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28041 | "Dozens of people on the set of the film ""Titanic"" were sickened after eating seafood chowder that had been spiked with the drug PCP on the final day of shooting." | "What's true: Dozens of people on the set of ""Titanic,"" including actor Bill Paxton and director James Cameron, were sickened after someone laced the seafood chowder with PCP. What's false: The movie's stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, were not on set at the time, and the incident did not occur on the final ... | true | Entertainment, historical pictures | On 30 April 2019, the Facebook page “Historical Pictures” renewed interest in an old news story involving the movie Titanic, seafood chowder, and the drug PCP (Phencyclidine, or angel dust): The Facebook page reads: “On the last night of filming Titanic, someone laced the cast and crew’s food with PCP. 80 cast and cre... |
7448 | Seattle sees 1st case of childhood disease tied to virus. | Seattle has had its first confirmed case of a rare inflammatory disease in children closely tied to COVID-19. | true | Seattle, Health, General News, Virus Outbreak, Public health | The disease being called “pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome” was identified and treated at Seattle Children’s Hospital, KUOW reported. King County Public Health said the patient was a resident of Snohomish County and there have been no other confirmed cases in the area. It involves a “hyper response” of the c... |
37321 | The rate of accidental deaths from physicians is much higher than the accidental death rates for gun owners, meaning that doctors are more dangerous than guns. | Are Doctors More Dangerous Than Gun Owners? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks, guns, Medical, Viral Content | An email about gun deaths versus doctor-related deaths has been around in various forms since at least 2004. Minor details vary, but they all went something like this:Scary Doctor Facts This is really something to think about: A. The number of physicians in the US is 700,000 B. Accidental deaths caused by physicians pe... |
9148 | Study: New blood test is more accurate in predicting prostate cancer risk than PSA | This Cleveland Clinic news release describes a “new” blood test called IsoPSA that is supposed to be more accurate than traditional prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood tests. Instead of determining PSA concentrations in the blood or other bodily fluids, IsoPSA recognizes the protein’s structural changes. Researchers ... | mixture | Cleveland Clinic,IsoPSA blood test | There is no discussion of costs in this news release — neither the cost of the test or the potential savings if it decreases false positive results which lead to further testing or treatment. A regular PSA test is typically covered by insurance, especially for men over the age of 50. According to Healthcare Bluebook, a... |
2905 | Bone marrow stem cells could defeat drug-resistant tuberculosis. | Patients with potentially fatal “superbug” forms of tuberculosis (TB) could in future be treated using stem cells taken from their own bone marrow, according to the results of an early-stage trial of the technique. | true | Health News | The finding, made by British and Swedish scientists, could pave the way for the development of a new treatment for the estimated 450,000 people worldwide who have multi drug-resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB. In a study in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal on Thursday, researchers said more t... |
10906 | Trial Shows Blockbuster Potential for Blood Clot Pill | This is a story about a large clinical trial that found a new medication to be more effective though more expensive than the current medication used to reduce the chance of blood clot formation in individuals with atrial fibrillation. The story did a good job of detailing the study reported on as well as the financial ... | true | New York Times | The story mentioned that it was expected that the drug reported on would cost $8/day as compared with <$1/day for warfarin. One aspect of costs that were not considered in this story is the difference in monitoring, which would be less with patients using Eliquis. The competing HealthDay story did a better job on this ... |
10048 | Boston Scientific finds higher clot risk for drug-coated stents | This article reported on unreviewed research results about an elevated risk of developing blood-clotting in patients with Taxus drug-eluting stents used in the treatment of coronary artery disease. While providing information about the impact of the study results on the company’s stock, the article was not as helpful a... | false | There was no information about the cost of either drug-eluting or bare-metal stents Describing the risk of blood clotting as ‘slightly higher’ is not helpful for the reader. It would be useful for readers to know what the risk of blood clotting is with and without the different types of stents and other treatments for ... | |
33152 | Jimmy Carter said that medical marijuana cured his cancer. | Satirical news for satirical folk. Satira is Latin for Satire. | false | Junk News, cancer, jimmy carter, marijuana | On 7 December 2015, the entertainment website Satira Tribune published an article claiming that former President Jimmy Carter said that medical marijuana had cured his cancer: While speaking to ABC News about the remission of his cancer, former President Jimmy Carter credited marijuana for killing of his cancer cells. ... |
4150 | Warming hurting shellfish, aiding predators, ruining habitat. | Valuable species of shellfish have become harder to find on the East Coast because of degraded habitat caused by a warming environment, according to a pair of scientists that sought to find out whether environmental factors or overfishing was the source of the decline. | true | North America, Environment, AP Top News, Maine, Overfishing | The scientists reached the conclusion in studying the decline in the harvest of four commercially important species of shellfish in coastal areas from Maine to North Carolina — eastern oysters, northern quahogs, softshell clams and northern bay scallops. They reported that their findings came down squarely on the side ... |
23259 | Webster sponsored a bill to create a form of marriage that would trap women in abusive relationships. | Alan Grayson tones down rhetoric, but not attacks in new ad targeting Dan Webster | true | Marriage, Message Machine 2010, Women, Florida, Alan Grayson, | "U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson is continuing his pointed attacks against Republican opponent Daniel Webster, and Webster's stance on women's issues. Only this time, he's ditching the lines about religious fanaticism and the comparisons to the Taliban. Grayson, a Democrat from Orlando, caught flak for airing an ad that compare... |
19748 | "Chain email Says President Barack Obama ""doubled the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year." | Bayer AG has not offered to pay billions of dollars to settle claims in the United States related to the Roundup herbicide, mediator Ken Feinberg said, dismissing a report to that effect which drove its shares as much as 11% higher. | false | New Jersey, Debt, Chain email, | “Bayer has not proposed paying $8 billion to settle all the U.S. Roundup cancer claims. Such a statement is pure fiction,” Feinberg said in an email on Friday. “Compensation has not even been discussed in the global mediation discussions.” Bayer shares, which had shed some of their gains before Feinberg’s statement, r... |
1275 | European nations weigh impact of Brexit on drug supplies. | Germany’s drug safety regulator has concluded that Brexit will not put its patients at risk of losing access to essential drugs, while Ireland has drawn up a list of 24 medicines whose supply would be most vulnerable if Britain fails to conclude a divorce deal. | true | Health News | Between 60 and 70 percent of the 4,000 medicines on the Irish market either come from or transit through the United Kingdom. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said a working group of health officials meeting weekly for the last two years had drawn up the watch list, but advised against stockpiling. “It is a really impo... |
2336 | Global life expectancy rises again, but new challenges loom. | Average life expectancy has risen globally to 73 years for a girl born in 2012 and 68 for a boy following successes in fighting diseases and child mortality, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. | true | Health News | Big advances in the battles against infectious diseases such as measles, malaria, tuberculosis and polio have continued to extend life expectancy although other factors, such as people’s lifestyles, are constraining longevity, the WHO said in its annual statistics report. The longest life expectancy at birth is for bab... |
38356 | Cooking with aluminum pots and pans or aluminum foil causes Alzheimer’s disease. | Cooking with Aluminum Foil Causes Alzheimer's Disease. | unproven | Medical | Theories that exposure to aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease have been circulating since the 1960s — but there’s never been any definitive proof that aluminum causes Alzheimer’s disease. And even if there was a clear link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s disease, not using aluminum pots and pans or aluminu... |
31769 | "Female lawmakers unveiled a bill prohibiting the disposal of ""unused semen." | … all news articles contained within burrardstrettjournal.com are works of fiction and constitute fake news. Any truth or actual facts contained in said stories or posts are purely incidental or coincidental and not intended to be, or be construed as, facts. | false | Junk News, burrard street journal | Against the backdrop of a 24 January 2017 House vote involving abortion, the satrical web site Burrard Street Journal reported that female legislators had “unveil[ed]” a bill pertaining to the proper disposal of “unused semen”: A group of leading female legislators have enacted a new bill that forbids American men from... |
10185 | Should you take Tylenol, Advil, or aspirin for pain? Here's what the evidence says. | In this installment of “Dear Julia,” Vox health reporter Julia Belluz takes on a reader question about pain medications. The reader wants to know which over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever is the best for treating pain – Tylenol, Advil or aspirin. The story presents evidence from high-quality studies and opinions from ... | true | Vox | The story doesn’t mention costs but since these over-the-counter medications have been widely available for a long time it doesn’t seem like an important omission. Because aspirin has been available the longest and is manufactured by literally hundreds of companies, it is by far the cheaper of the three. The article ta... |
41844 | Sen. Blumenthal “went around telling war stories” about Vietnam, talked of “people dying left and right, but my platoon marched forward.” | Like a snowball rolling downhill, President Trump’s account of Sen. Blumenthal’s misstatements about his service record during the Vietnam War has grown more exaggerated over time. | false | military record, Vietnam, | Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Marine Corps reservist during the Vietnam War, wrongly claimed years ago that he “served in Vietnam” and once spoke of the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans “when we returned.” Those misstatements are fair game for his political opponents to criticize.But President Donald Trump has stretched t... |
6803 | New Mexico seeks concussion safeguards for more youth sports. | State health officials are seeking to shore up and standardize safeguards against brain injuries in youth sports beyond schools in non-scholastic athletic leagues and clubs. | true | Youth sports, Health, General News, Sports, New Mexico, Injuries | Coaches and many youth athletes automatically would undergo training to detect signs of a concussion and understand the potential consequences of a brain injury under rules proposed by the New Mexico Department of Health. The agency has scheduled a public hearing later this month on the proposal requiring annual traini... |
27775 | 'Mob Wives' personality Big Ang died of cancer. | Aside from the tweet, representatives for Raiola provided no further information about Big Ang’s condition, other than confirming she remained hospitalized in Manhattan and was “fighting.” | true | Entertainment, angela raiola, big ang, mob wives | Update: Angela Raiola’s family has confirmed her death as of 3:01am on 18 February 2016: This is @vinniemedugno on behalf of the family of Angela Raiola, please see below: pic.twitter.com/wiuPApr9Lw — Angela Raiola (@biggangVH1) February 18, 2016 On 17 February 2016, multiple outlets reported that Mob Wives personality... |
28124 | After shaving her legs, a woman developed a life-threatening skin infection that required the removal of massive amounts of skin and muscle tissue. | What's true: A woman developed a life-threatening skin condition after she cut herself shaving. What's false: She did not get sick immediately, but several days later. The original story omitted the fact that the woman's immune system was already compromised. | true | Medical, daily mail, flesh eating bacteria, necrotizing fasciitis | In April 2017, British tabloid the Daily Mail reported that a woman had developed a life-threatening skin infection after shaving in 2012: Dana Sedgewick, 44, from Sheffield, trimmed her pubic area with a brand new razor but ended up cutting a spot on her groin. Her body almost immediately went into shock, causing a re... |
38486 | The United Nations has backed President Obama’s secret plan to nationalize local police departments. | UN Backs Secret Obama Takeover of Police | false | Crime / Police, Obama | The UN hasn’t backed Obama’s secret plan to takeover local police departments — and we couldn’t find evidence to prove that a “secret plan” like that exists. These rumors stem from a statement released by Maina Kiai, a human rights attorney from Kenya who was appointed by the UN Human Rights Commission to research and ... |
11521 | UAB Optometrist Improves Treatment and Care for Patients with Dry Eye | This is a lay-friendly news release touting the benefits of lifitegrast (marketed as Xiidra), a newly approved prescription drug for the treatment of dry eye. It would have been stronger with some quantified details on the benefits and a better description of the clinical trials the drug’s recent FDA approval is based... | false | Academic medical center news release | The news release does not mention cost. We were unable to find any cost information online after a brief Google search. The benefits were summarized this way: “In all four studies, eye dryness was significantly reduced, with two of the studies showing improvements at week two. Results from inferior corneal staining tes... |
9500 | To Treat Depression, Try a Digital Therapist | This story heralds the evolution of internet-based therapies for treating mild to moderate depression. It summarizes several recent studies, which find that a combination of interacting with both a “smart” internet app and human therapists competes well with more traditional, face-to-face strategies. The story hits a l... | true | depression | We’re rating this one a cautious “Satisfactory.” The story offers no information about the cost to a patient of a digital therapist, but it does reflect on the cost of creating and maintaining a similar app. This story does a good job of summarizing the benefits that accrued in the course of several studies. Risks are... |
16246 | Facebook post Says the 1956 Republican Party platform supported equal pay, the minimum wage, asylum for refugees, protections for unions and more. | The meme says the 1956 Republican Party platform supported equal pay, the minimum wage, asylum for refugees, protections for unions and more. That’s generally correct. However, it’s worth noting that other elements of the 1956 platform were considered conservative for that era. Also, some of the issues have changed con... | true | Immigration, National, Poverty, Social Security, Unions, Women, Workers, Facebook posts, | "Liberals are getting nostalgic about the 1950s Republican agenda -- at least judging by the social media meme several readers recently sent us. The meme, created by the group Occupy Democrats, summarized a few planks from the 1956 Republican Party platform, followed by the wistful comment, ""Share if you miss the good... |
6173 | Some China cities close poultry markets amid bird flu fears. | Several Chinese cities have shut down their poultry markets in the wake of a bird flu outbreak that has killed at least two dozen people this year across China. | true | Health, Flu, Business, Bird flu, China, Asia Pacific | Live poultry sales have now been suspended in Changsha, the capital of central China’s Hunan province, as well as markets across the eastern province of Zhejiang, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday, as authorities deal with dozens of new cases of H7N9 bird flu. Nearly 300 markets and slaughterhouses were s... |
3998 | Virginia health officials warn of possible measles exposure. | Virginia health officials are mounting an effort to identify people who may have recently been exposed to a person with measles. | true | Health, Measles, General News, Virginia, Richmond | The Virginia Department of Health said in a news release Saturday that the person visited the Richmond International Airport Tuesday night and a doctor’s office in suburban Richmond on Thursday afternoon. The department posted detailed instructions online about what to do if you were at either of the locations during c... |
11136 | Is my chemo working? Scans may give faster answer | "As the scores below indicate, this report on the use of PET scans to determine the effectiveness of cancer treatment oversells its promise, under-reports its limits and creates an emotional context that exaggerates both. This is not to suggest that this use of PET scans isn’t promising and worth a story. It is. But th... | false | "The story does not mention costs of PET scans under the proposed use. In this case in particular–where the costs and benefits of PET scans are in hot dispute–this is inexplicable. Conventional PET scan cost is estimated at $3,000 to $5,000. The story makes brief references to two studies, one involving 28 people in Ko... | |
36789 | A mall Santa Claus and his elves beat up a child molester after a little girl confided in him that all she wanted was for her stepfather to stop touching her at night. | Did a Mall Santa and His Elves Beat Up an Accused Child Molester? | false | Crime / Police, Fact Checks, Viral Content | A persistent and untrue story about a mall Santa Claus beating up a child molester after a little girl said “all she wanted was for her stepdad to stop touching her at night” appears every Christmas:Santa beats up a child molester while saying his famous catchphrases pic.twitter.com/mEUd1EfwYB— That Happened (@ThatDefH... |
17467 | Brian Kilmeade Says Colorado food stamp recipients can use ATMs to get cash to buy marijuana. | Fox News’ Kilmeade said ATMs give food stamp recipients in Colorado a way to buy marijuana. The technology behind government electronic benefit cards blocks that. While the card could have cash value from another program such as TANF, no ATM would dispense cash based on a person’s food stamp allowance. | false | Drugs, Welfare, PunditFact, Marijuana, Brian Kilmeade, | "We are a scant few weeks into the era of legal recreational pot in Colorado and so far, there are no reports of increased driving accidents or violence. But Fox News found a different point of concern. Brian Kilmeade, co-host of Fox and Friends, honed in on the connection between pot and food stamps, otherwise known a... |
33401 | New Year's is the day of the year on which the greatest number of people are killed in automobile accidents. | It should be noted that although traffic-related deaths may increase around certain holidays, the number of fatalities across the entire 17-year period covered by the study still averaged 117 per day. As Allan Williams of the IIHS cautioned, “While more deaths do occur on some of the holidays, the toll of fatalities is... | false | Automobiles, new year's, new year's eve, Traffic Accidents | Many a motorist who has set out to drive somewhere on New Year’s Day has departed to an emphatic chorus of “Be careful!” admonitions from relatives, friends, and acquaintances, the presumption being that New Year’s is a particularly dangerous day to be out on public roads. The combination of a holiday noted for alcohol... |
5233 | White House launches website aimed at addiction treatment. | The Trump administration has unveiled a website aimed at helping millions of Americans with substance abuse issues learn about and locate treatment options. | true | Opioids, Addiction treatment, Health, General News, Kellyanne Conway, Politics, Donald Trump | FindTreatment.gov is the latest development in the administration’s effort to address the nation’s opioid crisis. The White House said it believes the site, which went up Wednesday, will enable the tens of millions of Americans with a variety of substance abuse and mental health issues to better access the care they ne... |
5815 | Sens. Markey, Warren press health officials on EEE research. | U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren are pressing federal health officials on research efforts to combat eastern equine encephalitis. | true | Health, General News, Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts, Edward Markey | The two Massachusetts Democrats this week sent a letter to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases within the National Institutes of Health seeking the current state of federal research into EEE and whether research into other viruses could help lead to better treatment for the mosquito-borne infectio... |
3649 | French conservatives protest bill allowing IVF for lesbians. | Several thousand conservative activists of all ages marched through Paris on Sunday to protest a French bill that would give lesbian couples and single women access to in vitro fertilization and related procedures. | true | Couples, Health, General News, France, Lifestyle, International News, Paris, Europe, In vitro fertilization | “Where is my dad?” read some signs as traditional Catholic groups, far-right activists and other marchers weaved from the Luxembourg Garden to the Montparnasse neighborhood, passing by the French Senate. Police guarded several Paris streets as the protest unfolded, notably to prevent tensions with LGBT activists holdin... |
37926 | "Ben Shapiro tweeted that the ""endless parade of jokes"" about him and his wife didn't bother him, because they both know there are ""much more important things in a marriage than sexual satisfaction." | Ben Shapiro’s August 2020 critique of the song “WAP” led to widespread mocking on Twitter, and on August 21 2020, a tweet was attributed to Shapiro. In it, he purportedly said he and his wife “both know there are much more important things in a marriage than sexual satisfaction.” However, the first sharer of the screen... | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | "On August 21 2020, a tweet attributed to right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro appeared:The purported tweet, which spread in screenshot form, said:You know how much this endless parade of jokes about me and my wife bothers me? Not one bit. My wife and I both know there are much more important things in a marriage than sexual ... |
8527 | Could the new coronavirus weaken 'anti-vaxxers'?. | An American mother-of-three is a long-time member of “anti-vaxxer” groups online: a small but vocal global community that believes vaccines are a dangerous con and refuse to immunize themselves or their children. | true | Health News | But COVID-19 is shaking her views. The woman who would identify herself only as Stephanie, citing a fear of reprisals from committed anti-vaxxers, says she is now 50:50 on taking a vaccine should one be discovered for the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. “I’ve definitely thought about it,” she told Re... |
9421 | Bariatric Surgery Helps Teens With Severe Obesity Reduce Heart Disease Risk | This story covers an observational study showing cardiovascular risk factors improved after three years for teens who underwent weight-loss surgery. The story does a good job describing the study, the potential harms of the intervention, and limitations to the findings. One area with room for improvement: it doesn’t me... | true | bariatric surgery,weight loss | There’s no mention of the cost of these procedures or whether they are covered by insurance. The average cost of gastric bypass surgery is $23,000, the average cost of lap band is $14,500, and the average cost of sleeve gastrectomy surgery $14,900, according to the web site ObesityCoverage. The story states: “Before su... |
8757 | Malaria campaigners hopeful on drugs pricing deal. | Anti-malaria campaigners are confident that a deal can be reached with pharmaceuticals groups to cut the cost of new drugs needed to fight a disease estimated to kill more than 1 million people a year. | true | Health News | Negotiations are being held with several big drugs makers as part of a wider drive to bring the cost of so-called artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) down to the level of the older, but now ineffective, chloroquinine treatments. “I am very hopeful that this first stage, the negotiations, will produce re... |
4901 | California bows to beverage industry, blocks soda taxes. | A new push by the beverage industry is slowing the expansion of soda taxes in California and elsewhere. | true | Legislature, Jerry Brown, Health, Sacramento, North America, California, Legislation, Local taxes, U.S. News, Obesity | California cities pioneered soda taxes as a way to combat obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday bowed to pressure from beverage companies and reluctantly banned local taxes on soda for the next 12 years. It follows similar bans recently passed in Arizona and Michigan.... |
5574 | Groups ask UW-Madison to require meningitis B vaccine. | Immunization groups and the mother of a student who died from bacterial meningitis are urging the University of Wisconsin-Madison to require the meningitis B vaccine. | true | Madison, Wisconsin, Meningitis, Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, University of Wisconsin, Immunizations | A coalition sent letters this month to universities, asking campuses to join Indiana University and Purdue University in the vaccination requirement, The Wisconsin State Journal reported. The shots are typically covered by insurance and cost about $200. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that chi... |
24787 | "On attacks by Republicans that various programs in the economic stimulus plan are not stimulative, ""If you add all that stuff up, it accounts for less than 1 percent of the overall package." | Obama says Republicans are quibbling over less than 1 percent of the stimulus plan | mixture | National, Economy, Stimulus, Barack Obama, | "In the battle for public opinion, Republican opponents of President Obama's economic stimulus plan have repeatedly scored points by ticking off various spending programs that seem hard to defend as economic stimulus. Hundreds of millions for contraceptives. Hundreds millions more for sexually transmitted disease preve... |
40826 | The number of hospital beds for people with acute mental health conditions has fallen by 30%. | These years aren’t comparable due to a change in collection method from 2010. Between 2010 and 2017 there was a 22% drop. | unproven | mental-health | The number of mental health nurses has fallen from 46,155 to 39,358 [since 2009]. This is the difference in the number of mental health and learning disabilities nurses between two different months which isn’t the best way to compare the figures. Comparing the figures in September 2009 and 2017 shows the drop has been ... |
29429 | Tequila fights viruses, aids weight loss, and is beneficial for people afflicted with gastrointestinal illness. | All in all, the primary beneficial effect of tequila appears to be that some people enjoy drinking it. | false | Medical, bad science, not actually a study, tequila | In late October 2016, a number of Facebook posts asserted that tequila, a strong liquor distilled from fermented mash of the agave plant, acts as a probiotic and confers myriad health benefits: Multiple claims were presented in the clip displayed above, the first of which was that doctors purportedly prescribed a “teq... |
22382 | Not even expensive bottled water, like Perrier and Evian, are of good enough quality to pump out of mines in Southwest Virginia, according to the EPA regulation. | Morgan Griffith says EPA standards are so strict that Perrier would not pass | false | Environment, Virginia, Morgan Griffith, | "What do French bottled water and Appalachian streams have in common? More than you might think, according to Rep. H. Morgan Griffith, R-9th. A vocal opponent of the Environmental Protection Agency, the southwest Virginia legislator pledged in February to roll back regulations governing water from mountain-top mining a... |
10643 | Some transplant patients OK without years of drug treatment | "Acute rejection is a major concern in organ transplantation. Rejection is normally treated and prevented with immune supressing drugs, including steroids, to prevent the body from attacking the foreign organ. However these drugs are associated with significant side effects and harms, especially when taken for long per... | true | "Although the story mentions the cost of immunosuppressant drugs, the story does not mention the cost of the new transplant technique. Given the preliminary nature of the findings, it is not yet possible to quantify the benefits of the new transplantation technique. The story does not mention any potential harms of the... | |
2163 | After damaging Reuters report, J&J doubles down on talc safety message. | Johnson & Johnson Inc’s statement was unequivocal. | true | Health News | """The FDA has tested Johnson's talc since the '70s. Every single time it did not contain asbestos,"" the company said in a Dec. 19 tweet. It followed by several days the publication of a Reuters investigation (here) that found the healthcare conglomerate knew for decades that the carcinogen lurked in its Baby Powder a... |
41002 | China has closed down its last coronavirus hospital. Not enough new cases to support them. | This is correct. The last hospitals closed at the start of March 2020. | 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... |
9241 | Toothpaste significantly reduces dental plaque and inflammation throughout the body | This news release about a small pilot study of a brand of toothpaste that displays plaque on teeth plays up potential, but unproven benefits, while ignoring serious weaknesses in the research. The release notes the study found people using Plaque HD toothpaste for a couple of months had less plaque and lower levels of ... | false | dental plaque,Florida Atlantic University,plaque displaying toothpaste | Plaque HD toothpaste is very expensive: $16.95 plus $5.75 shipping for a single 4.1-ounce tube, according to the manufacturer’s website, compared to less than $5 for a similar amount of conventional toothpaste. Also, plaque disclosing tablets can be bought for about 10 to 25 cents each. These don’t have to be used ever... |
37490 | A viral Facebook post represents an open letter from a grocery store manager during the coronavirus pandemic, addressing common misconceptions by shoppers. | Coronavirus ‘Memo from a Grocery Store Manager’ | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | An April 7 2020 Facebook post — purportedly a message from an overworked grocery store manager — racked up over half a million shares in just a few days.The post, accompanied by an image of (what looked to be pre-COVID-19 pandemic) supermarket shelves, was an apparent chain letter posted by user Roy Allen Stagg. It rea... |
34728 | House Bill 896, considered by the Texas House of Representatives in 2019, would have the effect of making abortion punishable by death. | There is momentum building for fetal-heartbeat bills in Republican-dominated state legislatures. Texas, Missouri, Tennessee and Florida are expected to approve similar measures this year. Ohio’s legislature approved one on Wednesday, and the governor is expected to sign it. States like Ohio and Tennessee are also consi... | mixture | Politics | In April 2019, a legislative proposal in the state of Texas garnered nationwide attention, including in the form of a widely-shared meme posted by the “Other 98%” Facebook page, which proclaimed that “Texas is considering the death penalty for women who have an abortion. They are now so ‘Pro-Life’ they want to kill you... |
29120 | A 13-year-old boy in Thailand died from pumping air up his rectum to get high. | "What's true: A Thai teenager died from a punctured intestine brought about by compressed air being forced into his rectum. What's false: The death was not part of a ""fad"" for getting high, but rather the result of a prank perpetrated upon the victim by others that went wrong." | mixture | Horrors, freakish fatalities | Originally making the cyberspace rounds in mid-1997, a fancifully-embellished cautionary tale has been enshrined as one of the Internet’s “Darwin Awards.” Though the story was often identified as an article from the 15 August 1993 Japan Times, we found no evidence that news outlet ever published it: “The government mu... |
9087 | Comprehensive meta-analysis affirms cranberries' role in promoting a healthy urinary tract | The release focuses on a recent journal article that reviews the available medical literature concerning the effects of cranberry consumption on preventing urinary tract infections (UTIs). The release tells readers that “healthcare professionals should be telling their patients to have cranberry products as a first ste... | mixture | cranberries,Cranberry Institute,urinary tract infections | The release notes that “cranberry products are low cost,” which is fair enough and is sufficient to earn this a satisfactory rating. The issue of cost is, however, complicated by the fact that the release offers no information on what sort of cranberry products a patient may use. Is one glass of cranberry juice per day... |
6431 | Hospital says it will be diverting trauma patients elsewhere. | A Philadelphia hospital that earlier announced plans to close this fall has given notice that it will immediately begin diverting trauma victims to other facilities despite a state warning against taking steps toward closure. | true | Health, General News, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Trauma | Hahnemann University Hospital said Saturday that it notified the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation Friday night that it was “de-designating” as a Level 1 and 2 trauma facility, effective immediately. Hospital chief medical officer Dr. Alexander Trebelev cited “clinical and operational challenges” that prevented th... |
32015 | Abortion rates drop during Democratic presidencies and rise during Republican administrations. | Multiple factors influence the incidence of abortion including the availability of abortion providers; state regulations, such as mandatory waiting periods, parental involvement laws, and legal restrictions on abortion providers; increasing acceptance of nonmarital childbearing; shifts in the racial/ethnic composition ... | false | Politics, abortion | In 1969, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began collecting nationwide data on the numbers of abortions, the abortion ratio (abortions versus live births), and the abortion rate (abortions versus the US population of women aged 15-44 years old). While these data are not perfect due to inconsistent (a... |
10520 | Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs May Cut RA Risk | Of the two stories we reviewed that reported the findings of a study showing an association between statin use and lower rates of rheumatoid arthritis, this one does the better job highlighting the preliminary nature of the research. Comments from a researcher about the need for further study before suggesting statins ... | mixture | The story does not mention the costs of statin therapy, which include not only the drug itself but also ongoing testing and other monitoring. For some patients, statins are part of a lifelong treatment regimen. In those cases in particular, the costs can really add up. The story does not clearly explain what a 40 perce... | |
1837 | Berkeley residents to vote on soda tax in November. | A California college town known for its liberal activism will vote in November on whether to place a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages, touching off the latest obesity-fighting campaign in the United States. | true | Health News | Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to add the measure in the form of a referendum on the city’s ballot, drawing cheers of support from residents and health advocates, and vows to fight from the U.S. food and beverage industry. “When we pass this measure in November, Berkeley will be the first in the country where ... |
9595 | Cutting Sugar Rapidly Improves Heart Health Markers | Reducing sugar—but not calories—in the diets of a small group of children who have obesity led to substantial reductions in heart disease risk factors in only nine days, a new study shows. This brief New York Times Well blog post does a good job explaining these details, including the cautionary information that the st... | mixture | childhood obesity | The brief text reflects only on removing highly sugared foods in the diet of children. Replacement foods used in the study were commonly available at no obvious extra cost. This short narrative does an admirable job of getting specific about physiological changes that took place in these children over the course of nin... |
29722 | Debby Ryan had a heart attack after learning that her former co-star Cameron Boyce had passed away. | We need to use what we have and make the world a better place for other people, other people, people who need us. | false | Junk News | On July 6, 2019, fans of actor Cameron Boyce were shocked and saddened to learn that the 20-year-old Disney star had passed away after experiencing a seizure. As celebrities and fans mourned the loss of Boyce on social media, a rumor began to circulate that actress Debby Ryan had suffered a heart attack after hearing t... |
38707 | Author and filmmaker Bill Still has followed up on reports that a UPS cargo plane smuggled illegal immigrants into the country at an airport in Harrison, Pennsylvania. | The World Health Organization and Congolese authorities are proposing changes to how some Ebola patients are cared for, new guidelines show, after a patient’s death challenged the accepted medical theory that survivors are immune to reinfection. | false | Immigration | There are many unanswered questions surrounding the circumstances of the woman’s death in Democratic Republic of Congo, which has not previously been reported. But it has raised concerns because the woman, whose name has not been released for confidentiality reasons, was thought to have had immunity after surviving inf... |
9424 | Do you take calcium and vitamin D to protect your bones? A new study says it doesn't help | Getty Images Reporting on a large review study, this Los Angeles Times article walks readers through the conflicting advice and evidence about calcium and vitamin D supplements. Both compounds play roles in bone health and the routinely accepted claim is that supplementation can help prevent bone breaks in older people... | true | calcium,osteoporosis,Vitamin D | Given that the premise of the story is explaining there is no benefit to taking these supplements, we’ll rate this N/A. That said, it would have been interesting to explore the cost-savings for people if they decide to stop buying calcium and vitamin D. The story does a good job of letting readers know that there was n... |
3807 | Pingree critical of Trump’s plan to lower drug prices. | Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine is criticizing the Trump administration for abandoning pledges to let the federal government’s Medicare program negotiate lower drug prices and to allow drugs to be reimported from Canada. | true | Medication, Prescription drug costs, Medicare, Prescription drugs, Canada, Maine, Chellie Pingree, Donald Trump | Pingree said she believes consumers will not see any relief from rising drug costs unless both of those steps are taken. President Donald Trump on Friday rolled out a blueprint for lowering prescription drug costs that includes a requirement that drugmakers disclose medication costs in television advertisements. Other ... |
10486 | Study: CT scans can reduce lung cancer deaths by 20% | Just as we went to publish this review, we noticed that USA Today had published an updated version of the story one day after the original story was published. To be consistent with our reviews of the AP, New York Times and Reuters stories – all of whose first-day versions were reviewed, our comments pertain only to th... | mixture | Cancer,Screening,USA Today | The original USA Today story did not give the cost of such scans. It also didn’t project the potential cost of followup testing and treatment when false positives arise. It did note two important pieces of cost information: “Insurance companies don’t pay for lung screenings, according to the National Cancer Institute.”... |
9587 | New Asthma Treatment: Pill Makes Huge Difference In Patients With Severe Symptoms | This story is one of two we’re reviewing that describes a clinical trial for fevipiprant, an asthma pill under development by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. The other review covers a story in Reuters. This story offers readers no information beyond the contents of a news release from the University of Leicester (England), w... | false | asthma | The story does not address how much fevipiprant might cost or the cost of currently available treatments. The story explains that the study involved 61 participants, about half of whom were given fevipiprant and half were given a placebo. It accurately reports that over the course of 12 weeks, researchers found that th... |
5342 | Chicago-area medical equipment cleaning plant won’t reopen. | Sterigenics, the medical supply sterilization company that has been battling lawsuits and claims of increased cancer rates from fumes, announced Monday it has decided against reopening its suburban Chicago plant. | true | Cancer, Chicago, Health, General News, Illinois, Medical equipment, U.S. News | The company said it will close the plant in Willowbrook, blaming “inaccurate and unfounded claims regarding Sterigenics and the unstable legislative and regulatory landscape in Illinois.” In August, nearly three dozen people sued Sterigenics, claiming fumes from ethylene oxide, used to sterilize medical equipment at th... |
10055 | Stomach Balloons Used to Fight Weight Gain | This is a story about “A balloon inserted into (the) stomach in a procedure that lasts less than 20 minutes. European doctors hail the technique as a simple, less invasive way to fight obesity.” It’s another surgical intervention that may aid with weight loss. The potential harms, benefits and costs of the treatment ar... | mixture | No estimate of costs provided No real estimate of benefit given other than the results of a few cases. Harms of treatment only provided as an anecdote from one patient without estimates of prevelance. Weight re-gain is clearly mentioned. Source of the clinical evidence for the maintenance of weight loss with the balloo... | |
8969 | Simple score to diagnose heart attacks is safer, faster than current methods | Possible heart attack symptoms require a physician’s attention, but determining who is actually having a heart attack and who is not is challenging. A global research team combined three commonly used tests into a single laboratory score that appears to do a better job of differentiating between higher and lower heart ... | mixture | Canadian Medical Association Journal,heart attack diagnosis | Although the release characterizes the chemistry tests that make up the scoring system as “common,” it offers no information about the cost of each or the likely cost of aggregating them into the recommended scoring system. The text gets specific about more accurate predictions stemming from the scoring system. But oth... |
23495 | (Jeff) Atwater's bank was so weak that just a few months ago it was shut down by the FDIC. | The fate of thousands of lawsuits seeking to hold drugmakers responsible for fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic hinges in part on a thorny legal question: Can a company use a bankruptcy to stop lawsuits from cities and states? | mixture | Candidate Biography, Financial Regulation, Housing, Message Machine 2010, Florida, Loranne Ausley, | U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross is expected in July to decide whether to halt more than 160 active lawsuits brought by state attorneys general, cities and counties against opioid manufacturer Insys Therapeutics Inc. When it filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware earlier this month, Insys requested the cases be p... |
29920 | Police are seeking the impeachment of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for treason. | We reached out to Marjorie Greene and Law Enforcement Today for comment, but neither responded to our requests. | false | Politics, nancy pelosi | In late January 2019, amidst a continuing impasse between Democrats and Republicans over what steps should be taken to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, an editorial titled “Police Are Now Seeking the Removal of Nancy Pelosi” was published on the website Law Enforcement Today. As speaker of the House, Pelosi (D-California... |
6534 | Scientists aim at joint injuries that can trigger arthritis. | Arthritis isn’t always from the wear and tear of getting older — younger adults too often get it after suffering knee or ankle injuries. Now researchers are hunting a way to stave off the damage, by targeting the little energy factories that power cartilage cells. | true | Medication, University of Iowa, Health, Arthritis, North America, Injuries | University of Iowa scientists used pigs to mimic the cascade of cartilage damage that can begin with a broken ankle. Wednesday’s study found using some old medications in a new way — rapidly injecting them into the animals’ joints — interrupted that cycle of cell dysfunction to protect against arthritis. The researcher... |
41313 | Formaldehyde is in vaccines and causes cancer in humans among other issues and is banned from vaccines in most European countries. | It’s not banned in Europe. There are only trace amounts in certain vaccines and not enough to be carcinogenic. | 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... |
4120 | CDC: Unvaccinated Oregon boy almost dies of tetanus. | An unvaccinated 6-year-old Oregon boy was hospitalized for two months for tetanus and almost died of the bacterial illness after getting a deep cut while playing on a farm, according to a case study published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. | true | AP Top News, Immunizations, Tetanus, Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oregon, North America, Infectious diseases, Portland, U.S. News | The 2017 case is the first case of pediatric tetanus in Oregon in more than 30 years and alarmed infectious disease experts who said tetanus is almost unheard of in the U.S. since widespread immunization began in the 1940s. The child received an emergency dose of the tetanus vaccine in the hospital, but his parents dec... |
8791 | Viagra helps depressed women get satisfaction too. | Viagra, a popular anti-impotence pill, may help some women on antidepressants have better sex, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. | true | Science News | Viagra pills are seen in a handout photo. REUTERS/PRNewsFoto They found women on antidepressants who took Viagra had fewer sexual side effects than those who took a placebo. Sexual dysfunction can prompt many people to stop taking drugs to treat depression. While other studies have hinted that Viagra might help these w... |
28338 | "In 2014, Mexican authorities arrested and tortured a U.S. Marine for ""accidentally crossing the border,"" tying him to a bed for nine months in the process. " | What's true: Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was arrested in Tijuana after crossing the border into Mexico on 31 March 2014. He was imprisoned for seven months and claims to have been beaten and abused during his incarceration. What's false: Tahmooressi was arrested and charged with weapons-traffi... | mixture | Politics, mexico | In the autumn of 2018, the journey of a “caravan” of thousands of migrants from Central America towards the United States’ southern border dominated news coverage and debate for weeks. On 25 November, hundreds of the migrants, most of them from Honduras, were met by U.S. federal agents at the border post of San Ysidro ... |
4249 | Debra Stephens elected as new chief justice of Supreme Court. | Justice Debra Stephens has been elected by her fellow members of the Washington Supreme Court to be chief justice next year. | true | Cancer, Health, General News, Washington, Elections | Stephens, 54, will replace current Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst, who announced last month she will retire from the high court in January to focus on her health as she fights a third bout of cancer. The chief justice presides over the court’s public hearings, serves as the administrative head of the state’s judicial bra... |
9538 | New statin guidelines: Everyone 40 and older should be considered for the drug therapy | Despite an alarmist headline, this report of the USPSTF’s recommendations on statin therapy is relatively thorough, with some notable exceptions. The strength of the evidence underlying the recommendations is not discussed and the actual amount of potential benefit from statin therapy is not mentioned, nor is the poten... | mixture | statins | Costs of the drugs are not included. Recently, total costs for statin therapy in the U.S. were estimated at approximately $17 billion. It would also be useful to know that there is a wide variety in prices over the many statins currently on the market. We don’t know to what extent people in this category of risk (more ... |
41043 | If the new coronavirus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through the oesophagus. Once they’re in the stomach, the acid will kill the virus. If you don't drink enough water more regularly, the virus can enter your windpipes and into the lungs. | This is incorrect. Drinking water does not prevent an infection. | true | online | If the new coronavirus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through the oesophagus. Once they’re in the stomach, the acid will kill the virus. If you don't drink enough water more regularly, the virus can enter your windpipes and into the lungs. If you have a runny nose and sputum, ... |
10987 | Fish Oil May Fight Psychosis | This news story reports on results from a recent randomized trial, which found that taking fish oil capsules reduces the risk of psychosis in high-risk teens. While the results of this study seem exciting, this story tempers this excitement by indicating that further research is needed, particularly to determine if the... | true | There was no mention of the cost of dietary fish oil supplements. This story clearly tells us that after one year, 11 out of 40 people in the placebo group developed a psychotic disorder, compared to 2 of the 41 people in the fish oil group. Additionally, the writer also presents the data in terms of number needed to t... | |
11222 | Medtronic’s Infuse a hit in growth of spine fusion | "This story comes from the newspaper in the town where one of the product manufacturers is headquartered. Perhaps not surprisingly, it included more of the company’s perspectives than other stories we reviewed. Examples: The story’s headline in print read: “Medtronic’s Infuse a hit in growth of spine fusion."" You’d ... | mixture | "This story provides cost estimates for the product, as well as for spinal fusion surgery. Even though the study in JAMA compared hospital charges associated with BMP use in spinal surgery with non-BMP spinal surgeries, these figures were not provided in this news story. (The median hospital charges for spinal fusion p... | |
5660 | Ebola vaccine hampered by deep distrust in eastern Congo. | Until his last breath, Salomon Nduhi Kambale insisted he had been poisoned by someone and that was the reason he was vomiting blood. The 30-year-old man wouldn’t give community health teams his phone number, and when they found it, he hung up on them. | true | AP Top News, International News, Ebola virus, Public health, Africa, Health, Science, General News | Health workers were desperate to persuade him to get vaccinated for Ebola after a friend fell ill with the lethal and highly contagious disease. But within days, Nduhi was dead. His widow and their four young children were given his positive Ebola test result and a chilling warning from a team of health workers: “If yo... |
5460 | Documents: Labor agency rebuked Illinois VA on Legionnaires. | Illinois workplace safety officials reprimanded state veterans’ officials for how the agency told staffers about a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at a Quincy veterans’ home, according to documents. | true | Quincy, Chicago, Health, Workplace safety, Legionnaires disease, Illinois, Disease outbreaks, Veterans | The Illinois Department of Labor reproach focused on emails that Illinois Veterans Home administrators sent to state workers, WBEZ Chicago reported Thursday. State labor officials said the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs “failed to effectively notify all employees” about the outbreak. Labor officials also said... |
24487 | Baseball and insurance are the only industries exempt from antitrust laws. | Liberal group says health insurance, baseball are only industries exempt from antitrust laws | false | National, Baseball, Health Care, Americans United for Change, | "Supporters of the Democratic health care plan have invoked baseball in their latest television ad that tries to demonize the health insurance industry. In the 30-second ad, the liberal group Americans United for Change asks, ""How are professional baseball and insurance companies alike? Baseball and insurance are the ... |
124 | Teva's UK arm recalls some batches of Ranitidine: Medicines watchdog. | Teva Pharmaceutical’s UK unit has recalled some batches of heartburn medicine Ranitidine, Britain’s medicines watchdog said on Thursday, making it the latest drugmaker to pull the product. | true | Health News | Teva, the world's largest generic drugmaker, is recalling all unexpired stock of Ranitidine Effervescent Tablets in 150 micrograms and 300 micrograms dosages, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said here Teva did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rantidine, a copycat of Glax... |
15850 | The measles vaccine has killed 108 people in the last decade, while no one has died of measles. | Anti-vax measles claim misinterprets data | false | Georgia, Health Care, Public Health, NaturalNews.com, | "The current measles outbreak has prompted some scientific-sounding claims about the dangers of vaccines. PolitiFact Georgia already ruled an outlandish statement reviving the threat of ""mercury"" in childhood vaccines, particularly the MMR shot for measles, mumps and rubella. Some readers challenged that conclusion, ... |
16550 | "Under a proposed medical marijuana amendment in Florida, ""you don't get refills -- you get it forever." | "Miguel said when it comes to doctor’s recommendations for medical marijuana, ""You don't get refills, you get it forever."" He was referring to how a doctor’s ""recommendation"" for cannabis does not allow the same level of control as a medical prescription does. He said there was no written limitation on how much or ... | false | Florida Amendments, Health Care, Florida, Marijuana, Drug Free America, | "Opponents have made many arguments against Florida’s proposed medical marijuana amendment, but here’s a new one: They say patients would be able to get an unlimited amount of pot should the measure pass. Dr. Rafael Miguel, director of the Sarasota Memorial Institute for Advanced Medicine's Pain Medicine Program, was o... |
37267 | An eRumor warning that Senator Obama still smokes, has a medical history of both parents dying at an early age and Senator Biden has had two brain aneurysms. If they were to both die while in office the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, would take over as President. | Obama & Biden Health Concerns? Truth! & Fiction! | mixture | Obama, Politics | The Los Angeles Times reported on May 30, 2008 that the Democratic Campaign released a doctor’s letter that Barack Obama was in “in excellent health”. The letter, by his longtime physician, stated that although the Senator had not undergone a physical examination for sixteen months that he was physically able... |
22938 | We were one of the first states in the U.S. to build sewers, to bring the treatment plant on line. | Rhode Island was one of first states to build sewers and treatment plants | true | Environment, Rhode Island, Jamie Samons, | "In hindsight, World Toilet Day came not a moment too soon. With a sputtering economy and high unemployment, Rhode Island has had precious few bright spots to brag about in recent years. But on Nov. 19, the Narragansett Bay Commission, which operates two major sewage-treatment plants, celebrated World Toilet Day by poi... |
10129 | Fighting genetic disease with help from HIV virus | This is an originally reported, people-driven story about children with a rare and deadly genetic disease known as metachromatic leukodystrophy undergoing an experimental gene therapy as part of a clinical trial in Italy. The preliminary results of the trial are very intriguing, and the two siblings in the story are cu... | false | CBS News | Gene therapies are astronomically expensive; Glybera, the only approved gene therapy in the world, costs around $1 million and has only been used once. Nowhere is the potential cost of the treatment mentioned by the reporter, despite interviewing a woman financially supporting families to get their children into the cl... |
31943 | The United States military recruited Native Americans as scouts in the Vietnam War and — in the course of their training — the military discovered that long hair actually helps give people ‘almost supernatural’ tracking abilities. | This fanciful tale relies on the unsourced and unverifiable claim from a website that frequently peddles highly shareable stories having little to no scientific legitimacy, and it appears that the tale of long-haired Native American scouts in Vietnam belongs to that genre. Not a single piece of historical evidence supp... | false | Science, native americans | A popular story that has been in circulation online since at least 2010 is one that involves long-haired Native Americans serving as scouts in the Vietnam War. The earliest mention of the tale we found was an 8 December 2010 post from the self-described “Indiana Jones of the superfoods and longevity universe,” David ‘A... |
10821 | Drug Reverses Diabetes-Related Vision Loss | The key difference between this and the NYT story was that WebMD didn’t reflect on the question of why Genentech didn’t test its cheaper Avastin against the much more expensive Lucentis. The important issue of corporate sponsorship of a clinical trial was overlooked. You want to talk about comparative effectiveness res... | true | "The story covers cost in the very last two lines. Adequate quantification of benefits seen in the study. Story says ""few eye-related complications"" were reported in the Lucentis group, but didn’t say what few means or what they were. We don’t think that’s quite adequate. Adequate job explaining how the study was don... | |
35671 | A video shows Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates briefing the CIA in 2005 about a mind-altering vaccine. | A years-old hoax recirculated in 2020 — this time with Gates' name attached to it. | false | Science | In May 2020, a video (below) supposedly showing Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates briefing the CIA about a mind-altering vaccine was circulated on social media. But the presenter in this footage is not Gates. Furthermore, this is not a genuine presentation to the CIA in 2005. This is a hoax video that was likely created ... |
10736 | International Study Finds Effective, Less Toxic Way to Treat Brain Tumors | A comparison of radiation treatments for some patients with metastatic brain tumors produced useful evidence that adding whole brain radiation to radiation focused on just the tumors was associated with more cognitive declines and lower quality of life, without adding to survival. That’s a noteworthy finding, but the n... | mixture | Academic medical center news release,Cancer | Since both the focused radiation and whole brain radiation are common treatments for brain tumors, an estimate of typical costs should have been included in the release. There is likely to be a range of costs because of issues with the specific tumor target. However, the release could have made note of that. The releas... |
10334 | Scientists Puzzle Over Minor Success Of AIDS Vaccine | While many other news organizations were calling a Thailand AIDS vaccine trial a breakthrough, this story provides caveats, some skepticism, loads of context, comparisons with other vaccines and historical perspective. You can read the criterion by criterion analysis below, but this is the way early announcements of ex... | true | "At this early phase of research it’s understandable that cost wouldn’t be discussed. It provided the outcomes in absolute terms – which we appreciate: ""Of 8,197 people who got vaccine, 51 became infected in the three years after their shots. Of the 8,198 who got placebo injections, 74 became infected. While that dif... | |
7660 | WHO says new China coronavirus could spread, warns hospitals worldwide. | There may have been limited human-to-human transmission of a new coronavirus in China within families, and it is possible there could be a wider outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause infections ranging from the common cold to SARS. A Chinese woman has been quarantined in Thailand with a mystery strain of coronavirus, Thai authorities said on Monday, the first time the virus has been detected outside China. In all, 41 cases of pneumonia have... |
10011 | Ultrasound With Elastography May Cut Down on Biopsies | Recent debates on the value of mammography screening have highlighted its major downfall – the high chance of having false positive results, which lead to unnecessary biopsies. Ultrasonography after a suspicious finding on a mammogram can help further discriminate potentially benign from cancerous lesions, however thes... | false | The story makes no mention of the cost of elastography. The use of a second additive technology will clearly add to the costs of diagnosis unless the sensitivity and specificity of the test is sufficiently high to reduce unnecessary biopsies. The potential cost implications of this added technology are not noted in the... | |
9738 | New Evidence Resveratrol May Slow Alzheimer’s | Resveratrol is an antioxidant compound found in grapes and red wine. This story reports on a recent well done randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial that finds high doses of resveratrol can have an effect on the production of a biomarker associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The story also highlights some modest ... | false | resveratrol | The story does not mention cost at all. But in this case we’ll rule this Not Applicable since the story clearly indicates that the supplements studied are not on the market. The story has a fundamental flaw. The key finding of the study is that high doses of resveratrol can have an effect on the production of amyloid-b... |
10255 | Study Finds Single, Escalated Dose of Brachytherapy Radiation May Be a Safe and Effective Treatment for Localized Prostate Cancer | This news release from a professional society of radiation oncologists summarizes a trial in 58 men with Stage 1 localized prostate cancer that found using a single treatment of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy (where radioactive implants are inserted directly into the tissue) may be an acceptable and safe alternativ... | false | Association/Society news release | There was zero mention of cost, which is unfortunate because presumably a single treatment would entail fewer costs than one that involved multiple procedures. The main benefit focused on a vaguely described “biochemical progression,” which means that there was some evidence that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels ... |
16127 | In 2012, 123 African-Americans were shot dead by police. ... Same year, 326 whites were killed by police. | O’Reilly said, 123 African-Americans and 326 white people were shot dead by police in 2012. He referenced recent federal numbers but failed to mention their well-documented flaws. We have not found any experts who will vouch for numbers that purport to represent annual fatal shootings by police, as there are gaping hol... | false | Crime, Race and Ethnicity, Urban, PunditFact, Bill O'Reilly, | "Bill O’Reilly made headlines this week by offering his take on a silent Ferguson protest by a few members of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, saying the decision of the players ""connotes the fact that they believe, I guess, that white police officers shoot black youths all the time."" That’s out of bounds of a fact-check. B... |
2821 | FDA rejects wider use of Amag anemia drug; shares slide. | Amag Pharmaceuticals Inc said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected its application for wider use of its iron deficiency drug due to safety concerns and asked for more trial data, sending its shares down as much as 15 percent. | true | Health News | In a “complete response letter” to Amag, the FDA suggested that the company generate additional safety data for the wider patient population and evaluate the dosing or administration of the drug, Feraheme. “The FDA did propose that the company conduct additional trials,” Amag Chief Executive William Heiden told Reuters... |
34242 | A 9-year-old girl was paralyzed as a result of receiving a flu shot. | Rare neurological disorders which have their onset at around the time a child is of the correct age to receive a vaccine are often asserted to be caused by those vaccines based on temporal proximity, despite a lack of conclusive evidence to draw a mechanistic link. The available evidence does not support a connection b... | unproven | Medical, anti-vaccine, flu shot, natural news | One commonly repeated incident that propagates and recirculates on anti-vaccine websites is that of a nine-year-old Florida girl who developed an extremely rare neurological condition known as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) five days following her immunization for the flu in November 2013. The incident its... |
4759 | Groups ‘skeptical’ of Savannah harbor oxygen injector test. | Conservation groups “remain skeptical” that machines injecting oxygen into the Savannah harbor will offset threats to fish caused by deepening the busy shipping channel to the Port of Savannah, but they won’t return to court to fight the $973 million project, according to the environmental groups’ attorney. | true | Savannah, Fish, Environment, General News, Harbors, Laws | The Southern Environmental Law Center submitted its response Friday to a two-month test run the Army Corps of Engineers conducted to show it could mechanically replace a small loss of dissolved oxygen in the stretch of the Savannah River being deepened to make room for larger cargo ships. “Overall, it appears that the ... |
27392 | "California schoolteacher Gregory Salcido called members of the United States military ""the lowest of our low"" during a classroom discussion." | Gregory Salcido, who is also a City Council member in Pico Rivera, was caught on video making a series of controversial remarks about the armed services. | true | Politics | On 26 January 2018, a Connecticut woman posted video to her Facebook page that was apparently video from a hidden camera showing California high school teacher Gregory Salcido talking pejoratively about the U.S. military: Salcido is both a long-time teacher at El Rancho High School and a city councilman in Pico Rivera... |
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