he was diagnosed and transferred to a smaller station. Carlos Hernandez Vasquez was detained for six days, twice as long as generally allowed by U.S. law. The proce... |
10749 | Combination Chemo-Radiation Therapy May Help Preserve Larynx for Patients with Laryngeal Cancer | Illustration: National Cancer InstituteThe release focuses on a recent article published in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery about a treatment for cancer of the larnyx. The paper reports that use of the drug cetuximab in conjunction with radiation therapy results in modestly-improved survival rates for patient... | false | Cancer,Journal news release | The release doesn’t discuss costs at all. Given that the relevant study compared radiation therapy to the use of radiation therapy in conjunction with cetuximab, that’s particularly problematic. Cetuximab is already on the market (under the trade name Erbitux) for use in treating various cancers. The drug has been the ... |
28273 | "A photograph shows Frank ""Rocky"" Fiegel, a real-life person who served as the inspiration for the character ""Popeye." | "What's true: Frank ""Rocky"" Fiegel was a real person who lived in the hometown of ""Popeye"" creator Elzie Segar. What's false: A photograph often shared as if it shows Fiegel actually depicts another individual unrelated to the ""Popeye"" franchise." | mixture | Fauxtography | The internet’s interest is periodically piqued by a photograph supposedly showing Frank “Rocky” Fiegel, the man believed to be cartoonist E.C. Segar’s inspiration for the character of “Popeye”: The claim that Fiegel was the inspiration for “Popeye” is largely accurate. However, the picture shown above is not a photogr... |
34987 | "U.S. President Donald Trump said ""We're going to take the firearms first and then go to court." | As can be seen in this video clip, Pence began speaking on the subject of how red flag laws were one mechanism that might provide “local law enforcement additional tools if an individual is reported to be a potential danger” while still allowing for due process. Trump interrupted and twice expressed the desirability of... | true | Politics | In recent years, many states in the U.S. have responded to multiple incidents of mass shootings by passing “red flag laws” intended to provide a means by which potentially dangerous (and armed) persons could be legally restricted prior to their engaging in harmful acts: They are state laws that authorize courts to issu... |
3906 | FA Cup games delayed 1 min for prince’s mental health push. | The start of games in the third round of the FA Cup will be delayed by one minute to raise awareness of mental health issues. | true | Health, Soccer, Sports - Europe, Mental health | The English Football Association’s “Heads Up” campaign is spearheaded by Prince William, who is the president of the governing body. Most games in the third round of the cup will start at 3:01 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4. The FA says “during the minute delay, fans will be encouraged to consider the positive impact 60 seco... |
26425 | “Face masks being manufactured in China, for example, went to domestic consumption and their own fight against the virus” while the U.S. was “largely unable to import supplies from China.” | All imports from China fell during January and February 2020, compared with a year earlier, but did not disappear entirely. The federal government as well as a few states have imported medical supplies from China during the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. imports of certain medical supplies from China fell in 2019 when the Tru... | false | Florida, Coronavirus, Marco Rubio, | "Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., casts some blame on China for the U.S. struggle to obtain crucial medical supplies amid COVID-19. Writing in the New York Times, Rubio accused China of using the world’s supply chain of medical gear to benefit itself during the coronavirus outbreak: ""Having monopolized those critical supply ... |
28011 | A machine-shop worker tore his scrotum in a piece of machinery and then stapled it back together. | A machine shop worker tore his scrotum in a piece of machinery and then stapled it back together. | true | Medical, Emergency Room, Phallacies | A supposed reproduction of a medical journal article describing an unusual case of scrotum self-repair using a stapler was a ubiquitous piece of faxlore back in the pre-internet days: UNUSUAL CASE Scrotum Self-Repair By William A. Morton, Jr, MD One morning I was called to the emergency room by the head ER nurse. She ... |
13580 | The Clinton Foundation is a charity where President and Secretary Clinton and their daughter, they take no salary, they get no money from it, they take no personal benefit from it. | "Rosen said, ""The Clinton Foundation is a charity where President and Secretary Clinton and their daughter, they take no salary, they get no money from it, they take no personal benefit from it."" Rosen’s claim is correct on its face. The Clintons do not take any sort of paycheck, bonus or fees from the Clinton Founda... | true | Candidate Biography, Ethics, PunditFact, Hilary Rosen, | "Some Republicans have presented the embattled Clinton Foundation as serving one purpose: ""lining the pockets of Bill and Hillary Clinton,"" as GOP Chair Reince Priebus put it. Responding to such criticisms, Democratic pundit Hilary Rosen said the Clintons ""take no personal benefit"" from the foundation. She also poi... |
34015 | A child who drank sour candy spray experienced throat spasms. | What's true: The drinking of any liquid can provoke a laryngospasm if the imbiber is trying to breathe at the same time. What's undetermined: A child named Kylin experienced frightening throat spasms after drinking sour candy spray; something in sour candy spray causes life-threatening throat spasms. | mixture | Food, food warnings | This alert about sour candy sprays dates to May 2006. Akin to warnings about drug-laced suckers and poisoned Halloween treats, it raises the specter of a danger to children lurking in a foodstuff they find highly appealing. Because youngsters are prone to devouring candy as they encounter it rather than first showing i... |
29094 | A list circulating online contains 50 false statements by President Barack Obama | List documents fifty lies told by Barack Obama. | mixture | Politics Politicians, ASP Article, barack obama | This criticism is based on an overly-literal interpretation of Barack Obama’s 2007 speech in Selma, Alabama, which we covered in a separate article. These attributes are not mutually exclusive: Barack Obama’s (biological) father was all of these things at different times in his life, as Obama described in his book, Dre... |
28866 | Photographs show a white tiger with Down syndrome. | What's true: Inbreeding resulted in a white tiger with unusual facial features. What's false: The tiger's appearance was the result of Down syndrome. | mixture | Fauxtography, animals, down syndrome, kenny | Photographs purportedly showing a “tiger with Down syndrome” have been circulating around the internet for several years. While these images are real, the animal’s appearance is not the result of Down syndrome, but of inbreeding. The photographs show Kenny the White Tiger, a big cat that was rescued from a breeding fac... |
9170 | Study shows real-world massage is effective treatment for low back pain | A small group of patients were treated for low-back pain with 10 massages and more than half received some relief, according to this release from Indiana University-Purdue’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. The researchers are to be applauded for seeking evidence for a potential low-cost, non-pharmaceutica... | false | back pain,Indiana University,massage therapy | We give the release credit for stating that massages are generally not covered by insurance and that patients typically pay out-of-pocket. And the release provided some important context about cost with this statement from the lead author: “Generally, people wonder if it is worth it. Will it pay to provide massage to p... |
9221 | Study: Running actually lowers inflammation in knee joints | This news release suggests that long distance running may be protective of knee cartilage because the amounts of two biomarkers for synovial fluid inflammation decreased after 30 minutes of running. The volunteers in the study were all under 35 and healthy. Similar subjects tested without running showed no decrease in ... | false | Brigham Young University,inflammation,running | There is no cost mentioned, but typically, running does not have any cost requirement except for good shoes. This category is not applicable for this research. The benefits of this approach are in no way quantified. The news release states that the amounts of inflammation markers decreased, but does not say by how much... |
7179 | ‘Healthy Holly’, once lucrative, now bane of Baltimore mayor. | “Healthy Holly” is a polite African American girl with devoted parents and a little brother. She loves exercise. She craves fresh fruit and vegetables. And she’s now the bane of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh’s existence. | true | U.S. News, Health, Business, Childrens books, Catherine Pugh, Maryland, U.S. News, Baltimore | Since the state prosecutor’s office began a criminal investigation into Pugh at the Maryland governor’s request earlier this week, there’s been a growing tide of examinations spurred by revelations that she was paid $700,000 over roughly eight years for her self-published paperback series about the fictional “Healthy H... |
7319 | Amid coronavirus pandemic, black mistrust of medicine looms. | Just as the new coronavirus was declared a global pandemic, gym members in New York City frantically called the fitness center where Rahmell Peebles worked, asking him to freeze their memberships. | true | AP Top News, Race and ethnicity, Understanding the Outbreak, Health, General News, Lifestyle, Pandemics, Virus Outbreak, U.S. News | Peebles, a 30-year-old black man who’s skeptical of what he hears from the news media and government, initially didn’t see the need for alarm over the virus. “I felt it was a complete hoax,” Peebles said. “This thing happens every two or four years. We have an outbreak of a disease that seems to put everybody in a pani... |
31236 | The U.S. government funded Mitch McConnell's care and rehabilitation when he had polio as a child. | However, it was operated as an innovative, nationwide nonprofit organization, not a federal or state agency, and it was not taxpayer or government-funded. The Warm Springs center visited by McConnell remained owned and operated by a nonprofit organization until 1974, when the state of Georgia took it over, making it tr... | false | Politics, death and taxes, healthcare, mitch mcconnell | On 22 June 2017, the Occupy Democrats Facebook page posted a meme claiming that the United States government paid for Mitch McConnell’s care and rehabilitation when the Republican senior senator contracted polio as an infant in the 1940s. This claim is contrasted, in the meme, with McConnell’s support for the Senate Re... |
10716 | Bypass patients can benefit from a few drinks: study | The biggest flaws were common ones: Using causal language in the headline – “bypass patients can benefit from a few drinks” – for an observational study that cannot prove cause and effect; There was no discussion of the limitations of drawing conclusions from observational studies – and not a word about the potential ... | false | Reuters Health | The cost of alcoholic drinks isn’t in question. The benefit – in terms of risk reduction – was provided only in relative risk reduction terms – 25% reduction in additional heart procedures, heart attacks or strokes. But readers should be told “25% of what?” See our primer on this topic. Most of the story focused on ben... |
3104 | From coconut patties to guns, lawmakers ready for session. | The 60-day Florida legislative session that begins Tuesday will have lawmakers considering everything from coconut patties to a state budget expected to exceed $90 billion. | true | Legislature, Climate change, General News, Florida, Ron DeSantis, Environment, State budgets, Gun politics, Bills | Lawmakers are also expected to address abortion rights, private gun sales and environmental issues such as the rise in sea level. While the budget is the only thing the Legislature is constitutionally required to pass each year, there are already about 3,000 bills filed, including about 1,600 that seek to stuff local p... |
40838 | Health tourism costs nearly £300 million on some estimates. | A dam at a gold mine in western Brazil burst on Tuesday, leaving a 2-km (1.2-mile) trail of mining waste and injuring two people, according to the country’s National Mining Agency (ANM). | true | health-tourism | No one was killed in the incident in Mato Grosso state, ANM said in a statement. The dam is registered under the name of an individual wildcat miner rather than in the name of a mining company. Inspections of the dam had not turned up any problems, and it had been declared as stable on Sept. 25, the agency said. Brazil... |
15950 | Amazing fact: Senate has already voted on more amendments in 2015 than Reid allowed ALL YEAR last year. | "Kerpen, among others, tweeted, ""Amazing fact: Senate has already voted on more amendments in 2015 than (Harry) Reid allowed ALL YEAR last year."" On the numbers, that is right. But experts cautioned us that the claim falls more in the interesting factoid category than a sign of a different or more cooperative Senate ... | true | Congress, PunditFact, Phil Kerpen, | "There’s a new sheriff in charge of the U.S. Senate, and he’s eager to show how he’s shaking up the law of the land. We’re talking, of course, about new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who took over the Senate’s top slot after the midterm elections bounced Democrats from power. And in this new world, Rep... |
8754 | Gene switch malfunctioning in chronic lung disease. | Smokers who have chronic lung disease are much more likely to have a poorly working antioxidant defense system than other smokers, a finding that may lead to new treatments, U.S. researchers said on Friday. | true | Health News | A right lateral view chest x-ray of a healthy lung is seen in an undated handout photo. REUTERS/DCD/Dr. Thomas Hooten/Handout Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States and the world and is on the rise. There is no cure. The researchers found that a master ... |
29578 | Germany created and distributed leaflets to curb sexual assault due to an incident in Cologne on New Year's Eve. | What's true: Leaflets were created and distributed in the city of Munich in 2013 to reinforce cultural standards in mixed bathing areas such as pools after a number of complaints were registered by German swimmers. What's false: The country of Germany created the leaflets; the leaflets were distributed in response to a... | false | Politics Immigration, cologne, daily mail, leaflets | As Germany rang in the New Year in 2016, a number of assaults were reported in Cologne and other cities. As many as 600 reports were lodged, and people quickly moved to blame recent refugees and migrants for what was framed as a novel spate of violence against women on that night. On 1 February 2016, Britain’s Daily Ma... |
34914 | Four Impossible Whoppers provide “enough estrogen to grow boobs on a male.” | This is not the case. Simply put, though phytoestrogens do interact with the human body in ways that disrupt estrogen-controlled processes, their effect in almost all cases is much less pronounced than that of actual estrogens. For this reason, Stangle’s comparison of “estrogen” levels in Impossible Whoppers and birth ... | false | Food | On Dec. 20, 2019, the livestock industry publication Tri-State Livestock News published a wide-ranging screed against the Impossible Whopper, the livestock-free substitute burger sold at Burger King. The author of the article, South Dakota veterinarian James Stangle, made a series of dubious assertions to arrive at the... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.