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17970 | Rep. Frank Wolf voted to allow terror suspects to buy guns. | "There’s no doubt that Wolf, sitting in the House Appropriations Committee, voted against an amendments to budget bills that would have allowed the attorney general to deny firearm sales to those suspected of abetting terrorism. Wolf had concerns that the legislation could trample the civil liberties of innocent people... | mixture | Terrorism, Guns, Virginia, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, | "U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-10th, was recently targeted by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. ""Rep. Frank Wolf voted to allow terror suspects to buy guns,"" the group proclaimed on a web ad. We decided to look at this claim, which clashes with Wolf’s tough-on-terrorism ... |
10187 | Dogs Sniff Out Lung Cancer in Humans | Other than the too-simple headline, this story about four dogs in Europe finding 71 out of 100 lung cancers is pretty responsible. For readers who get all the way to the end, it will be clear that the dog-detection system is far from available now and might require technology to replicate it into a device that works ac... | true | Cancer,WebMD | The story does not mention costs. At the very least, what does it cost to train dogs? If you can let someone call this the “holy grail,” you can tell people how much the search for the grail costs. The study was not designed to compare CT with dog-sniffing, yet the researcher is allowed to say that the dog-sniffing “ev... |
6755 | State oversight expected at assisted living center. | A western Indiana assisted living center where a woman died after wandering outside on a cold night is expected to be placed under state oversight after an agreement was reached with the facility. | true | Health, Indiana, Assisted living, Terre Haute | An earlier request filed on behalf of the State Department of Health had sought an injunction to stop Bethesda Gardens in Terre Haute from providing nursing care outside the scope of an unlicensed assisted living facility. The Tribune-Star reports, however, that an agreement filed Wednesday in court says the state will... |
30507 | A scuba diver was hospitalized due to an allergic reaction after his penis got stuck in a giant clam. | Sometimes the truth is as strange as fiction, but at least no penises were involved in the real case. | false | Junk News, world news daily report | In March 2018, well-known satire site WorldNewsDailyReport.com published a fake news article about a scuba diver who suffered a severe allergic reaction after he got his penis stuck inside of a giant clam: A scuba diver is being hospitalized at Ka’u hospital on the island of Hawaii after he inserted his penis into a gi... |
4960 | Medical insurance bypasses Native Americans in New Mexico. | Native Americans go without medical insurance at a much higher rate than other residents of New Mexico, a state-commissioned study has found as state health officials seek new strategies to expand coverage. | true | Access to health care, General News, New Mexico, Native Americans | Released Wednesday, the study from the Urban Institute policy research group in Washington explores gaps in medical insurance coverage by race and ethnicity as well as age, location and education level. New Mexico fares relatively well overall in terms of paid access to health care services in comparison with the U.S. ... |
25974 | John Cornyn Says “no one under the age of 20 has died of the coronavirus. We still don’t know whether children can get it and transmit it to others.” | People of any age can contract the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. National and state data for Texas show that children have contracted the virus and some have died. | false | Texas, John Cornyn, | "Texas schools will be open this fall, but parents will be allowed to choose between sending their children to in-person classes or keeping them home for virtual instruction, per new guidance issued by the state’s education agency on Tuesday. The decision received mixed reviews from educators, parents and state officia... |
27970 | Buddy Ebsen was slated to play the Tin Woodman in the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz, but he had to be replaced after the aluminum makeup used with his costume made him gravely ill. | Because Ebsen had fallen ill away from the set, just before production was shut down for several days when original Oz director Richard Thorpe was fired, the rest of the cast was unaware of what happened to him. Haley and others assumed that he had been fired along with Thorpe. Although Ebsen was replaced before filmin... | true | Entertainment, classic movies, Films, Movies | As part of the shifting casting that often goes on in the lead-up to motion picture productions, the person first cast to play the Tin Woodman in MGM’s 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz was Ray Bolger. Buddy Ebsen (later to become familiar to generations of TV viewers as Jed clampett, the patriarch of The Beverly H... |
38329 | Shell Oil Company released a 1991 video about the “catastrophic risks” of climate change that warned about rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, climate refugees, | Warning from Shell Oil Company About Climate Change. | true | Business | It’s true that Shell Oil Company warned about the dangers of climate change in a video produced by the company in 1991. The 28-minute video described scientific efforts to gather data from the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans to better understand climate change. The narrator explained how scientists’ views of climate chan... |
9627 | Chest Protectors Guard Against Deadly Blows to Chest | This is a story about the rare event known as “commotio cordis,” when the heart stops due to a blow to the chest. It reviews some evolving efforts to create protective gear for young athletes, with the implication that other alternatives are needed beyond portable defibrillators. The story did a good job describing why... | mixture | cardiac arrest,chest protection,defibrillators,student athletes | The story does mention costs, explaining “it’s not clear how much such gear would cost.” We recognize that the death of an otherwise healthy athlete is a tragedy and that a protective garment would be welcomed by many. But this amounts to about 10-20 such events a year, so the costs of prevention needs to be put into p... |
4060 | West Virginia reports increasing Lyme disease cases. | Tick-borne Lyme disease has spread across West Virginia over the past six years with cases reported in 52 of the state’s 55 counties, according to state health officials | true | Health, Lyme disease, Ticks, West Virginia | Most cases are reported in the northern and eastern panhandles probably because of their proximity to the high-incidence states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the Department of Health and Human Resources said. In an advisory Monday to health care providers, Health Commissioner Dr. Rahul Gupta wrote that the i... |
9947 | Drug Shows Promise in Curbing Compulsive Gambling, Study Says | This story discusses nalmefene, an opioid antagonist, which is a drug that affects the brain’s dopamine system and is thought to reduce the pleasurable sensation associated with addictive behaviors such as compulsive gambling. The drug was FDA approved for the treatment of alcoholism in 1994, but it is still under stud... | false | No mention of the cost of treatment. This study was only 16 weeks and since compulsive gambling, like other addictions, is a chronic disease, long-term data would be needed to prove efficacy and safely of this medication. The story provided no absolute quantitative data on safety of efficacy or relative risk reduction ... | |
32136 | A woman who used a recalled brand of tampons saw herself become infested with ants and had to be treated with a grotesque fungus that turned those ants into zombies. | This process of behavior alteration allows the fungi to move to a location that will maximize their ability to disperse spores and infect more hosts. It is, however, a near impossibility that either the fungus or ants zombified by the fungus would actually survive inside a human body, since both are adapted to very spe... | false | Fauxtography, ants, Medical, tampons | On August 8, 2016, the Thought Catalog web site published a piece of fiction written by by horror writer E. Z. Morgan titled “I Was Offered a **Very** Generous Settlement Not to Tell You the Disgusting Truth of the Tampon Recall.” The tale, which originally appeared in the horror story subreddit /r/nosleep in January 2... |
3817 | California could be 1st state to sell own prescription drugs. | California could become the first state to make its own prescription drugs under a proposal announced Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who says it would “take the power out of the hands of greedy pharmaceutical companies.” | true | Medication, Health, General News, Business, California, Prescription drugs, Gavin Newsom, U.S. News | The Democratic governor wants the nation’s most populous state to contract with generic drug companies to make medications on its behalf so it could sell them to its nearly 40 million residents. The goal is to lower prices by increasing competition in the generic drug market, Newsom said. His proposal also would create... |
28383 | After an off-duty police officer shot Brian Hundley, a jury found the officer had acted negligently and lied about the event, but Judge Brett Kavanaugh overturned the finding. | What's true: Judge Kavanaugh overturned a lower court ruling that had awarded damages to the family of a victim of a police shooting on the grounds that the jury's logic had been inconsistent. Thus, Kavanaugh ruled in favor of the officer and the police department. What's false: While this appeal did result in the loss... | mixture | Politics, brett kavanaugh, police shootings | At 1:30 am on the morning of 23 March 2002, a 41-year-old dental surgery student was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer while pulling his car from a parking lot in front of a D.C.-area apartment complex: In the middle of a night in March 2002, Brian Hundley and a woman were in a car parked outside an apartme... |
4850 | New York names facilities that treated drug-resistant fungus. | New York is the first state to release the names of medical facilities that have treated patients with a deadly, drug-resistant fungus that is spreading. | true | Health, New York, Brooklyn, General News, Queens, Manhattan, United States | The New York Times reported Wednesday that 64 hospitals, 103 long-term care nursing homes, a long-term care hospital and three hospice units in New York have cared for patients with an especially virulent germ called Candida auris. Most of the patients were in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. The Times said New York hea... |
28996 | Rhythmically coughing during a heart attack increases your chances of surviving it. | Rhythmically coughing during a heart attack may increase your chances of surviving it, but self-undertaking that procedure can be problematic. | mixture | Medical, cough cpr, Home Cures | This supposedly helpful narrative about surviving heart attacks began its life on the Internet in June 1999: This one is serious … Let’s say it’s 4:17 p.m. and you’re driving home, (alone of course) after an unusually hard day on the job. Not only was the work load extraordinarily heavy, you also had a disagreement wi... |
13176 | In one Colorado hospital, 50 percent of newborns tested had marijuana in their system. | "The ad claimed, ""In one Colorado hospital, 50 percent of newborns tested had marijuana in their system."" That hospital -- St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center -- did have more than 45 percent of their newborn babies tested test positive for marijuana in their systems. The big issue with the talking point is it cherry-pick... | mixture | Arizona, Marijuana, Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, | "The last-minute contributions opposing an initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona continue to pile up, with even Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson shelling out $500,000 against the cause. Much like the money, the ads against recreational marijuana continue to flow as well. An Oct. 11 ad fr... |
11232 | Long-shot stem-cell treatment gives two brothers a future | This was a well-written story from the human interest perspective. The disorder is not well known and there are currently no effective treatments. The potential benefit offered by the transplant program is significant but the potential downsides are as well. Facts are missing related to potential harms, the small numbe... | false | "There were no cost estimates or mention of whether the treatment would be paid for by insurance. However as the story was clear that the approach was experimental, perhaps it is too early to expect information about costs. It would have been ideal, however, for the report to have noted the significant cost of a bone m... | |
26384 | The CDC recommends that only people with COVID-19 symptoms should wear masks. | A Facebook post claims the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not recommend that people who are healthy wear face masks to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. That was the CDC’s advice — until a change made April 3. Now, to guard against the spread of the coronavirus, ... | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "President Donald Trump has said he can’t see himself wearing one. Vice President Mike Pence didn’t when he visited the Mayo Clinic. But generally, when it comes to protecting against the coronavirus, who should wear a face mask? A widely shared Facebook post appears to offer direction from an authoritative source, the... |
2967 | Ariad to resume sales of cancer drug Iclusig, shares jump. | A leukemia drug that was suspended amid safety concerns nearly two months ago is being allowed back on the U.S. market, though restricted to a smaller group of patients. | true | Health News | Shares of Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc, which makes the drug, Iclusig, rose as much as 40 percent after news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the more restricted use of on Friday. Iclusig was approved a year ago to treat chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic l... |
8591 | New coronavirus cases in Italy fall to 25-day low, deaths rise by 604. | Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 604 on Tuesday, a lower daily tally than the 636 seen the day before, while the number of new cases posted the smallest increase since March 13. | true | Health News | The total death toll in the world’s hardest-hit country since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 rose to 17,127, the Civil Protection Agency said. The total of confirmed cases increased by 3,039 on Tuesday to 135,586, the second successive daily decline, underscoring growing confidence that the illness is on the ret... |
4266 | Report calls for hog farm moratorium, new permit system. | A new report on the rapid expansion of hog farms in Iowa calls for a moratorium on new barns and concludes that the state’s regulatory system is failing to protect the environment and public health for the sake of profit of the politically powerful livestock industry. | true | Iowa, University of Iowa, Health, Environment, Environmental health, Public health | “A tipping point has been reached. Rural Iowans have every reason to be concerned,” said the report released Thursday by retired University of Iowa professors James Merchant and David Osterberg. Merchant is professor emeritus of Public Health and Medicine and founded the College of Public Health and Osterberg is profes... |
12485 | There is no ‘backlog’ of untested rape kits in Wisconsin. | "Schimel says it is wrong to describe the untested rape kits as a ""backlog,"" arguing it implies blame on the department under his watch. But the definition of the term does not involve how or when a backlog began. The department has decided that the work should be done — a process that began slowly and is on pace to ... | false | Criminal Justice, Crime, States, Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, | "Thousands of rape kits collected in Wisconsin in recent decades are now scheduled to be tested as officials seek to identify serial rapists or find leads on unsolved crimes. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has agreed the work needs to be done, but he has repeatedly contested the description in news reports tha... |
3418 | Teacher, Arizona couple among missing California divers. | A broken-hearted mother posted on her Facebook page Tuesday that her three daughters, their father and his wife were among those presumed dead after flames engulfed a dive boat off Southern California over the holiday weekend. | true | AP Top News, Stockton, General News, Santa Barbara, Fires, Arizona, California, Science, U.S. News | Susana Rosas of Stockton, California, thanked people for their prayers and support. The family of five, celebrating a birthday with an activity they enjoyed, was among 34 people presumed dead in the blaze. All were sleeping below deck when the fire started early Monday. Other victims included students from a Northern C... |
1936 | Body contouring rare after weight-loss surgery. | Patients who have had weight loss surgery rarely have excess skin removed, although it can be such a bother for people who have shed a lot of weight that it has a negative impact on their quality of life, a poll said. | true | Health News | Registered Nurse Amanda Tyacke (L) injects saline solution through the abdomen of Jazmine Raygoza, 17 (R) into an under-skin port which will fill Raygoza's Lap-Band at Rose Medical Center in Denver August 3, 2011 about 6 weeks after Jazmine's surgery. After trying multiple diets and exercise Raygoza decided on the surg... |
23142 | "The new health care law will ""force seniors into Barack Obama's government-run health care program." | The health care law forces seniors into Barack Obama's government-run health care plan, says Dan Coats | false | National, Medicare, Message Machine 2010, Retirement, Dan Coats, | "We've fact-checked lots of ads about health care reform and Medicare. But an ad in the Indiana Senate race makes the novel claim that seniors will now be forced into ""Barack Obama's government-run health care program."" That sounds like a scary prospect -- until you realize that seniors are already in a government-ru... |
7576 | UN chief: Use pandemic to ‘rebuild our world for the better’. | U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres challenged leaders Tuesday to use the coronavirus pandemic to “rebuild our world for the better” by also working together to tackle other global threats such as climate change. | true | Climate, Climate change, Health, General News, Antonio Guterres, International News, Pandemics, United Nations, Europe, Science | The outbreak has resulted in at least 200,000 deaths globally and widespread economic hardship as countries impose lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus. “It has exposed the fragility of our societies and economies to shocks,” the United Nations chief said, adding that “the only answer is brave, visionary and co... |
8858 | US FDA staff seek new warning on Baxter anesthetic. | U.S. regulatory staff have recommended updating the prescribing instructions for a Baxter International (BAX.N) anesthesia drug after three reports of cardiac arrest in children, documents released on Friday said. | true | Health News | Food and Drug Administration staff said it was possible the cases were associated with the Baxter drug Suprane. But they also said each of the patients was being treated with other drugs that may cause cardiac arrest. The label for Suprane, known generically as desflurane, already carries warnings about other cardiac p... |
10841 | Hormones given through the skin are worth a look | This story reports on the increasingly popular–but largely untested–so-called “bioidentical” or “compounded” hormones. This well-balanced piece balances opinion with fact, quoting leading researchers, clinicians in private practice, the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, and a Wyeth spokeswoman to demon... | true | No mention of costs of bioidentical, transdermal, oral forms. Doesn’t actually mention outcomes for which hormone therapy is being used, other than “keep feeling good” in the last paragraph. Given the lack of quality of life data for those taking hormone therapy, this deserves attention. Story addresses competing views... | |
676 | Disaster under the waves: the race to save the coral of the Caribbean. | Emily Hower, a research assistant at Nova Southeastern University doing field work on coral off Key West in Florida, bobs up out of the water and removes her diving mask. The news is not good. | true | Environment | Most of the pillar coral that her team have been monitoring for years are dead. Hower and her colleagues are on a race against time to find what causes a disease dubbed Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, which since 2014 has been raging like an inferno through reefs under the deceptively calm blue paradise of the Caribbe... |
25875 | “Local governments are making these (COVID-19) decisions on inaccurate data because the negatives are not being entered … across the state of Wisconsin.” | Some counties have had delays reporting negative results, typically one to three days. But we don’t yet know how widespread that is or was. Dane County saw the longest delays, up to 10 days. But after a reporting change July 24, 2020, they now report all negative results as soon as they’re known. Outside Dane County, t... | mixture | Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Steve Nass, | "A growing list of Wisconsin communities are mandating mask use in public amid rising COVID-19 case counts. Debate over those decisions has increasingly split on party lines, with Democrats generally favoring masks and other broad measures while many Republicans favor fewer or no limitations. The sides have consistentl... |
2293 | Mindfulness therapy as good as medication for chronic depression - study. | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may be just as effective as anti-depressants in helping prevent people with chronic depression from relapsing, scientists said on Tuesday. | true | Science News | Depression is one of the most common forms of mental illness, affecting more than 350 million people worldwide. It is ranked by the World Health Organization as the leading cause of disability globally. Treatment usually involves either medication, some form of psychotherapy or a combination of both. Yet many patients... |
10043 | Artificial retina gives woman limited vision after decades of darkness | The journalistic challenge with a story like this is to balance hype and hope. This review takes in both the broadcast segment that appeared on CNN and the similar but longer print version that appears on the CNN web site. First, by choosing a study subject who has had promising but unspectacular results, the story pro... | false | "The story fails to mention the cost of the technology being used in the research, a figure that is certainly available. For example, the New York Times – when it reported on this work 3 months ago – simply asked the manufacturer, who said the device ""would cost up to $100,000."" At a time of debates about controlling... | |
13763 | "Florida retirees and families ""lost tens of thousands of dollars"" in deposits on failed Trump condo projects, but he ""pocketed their money and walked away." | "Kaine said Florida retirees and families ""lost tens of thousands of dollars"" in deposits on failed Trump condo projects, but he ""pocketed their money and walked away."" It’s clear that many buyers, whatever their occupation or familial status, indeed lost at least that much in the failed Trump projects in Tampa and... | mixture | Candidate Biography, Housing, Florida, Tim Kaine, | "Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine questioned Donald Trump’s business ethics, saying the Republican presidential candidate swindled customers in a past real estate deal in the Sunshine State. ""Retirees and families in Florida — they believed Donald Trump when he said he'd build them some condos. Thousands... |
3397 | Dozens sickened by outbreak of norovirus-like illness. | Health officials say at least 43 people have been sickened by an outbreak of norovirus-like illness - including vomiting, diarrhea, body aches, chills, and fever - linked to Brave Horse Tavern in Seattle. | true | Health, General News, Seattle, Public health, Food and drink | KOMO-TV reports the outbreak was investigated by Public Health Seattle-King County after at least 30 people reported becoming ill after consuming food and drinks at the tavern on November 23 and 24. During the investigation, inspectors identified at least 11 employees who experienced norovirus symptoms since Nov. 24. A... |
7386 | Trump speculates that China released virus in lab ‘mistake’. | President Donald Trump has speculated that China could have unleashed the coronavirus on the world due to some kind of horrible “mistake,” and his intelligence agencies said they are still examining a notion put forward by the president and aides that the pandemic may have resulted from an accident at a Chinese lab. | true | Intelligence agencies, AP Top News, Understanding the Outbreak, Technology, General News, Politics, Wuhan, Health, Infectious diseases, Science, Asia Pacific, Donald Trump, China, Virus Outbreak, Pandemics | Trump even suggested Thursday that the release could have been intentional. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the clearinghouse for the web of U.S. spy agencies, said it had ruled out the virus being man-made but was still investigating the precise source of the global pandemic, which has killed more... |
7991 | Amid criticism, Macron vows to raise medical gear output to tackle coronavirus. | President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday to make France self-sufficient in protective masks by year-end and learn lessons from the coronavirus emergency, firing back at growing criticism of his government over painful equipment shortages. | true | Health News | France has already ordered 1 billion masks to ease an acute shortage nationwide that has angered front-line healthcare officials and politicians as the coronavirus outbreak has swept across the country, killing at least 3,523 people. Speaking at a mask-producing factory on Tuesday, Macron said he had ordered a tripling... |
20538 | All travelers -- even babies -- arriving in the U.S. by air must have a passport. | Milwaukee Brewers pitcher John Axford says even babies need a passport to enter the U.S. by air | true | Homeland Security, Wisconsin, John Axford, | "For the third year in a row, the Milwaukee Brewers’ lights-out closer John Axford faced a challenge when it came to getting to spring training on time. In 2010, it was an auto accident; in 2011 a case of food poisoning. This season it was red tape involving his 8-month-old son, J.B., also known to Axford’s Twitter fol... |
32230 | Radiation from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has caused 100% infant mortality among orca whales. | While radiation from the Fukushima disaster did have a major impact on marine life, the leak of radiactive material from the plant leak did not cause a proven “100% infant mortality” rate among orca whales. Moreover, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration do n... | false | Critter Country, Animal Welfare, fukushima, orca | Fear-mongering articles reporting that radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (triggered by the tsunami that followed the Tōhoku earthquake of 11 March 2011) had caused a 100% infant mortality among orca whales born since then have been circulated online for several years. The web site Humans Are Free re... |
9481 | FDA OKs new drug to treat all forms of hepatitis C | This AP story on the latest hepatitis C drug was strong on one point that’s often weak in health care news reporting: The price of treatment. But, it missed the opportunity to go beyond a standard quick report on the new drug, known as Mavyret, and give readers the kind of context that will help them make more informed... | mixture | antivirals,Hepatitis C,liver | The article nicely spells out the costs of drug treatment for eight, 12, and 16 weeks. Readers are also told these would be the costs incurred by uninsured patients. One detail to note, though: The story says that Maryvet is cheaper than all other drugs in the market, but only mentions the price of Harvoni and not that... |
4138 | Future of fish farming in federal waters at issue in court. | The potential environmental and economic consequences posed by proposals for fish farming in federal waters dictate that Congress — not a federal agency — must decide how to regulate the industry, an attorney told a federal appeals court Monday. | true | New Orleans, Fish, Environment, Courts, General News | At issue before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a September 2018 ruling by a federal judge who threw out National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s rules for fish farms in the Gulf of Mexico, saying Congress never gave the agency authority to make them. An attorney for groups representing commercial an... |
2350 | California county tries to ban pot farms as medical weed business thrives. | Citing marijuana fields springing up next to high schools and in abandoned barns, Sacramento County supervisors are set to declare pot gardens a public nuisance in the latest move by a local government to rein in California’s cannabis industry. | true | Health News | U.S. states are increasingly moving to drop curbs on marijuana following landmark voter initiatives in Colorado and Washington state in 2012 that legalized the drug for recreational use. But in California, where medical marijuana is legal but recreational use is not, state laws are hazy on who is allowed to grow and se... |
21507 | People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals estimates 200 animals will be spared annually as the result of former President Bill Clinton adopting a vegan diet. | PETA Claims Clinton Saving 200 Animals Annually | mixture | Georgia, Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, | "Former President Bill Clinton was well known for his appetites while at the White House. The man jogged to McDonald’s for a Big Mac. His ability to pile a plate high with crispy pieces of fried chicken, mounds of barbecued pork and slabs of smoky ribs was legendary. But last year the former chief executive shocked Am... |
29981 | CBS reported that elites are ingesting the blood of young children in order to achieve ‘eternal youth.' | The important points here are that 1) Nobody involved in any such studies (which are still largely confined to rodents) is “ingesting” the blood of children — the few research efforts using humans to date involved subjects’ receiving infusions/transfusions of blood plasma, not drinking blood, and 2) Even the controvers... | false | Junk News, news punch | On 26 December 2018, the News Punch junk news site (formerly the equally disreputable Your News Wire junk news site) published an article claiming that CBS had reported on “world leaders and elite businessmen” who supposedly “ingest the blood of young children in order to achieve ‘eternal youth’”: CBS: Elites Are Lin... |
14129 | "Before 2005, ""the percentage of"" Texas high school ""students meeting the college readiness standards of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board stood at 28% in English and 42% in math. Those figures stood at 65% and 66% in 2013." | "Willett, writing for the court majority, said that before 2005, ""the percentage of"" Texas high-school students meeting the coordinating board’s college readiness standards ""stood at 28% in English and 42% in math. Those figures stood at 65% and 66% in 2013."" This statement doesn’t acknowledge readiness metrics suc... | true | Children, Education, Texas, Don Willett, | "Deep in the May 2016 Texas Supreme Court ruling that upheld and critiqued the current school funding system is encouraging news about the performance of Texas students. On Page 58 of the majority opinion, Justice Don Willett (who subsequently showed up among individuals that presumptive Republican presidential nominee... |
26570 | “We’ve got to give the American public a rough estimate of how long we think this is going to take, based mostly on the South Korean model, which seems to be the trajectory that we are on, thankfully, and not the Italian model.” | A Pennsylvania congressman said the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. matches the spread of the virus in South Korea, not Italy. The U.S. and South Korea have similar case fatality rates – Italy’s is higher – but all three countries have age-specific mortality rates that are about the same. Public health experts sa... | mixture | National, Coronavirus, Pennsylvania, Brian Fitzpatrick, | "Last week, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick spoke about the coronavirus pandemic on a local talk radio show, and he told the host that the outbreak in this country looks more like the one in South Korea than the one in Italy. ""We’ve got to give the American public a rough estimate of how long we think this is going to tak... |
28358 | Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum has suspended his campaign for governor of Florida. | In a remote island outpost on the edge of the Antarctic, hundreds of miles from the southern tip of Chile, scientists at a research base are scouring the ice for clues about everything from climate change to cures for cancer. | mixture | Politics | Chile’s Escudero base on King George Island acts as a research hub for a frozen expanse that extends to the South Pole, with more than 300 international scientists taking turns to brave the bitter Antarctic temperatures. The Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) has supported research into a biomolecule called “Antartina... |
10485 | To build a knee: Done right, it’s fast, safe, and effective | Knee osteoarthritis afflicts millions of Americans. Total knee replacement is but one treatment approach—one that yields often-remarkable results. Despite its good reputation though, there’s more to the operation than this article’s glancing overview suggests. For starters, knee replacement is a major surgery with pote... | false | The article does not mention cost. In knee replacement there is more to cost than the price of the implant and the hospital and surgeon’s fees. After surgery, patients must plan for time away from work, intensive rehabilitation, and perhaps the cost of an inpatient rehab facility or visiting nurse. There is no attempt ... | |
17019 | "A majority of Americans ""since Harry Truman days"" support single-payer health insurance, or ""full Medicare for all." | "Nader said a majority of Americans ""since Harry Truman days"" support single-payer health insurance, or ""full Medicare for all."" While there are individual poll results dating back to 1945 that indicate majority support for single-payer, overall the results are mixed, at best. In fact, one review of more than 100 p... | false | Federal Budget, Health Care, History, Medicare, Polls and Public Opinion, Public Health, Wisconsin, Ralph Nader, | "Americans are more politically polarized than they were a generation ago. Yet consumer activist and four-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader argues in his new book that there is ""an emerging left-right alliance"" in the country that could ""dismantle the corporate state."" Interviewed about the book on May 7, 201... |
29391 | Raggedy Ann dolls were created by a grief-stricken father who lost his daughter to a vaccine-related illness, and who wished to broadcast the risks of vaccination. | What's true: Raggedy Ann was created in 1915 by Johnny Gruelle, whose daughter Marcella died at the age of 13 after receiving a vaccination. What's false: Raggedy Ann was patented before Marcella's death and had nothing to do with vaccine opposition. | false | Horrors, anti-vaccine, raggedy ann, vaccine misinformation | In January 2017, Facebook pages “The Truth About Vaccines” and “VacTruth.com” shared memes promotion the notion that the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls were created as part of an anti-vaccination movement: Different versions of this claim had appeared as early as 2009, and the alternative health site RealFarmacy published... |
12808 | "Citizen Action of Wisconsin Says ""people who come to"" their dissent actions ""get a ‘cease and desist’ letter"" from Ron Johnson's office." | "Citizen Action says ""people who come to"" their dissent actions ""get a ‘cease and desist’ letter"" from Johnson's office. Despite the broadness of the claim, the group produced a cease-and-desist letter written to only one person who it says has been involved in Citizen Action initiatives such as preserving the Affo... | false | Civil Rights, Health Care, Polls and Public Opinion, Wisconsin, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, | "A website posting on Feb. 28, 2017 spurred a bashing the next day of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, with charges that the Wisconsin Republican was cracking down on free speech. Tweets such as these: Sen Ron Johnson sends constituents a ""cease and desist"" letter so as to not hear their concerns! Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) ha... |
7379 | Dentists carefully reopen in France after 2-month lockdown. | Anyone who suffered through France’s two-month lockdown with a toothache or other oral affliction of a non-emergency nature has a hope of licking the pain. | true | AP Top News, Health, General News, France, Lifestyle, Paris, Dentistry, Virus Outbreak, Europe, International News | Dental practices around the country are cautiously reopening and accepting appointments after the French government eased restrictions on some businesses, services and public activity. Yet getting back to work in the age of coronavirus requires caution, especially for over 40,000 dentists in France who are among the he... |
1730 | 'Baby, It's Cold Outside': large part of U.S. in deep freeze. | Schools in large cities across the Midwest and into the Northeast announced they will close on Thursday to protect children from bitterly cold temperatures as wind chill warnings were issued for most of the eastern half of the United States. | true | Environment | The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of an Arctic air blast from Canada continuing to provide subzero temperatures for the U.S. Midwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Wednesday evening and into Thursday. On Wednesday, public school officials in Chicago, Milwaukee and Boston canceled Thursday classes out... |
8782 | MS drug may work against viral infection: study. | A drug that Novartis AG is testing in people with multiple sclerosis also has the potential to treat certain viral infections, perhaps including the AIDS virus, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | Low doses of the drug FTY720, also called fingolimod, given to mice once a day for three days eliminated an infection by a virus that can cause meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The findings suggest the drug, which boosted anti-viral immune responses in the mice, ma... |
1326 | EpiPen shortages seen in Canada, UK but U.S. supply intact. | Mylan N.V.’s (MYL.O) emergency allergy antidote EpiPen is in short supply in Canada and Britain, but remains available in the United States, the treatment’s manufacturer said on Friday. | true | Health News | EpiPens deliver potentially lifesaving doses of the generic drug epinephrine, via an automatic injector that a patient or caregiver can administer in the event of severe allergic reaction. “We are shipping product. Currently there is no shortage in the U.S.,” said Steve Danehy, a spokesman for Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), which... |
9291 | Novel imaging technique improves prostate cancer detection | This news release is about a new method of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for use in the diagnosis and guiding of treatment for prostate cancer. The release claims that the new technique “measurably improves upon current prostate imaging,” is “more reliable” than existing techniques, and “provides a better target fo... | false | gleason score,overdiagnosis,overtreatment,prostate cancer,University of California San Diego | It is unclear if this MRI method is more, less or equally expensive as contrast enhanced MRI or diffusion MRI. It is also unclear if special equipment is necessary for this new MRI approach or if that equipment is currently common. Another cost not mentioned is the extra time needed to schedule the appointment and perf... |
17028 | "There is no ""incontrovertible proof that speed, in and of itself, is the contributing factor to increasing (vehicular) fatalities." | "Caldwell said he had ""yet to see any incontrovertible proof that speed, in and of itself, is the contributing factor to increasing fatalities."" Traffic studies and experts agree that higher speeds can lead to more fatalities in accidents, which makes Caldwell’s use of the word ""incontrovertible"" suspect. But opini... | mixture | Public Safety, Transportation, Florida, Matt Caldwell, | "As the Florida legislature neared the finish line this spring, some legislators were in a hurry to increase the speed limit on major highways to 75 mph. But there was plenty of debate about whether the state should put on the brakes. SB 392 cleared the Senate, but the House was split during its April 30 debate, with m... |
11411 | What are you made of? The BOD POD knows all | This story did a fine job of explaining the various ways body composition can be measured and what the measurement means and how it might be used. But a major shortcoming of the story was that it did not do a good job of providing a critical appraisal of the evidence behind the BOD POD device. Do we really know that it... | true | "The story had a sidebar explaining the cost of Bod Pod testing in Puget Sound locations ranges from $25 – 50. The story indicated one might benefit from the information generated by BOD POD measurement by helping set realistic weight loss goals. It did not actually provide the reader with any information about whether... | |
28860 | 643,000 Americans declare bankruptcy over medical bills every year. | In short, using some very specific analyses, one could make the case that (at least within the last several years) about 643,000 Americans declared bankruptcy annually due to medical bills. But the accuracy of those analyses is open to question, the playing field has changed significantly since they were undertaken (du... | mixture | Medical, bankruptcy, medical bankruptcy, meme math | In April 2016, a meme was published by the Facebook page “The Other 98%” (among others) holding that 643,000 Americans declare bankruptcy over medical bills every year, while in a number of other first-world countries, bankruptcies over medical bills are non-existent (due to the implementation of national social health... |
4715 | 6th fatality linked to Eastern Equine Encephalitis reported. | Michigan health authorities are reporting a 6th fatality linked to Eastern Equine Encephalitis. | true | Health, Kalamazoo, Michigan, St. Joseph | Berrien County Health Department officials said Monday the victim was one of two people who contracted the mosquito borne virus. The death occurred Saturday. Cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis first appeared in West Michigan at the end of August. The virus has been reported in Barry, Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo... |
13877 | Do you know what the second sport with the most concussions is? Women’s soccer… And the third most dangerous sport? Cheerleading. | Drew Brees says women's soccer, cheerleading pose concussion risks second only to football | mixture | Health Care, Sports, Women, Texas, Drew Brees, | "Drew Brees, the New Orleans Saints quarterback headed into his 16th NFL season, insists he doesn’t fret about concussions. But the Austin native, who led the Westlake High School Chaparrals to a state football championship in 1996, stirred our curiosity in his June 2016 interview with Kirk Bohls of the Austin American... |
16076 | "Since the United States began negotiations with Iran, ""that's probably the first year and a half in which Iran has not advanced its nuclear program in the last decade." | "Obama said that we have seen ""probably the first year and a half in which Iran has not advanced its nuclear program in the last decade."" The agreement signed in November 2013 has made it harder for Iran to produce weapons-grade nuclear material. International observers report that Iran complied with the terms of the... | true | National, Foreign Policy, Nuclear, Barack Obama, | "When you close out the year by ditching America’s 50-year isolation of Cuba, you can expect a few broader questions about your style on the international stage. President Barack Obama said in a year-end interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley that he has been ""consistent in saying that where we can solve problems diplomat... |
6580 | Delhi shuts schools, halts construction to tackle pollution. | India’s capital announced a slew of measures Sunday to combat the crippling air pollution that has engulfed the city, including closing down schools, halting construction and ordering that all roads be doused with water to settle dust. | true | Health, India, Air pollution, Asia Pacific, Smog, New Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Pollution | New Delhi, one of the world’s dirtiest cities, saw levels of PM2.5 — tiny particulate matter that can clog lungs — soar to over 900 micrograms per cubic meter on Saturday. That’s more than 90 times the level considered safe by the World Health Organization and 15 times the Indian government’s norms. The severe weekend ... |
2565 | California health officials sound alarm over hookah smoking. | California public health officials warned on Thursday of a sharp rise in tobacco smoking from hookahs, and a proliferation of cafes and lounges offering the Middle Eastern-style water pipes, which experts say can be at least as harmful as cigarettes. | true | Health News | Hookah smoking among Californians jumped more than 40 percent between 2005 and 2008, said Dr. Ron Chapman, the state director of public health, citing a 2011 state tobacco survey published in the American Journal of Public Health. He said the trend was particularly pronounced among college-age adults, with nearly a qua... |
2942 | Trebling tobacco tax 'could prevent 200 million early deaths'. | Trebling tobacco tax globally would cut smoking by a third and prevent 200 million premature deaths this century from lung cancer and other diseases, researchers said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | In a review in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists from the charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK) said hiking taxes by a large amount per cigarette would encourage people to quit smoking altogether rather than switch to cheaper brands, and help stop young people from taking up the habit. As well as causing lung... |
5850 | Wisconsin sees increase in reports of STDs. | Wisconsin saw an increase of about 13 percent in reported chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis cases in 2016, according to a report from the state Department of Health Services. | true | Sexually transmitted diseases, Wisconsin, Chlamydia, Health, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Public health | Brandon Kufalk, a public health educator with the agency’s Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Section, told Wisconsin Public Radio that the increase may be due to more testing. The state had more than 26,400 chlamydia cases, more than 6,600 gonorrhea cases and more than 400 syphilis cases last year. All three STDs c... |
11006 | Watching a diet’s progress | This was the second of a four-part NBC Today show series on the experiences of individuals engaging in weight loss programs. This segment was about the Weight Watcher’s program and provided some useful information about the skills gained through participation in the program that may better enable a person to lose weigh... | mixture | "There was a graphic that indicated the costs involved in participating in this weight loss program. Although there was good discussion about some important features of the program beyond simple limitation of caloric intake today (i.e. psychological, behavioral change, tools for weight loss and maintenance of weight lo... | |
36624 | "A medical committee withheld a heart transplant from a woman saying that she needed to have at least $10,000 for immunosuppressant medication and suggested ""a fundraising effort." | Did a Medical Committee Recommend Fundraising for a Heart Transplant? | true | Fact Checks, Health / Medical, Politics, Viral Content | In November 2018, a Grand Rapids, Michigan woman who needed a heart transplant due to complications from chemotherapy was turned down by a Spectrum Health medical committee due to lack of funds:Martin’s son, Alex Britt, said she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and the chemotherapy treatment, while curing her c... |
35410 | A photograph shows the damage to a person's lung from the COVID-19 coronavirus disease. | “A lung transplant was her only chance for survival,” says Ankit Bharat, MD, chief of thoracic surgery and surgical director of the Northwestern Medicine Lung Transplant Program. “We are one of the first health systems to successfully perform a lung transplant on a patient recovering from COVID-19. We want other transp... | true | Medical, COVID-19 | On June 11, 2020, a disturbing photograph purportedly showing a lung that had been removed from a COVID-19 patient started to circulate on social media: This is a genuine photograph of a lung removed from such a patient. The picture was shared in a news release from Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital after surge... |
33504 | Popular R&B singer Ciara was born male. | If the issue hadn’t been settled by then, Ciara’s pregnancy in 2014 should have put this particular rumor to rest. | false | Entertainment, ciara, music | Back in 2005, Ciara Harris was an 18-year-old who performed under the stage name of Ciara and was dubbed the First Lady of “Crunk & B,” a genre of music described as a grinding, dance floor-friendly alternative to R&B. Her 2004 album, “Goodies,” topped the charts, and she was nominated at the 19th annual Soul Train Mu... |
21920 | Anywhere in the world, when someone uses a mobile phone, e-mail, the Internet or GPS, they are enjoying the benefits of the American miracle. | Rubio says mobile phone, e-mail, Internet, GPS stem from 'American miracle' | true | Science, Technology, Florida, Marco Rubio, | "U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio used his first speech on the Senate floor, on June 14, 2011, to evoke the American dream. The so-called maiden speech is a ""big deal for a senator,"" said fellow Florida Sen. Bill Nelson — and Rubio went for big ideas. ""America is not perfect,"" said the freshman Republican, the child of Cuban ... |
2908 | Swiss biotech firm starts new Alzheimer vaccine trial. | AC Immune, a privately held biotech company based in Switzerland, has launched the world’s first trial of a vaccine against a protein believed to cause Alzheimer’s after securing funding from private investors. | true | Health News | Its ACI-35 vaccine aims to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies which target the tau protein that forms twisted fibers and tangles inside the brain. Many scientists believe tau is an important cause of Alzheimer’s, alongside another protein known as amyloid, that has been the main focus of drug development... |
15546 | The American murder rate is 50 times that of any other developed nation. | "Brand said, ""The American murder rate is 50 times that of any other developed nation."" Yes, the American homicide rate is pretty bad, at least compared to most of its high-income peers. But it’s not even close to being as bad as Brand suggests. For instance, the homicide rate in the United States is just three times... | false | Crime, PunditFact, Guns, Russell Brand, | "In 2014, eccentric British comedian Russell Brand launched an Internet video show called The Trews, short for ""true news."" True news! Something PunditFact can get behind. The show usually features Brand offering his opinion on the topics of the day, often about his native England but also sometimes about the United ... |
27941 | "A test message slipped into a live mailing, resulting in prospective customers receiving letters that greeted them with the salutation ""Dear Rich Bastard." | Wells Fargo spokesperson Kim Kellogg said, “From now on, we’re just going to type, ‘Testing One, Two, Three’ at the bottom.” | true | Business, Consumer Relations | Corrupted data, client pressures, and looming deadlines work to combine into a lurking potential for disaster in direct mail campaigns. Sometimes that potential gets realized in hilarious fashion when one small thing, one very little thing, is inadvertently overlooked in the maelstrom inherent to getting a project of s... |
20368 | More children die in agricultural jobs than in any other industry. | Federal stats back up agriculture deaths claim | true | Georgia, Children, Labor, Rashad Taylor, | "Most nonbinding resolutions that come before the Georgia House of Representatives garner little debate, but one involving child labor laws got a little testy. Some House members were angry about a U.S. Department of Labor proposal they say would make it tougher for children to work on the family farm. Agriculture is G... |
5687 | Psychiatric hospital to add 56 new spots. | Virginia plans to add more than 50 new spots at a psychiatric hospital in the state’s southwest. | true | Roanoke, Creigh Deeds, Mental health, Health, General News, Virginia | The Roanoke Times reports that the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services is adding 56 beds at Catawba Hospital near Roanoke to comply with a state law requiring that no one in need be turned away. The state said the expansion will require hiring 94 employees. Virginia has made increased funding for... |
3596 | School offers medicinal gardening class. | Herbalism is about autonomy, according to Juliette Carr. | true | Health, Gardening, Herbal medicine | “It’s promoting autonomy and self-empowerment to prioritize reclaiming lost wisdom,” she said. Carr, who is a founding member of The Women’s Action Team, wants to bring back home medicine traditions. She wants people to reclaim that lost knowledge so they can advocate for themselves and their family’s health. That’s wh... |
37967 | "In September 2020, the CDC added and then removed ""airborne transmission"" as a way in which COVID-19 is likely to spread." | On September 18 2020, a CDC page called “How COVID-19 Spreads” was updated to include prominent initial language about airborne coronavirus transmission. The changes attracted widespread attention on September 20 2020, and the updates were taken out of the CDC page the next day. Officials later said that “an early draf... | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | "On September 21 2020, several prominent tweets suggested that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added, then removed guidance indicating that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19) was airborne — meaning it could potentially be spread through aerosolized droplets in confined spaces:BREAKING: The CDC ... |
37543 | Hand sanitizer, in wider use during a coronavirus pandemic, is fatal to dogs and other pets because it contains the same ingredients as antifreeze. | Does Coronavirus Put Dogs at Risk Because Hand Sanitizer Has the Same Ingredients as Antifreeze? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | On March 14 2020, a Facebook status update (archived here) claiming that pet owners should be aware that hand sanitizer “has the same ingredients as antifreeze” went viral after an uptick in hand sanitizer use due to an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak that has become a global pandemic:White text against a purple background (... |
26541 | “Unemployment now pays $24/hour, even if your wages were lower. Why don’t ‘essential’ people forced to still work get $24, too?” | The federal stimulus bill in response to the coronavirus outbreak does not specify unemployment payments be made at a rate equivalent to $24 per hour. A $600-per-week federal boost in unemployment payments means some unemployed workers will receive the equivalent of $24 an hour, but that depends on how much their state... | mixture | Economy, Jobs, Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "A $600-per-week boost in unemployment benefits, part of the federal government’s $2 trillion stimulus response to the coronavirus outbreak, has sparked some backlash. As the bill neared final approval, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R.-S.C., was widely quoted as saying the bonus would incentivize people not to work and, in eff... |
2091 | Educated people cope better with dementia. | Educated people are better able to cope with the physical effects of dementia, and even one extra year of education can significantly cut the risk of developing the brain-wasting disease, scientists said on Monday. | true | Science News | The findings by scientists from Britain and Finland could have important implications for public health at a time when populations in many countries are rapidly aging and dementia numbers are expected to rise sharply. The researchers found that people who go on to university or college after leaving school appear to be... |
8650 | Why is New Orleans' coronavirus death rate twice New York's? Obesity is a factor. | The coronavirus has been a far deadlier threat in New Orleans than the rest of the United States, with a per-capita death rate twice that of New York City. Doctors, public health officials and available data say the Big Easy’s high levels of obesity and related ailments may be part of the problem. | true | Health News | “We’re just sicker,” said Rebekah Gee, who until January was the health secretary for Louisiana and now heads Louisiana State University’s healthcare services division. “We already had tremendous healthcare disparities before this pandemic – one can only imagine they are being amplified now.” Along with New York and S... |
39961 | Swishing oil around in your mouth for 20 minutes may reap some health benefits. | Health Benefits of Oil Pulling. | unproven | Medical | We have not found any evidence that this holistic treatment for gingivitis and other conditions of the mouth, gums, throat or the rest of the body is better than or equal to the methods used in modern medicine. According to the Foodmatter.TV website, “Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic remedy for oral health a... |
10966 | Warm, beating hearts offer new hope for transplants | This beautifully written story takes readers on an incredible journey and does a great job describing how this potentially innovative approach to heart transplants works. It also achieves the rare feat of showing readers exactly what this innovation might mean in terms of additional costs to the health system. Where it... | mixture | Associated Press | This was one of the most thorough explanations of costs we have seen in a story, especially in a person-driven feature such as this. “There’s also the issue of cost. A typical heart transplant in the U.S. costs about $787,000 including hospital stay and anti-rejection drugs. An Igloo cooler costs $35 compared with the ... |
41749 | "State laws mandating universal background checks ""have been shown to reduce gun violence by 50 percent." | Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke advocated universal background checks for gun purchases, claiming that state laws mandating universal checks “have been shown to reduce gun violence by 50 percent.” But academic research doesn’t support that. | unproven | gun control, universal background checks, | After the Colorado school shooting, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke advocated universal background checks for gun purchases, claiming that state laws mandating universal checks “have been shown to reduce gun violence by 50 percent.”But academic research doesn’t support that.O’Rourke’s campaign said the ... |
322 | U.S. judge appoints Ken Feinberg mediator for Bayer Roundup settlement talks. | A U.S. judge on Wednesday appointed prominent attorney Kenneth Feinberg as mediator for court-mandated settlement talks in the federal litigation over allegations that Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused cancer. | true | Health News | Feinberg has been instructed to meet with lawyers for Bayer and plaintiffs within the next 14 days, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco said during a court hearing on Wednesday. Chhabria, who oversees some 900 federal Roundup lawsuits, on April 11 ordered the parties to start confidential mediation. He ... |
4851 | Boulder County Jail inmate tests positive for hepatitis A. | An inmate in Boulder County Jail has tested positive for hepatitis A, two days after news of a death from a recent outbreak of the disease in Colorado. | true | Boulder, Colorado, Health, General News, Hepatitis, Public health | The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says jail and public health officials were notified Friday that an inmate had tested positive for the contagious liver infection and was separated from the rest of the jail population. No other inmates or jail staff have shown symptoms of hepatitis A. However, the sheriff’s office sa... |
32312 | Dr. Hardin B. Jones recently revealed that chemotherapy doesn't work 97% of the time, and doctors only recommend it to get kickbacks. | A compendium of misrepresentations led to a Facebook rumor claiming a long-dead doctor had recently revealed that chemotherapy doesn't work. | false | Medical, anonhq, cancer, chemotherapy | In June 2016 several alternative health and conspiracy blogs published posts claiming that a Berkeley doctor had recently “blown the whistle” on chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer, revealing that it doesn’t work 97% of the time and is only recommended due to practitioner greed (i.e., oncologists get kickbacks from ... |
10432 | Premature births may be reduced with hormone gel | This story about a study on treatments to prevent preterm births could have taken some cues from a competing story by the Associated Press. It may end up confusing readers the way it introduced a drug that was not part of the study and explaining the cost information in a very disjointed way. AP also mentioned the othe... | mixture | Los Angeles Times | The story discusses costs but, because of the way it interjects the drug Makena, the story confuses the costs issue. It says in the lead, “A simple, safe, relatively inexpensive hormone treatment might help some high-risk pregnant women carry their babies longer, a new study suggests,” but then it says, “Even better, t... |
10687 | FDA ‘black box’ warning advised for cancer drug Avastin | This story about the risk of blood clots linked to the cancer drug Avastin does a decent job of conveying the key findings. But it suffers from at least one significant flaw. On the positive side, the story explains the findings in a clear and fair way, with adequate detail, sourcing and context. The story is based on ... | true | "The article reports that Avastin costs up to $55,000 per year. The reporter does a decent job of describing the results, reporting that 12 percent of Avastin patients in the study developed blood clots, a ""30"" percent higher risk than those who did not take Avastin. This formulation, which appears in the abstract of... | |
13046 | Say Bill Gates is linked to HPV vaccine related deaths in India. | An anti-vaccination blog tied Bill Gates to the deaths of several girls who were part of an HPV vaccination roll out in India. A full medical investigation determined that the girls died from causes completely unrelated to the vaccine. Some were poisoned by insecticide, malaria took others, and one drowned. Many millio... | false | Global News Service, Public Health, Bloggers, | "The post on an anti-vaccination website was damning. The headline ""Bill Gates uses 30,000 Indian girls as guinea pigs to test cancer vaccine,"" appeared on the Organic & Healthy blog in October and is still being shared. The article described a 2009 human papillomavirus vaccination demonstration project in India. In ... |
26267 | “Due to the large number of people who will refuse the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine because it will include tracking microchips, the Gates Foundation is now spending billions to ensure that all medical and dental injections and procedures include the chips.” | We found no evidence supporting this claim. | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Unfounded fears about governments microchipping citizens predate the new coronavirus, but we’ve debunked chipping claims inspired by the pandemic, too. To recap: The United States isn’t developing a vaccine with a chip to track people, Democrats aren’t pushing for ""an implanted microchip in humans and everyone to be ... |
9869 | Study offers potential breakthrough in care of children with autism | This article in The Guardian reports on a study showing that parents who undergo a training program designed to help them pay rigorous and constant attention to their pre-school autistic children’s communications cues consistently improves the children’s symptoms and behavior. According to the article, the success of t... | mixture | The Guardian | The article does a good job of noting the social, health, lost productivity and educational costs of autism in the UK and the United States, but it did not note the cost of the interventional program itself, and the time challenges that caregivers of autistic children face in pursuing this kind of intervention. The sto... |
22388 | Studies have shown that in the absence of federal reproductive health funds, we are going to see the level of abortion in Georgia increase by about 44 percent. | Congressman says federal funding cuts could increase abortions 44 percent | mixture | Abortion, Georgia, Hank Johnson, | "Federal budget wars have morphed into culture wars, and fiscal and social conservatives have set their sights on cutting family planning funds. The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted last month to take away $317 million in funds for the Title X program, which provides reproductive health service... |
4502 | Car bomb collides with vehicles in Egypt capital, killing 20. | A car packed with explosives being driven to carry out an attack collided with other vehicles and exploded in central Cairo, killing at least 20 people, the Interior Ministry said Monday, the deadliest attack in the Egyptian capital in over two years. | true | Religion, Health, Cairo, General News, Egypt, Militant groups, Nile River, Accidents, Middle East, International News | The blast went off Sunday night on the busy Corniche boulevard along the Nile River, setting other cars on fire and injuring at least 47. It damaged Egypt’s main cancer hospital nearby, shattering parts of the facade and some rooms inside, forcing the evacuation of dozens of patients. Authorities had initially said the... |
2496 | WHO urges tougher food marketing rules to curb childhood obesity. | The marketing of unhealthy foods to children has proven “disastrously effective”, driving obesity by using cheap social media channels to promote fat-, salt- and sugar-laden foods, the World Health Organisation’s Europe office said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | The United Nations health agency called for tighter controls on such marketing, saying tougher regulations were crucial to winning the fight against childhood obesity. “Children are surrounded by adverts urging them to consume high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt foods, even when they are in places where they should be prot... |
403 | Exclusive: Top U.S. insurer to cover Amgen, Eli Lilly migraine drugs, exclude Teva. | A top U.S. pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) owned by UnitedHealth Group Inc has included new migraine drugs from Amgen Inc and Eli Lilly and Co as preferred treatments on its lists of covered drugs, according to an OptumRx client note viewed by Reuters. | true | Health News | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd’s rival migraine headache preventer is excluded on one list and patients can pay more for it in some cases on a second list, the note said. As with rival PBMs Express Scripts and CVS Health Corp, OptumRx’s lists of covered drugs, or formularies, cover tens of millions of consumers who... |
18444 | "Long-term federal investment in U.S. airports is urgent because ""there was a recent survey of the top airports … in the world, and there was not a single U.S. airport that came in the top 25." | "Obama said the United States needs to invest more in its airports over the long term in part because ""there was a recent survey of the top airports … in the world, and there was not a single U.S. airport that came in the top 25."" He is spot-on about the rankings, but the survey in question offers only imperfect supp... | true | National, Federal Budget, Transportation, Barack Obama, | "During a press conference on April 30, 2013, President Barack Obama addressed a number of high-profile issues, including the fighting in Syria, the Boston Marathon attack, immigration legislation and the across-the-board cuts to federal spending known as the sequester. On the sequester, Obama expressed his ambivalence... |
2852 | Experimental gene therapy improves sight in patients going blind. | Toby Stroh was in his 20s when his doctor told him he would go blind in his 50s, and his years of playing tennis and being able to drive or work could be gone long before that. | true | Health News | Now aged 56, two years after his retina was deliberately infected with a virus carrying a gene to correct a protein deficiency that was destroying its cells, he is a regular on the tennis court and has a successful career in law. “For the last 30 years I’ve been living under the insidious inevitability of going blind,”... |
3901 | Nevada last in states for mental health services for youths . | Children and teenagers who need mental health care have less access to services in Nevada than in other states, advocates say. | true | General News, Nevada, Mental health, Las Vegas | The nonprofit group Mental Health America ranked Nevada 51st among states and the District of Columbia in seven categories of youths at risk, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Factors in the group’s September review included psychological and emotional disturbances, substance abuse disorders, major depressive episodes and c... |
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