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34463 | Capsaicin, the spice-causing molecule in chili peppers, can help beat breast cancer. | All told, the potential cancer fighting properties of capsaicin are not all that new, but the discovery of this specific pathway for a capsaicin-like chemical to exploit is an exciting (if extremely preliminary) step in the fight against this extremely common form of cancer. | unproven | Medical, cancer cure, food | On 13 December 2016, a team of researchers from Germany published a study that both hypothesized a mechanism by which capsaicin (the chemical in chili peppers responsible for their spiciness) could combat breast cancer cells, and also demonstrated its potential on a cell line representative of the most aggressive form ... |
2466 | Scientists to cook world's first in-vitro beef burger. | A corner of west London will see culinary and scientific history made on Monday when scientists cook and serve up the world’s first lab-grown beef burger. | true | Science News | The in-vitro burger, cultured from cattle stem cells, the first example of what its creator says could provide an answer to global food shortages and help combat climate change, will be fried in a pan and tasted by two volunteers. The burger is the result of years of research by Dutch scientist Mark Post, a vascular bi... |
35147 | Drinking boiled garlic water will cure COVID-19. | BBC News similarly reported of this rumor that: | false | Medical, COVID-19 | In early 2020 the global spread of COVID-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus, saw the internet flooded with dubious medical advice about how to avoid or cure the illness. One such example — supposedly originating with the medical sage known as “old Chinese doctor” — held that consuming a bowl of boiled garlic w... |
8169 | Faced with a shortage of face masks, some U.S. doctors make their own. | Doctors in Seattle have been reduced to making their own face masks out of sheets of plastic, after a global shortage of medical protective gear has hit Washington state, an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. | true | Health News | Ahead of an anticipated shortage of medical supplies, hospital staff met in a conference room south of Seattle to make homemade masks for the doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the frontline of tackling the coronavirus outbreak. “We’re days away from running out of the equipment we need,” said Meliss... |
2592 | Italy court ruling links mobile phone use to tumor. | Italy’s supreme court has upheld a ruling that said there was a link between a business executive’s brain tumor and his heavy mobile phone usage, potentially opening the door to further legal claims. | true | Health News | The court’s decision flies in the face of much scientific opinion, which generally says there is not enough evidence to declare a link between mobile phone use and diseases such as cancer and some experts said the Italian ruling should not be used to draw wider conclusions about the subject. “Great caution is needed be... |
9165 | Technique improves breast reduction outcomes | This news release from Louisiana State Health Sciences Center summarizes results from a retrospective study of two different surgical procedures used in cosmetic breast reduction. The release claims that a modified version of reduction surgery results in fewer cases of breast pseudoptosis, also called “bottoming out” o... | mixture | breast reduction surgery,Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center,reduction mammaplasty | The release doesn’t mention cost. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the average cost of breast reduction (for aesthetic patients only) is $5,631. Some insurance carriers don’t cover cosmetic breast reduction surgery. In that case, patients must pay for the procedure out-of-pocket. The direct cost o... |
7172 | Oregon plans meetings on proposed controlled burn rules. | Oregon agencies are holding a series of public meetings on measures aimed at reducing wildfire smoke by increasing controlled burns during non-fire seasons. | true | Environment, Oregon, Controlled burns, Forestry, Air quality, Medford | The Mail Tribune reports the state forestry and environmental quality departments will hold a meeting next week in Medford, which has recorded 23 unhealthy air quality days because of smoke this summer. The state is seeking feedback on rules that would make it easier to conduct controlled burns as a way of reducing the... |
33787 | "Sororities are outlawed on certain campuses because local ""brothel laws"" prohibit more than a specified number of females from living together." | "We have heard from many students who were convinced their particular university lacks a sorority because of local ""law.""" | false | College, Hallowed Halls, Risqué Business | This mistaken belief has been recorded since the 1960s and is probably a great deal older than that. Its possible origin might lie in a mental confluence of half-remembered tidbits about old time “blue laws“ mixed with a healthy dollop of badly-parsed newer input about zoning laws adopted by various communities in more... |
7621 | Windsor doctor joining direct primary care movement. | Dr. Emily Anderson-Elder carefully considered her patient’s symptoms: | true | Health, Greeley, Elder care | - Frustration over limited time spent with patients. - Inordinate amounts of time inputting required data. - Side effects including high levels of stress. The patient? Herself. The remedy? “I did the research and found direct primary care,” said Anderson-Elder of Windsor. And in June she joined Dr. Frank Morgan at Bala... |
8853 | "New kind of gene ""silencing"" drug works in monkeys." | A new class of drug that fine tunes the action of genes has been shown to cut cholesterol in monkeys and may fight a range of ills, including hepatitis C and perhaps cancer, scientists said on Wednesday. | true | Science News | The compound, from Danish biotech firm Santaris Pharma, works by blocking or “silencing” microRNAs — tiny strands of RNA, or ribonucleic acid, that help turn genes into proteins. The ground-breaking study is the first demonstration of microRNA silencing in primates and an early endorsement of the technique. Phase I... |
7084 | Activists warn Balkan rivers at risk from hydropower plants. | Unspoiled rivers in the Balkans are facing new dangers from small hydropower plants that have sprouted up across the region in recent years, environmental experts warned Thursday. | true | International News, Dams, General News, Environment, Sarajevo, Europe | In a declaration issued after a meeting in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, they urged Balkan governments to halt any further construction of hydro dams. “We want everybody to see that it is bad, and it is wrong and that we are devastating our natural beauties,” said Irma Popovic Dujmovic, from World Wide Fund for Nature ... |
28638 | A photograph shows a red blood cell on the tip of a needle. | What's true: The image shows a representation of a red blood cell on a needle's point. What's false: It is not a single photograph, but a composite of two or more images. | mixture | Fauxtography, composite images, peter gabriel, red blood cell | An impressive image, purportedly showing a single red blood cell balanced on the tip of a needle, has been making the rounds on the Internet since at least 2011: The image was created by Steve Gschmeissner, in part using a scanning electron microscope. Gschmeissner explained in a 2012 Reddit thread that the image was ... |
10844 | Cholesterol Drugs May Treat Psoriasis | "This 627 word story attempts to summarize a 404 word abstract submitted at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. In doing so, it fails to meet even the most simple requirements. The story fails to note the ""study"" was a retrospective review of patients and not a prospective trial, fails to discu... | false | "There was no discussion of costs. The study reported on failed to find a statistically significant improvement in psoriasis. Despite this, the story headline, first sentence and overall tenor report about benefit even though this is inappropriate given the study results. The story failed to note any of the potential s... | |
29022 | Fireball whisky is being recalled due to concerns over a dangerous ingredient. | What's true: In 2014, some Scandinavian state agencies recalled Fireball whisky until they could determine if it met local regulations regarding propylene glycol content. What's false: Fireball whisky has been broadly recalled from all markets because it contains antifreeze. | mixture | Food, ASP Article, fireball whisky, potent potables | On 27 October 2014, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter erupted in response to rumors that Fireball whisky was being recalled. Fireball whisky is a popular choice among the college set due to its low cost and relatively high alcohol content, with sales rivaling the collegiate staple of Jägermeister in recen... |
5276 | From parade to pandemic: Museum looks at 1918′s deadly flu. | On Sept. 28, 1918, in the waning days of World War I, over 200,000 people gathered along Broad Street in Philadelphia for a parade meant to raise funds for the war effort. Among the patriotic throngs cheering for troops and floats was an invisible threat, which would be more dangerous to soldiers and civilians than any... | true | Health, General News, Flu, Philadelphia, Museums, Pandemics, U.S. News, World War I | Officials went ahead with the parade despite the discouragement of the city health department about the ever-spreading virus. Within 72 hours of the parade, all the hospital beds in Philadelphia were full of flu patients. Within six weeks, more than 12,000 people died — a death every five minutes — and 20,000 had died ... |
7042 | Teen baseball player finds alternative to Tommy John surgery. | The pitching gods have naturally blessed Sammy Rosenfield. He’s just 14 years old but already stands 6 feet 5 inches and has a wingspan that would rival that of Red Sox ace Chris Sale. He was an all-star for his local AAU baseball team before he tore a ligament in his elbow playing basketball. | true | Baseball, Roger Clemens, Sports medicine, MLB baseball, Michael Jordan, Chris Sale, John Cena, Sports | “I just love pitching,” says Rosenfield, a high honors freshman at Grafton High School. “I want to be a major league pitcher.” Doctors told him he needed Tommy John surgery, which typically has a recovery time of 12-18 months. His parents researched a ligament repair instead of a reconstruction, which could cut his rec... |
9199 | Anti-inflammatory diet could reduce risk of bone loss in women | Drugmakers including Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N), Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O), and Biogen Inc (BIIB.O) hiked U.S. list prices on more than 50 drugs on Wednesday, bringing total New Year’s Day drug price increases to more than 250, according to data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. | true | Anti-inflammatory diets,bone fractures,Ohio State University | Reuters reported on Tuesday that drugmakers including Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.L) and Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) were planning to increase prices on more than 200 drugs in the United States on Jan. 1. Nearly all of the price increases are below 10% and the median price increase is around 5%, according to 3... |
5253 | Colleges’ message to ease student stress: Failure is normal. | Bentley University has plenty of success stories among its faculty and alumni. But one recent evening, the school invited students to hear about the failures. | true | Health, Stress, North America, AP Top News, Waltham, U.S. News | Speaking to a crowded auditorium, one professor recounted the time he sank a $21 million company. Another recalled failing her college statistics course. One graduate described his past struggles with drug addiction. Each story reinforced the same message: Even successful people sometimes fail. “Failure is normal. It’s... |
4057 | Illinois illnesses from insect bites increased by 58 percent. | The Illinois Department of Public Health is warning the public to take precautions against tick and mosquito bites, saying reported cases of infections have increased over the past decade. | true | Health, Ticks, Illinois, Insects, Public health | The department cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study showing that the number of people across the U.S. being infected by diseases from mosquitoes, ticks and fleas has tripled from 2004 to 2016. Reported cases have increased in Illinois by 58 percent in that same time period. Ticks and mosquitoes can ... |
21958 | Roughly 700 Georgians die needlessly each year because they are too far from a trauma center. | Trauma Centers Save Lives Just Not as Many as People Think | false | Georgia, Polls and Public Opinion, Kevin Bloye, | "Georgia voters are suspicious of new taxes. How suspicious are they? Last year, they voted down an amendment that would have added a $10 fee to the cost of registering a motor vehicle to pay for additional trauma centers in the state. This wasn’t a penny sales tax to polish the Capitol dome, this was an attempt to imp... |
9727 | New Support for Home Births U.K. board NICE, in a surprise, rules having a baby at home is safer than a hospital in some low-risk pregnancies | The story looks at guidance from the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) — and related research — to pregnant women. Specifically, the guidance says home births pose fewer risks than hospital births for woman with low-risk pregnancies who are not having their first child. The story features pl... | true | birth | The story does not address cost at all. The story is focused primarily on childbirth practices in the U.K., which has a significantly different healthcare system from that in the U.S. However, the story does discuss childbirth practices in the U.S., and speaks to U.S. experts on the subject. Home births are often signi... |
17278 | As attorney general, I have prosecuted judges, district attorneys and other public officials across Texas who violated that (public) trust, who have been corrupted. | "Abbott said, ""As attorney general, I have prosecuted judges, district attorneys and other public officials across Texas who violated that (public) trust, who have been corrupted."" During Abbott’s decade-plus as attorney general, his office has helped prosecute 104 cases against public officials across Texas -- 61 of... | true | City Government, County Government, Criminal Justice, Legal Issues, Public Service, Texas, Greg Abbott, | "Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott drew heat for a Feb. 4 2014, speech in which he likened official corruption scandals in Texas-Mexico border counties to ""third-world practices,"" a comment PolitiFact Texas unpacked in a Feb. 11 In Context article. His comparison drew criticism from lawmakers, the McAllen newspaper ... |
20969 | A database police use to look up wanted suspects excludes certain warrants issued by Atlanta Municipal Court. | City: Criminal database lacks some Atlanta warrants | true | Georgia, Criminal Justice, City of Atlanta, | "The handling of a police traffic stop involving Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s brother raises questions about power, politics and ethics. What has the Truth-O-Meter spinning is a more practical concern: crime databases. When police stopped Tracy Reed on Oct. 28, he had an open warrant for failing to appear at a traffic co... |
10511 | Less body fat for toddlers taking vitamin D | This release summarizes an unexpected finding observed during follow-up of a study that looked at the impact of vitamin D3 supplementation on bone density in young children. The release claims in one section that at 3 years old, children that had been given vitamin D supplementation in infancy (during the ages of 1 mon... | mixture | Academic medical center news release | The release does not mention cost. A quick online search found that the standard infant dose of 400 IU/day of Vitamin D costs about $10-15 for a three-month supply in the United States. We believe news releases should mention costs, including the cost of relatively inexpensive supplements or unusual foods, with associa... |
28792 | "A study proved e-cigarette use (or vaping) leads to an incurable condition known as ""popcorn lung." | What's true: A December 2015 Harvard study concluded that diacetyl, which is associated with popcorn lung, is present in e-cigarettes,. What's false: The Harvard study did not prove a link between e-cigarettes and popcorn lung; it simply stated that the possibility should be explored through additional research. | mixture | Medical, e-cigarettes, popcorn lung, Toxin Du Jour | In early August 2016, a number of disreputable clickbait web sites published identical photo galleries alongside claims that a new study had proved e-cigarettes cause0 an incurable condition known as “popcorn lung” (a common term for bronchiolitis obliterans, a disease that results in obstruction of the smallest airway... |
4077 | Massachusetts collecting data on possible vaping illnesses. | Massachusetts health officials are mandating the collection of data on potential cases of lung disease related to the use of electronic cigarettes and vaping. | true | Health, General News, Lung disease, Massachusetts, Public health | Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel said Wednesday any suspected cases of unexplained e-cigarette or vaping-associated pulmonary disease must be immediately reported to the Department of Public Health for the next 12 months. Last month, the agency sent an alert to 25,000 Massachusetts health care providers asking ... |
15652 | "Said President Barack Obama ""said he was going to stop (signature strikes)." | "Clarke said, ""President Obama said he was going to stop (signature strikes)."" As far as we can tell, Obama has never said himself that he would stop signature drone strikes, which killed two western civilian hostages. An unnamed administration official implied that signature strikes would eventually be phased out, t... | false | Afghanistan, Terrorism, PunditFact, Richard Clarke, | "The White House recently disclosed that the two hostages -- one American and one Italian -- were killed in January by an American ""signature strike"" aimed at al-Qaida terrorists. A signature strike is a type of drone strike, in which the United States targets people they believe to be militants, though they don’t kn... |
15422 | The House of Representatives just voted 300-131 to remove ‘country-of-origin labeling’ on chicken, pork, and beef sold in the U.S. | """The House of Representatives just voted 300-131 to remove ‘country-of-origin labeling’ on chicken, pork, and beef sold in the United States,"" according to a Facebook meme. The bill in question seeks to repeal mandatory country-of-origin labeling or COOL from ground and muscle cuts of chicken, pork, and beef. The Ho... | true | Agriculture, National, Trade, Facebook posts, | "Thanks to a little-known congressional bill, it may soon be impossible to tell whether your Fourth of July burger is all-American Angus or beef imported from the Amazon, according to a Facebook meme. ""The House of Representatives just voted 300-131 to remove ‘country-of-origin labeling’ on chicken, pork, and beef sol... |
36279 | "Beyond Meat"" and ""Impossible Burger"" foods have nearly identical ingredients to dog food." | Are ‘Beyond Meat’ or ‘Impossible Burger’ Ingredients Indistinguishable From Dog Food? | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On July 20 2019, a Facebook user shared a photograph of what appears to be a block of text from an unnamed newspaper or a magazine, containing the claim that “meat substitutes” Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger had the same ingredients as dog food.A portion bordered with orange marker contained a section highlighte... |
21353 | We have had over 40 days this summer where it was unsafe to breathe the air. | How dangerous is it to breathe Atlanta air? | mixture | Georgia, Environment, Transportation, Jennette Gayer, | "For many Atlanta-area residents, 2011 will be remembered as the long, hot -- no, veryhot -- summer. The high temperature climbed past 90 degrees on 66 days this summer, according to the National Weather Service. Officials warned it was dangerously hot on some days. How dangerous was it to be outside, you ask? ""We hav... |
11151 | PCSK9-Inhibitor Drug Class That Grew Out of UT Southwestern Research Becomes a Game-Changer for Patient with Extremely High Cholesterol | Frank Brown, the subject of this news release, with Dr. Khera, his cardiologist.This news release describes one patient’s response to a “game-changing” new drug designed to help patients manage their cholesterol, and offers a brief history of how this class of drug was developed and how they work. The release offers on... | false | Academic medical center news release,cardiovascular disease | The release does not address cost at all. While the release does not tell us which of the two new drugs the patient took, it does tell us that he took either evolocumab (sold under the trade name Repatha) or alirocumab (sold under the trade name Praluent). Both drugs are given via injection either once or twice a month... |
5144 | Producers grapple with UW Health’s shift from local food. | In February of this year, Tommy Stauffer of Vitruvian Farms in McFarland went to meet with UW Health. Vitruvian had been selling salad greens, tomatoes and microgreens to the hospital’s cafeterias for more than three years. | true | Madison, Wisconsin, Local food, University of Wisconsin, Financial markets, Health, Business | “We met with the whole chef team,” said Stauffer, who runs Vitruvian with Shawn Kuhn. “They reaffirmed to me they were going to be keeping us on board, buying the same stuff. They talked about expanding a few things they were not getting locally.” A few weeks later, Stauffer got a brief letter from a University of Wisc... |
2035 | Device treatment may silence ringing in the ears. | A new treatment that retrains part of the brain that processes sound may help silence tinnitus — a ringing in the ears that afflicts 10 percent of senior citizens and more than 40 percent of military veterans, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | They said a device that stimulates the vagus nerve in the neck while simultaneously playing different sounds for several weeks helped eliminate the condition in a group of rats. A trial of the treatment in humans is set to start in Europe this year, said Dr. Navzer Engineer of MicroTransponder, a medical device company... |
39784 | An abandoned “ghost ship” full of Ebola-infected rats will make landfall in Florida. | Ghost Ship Full of Ebola Rats Headed Toward U.S. – Fiction! | false | 9/11 Attack on America | A fake news website started the false eRumor that an Ebola-stricken ghost ship was headed for the Florida coast. The article first appeared on the website World News Daily Report, and, within days, was shared on Facebook thousands of times. According to the report: A large cargo ship originating from West Africa has t... |
16972 | "Brett Hulsey Says opponent Mary Burke told reporters she would have ""required workers to give up bargained-for healthcare and retirement benefits like Gov. Walker." | "Hulsey claimed Burke told Journal Sentinel reporters and editors that she ""would have required workers to give up bargained-for healthcare and retirement benefits like Gov. Walker."" There’s an element of truth here in that Burke did say she backed benefits cuts in the same areas as Walker got, and was confident she ... | false | Labor, State Budget, Workers, Wisconsin, Brett Hulsey, | "Democrat Brett Hulsey says that any union member who supports Mary Burke ""is like a chicken who votes for Colonel Sanders."" Them’s fightin’ words -- and they’re aimed at a fellow Democrat vying to take on Republican Gov. Scott Walker in the November election. Hulsey, a state representative from Madison and former vi... |
5787 | Education, climate change, health care on lawmakers’ agenda. | The Oregon Legislature convened Tuesday for the 2019 session, aiming to improve the state’s lagging public schools — and find the revenue to accomplish that, address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and promote access to health care and housing. | true | Legislature, Climate, Climate change, Health, Access to health care, Oregon, Salem, Portland | Democrats who control both the Senate and the House of Representatives say they have stretched out a hand to Republicans to bridge the partisan divide. Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, said lawmakers are building consensus on land use in eastern Oregon. He highlighted a Senate bill on Tuesday that allows counties in t... |
30095 | An advertisement sought paid participants to take part in the Central American caravan to the U.S. | British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc said on Monday the European Commission approved its diabetes drug Forxiga for use as an oral supplement to insulin in adults with a rare type of the disease. | false | Junk News, honduran caravan | Forxiga can now be used along with insulin in patients with Type-1 diabetes and a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27 or more when insulin alone has not been able to control blood sugar levels, the company said. Type-1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin hormone. Farxiga or Forxi... |
29012 | The soft drinks Coca-Cola and Pepsi used as pesticides by farmers in India. | To what extent farmers in India might currently be using soft drinks in place of pesticides, and just how effective that technique might be, are yet to be determined. | mixture | Cokelore, agriculture | A meme raised an interesting question. Example: Can this be true? Farmers in India in the state of Chattisgarh use Coke and Pepsi as pesticides because it’s cheaper than pesticides and gets the job done just as well. Pepsi and Coca-Cola strongly disagree that their products can be used as pesticides because they say t... |
5747 | California governor has doubts about tougher vaccine rules. | Gov. Gavin Newsom says he has concerns about enacting tougher rules that limit doctors from granting medical exemptions for children’s vaccinations. | true | Immunizations, Health, General News, California, Gavin Newsom, Public health | The measure would give state public health officials instead of local doctors the authority to decide which children can skip their shots before attending school. It’s being considered by the state Assembly amid growing cases of measles. Newsom told reporters at the California Democratic Party Convention Saturday that ... |
9904 | A prenatal fix to a twin threat | Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome is a serious, progressive condition that occurs almost exclusively in identical twins (because they share the same placenta) when they are in the womb. This story profiled a successful procedure using selective fetoscopic laser photocoagulation for Twin-to-Twin Syndrome which resulted ... | false | "Cost of treatment is not mentioned, nor is it mention whether this procedure is covered by health insurance. To some degree, this story both overstates and understates the benefits of selective fetoscopic laser photocoagulation. Survival rates of one or both twins are generally reported to be 60-80% and vary depending... | |
28324 | In 1998, Senator Chuck Schumer was caught taking $1 million in excessive campaign contributions and failing to properly disclose $4.6 million in expenses, for which he was fined $138,000. | "What's true: Schumer's 1998 campaign was assessed a fine of $130,000 by the FEC for ""excessive contributions"" and ""improperly disclosed disbursements."" What's false: The fine was primarily related to accounting issues and did not involve the campaign's accepting contributions from prohibited sources or engaging in... | mixture | Politics Politicians, chuck schumer | U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) is a career politician who cut his teeth in the New York State Assembly before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1981, where he served nine terms prior to winning a U.S. Senate seat in 1998. As the voice of the opposition party in the Senate, Sc... |
26718 | “People Of Color May Be Immune To The Coronavirus Because Of Melanin.” | Melanin is a natural pigment that gives color to skin and eyes. It does not make you any less susceptible to coronavirus. | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "As coronavirus spreads across the globe, following closely in its path are specious theories with a virality of their own. ""People Of Color May Be Immune To The Coronavirus Because Of Melanin"" read the headline of one article, from Blackmentravels.com, shared on Facebook. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s e... |
10083 | Knee Replacement Getting Easier | This story presented a knee replacement system that is portrayed as greatly reducing recover time and discomfort. This information would be of interest to individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee who may be wondering about the options available for relief of their knee pain. This piece, however, failed to put this m... | false | There was no mention of the costs associated with this type of knee replacement nor the expected lifespan for this device. The patient in this story was presented as being pain free nearly immediately after surgery, without mention of any analgesic medication she may have been taking. This patient was also shown drivin... | |
36037 | "The 'Old Farmer's Almanac' predicted an ""alarming number of snowstorms"" for the 2019 to 2020 winter season." | Did Old Farmer’s Almanac Predict an Alarming Number of Snowstorms This Winter? | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | A November 1 2019 ReturnToNow.net post headlined “Old Farmer’s Almanac Predicts An Alarming Number of Snowstorms This Winter” was shared tens of thousands of times on Facebook. and was likely to continue spreading.ReturnToNow.net is classified as “Conspiracy/Pseudoscience” by Media Bias Fact Check, which noted, “we rat... |
8620 | Too soon to ease anti-virus curbs, Swiss say as new cases decelerate. | It is too early to consider easing measures that restrict the spread of the new coronavirus, Switzerland’s health minister said on Monday, even as neighbouring Austria sketched out plans to start loosening a national lockdown. | true | Health News | The Swiss death toll rose on Monday to 584 from 559 people on Sunday, while the number of positive tests increased to 21,652 from 21,100 on Sunday, a less steep rise than of late. “Of course we look at the others but we decide for ourselves,” Health Minister Alain Berset told a news briefing after visiting health care ... |
4787 | Federal lawsuit targets West Virginia foster care system. | The overwhelmed foster care system in opioid-ravaged West Virginia has failed to protect children, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday. | true | U.S. News, Opioids, Health, General News, Child welfare, Foster care, West Virginia, Charleston, U.S. News, Lawsuits | The lawsuit seeking class-action status was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of a dozen children against Gov. Jim Justice, the state Department of Health and Human Resources and other state officials. The 105-page complaint describes stories of neglect and harm done to foster children while under the department’s... |
11584 | Protein urine test may signal prostate cancer | This is a story about a study for a test under development, the results of which suggest that it may be better able to predict which diagnosed prostate cancers are aggressive and which are not. This would be an exciting development as indicated by the spokesperson from the UK Prostate Charity. However – the story shoul... | false | "Not applicable. There was no discussion of cost but since this test is investigational, information about pricing is not expected at this time. Readers could extrapolate that if the MSMB test results are demonstrated to be reliable and reproducible, then it could be expected to reduce the number of men treated for pro... | |
17294 | Marijuana contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco. | "When Michael Cerullo said, ""Marijuana contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco,"" he was quoting a reputable source. But we could find no evidence that marijuana smoke contains more kinds of cancer-causing chemicals. And evidence on whether marijuana smoke has higher concentrations of can... | false | Rhode Island, Drugs, Michael Cerullo, | "In the ongoing battle over liberalizing marijuana laws, key questions focus on the risks posed by smoking the psychoactive substance. In the past year, PolitiFact affiliates looked at claims that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol, whether today's marijuana is ""genetically modified"" to have far more THC than in th... |
7708 | Death toll nears 400 in India's flood-hit Kerala, dozens missing. | The death toll in India’s southern state of Kerala rose on Monday to nearly 400 after its worst flood in a century, as authorities handed out medicine and disinfectants to ward off disease in thousands of relief camps. | true | Environment | Dozens of people are missing and 1.2 million are sheltering in the camps, state officials said, as water receded and a huge clean-up gathered pace. “The death toll has risen to 373,” an official of the state’s disaster management authority told Reuters. Kerala received rainfall more than 40 percent greater than normal ... |
37737 | Condom manufacturer Durex created a coronavirus advertisement comparing face masks to condoms. | A COVID-19 themed, purported condom advertisement labeled “Durex have smashed it with this lockdown advert” featuring a comparison between a condom and a mask spread in June and July 2020, but it didn’t appear to be the work of Durex or any agency working on their behalf. Durex did create pandemic-specific advertisemen... | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | Chances are you’ve seen some version of this purported Durex advertisement in heavy circulation at some point during the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring and comparing a face mask with a condom:The screenshot above included commentary from a separate post, “Durex have smashed it with this lockdown advert.”Under the mask on... |
11176 | Researchers Make Progress With Insomnia | This story covers a relatively new area of research into the biology of sleep. The story would have been more valuable had it contained some more pertinent background and context. It details the early stage development of a drug being studied as a treatment for insomnia that differs from the currently available drugs u... | mixture | There was no estimate for the cost of treatment, however as the drug is not available, this should be considered N/A. There was no quantification of benefits of treatment other than to explain that this drug may promote sleep and may have use for helping people deal with insomnia. But the drug is at an early stage of i... | |
23559 | "Kathryn Starkey ""joined forces with liberal Democrats on a historic sales tax hike." | """Taxin' Kathryn"" Starkey draws fire over 2004 local sales tax" | false | Environment, Candidate Biography, Taxes, Florida, Committee to Protect Florida, | "A new political mailer from the Committee to Protect Florida attacks State House District 45 candidate Kathryn Starkey of New Port Richey for her record on taxes, citing her role on a water district board and her support of the Penny for Pasco, a 2004 increase in the county sales tax. The committee is headed up by Roc... |
32183 | Twenty-three states have agreed to enact a total ban on all forms of hollow point ammunition. | Associated Media Coverage expanded their scope into darker yet unfunny fake news items, including claims a transgender bathroom controversy-related shooting resulted in someone’s death (appearing during nationwide debate over the issue), Casey Anthony planned to open a home daycare center, a dead baby was found in a Wa... | false | Junk News, ammo ban, ammunition, associated media coverage | On 6 October 2016, the Boston Tribune web site published an article reporting that 23 U.S. states had agreed to ban the sale and use of hollow point ammunition effective on 5 January 2017: 23-states have agreed to pass a controversial bill that will create a ban on the future sale and possession of hollow-point ammunit... |
4180 | Kentucky issues harmful algae warning for Ohio River. | Kentucky's Division of Water and Department for Public Health are issuing a public health advisory for harmful algal bloom along the Ohio River. | true | Health, Algal blooms, Kentucky, Algae, General News, Public health | The advisory is for people using the waters for recreation. The advisory area is from the McAlpine Dam near Louisville to the Greenup Dam near Greenup in northeastern Kentucky. State officials also issued an advisory for Briggs Lake near Russellville. The advisory means algal toxins have been found at various locations... |
5899 | North Carolina confirms 2nd death from Legionnaires’ disease. | North Carolina health officials have confirmed a second death from Legionnaires’ disease linked to a hot tub display at a fair. | true | Health, General News, North Carolina, State fairs, Legionnaires disease | The Division of Public Health in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services says that as of Wednesday, it has confirmed 134 cases in multiple states and North Carolina counties. The department says the cases are connected to people who attended the Mountain State Fair last month in Fletcher. In addition to the tw... |
36706 | A commentary titled, “Getting to Know the Real John McCain” by Burma Davis Posey began making the rounds in August 2017 after Senator McCain voted against the GOP’s plan to repeal Obamacare. | Getting to Know the Real John McCain by Burma Davis Posey | true | Government, Politics | The “Getting to Know the Real John McCain” commentary that began making the rounds in forwarded emails in August 2017 contains a combination of verifiable facts and opinions about John McCain’s first marriage to Carol Shepp McCain. The commentary is largely based on a Daily Mail article that ran in 2008, when John McCa... |
13901 | "The folks in Washington"" are ""already forcing you to buy government health care." | "Beruff said Washington politicians are ""already forcing you to buy government health care."" His statement makes a sweeping generalization, but there is some truth to the ""forcing"" part. The individual mandate incentivizes individuals to have health care or face a tax penalty. Of course, the choice is still theirs.... | false | Health Care, Florida, Carlos Beruff, | "Carlos Beruff, Marco Rubio’s Republican opponent in the U.S. Senate race, says he’s had enough of people in Washington making decisions and controlling people’s lives. Beruff’s new campaign ad, dubbed ""Clean House,"" criticizes government intrusion into American life. ""The folks in Washington have it all figured out... |
13432 | "Tom DeLay Says most illegal immigrants draw ""welfare benefits, they’re sending their kids to school, they’re using the public services." | "DeLay said most illegal immigrants draw ""welfare benefits, they’re sending their kids to school, they’re using the public services."" People living in the U.S. without authorization indeed draw on public services including government-supported hospitals. Also, children of all origins attend public schools. But counte... | mixture | Immigration, Education, Welfare, Texas, Tom DeLay, | "Former Republican powerbroker Tom DeLay recently raised alarm about Houston ""illegal immigrants"" taking advantage of tax-funded benefits. DeLay, seated in what looked like a comfortable spot, took split-screen questions from MSNBC’s Kate Snow--both of them not quite getting facts straight. DeLay initially agreed in ... |
9016 | Acupressure for menstrual pain | This news release, issued by a university in Berlin, Germany, concludes that use of an app-based acupressure program can achieve a “sustained reduction in menstrual pain” in some women when assessed at 3- and 6-month intervals. The release does a reasonable job of describing the study outcomes, how researchers went abo... | true | Acupressure,Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin,menstrual pain | The release did not mention it, but the app is “gratis” according to the Luna app website (in German). Most apps of this kind are sponsored and free, and even those that are not free of charge are mostly very inexpensive. The release put the benefits experienced by the treatment and control groups in numerical context:... |
4790 | Study: Iowa nitrogen pollution in the water is getting worse. | Nitrogen pollution flowing out of Iowa to the Gulf of Mexico has grown by close to 50 percent over nearly two decades, a new report shows, despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent to stem nutrients entering the state’s waterways. | true | Financial markets, Des Moines, Mexico, University of Iowa, Gulf of Mexico, Water quality, Science, Iowa, Chris Jones, Environment, Pollution | A University of Iowa study shows the state’s contribution to the Gulf dead zone spiked 47 percent to 618 million pounds in 2016, based on five-year running annual averages. “Just based on water quality data, I think we can say we’ve not made much progress over the past 20 years in terms of nitrogen,” said Chris Jones, ... |
10328 | Health Experts Call For Heart Checkups For Kids | The death of a young athlete during exercise is a rare but nonetheless heartbreaking event. Some experts believe that these tragedies can be prevented by subjecting all student athletes to screening with an electrocardiogram (EKG). This story tilts strongly toward those who advocate this view and emphasizes a couple of... | false | "The story cites unnamed experts who make the vague claim that EKG screening would be “too costly.” However, an estimate of the cost of the equipment and the cost per test would have been easy to include and would have provided valuable context to the discussion. Notably, the authors of the study discussed in this arti... | |
10000 | New Drug Helps Treatment-Resistant Arthritis | This WebMD story offers an interesting approach to covering a clinical trial for a new arthritis drug. It provides many more numbers than the typical story but very little commentary, no cost information, no analysis of the quality of the evidence, and no explanation of how this drug fits into the bigger picture of art... | false | "The story does not discuss costs, which is a shame. Arthritis is a chronic condition, meaning that any drug that gives people significant relief likley will become a lifelong medication. Even if a per-pill cost is low, the cost per year can be huge. Without this information, it is difficult to gauge the true value of ... | |
17160 | "Paul Broun Says U.S. Reps. Phil Gingrey and Jack Kingston have ""even changed votes to what I voted, multiple times." | Broun says campaign rivals following his lead | false | Georgia, Voting Record, Paul Broun, | "To hear one Georgia congressman tell it, he’s the pied piper of some of his colleagues in the U.S. House. ""It’s become a joke in Congress how Dr. (Phil) Gingrey and Mr. (Jack) Kingston have been following my votes,"" U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, told The Daily Beast, a news and lifestyle website. ""They’ve even ch... |
1065 | Vietnam to mobilize military in fight against African swine fever. | Vietnam said it will mobilize its military and police forces to help combat the outbreak of African swine fever that has already resulted in the culling of about 4% of the country’s pig herd. | true | Health News | The virus, first detected in the Southeast Asian country in February, has hit farms in 29 provinces, and prompted the authorities to cull more than 1.2 million pigs. “Soon, soldiers and policemen will take part in efforts to make sure infected pigs are culled in a timely manner, keeping the outbreak from spreading furt... |
12460 | I think if you look at the entire federal government and the president’s commitment to (fighting opioid addiction), you’ll see that there are actually hundreds of millions of dollars increase on this issue. | "Citing Trump’s commitment to fight the country’s opioid crisis, Price said the government is already spending ""hundreds of millions of dollars"" more to that end. More funding was approved in the recent Congressional omnibus bill to keep the government running, but other policies he’s seeking to pursue -- notably cut... | mixture | New Hampshire, Drugs, Federal Budget, Tom Price, | "President Donald Trump has made a lot of promises to solve the country’s opioid crisis, which killed over 33,000 people in 2015 alone. They included the pledge to build a wall on the southern border to stop the flow of drugs from Mexico and Latin America and more money to accelerate new treatment and prevention progra... |
8308 | Promising 'better days,' Macron extends France's lockdown until May 11. | French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced he was extending a virtual lockdown to curb the coronavirus outbreak until May 11, adding that progress had been made but the battle not yet won. | true | Health News | Following Italy in extending the lockdown but announcing no immediate easing of restrictive measures as in Spain, Macron said the tense situation in hospitals in Paris and eastern France meant there could be no let-up in the country. Since March 17, France’s 67 million people have been ordered to stay at home except to... |
28054 | President Donald Trump said: “I have signed a letter to Congress to make clear that if they send any legislation to my desk that weakens the protection of human life, I will issue a veto … Every child is a sacred gift from God … Every life is worth protecting … We know that every life has meaning and that every life is... | Though the words were rearranged and excerpted, the sections of text enclosed in the quotation marks of the meme were word-for-word reflections of Trump’s remarks. As such, the claim is mostly true. | true | Politics, abortion, donald trump | A popular meme appearing in January 2019 presented a series of statements attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump on the topic of abortion. The meme, with its judicious use of quotation marks, accurately reflected excerpts of Trump’s videotaped remarks to be shown in conjunction with the 18 January 2018 March for Lif... |
14184 | There’s no data that says a gun-free zone has saved lives. | ": O’Neill says ""there’s no data that says a gun-free zone has saved lives."" He is correct. There is no definitive data to say that a gun-free zone has saved lives. In part, that’s because the CDC has been blocked from studying anything related to firearms for the last 20 years. And also because ""saved lives"" are h... | true | Rhode Island, Guns, Michael O'Neill, | "A bill that would stop the state’s more than 3,000 concealed-carry permit holders from bringing their weapons into Rhode Island schools quickly became the center of attention at an April 26 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Sponsored by Sen. Harold Metts, D-Providence, Senate Bill 2761 would make schools ""gun free ... |
26931 | Viral image says John F. Kennedy "smoked cannabis in the White House, while president, because he suffered from severe back pain and Addison's disease." | One unconfirmed, secondhand report says Kennedy smoked marijuana once at the White House. No evidence is available to back the idea that Kennedy regularly used marijuana at the White House because of his physical ailments. | false | Drugs, History, Viral image, | "Nearly 50 years later, Tommy Chong promoted his drug of choice by invoking one of Nixon’s political rivals and predecessor as president, John F. Kennedy. Chong, an actor and part of the former Cheech and Chong comedy team, made his plug for pot with a Jan. 30 post on Instagram that has more than 70,000 likes. The post... |
29026 | U.S. farmers are saturating wheat crops with the herbicide Roundup as a desiccant before each harvest, causing an increase in wheat-related ailments. | What's true: RoundUp (glyphosate) is sometimes used as a desiccant to alter the timing of wheat harvests, but that practice is far from common in the United States. What's false: Claims that the practice is both widespread and the cause of digestive ailments are unsupported by credible evidence or accurately reported d... | mixture | Food | On 13 November 2014, the web site “Healthy Home Economist” published an article by Sarah Pope, which reported that the reason people sometimes (but not always) experience digestive ailments after consuming wheat in the U.S. is that American farmers disproportionately practice spraying wheat the herbicide glyphosate (Ro... |
11435 | Sweet news for chocoholics | "This story reported on the latest study, among ""mounting evidence"", that suggests that small amounts of dark chocolate may slightly lower blood pressure. But the story never explained how much blood pressure dropped in the study. It never explained anything about how the research was done. It didn’t cite the source ... | mixture | "The story didn’t discuss costs, but most people know the cost of chocolate products, even ballpark costs of more expensive imports. The benefit reported was a ""slightly lower blood pressure in people with hypertension."" But it didn’t say how much. The study was conducted in a group of individuals who were prehyperte... | |
6760 | Vulnerable people disappeared, regulators didn’t know. | Willie Lee Shell, who is deaf and unable to speak, disappeared from Upstate Residential Care three times in two months, according to Anderson police records. The fourth time he disappeared, he was gone for days before anyone called police. | true | Health, Anderson, Assisted living, South Carolina | His case is but one in a long history of troubling incidents at the Anderson assisted living facility. Relevant police and state records don’t add up. In South Carolina, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control is responsible for overseeing the quality of services at assisted living facilities such as U... |
7439 | Tennessee county adding public health jobs with fed funds . | The mayor of Tennessee’s largest county says the health department wants to hire scores of employees from funds provided by the federal coronavirus response assistance package. | true | Health, General News, Tennessee, Virus Outbreak, Memphis, Public health | Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said Tuesday a proposed $11.4 million expansion of the health department includes hiring four epidemiologists and about 140 new employees to work on COVID-19 data analysis and contact tracing. More teams will be formed to focus on nursing homes and jail detainees, Harris said during an on... |
27575 | "Under certain conditions, lionesses can grow manes and develop ""masculine behavior""." | According to New Scientist, this is not an active area of research — so it may be some time before we have more answers about the origin of the phenomenon. | true | Science, gender, lionesses, lions | On 1 March 2017, a Reddit user posted a picture of two lions bearing manes and a caption indicating that five “lionesses in Botswana have grown manes, developed a deeper roar to defend off rivals and even fight for territory”: This is a factual statement. Though rare, the phenomenon of female lions growing manes and e... |
26525 | “Non-essential people get to file for unemployment and make two to three times more than normal,” but essential workers still on the job get no pay raise. | Some lower-wage workers collecting unemployment can receive two or three times the amount they were paid on the job. That’s the result of a $600-per-week federal unemployment bonus that’s available from April through July of 2020 because of the coronavirus outbreak. The stimulus does not raise pay for people still on t... | mixture | Income, Jobs, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Some people who continue to work through the coronavirus outbreak are upset that they’re getting no additional pay, while some unemployed people are now receiving more in unemployment benefits than they were paid on the job. The frustration was expressed in a Facebook post directed at New York’s Democratic governor. "... |
9625 | New Eczema Treatments Could Be Available Soon | This story is an overview about a couple of drugs that treat eczema by preventing the immune system from overreacting. So far, the drugs are faring well in clinical trials, and the companies behind them plan to seek FDA approval later this year. This story is clear that availability of the drugs must await that approva... | mixture | biologic drugs,dermatitis,dermatology,eczema | The costs of these two new medications is not addressed. Given their possible availability by 2017, the dearth of cost information is a real disservice. Many currently available treatments are very inexpensive, so it is important to know the costs of the newer medications in order to assess if they are a viable alterna... |
28216 | Donald Trump said in the good old days, protesters were harshly dealt with and carried away on stretchers. | It’s mostly accurate to say that Trump made the remarks attributed to him in this image (along with numerous similar statements at multiple other rallies), but the use of the iconic Kent State photograph to accompany those remarks was someone’s editorial choice (in the sense that Trump didn’t literally advocate shootin... | true | Uncategorized, donald trump | On 11 March 2016, the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was jarred when a scheduled rally in Chicago was disrupted by protesters, resulting in Trump’s opting to cancel the event at the last minute: The Downstate event came after Trump pulled the plug on a Friday night rally in Chicago as thousa... |
9599 | Stem cell research aims to put an end to root canals | This story emanates from a research award given to researchers at the University of Nottingham by the UK-based Royal Society of Chemistry to study the use of native stem cells to repair dental tissue. It says stem cells could allow patients to regrow decayed material inside their teeth: “Instead of the current dental m... | false | dentistry,stem cell therapies | The story does not address the potential cost of this procedure and how it might compare to a root canal, but this is important to consider since root canals are very expensive, and presumably a procedure involving stem cell regeneration would be, too. According to one consumer information website, a root canal costs b... |
9176 | Free lung-cancer screening in the Augusta area finds more than double the cancer rate of previous screenings | The news release reports on a journal article about a lung cancer screening initiative in the Augusta, Georgia, area. The screening initiative found that eight of 264 “high-risk” individuals — or 3 percent — had lung cancer. The release notes 3 percent is “more than double” the 1.1 percent lung cancer rate found among ... | true | lung cancer screening,Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University | The release clearly states that the relevant screening technique would normally cost between $100 and $250, but was free as part of the initiative. The release tells us how many cancers were found with the screening program, but it includes a misleading statement about what this might mean for survival rates. It notes ... |
32233 | A woman saved multiple lives by using her concealed carry pistol to take down a department store shooter in Virginia. | While Associated Media Coverage may be changing their name to The Boston Tribune, their content is still nothing more than fake news. | false | Junk News, associated media coverage, boston tribune | On 24 September 2016, the Associated Media Coverage fake news site, which has now rebranded itself as the Boston Tribune, published an article reporting that a woman with a concealed carry permit had saved multiple lives by stopping a department store shooter: 37-year old Lisa Harris saved the lives of multiple peopl... |
5592 | Doctor at Missouri abortion clinic defends patient care. | The top doctor at Missouri’s sole abortion clinic on Wednesday defended its handling of four patients who faced complications — women whose care has been cited by the state as it seeks to revoke the clinic’s license. | true | Michael Brown, St. Louis, General News, Abortion, Health, U.S. News | The testimony from Dr. Colleen McNicholas at a hearing that could determine the St. Louis clinic’s fate came as the state faced fallout over a revelation a day earlier from Missouri’s top health official that he kept a spreadsheet that tracked the menstrual cycles of women who obtained abortions. Missouri officials wer... |
18585 | Ted Cruz Says the Democrats told the Catholic Church that they’ll use federal powers to shut down church charities and hospitals if the church doesn’t change its beliefs. | Cruz, alluding to Obamacare’s contraception insurance coverage mandate, said Democrats told the Catholic Church they would use federal powers to shut down its charities and hospitals if the church doesn’t change its beliefs. We found no sign of such a statement -- or anything close. The Catholic bishops have said that ... | false | Health Care, Religion, Sexuality, Texas, Ted Cruz, | "Democrats are ""fighting a war on religious liberty,"" U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz told the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 16, 2013. In his keynote speech at the event (commonly known as CPAC) held annually by the American Conservative Union, the Texas Republican equated current events to Democrats telling t... |
938 | France will end healthcare refunds for homeopathic drugs. | France will end social security reimbursements for homeopathic drugs and the new policy - which has drawn the fire of alternative medicine advocates - will take full effect in 2021, the healthcare minister said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | Earlier this year the French health watchdog recommended the move, citing what it said was the insufficient effectiveness of the drugs after an investigation into how they affected conditions such as anxiety or foot warts. Healthcare Minister Agnes Buzyn told Le Parisien newspaper that there would be a phase-out period... |
25083 | John McCain has given erratic and inconsistent answers on when troops should return from Iraq. | The southern Iraqi city of Basra is struggling to cope with a growing drug problem that has overcrowded prisons and strained police resources, only months after violent protests over poor municipal services. | false | National, Iraq, Democratic National Committee, | Basra’s prison system is clogged up and creaking. On a recent day in one police station, Reuters reporters saw about 150 men, their heads shaved, squatting in two small, cramped holding cells. Arrests of drug users and dealers have shot up in the past year, further stretching prison services and police in a sign that... |
526 | Fired Zimbabwe state doctors reject offer to return to work. | Zimbabwe state doctors who were fired for going on strike have rejected a government offer to return to work, their union said on Friday. | true | Health News | The doctors went on strike on Sept.3 to protest against poor wages, in some cases less than US$100 a month. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, which responded to the job boycott by firing 448 doctors and pursuing disciplinary action against more than 1,000 others, on Thursday offered to reinstate them if they r... |
35328 | Prolonged use of COVID-19-related face masks cause health problems due to breathing in too much exhaled carbon dioxide. | What's true: Breathing in excessive carbon dioxide is dangerous for the body. Some people with preexisting respiratory illnesses may face health issues only with prolonged use of tight-fitting masks, such as respirators. What's false: However, people wearing cloth or surgical masks are in little to no danger of breathi... | false | Medical, COVID-19 | During the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic in the spring of 2020, questions arose about protective measures. Social media users shared related images, and in one case, a newspaper column claimed that continual or prolonged use of face masks resulted in breathing too much of one’s own exhaled carbon dioxide, which... |
10087 | FDA Questions Using Avodart to Cut Prostate Cancer Risk | Tens of trillions of global investment dollars are pouring into companies touting robust environmental, social and governance credentials. Now short-sellers spy an opportunity. | mixture | Cancer,Wall Street Journal | Such hedge funds, often cast as villains of the piece because they bet against share prices, scent a profit from company valuations they believe are unduly inflated by ESG promises or which they say ignore risks that threaten to undermine the company’s prospects. The fact short-sellers, who look to exploit information ... |
10246 | Weight Loss Pill Also Lowers Blood Pressure | Although highlighting the effect of this product on blood pressure, the story did not explain how much blood pressure dropped. The story also didn’t say how common the side effects are or how often people have to discontinue the medication due to side effects. It would have been helpful to remind readers of the possibl... | true | There was no discussion of costs. The story included quantitive information about weight loss over time. It did not quantify the impact on blood pressure. The story mentioned specific side effects of this particular medication combination. To be most informative to readers, the story should have mentioned that the pote... | |
33737 | Text transcribes a press conference given by actor and former Marine R. Lee Ermey. | The anonymous author of this item adopted the common technique of grabbing attention by putting his words into the mouth of a colorful, well-known figure, and — as often happens — some readers took the abstraction a little too literally. | false | Politics Soapbox, ASP Article | The late Ronald Lee Ermey (better known as R. Lee Ermey), who passed away on 15 Aprli 2018, was a former U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant who served from 1961 to 1971 (including tours in Vietnam) and took up acting after he was retired from active duty on a medical disability. (He was later awarded the honorary rank of Gunne... |
3635 | Officials warn of exposure to rabid bat at Omaha school. | Health officials in Omaha are notifying parents that some students at a city middle school may have been exposed to a rabid bat was found on school grounds. | true | Animals, Omaha, Rabies, Health, Bats | The Douglas County Health Department said Wednesday that the bat was found on the ground at Morton Middle School on Friday afternoon. The bat was sent to a state lab and tested positive for the infectious disease. A small group of students at the school were seen around the bat, and officials are urging anyone who had ... |
36409 | "Black soldiers were lynched after World War I during the ""Red Summer"" of 1919." | Were Black WWI Veterans in Uniform Lynched During the Red Summer of 1919? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In February 2019, the following image appeared (archived here), with the description “victorious black soldiers returning to the U.S. from World War I are lynched while still in uniform.” An attached image showed a black man being dragged from a streetcar by several white men, captioned “the massacre they don’t teach y... |
6358 | Flight attendant may have exposed passengers to Hepatitis A. | Health officials in North Carolina say more than a dozen people may have been exposed to hepatitis A on a recent flight. | true | Charlotte, Health, General News, North Carolina, Hepatitis, Liver disease | News outlets report the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it was notified on Oct. 1 that a flight attendant had a confirmed case. The Mecklenburg County Health Department says it contacted 18 Charlotte-area passengers who were on the American Airlines flight Sept. 21 from San Francisco to Charlotte. Spoke... |
11560 | German doctors declare “cure” in HIV patient | The quote marks around the word “cure” in the headline were a sign of the cautious approach of this story. Instead of allowing a sense of hyperbole to permeate, as we saw in other coverage of the same study, we were glad to see many of the appropriate caveats included. The story should have been more specific about the... | true | """cure"",Reuters Health" | The story makes no mention of costs. With an estimated cost of $150,000 to 200,000, the cost of a allogenic bone marrow transplant is significant enough to be mentioned. We’re giving this one a pass here. The story makes quite clear that it is a report on the experience of only one patient and that while the researcher... |
3551 | Mississippi will phase out warehouses for nutrition program. | Mississippi will close distribution centers for a federal nutrition program in the coming year and will move to a system that could be simpler to use. | true | Health, Nutrition, General News, Starkville, Mississippi | Sometime before Oct. 1, the state will start using electronic benefits transfer cards that will allow recipients on the Women, Infants and Children program to buy food at grocery stores and pharmacies Most states are already doing that, and Mississippi is among the few still using a warehouse distribution system, the C... |
27516 | In July 2017, it was announced that Finnish researchers would begin human trials of a Type 1 diabetes vaccine in 2018. | The American biopharmaceutical company Provention Bio, which is based in Lebanon, New Jersey, is funding the continuation of Hyöty and Knip’s research, after reportedly receiving $28.4 million in financing, which it will disburse between the Type 1 diabetes vaccine trials and a second project. | true | Medical, diabates, finland, medical research | On 19 July 2017, the Finnish news web site Yle reported that a group of Finnish researchers had developed a vaccine for Type 1 diabetes, and that human trials were set to begin in 2018: A vaccine for type 1 diabetes developed by Finnish researchers will be tested on mainly Finnish human subjects in late 2018, research... |
9861 | Study: Dark chocolate improves blood vessel health | "This news report describes a study which suggests that dark chocolate might be healthy for the heart. It provides some background on flavonols, the constituent in dark chocolate that might be beneficial, notes some of the potential harms associated with this ""chocolate therapy,"" and includes interviews with three ex... | true | "Thought there was no discussion of cost, most people have a general idea how much cocoa costs. The story fails to describe the improvement in blood flow in absolute terms, instead noting only relative or percent improvement (e.g. 37% compared to baseline for consumption of artificially sweetened cocoa). The reported 3... | |
31100 | "In August 2017, NASA scientists declared that Mexico's ""Our Lady of Guadalupe"" artifact is ""living." | We contacted NASA to ask about the rumor, but have not yet received a response. However, the legend’s trajectory over the years indicated that its origins lay not with NASA, but with an unreliable and unsupported item published in 2011, three decades after Callahan’s analysis appeared in print). | false | Superstition, nasa, peggy noonan, rcatholics.com | In August 2017, two links circulated on social media that suggested that NASA had announced it had deemed Mexico City’s Our Lady of Guadalupe tilma (a cloak or mantle made of cactus fiber upon which her face is said to be imprinted) to be “living”, in that the image reacts to outside stimuli. Social media users shared ... |
11535 | Drug may slow growth of early prostate cancer | This story is a very measured discussion of early stage prostate cancer and the results of a new study that confirms that active surveillance is a viable option for men and that for those choosing active surveillance, taking a medication currently used in the treatment of BPH may be helpful, but does not appear to be n... | true | Associated Press,Cancer | The story provided explicit information on cost. The story reported on the possible benefit of the drug to slightly reduce the incidence of prostate cancer progression; it also mentioned that it might help with anxiety for those who decided to forego immediate invasive treatment. Most meaningfully, it also included ear... |
26498 | "DeAnna Lorraine Says of COVID-19 that Dr. Anthony Fauci ""was telling people on February 29th that there was nothing to worry about and it posed no threat to the US public at large." | A Trump supporter’s tweet misleadingly portrays advice that Dr. Anthony Fauci gave publicly on Feb. 29. On that date, Fauci said rules Americans would come to know as social distancing were not yet warranted. However, just about every other sentence of his remarks was filled with caveats indicating that the situation c... | false | Public Health, California, Coronavirus, DeAnna Lorraine, | "President Donald Trump raised eyebrows April 12 when he retweeted a supporter who had used the hashtag #FireFauci, a reference to Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s top public health officials who has regularly joined the president on the podium in the White House press room. The tweet that Trump shared was posted... |
6931 | Los Angeles County identifies additional case of measles. | The number of cases of measles among Los Angeles County residents this year has risen to seven. | true | Los Angeles, University of California, Health, Measles, California, Public health | The county Department of Public Health said Thursday a new confirmed case is linked to an outbreak of four cases reported last month and is not associated with the University of California, Los Angeles, or California State University, Los Angeles. Both universities recently had quarantines for students staff who may ha... |
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