claim_id stringlengths 1 234 | claim stringlengths 14 491 | explanation stringlengths 1 4.18k | label stringclasses 5
values | subjects stringlengths 0 223 | main_text stringlengths 18 41.7k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2998 | Florida Legislature sets sights on education, health care. | Florida lawmakers signaled that they would likely tackle education spending and health care costs but might seek to avoid a battle over forcing employers to verify the immigration status of workers, as the 2020 legislative session began Tuesday. | true | Legislature, Health care costs, Health, General News, Florida, Immigration, Elections, Education | House Speaker Jose Oliva was unsparing in his criticism of what he called the “healthcare industrial complex,” including drug companies, hospitals and medical device companies that he said were “the great robber-barons of our time.” Oliva sought to build on some of health care initiatives of last year’s legislative ses... |
8803 | Glaxo says cervical cancer vaccine works for longer. | GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday new data showed its Cervarix vaccine generated sustained, high levels of neutralizing antibodies against the two most common cervical cancer-causing virus types for 6.4 years. | true | Health News | Glaxo said on Wednesday the data, from an extended follow-up study, showed the longest duration of sustained neutralizing antibody levels reported against both virus types HPV 16 and 18 with a cervical cancer vaccine to date. Experts believe that neutralizing antibodies — so-called because they have the ability to neut... |
7225 | Romania shuts hospital after babies diagnosed with superbug. | Romanian health authorities on Friday temporarily closed a maternity hospital in the capital after 13 babies born there recently were diagnosed with a drug-resistant superbug. | true | Bucharest, Romania, Health, International News, Europe, Public health | The Health Ministry said the Giulesti Maternity Hospital in Bucharest would stop admissions after the newborns were diagnosed with antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The hospital said it had canceled dozens of cesarean section operations planned for next week and will be directing pregnant women needing the pr... |
9701 | Marijuana Chemical Shows Promise for Hard-to-Treat Epilepsy in Kids | Efficacy and safety studies of a marijuana-derived oil on children for whom existing drugs fail to control epileptic seizures support moving cannabidiol into clinical studies. That’s good news. Less cheery is encountering stories about the effects of this drug before it has been tested in placebo-controlled, blinded re... | true | Epilepsy,marijuana | Cost is not mentioned. The story is fairly specific about the fates of two groups of individuals—mostly children—with epileptic seizures resistant to available medications. But since it uses only relative risk reduction figures to quantify the benefit, it doesn’t go far enough to satisfy this criterion. The story says,... |
5775 | Health care, education to lead Maine’s legislative debates. | Several bills focused on health care and education are expected to lead legislative debates at the Maine Statehouse in 2020. | true | Health, General News, Bills, Access to health care, Maine | Numerous bills on expanding access to health care, and growing training and educational opportunities for residents were included among the 134 new measures the Legislative Council accepted last week. The Portland Press Herald reports only the titles of the bill have been submitted for introduction in the lawmaking ses... |
29042 | "Thieves armed with ""code grabbers"" are breaking into cars by recording signals sent by remote keyless entry devices." | One of the versions of this warning circulated in 2008 contained the contact information for Const. Wally Henry, an RCMP officer from Sherwood Park, Alberta. Henry disclaimed the story being spread in his name, saying in his voice mail message to those who telephoned, “If your call is concerning an e-mail with my name ... | mixture | Automobiles, code grabber, remote keyless entry, Techno File | Automobile remote keyless entry systems (RKE) were introduced in the 1980s. They’ve proved to be a big hit, making it easier for the grocery-laden to unlock their cars and sparing many of the terminally forgetful from finding they’ve left their keys in the ignitions of their now-locked vehicles or their purses on the s... |
11134 | Short Mental Workouts May Slow Decline of Aging Minds, Study Finds | "This is a story about one of the few long term studies looking at the potential for cognitive training to alter the rate of cognitive decline with aging. It describes results from a second report from the ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly) study. For the lay reader, the report falls... | false | "Although the story mentioned that 'Mental activities do not have to involve expensive toys…"" there was no estimate of costs that might be associated with the types of mental activies described in the study nor how one might find someone trained in these interventions to work with. The benefits that a senior citizen m... | |
2916 | Canadian dies from H5N1 avian influenza on return from China. | A Canadian has died from H5N1 avian influenza after returning from a trip to China in what is the only current confirmed case of its kind in North America, federal health officials said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | Officials at a briefing in Ottawa said that the case was isolated and there was minimal risk to the general public. The H5N1 strain - normally spread through contact with infected birds - kills about 60 percent of those infected, they added. The person, who traveled to China in December, died in the western province of... |
32380 | U.S. Gymnastics coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi were illegal immigrants. | The defection of Bela and Marta Karolyi from Romania to the United States in 1981 has been extensively documented in accounts of Olympic history. The couple followed legal procedure in securing a legitimate claim of asylum that allowed them to remain in the United States (and obtain U.S. citizenship), and at no point i... | false | Politics | Amid an impressive series of performances by the U.S. women’s gymnastics team during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, coach Marta Karolyi and her husband Bela were the subjects of frequent headlines, including a 12 August 2016 profile that credited them with transforming the United States’ global standing in... |
29040 | A summary of the 1956 Republican platform describes a significant divergence from the party's focus in recent decades. | While the two platforms from 1956 and 2012 may appear starkly different when compared side-by-side, one must also keep in mind that the Republican Party tenets referenced in this meme predate many of the issues American voters now feel are central to their lives 60 years on. | mixture | Politics, dwight eisenhower, Mitt romney, Republican Party | A few weeks before the 2012 U.S. presidential election, a meme began to circulate on social media suggesting the 1956 Republican platform included policies that would more closely match those of progressives in later years: The tenets listed in the 1956 Republican platform graphic certainly deviate from many of the GO... |
9437 | More than 103 million Americans will have high blood pressure under new guidelines | This story about new guidelines from the American Heart Association and other medical groups that reduce the threshold for diagnosis of high blood pressure summarizes the key recommendations, but doesn’t explain benefits, harms or costs. This story (along with those from many other news media outlets) should have addre... | mixture | high blood pressure,hypertension | There is no discussion of cost, either from the increase in the number of people the guidelines say should be taking blood pressure lowering medication, or the costs of instituting effective lifestyle modification programs or of expanded blood pressure monitoring, including having people measure blood pressure for an e... |
28161 | "The Daily Mail posted, and then deleted, a story saying the U.S. had given the ""green light"" for a chemical weapons attack in Syria that could be blamed on Assad." | "What's true: The Daily Mail did post and then delete a story claiming U.S. officials had given the ""green light"" to a chemical weapon attack in Syria and frame Assad. What's false: The article was deleted because the Daily Mail admitted it was false; they were subsequently forced to pay libel damages to the British ... | true | Uncategorized, chemical attack, conspiracy theory, daily mail | On 7 April 2017, conspiracy web site Truth Theory revived a now-deleted 2013 story by the British tabloid the Daily Mail (headlined, “U.S. ‘backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria and blame it on Assad’s regime'”). The article’s republishing coincided with an American missile strike retaliating against a ... |
24496 | Not only is there no scientific evidence that CO2 is a pollutant, higher CO2 concentrations actually help ecosystems support more plant and animal life. | PlantsNeedCO2.org claims that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant and is good for the environment | false | Environment, National, Climate Change, Energy, PlantsNeedCO2.org, | "With Congress deep in a debate over legislation to slow climate change, the Washington Post has become a popular place for climate change claims, including this one from an organization called PlantsNeedCO2.org: ""Not only is there no scientific evidence that CO 2 is a pollutant, higher CO 2 concentrations actua... |
10300 | New drug promising against cholesterol | If things go well with future experiments and clinical use, we may someday look back on this trial as a turning point for this new class of drugs that affect how our bodies manage cholesterol, but this story takes the corner too fast. The results of the trial of anacetrapib give researchers confidence that they can saf... | mixture | CNN | This and other CETP inhibitor drugs are being tested in combination with statins. More than 20 million Americans currently take statins, so an approved drug would be expected to be widely prescribed. Stock market jumps that quickly followed the announcement of these trial results show that market watchers expect a lot ... |
9197 | Stem cell transplants may induce long-term remission of multiple sclerosis | This news release describes “encouraging” results of a small 5-year trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of stem cell transplants for aggressive cases of the most common form of multiple sclerosis, called relapsing-remitting MS. Known as HALT-MS, the phase 2 trial yielded a 69 percent remission rate, which researc... | false | National Institutes of Health (NIH),stem cells | There’s no mention of the cost of stem cell transplants. We could find no reliable cost estimate online, but several sources including the American Cancer Society put the price in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Transplants that use a patient’s own stem cells, known as autologous transplants, are cheaper than tho... |
6352 | Lawsuit filed over hepatitis A outbreak linked to berries. | An Omaha woman who contracted hepatitis A after eating blackberries she bought at a Fresh Thyme grocery store has sued the company. | true | Omaha, Health, General News, Hepatitis, Nebraska, Lawsuits | The woman who filed the lawsuit Wednesday, Kerrie Tabaka, said she was hospitalized for a week for treatment of hepatitis A and continues to experience fatigue and other symptoms. Earlier this month, health officials warned consumers in 11 states against eating some berries bought from the Fresh Thyme chain. Federal an... |
29116 | Members of Led Zeppelin once employed a mud shark on a female groupie. | Sightings: The “Mud Shark” was immortalized in song by Frank Zappa during gigs in 1970-71. | mixture | Entertainment, music | Just as the cheery pop music of the early 1960s gave way to psychedelia and heavy metal as the decade progressed, so did interest in pop stars’ lives move beyond comparisons of their hairstyles and favorite colors to consideration of the more salacious aspects of their lives. Favorite tales (then as now) involved drug ... |
31518 | An airliner was saved by a pickup truck after its landing gear malfunctioned. | A video of an airliner saved by a pickup truck after its landing gear malfunctioned doesn't depict a real event; it was created for a commercial. | false | Fauxtography, Advertisements, nissan | "Rumors began to tout the supposedly incredible abilities of the Nissan Frontier after the advertising agency TBWA Worldwide produced a commercial in 2011 showing the pickup truck saving a plane after the latter’s landing gear malfunctioned: ""@annahcav: OMG: Landing Gear Failure Plane saved by truck http://t.co/cDRry3... |
8115 | Thai leader to invoke emergency powers as virus infections climb. | Thailand’s leader said on Tuesday he would invoke sweeping emergency powers in the face of surging coronavirus infections, and in a sign of toughening official action a man was arrested over allegations of creating panic on social media. | true | Health News | Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia were among Southeast Asian countries accused by New York-based Human Rights Watch of using the pandemic to crack down on criticism. Both countries reject the accusations and say their measures are needed to keep order and combat disinformation. Thailand has the region’s second highest... |
25623 | For younger people, seasonal flu is “in many cases” a deadlier virus than COVID-19 | Hospitalizations and deaths among children are higher for the seasonal flu than they are for COVID-19 The CDC states that the risk of complications for healthy children is higher for flu compared to COVID-19, though kids with underlying medical conditions will be at greater risk for both But experts caution that w... | true | Children, Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Ron Johnson, | "As schools across the country open for the uncertain, unprecedented school year to come, opinions are split on how to do so safely. Some districts have opted for completely virtual learning. Others will try a mix of both online and in-person classes, or will send younger children to school while older kids stay home, ... |
11520 | Doctors urge baseline test for prostate cancer | "One of our medical editors – who follows prostate cancer research very closely – said she read this story several times and was still confused by what she called a “convoluted” approach. The story was about a change in the American Urological Association’s (AUA) past recommendation for annual PSA blood tests after age... | false | "The story included no information about the cost of a PSA test. While one clinician quote asserted that ""Everyone has to get screened,"" the story did not provide readers with any quantified information about the impact screening would have on improved outcomes (e.g. decreased incidence of prostate cancer death, decr... | |
3922 | Study: For babies born with HIV, start treatment right away. | When babies are born with HIV, starting treatment within hours to days is better than waiting even the few weeks to months that’s the norm in many countries, researchers reported Wednesday. | true | Medication, International News, General News, Africa, Health, Science, Botswana | The findings, from a small but unique study in Botswana, could influence care in Africa and other regions hit hard by the virus. They also might offer a clue in scientists’ quest for a cure. The Harvard-led team found super early treatment limits how HIV takes root in a newborn’s body, shrinking the “reservoir” of viru... |
30800 | Turmeric can prevent dementia; as a result, India, whose food contains a large amount of the spice, has the lowest rates of dementia worldwide. | “To our knowledge, [curcumin] has never been shown to be conclusively effective in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial for any indication,” Nelson and her colleagues wrote in their 2017 review. | false | Medical, alzheimer's disease, curcumin, dementia | Turmeric, which has been the subject of thousands of studies and perhaps even more memes, came up again recently when an image circulated claiming that the spice prevents dementia, and that because of its curative powers, India has the lowest rate of dementia in the world. The meme, like a lot of claims about turmeric’... |
6687 | Trump health chief asks Congress to pass drug discount plan. | The Trump administration’s top health official asked Congress on Friday to pass its new prescription drug discount plan and provide it to all patients, not just those covered by government programs like Medicare. | true | AP Top News, Alex Azar, Health, Politics, North America, Medication, Medicare, Prescription drugs, Government programs, Medicaid | The plan would take now-hidden rebates among industry players like drug companies and insurers and channel them directly to consumers when they go to pay for their medications. Patients with high drug copays stand to benefit from the proposal, while people who take no prescription drugs, or who rely on generics mainly,... |
1093 | Ebola first responders threaten strike if security not improved. | Health workers in one of the epicenters of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak threatened on Wednesday to go on strike as early as next week if authorities don’t do more to protect them. | true | Health News | Repeated attacks on treatment centers by armed militiamen and community members who think Ebola is a conspiracy against them have hampered the response to the second-deadliest outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever in history. In the latest attack, on a hospital in the city of Butembo, a senior World Health Organization (WH... |
34647 | Organ donations occur while the donor is still alive, paralyzed by intravenous medication but not anesthetized. | What's true: Organs are donated under a variety of circumstances; as medical technology advances, novel procedures (such as living donors) have broadened the scope of organ donation. What's false: That there is evidence organ donors who are clinically dead, brain dead, or have experienced cardiac death can feel pain du... | unproven | Science, biomedical ethics, medical ethics, organ donation | On 1 October 2015, the Facebook page “The illusion of Science” published the above-reproduced status update. The meme claimed organ donors are injected with a paralyzing agent prior to the harvesting of organs, but not anesthetized. That Facebook page appeared to take a skeptical view of science, scientists, and scient... |
12395 | The new Rasmussen Poll, one of the most accurate in the 2016 Election, just out with a Trump 50% Approval Rating. That's higher than O's #'s! | "Trump said, ""The new Rasmussen Poll, one of the most accurate in the 2016 Election, just out with a Trump 50% Approval Rating.That's higher than O's #'s!"" There’s a grain of truth here: Rasmussen did put out that result two days before Trump’s tweet, and Rasmussen was closest to the mark among pollsters in its final... | false | National, Polls and Public Opinion, Donald Trump, | "President Donald Trump opened his first Father’s Day as president with a bright-and-early boast about his poll numbers. ""The new Rasmussen Poll, one of the most accurate in the 2016 Election, just out with a Trump 50% Approval Rating. That's higher than O's #'s!"" The new Rasmussen Poll, one of the most accurate in t... |
10916 | New morning-after pill works for up to 5 days | In 1999, the FDA first approved the prescription-only Plan B (two high dose pills of Levonorgestrel, a hormone commonly found in many birth control pills). In 2006, Plan B was made available without a prescription to women over the age of 18, however this ruling remains controversial and it is currently only available ... | true | "The story does not mention costs of either drug, other than to describe the costs of ellaOne as ""three times the price of Plan B."" The story adequately quantifies the benefits of ellaOne by presenting both the number of pregnancies and the pregnancy rate in both groups. The story doesn’t mention any potential harms ... | |
41850 | “I was accused by four or five women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me.” | In a recent press conference, President Donald Trump defended Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh from allegations of sexual misconduct and made claims about some of Trump’s own accusers that were false or lacked evidence. | unproven | sexual assault, sexual harassment, | In a recent press conference, President Donald Trump defended Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh from allegations of sexual misconduct and made claims about some of Trump’s own accusers that were false or lacked evidence.Trump made those claims in a press conference in New York on Sept. 26. He said his opinions of t... |
2393 | Comedians have psychotic personality traits, study finds. | Having an unusual personality structure could be the secret to making other people laugh, scientists said on Thursday after research showed that comedians have high levels of psychotic personality traits. | true | Health News | In a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers analyzed comedians from Australia, Britain and the United States and found they scored significantly higher on four types of psychotic characteristics compared to a control group of people who had non-creative jobs. The traits included a tendency towards impu... |
23745 | "The state Legislature attempted to ""outlaw stem cell research, passes bills about microchips in the brain, and talks about seceding from the Union." | Former Gov. Roy Barnes said Georgia passed laughable legislation | true | Georgia, Message Machine 2010, Science, States, Roy Barnes, | "Georgians, the rest of the country is laughing at you, former Gov. Roy Barnes says. And that means corporations are reluctant to relocate here and give you jobs. It's because your state Legislature has done some wacky things, according to the Democrat's latest campaign commercial, ""Travel for Jobs."" In this bid to w... |
10624 | Study: Taking B vitamins can prevent vision loss | Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of vision loss in the elderly. There is no cure for AMD and once the vision is lost it cannot be regained. However, there is hope that AMD can be prevented or the rate of loss slowed using vitamin supplementation. This story reports on a new study showing that w... | true | The story does not mention the cost of the vitamin supplements. The story quantifies the number of cases of AMD in the vitamin group as well as the control group. The story should have provided a denominator for these numbers so that the reader can get a sense of the size of the risk. The story does not mention any har... | |
25201 | More than one person, on average, a day is murdered in Philadelphia. | AstraZeneca Plc said on Thursday its blood cancer drug met the main goal of a final stage trial, taking the treatment one step closer to a marketing approval as the drugmaker seeks to bolster its oncology portfolio. | mixture | National, Crime, Hillary Clinton, | In its second late-stage trial success in a month, the drug showed meaningful improvement in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia when compared with a chemotherapy-based treatment, the company said. The drug, Calquence, is a cornerstone product for AstraZeneca in haematology and its accelerated U.S. approval in 2... |
6934 | Nearly 700 from LA universities still in measles quarantine. | Nearly 700 people possibly exposed to measles at two Los Angeles universities are still quarantined three days after health officials ordered the precautions to contain the spread of the highly contagious disease. | true | Los Angeles, University of California, Health, Measles, California | A spokesman for California State University, Los Angeles, said Saturday that 106 staff members and 550 students have been told to stay at home and avoid contact with others. Thirty students and employees from the University of California, Los Angeles, remain quarantined. Those under quarantine were possibly exposed to ... |
4858 | Kansas Sen. Roberts pushing to move GOP health plan forward. | Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts is working with fellow Republicans on their legislation to overhaul health care and arguing that a debate should occur quickly even as fellow Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran grabs national headlines for helping stall the effort. | true | Health care reform, Legislation, Kansas, Pat Roberts, Jerry Moran, Topeka, Barack Obama | Roberts acknowledged during an Associated Press interview that he’s not happy with parts of the latest version of the bill meant to replace former President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 Affordable Care Act. His staff said he’s been working with the plan’s drafters on provisions protecting financially stressed hospital... |
4701 | Part of St. Croix River makes Minnesota impaired waters list. | A scenic stretch of the St. Croix River was one of 581 waterways Minnesota has added to its list of waters that don’t meet state pollution standards, according to a report released Wednesday. | true | General News, Lakes, Minnesota, Environment, Stillwater, Pollution | The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency added the lakes, rivers and streams to its draft list of “impaired waters” that will go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The 3,416 waterways represent 56% of the state’s waters. The list has been steadily growing over the past decade as researchers evaluate more waterw... |
18574 | A study by the University of Virginia pulls back the curtain on Medicaid’s tragically bad outcomes, including ‘increased risk of adjusted mortality.’ | "Snyder is opposed to expanding Medicaid. He said, ""A study by the University of Virginia pulls back the curtain on Medicaid’s tragically bad outcomes, including ‘increased risk of adjusted mortality.’"" He’s partly right. A U.Va. study in 2010 did find that Medicaid recipients were more likely to die in the hospit... | mixture | Health Care, Medicaid, Virginia, Pete Snyder, | "Expanding Medicaid in Virginia would imperil the lives of low-income people who have surgery, according to Pete Snyder, a Northern Virginia businessman who is seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. ""As it stands, Medicaid’s immense price includes a very real and tragic human cost: all too often it... |
1620 | Beating parasites wins three scientists Nobel prize for medicine. | Three scientists from Japan, China and Ireland whose discoveries led to the development of potent new drugs against parasitic diseases including malaria and elephantiasis won the Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday. | true | Science News | Irish-born William Campbell and Japan’s Satoshi Omura won half of the prize for discovering avermectin, a derivative of which has been used to treat hundreds of millions of people with river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis. China’s Tu Youyou was awarded the other half of the prize for discovering a... |
25082 | "Barack Obama wants to ""unilaterally disarm our nation." | Obama wants to reduce stockpiles, not disarm | false | National, Military, Chain email, | "Anonymous e-mails claim that Sen. Barack Obama wants to ""unilaterally disarm our nation"" — and they say they have the video to prove it. ""You do not have to check Snopes to determine if this is true or ... watch and listen to Obama's own words,"" warns one e-mail. ""Look at this ASAP — it may be pulled from the Ob... |
9649 | Mediterranean Diet Protects Heart Disease Sufferers From Heart Attack, Stroke | This short story describes an observational study of 15,482 people from 39 countries around the world who were already diagnosed with heart disease and almost all taking medication for it. The people who reported eating a Mediterranean diet–heavy on fruits and vegetables and low on red meat–showed a reduced risk of hea... | mixture | heart disease,Mediterranean diet | The story does not talk about costs. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables–and fresh seafood, especially–is associated with higher costs in many countries. The story helped clarify the somewhat confusing data points in the study by quantifying the benefits this way (italics added by us): “Over nearly four years, 1,588 (ab... |
33264 | A 600-pound Australian woman gave birth to a 40-pound baby. | World News Daily Report‘s prior fake news articles includes a widely shared story about an eyewitness account to Jesus’ miracles, another claiming loggers mistakenly cut down the world’s oldest tree, and a hoax involving a “prehistoric shark” purportedly discovered in Pakistan. Our article “Six Ways to Spot Fake News e... | false | Junk News, Not Necessarily The News, world news daily report | On 14 January 2015, World News Daily Report published an article titled “Australia: 600 Pound Woman Gives Birth to 40 Pound Baby.” (The claim resurfaced when it was reproduced by the generally satirical site NYMeta on 4 June 2015.) According to the original claim, an unnamed “single mother” in Australia weighing 600 lb... |
2373 | Archaeologists discover earliest example of human with cancer. | British archaeologists have found what they say is the world’s oldest complete example of a human being with metastatic cancer and hope it will offer new clues about the now common and often fatal disease. | true | Health News | Researchers from Durham University and the British Museum discovered the evidence of tumors that had developed and spread throughout the body in a 3,000-year-old skeleton found in a tomb in modern Sudan in 2013. Analyzing the skeleton using radiography and a scanning electron microscope, they managed to get clear imagi... |
34575 | A Kentucky food stamp recipient has more than $5,000 in unused food stamp benefits and is thus abusing the system. | What's false: A high balance of more than $5,000 on an EBT card would be exceedingly rare -- but it wouldn't necessarily mean the system was being abused if true. What's undetermined: Whether or not the photograph showing the receipt is real or forged. | unproven | Food, food, health, welfare | In August 2016, several viral web sites started circulating a story about a shopper in Liberty, Kentucky, who picked up a receipt dropped by another shopper who was (according to the story) a recipient of “food stamps.” The unnamed person took a picture of the receipt, showing the shopper spent about $40 at the grocery... |
16440 | "Steve Southerland Says Gwen Graham ""was a Washington lobbyist." | "Southerland said Graham ""was a Washington lobbyist."" Even if it’s true that Graham lobbied, it would have been for a brief period a quarter-century ago. But it’s not at all clear that the charge is true. Southerland’s campaign based their attack on paperwork from the law firm Graham worked for after earning her law ... | false | Candidate Biography, Florida, Steve Southerland, | "Republican congressman Steve Southerland is throwing attack after attack against his Democratic challenger, Gwen Graham, including the dreaded L-word: ""lobbyist."" In a Sept. 10, 2014, campaign commercial, Southerland, who represents a northern Florida district, accused the daughter of former Florida Gov. Bob Graham ... |
10489 | Common Heart Attack Treatment Reconsidered | Balloon angioplasty surgery 3-28 days after a heart attack in combination with drug therapy does not improve the risk of future cardiac problems compared with drug therapy alone. While the story mentions these two treatments for reducing the chance of a subsequent heart attack following an initial heart attack and incr... | mixture | "The story does not mention the cost of each treatment reviewed in the study. The cost of lifelong drug therapy could be particularly expensive for patients without health insurance. The story does not mention how much benefit a patient would get from either treatment option post-heart attack. No absolute data were giv... | |
31954 | An image shows Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump wearing see-through shirts. | Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it received a request for documents as part of a U.S. investigation related to quality issues involving the manufacture of auto-injectors at its Meridian Medical Technologies site. | false | Fauxtography, ivanka trump, melania trump | Pfizer, in a regulatory filing, said it would be producing records in response to the civil investigative demand from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. Meridian, a unit of Pfizer that manufactures EpiPen injectors used to deliver an emergency allergy antidote, has been hit by a series of... |
14597 | "JoAnne Kloppenburg Says state Supreme Court candidate Joe Donald twice ""supported"" incumbent Justice Rebecca Bradley." | GlaxoSmithKline will sell two travel vaccines to Bavarian Nordic for up to 955 million euros ($1.1 billion), the British firm said on Monday, as it looks to bolster its push into the lucrative cancer drug market. | true | Candidate Biography, Criminal Justice, Elections, Legal Issues, Negative Campaigning, Wisconsin, JoAnne Kloppenburg, | The sale of anti-rabies treatment Rabipur and Encepur, used for the prevention of tick-borne encephalitis, to the Denmark-based biotechnology firm includes an upfront payment of 301 million euros and milestone payments of up to 495 million euros. Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley has been pushing for a leaner stru... |
1926 | Smog dims shine of India's festival of lights. | Bharat Prakash has stayed indoors on Diwali day for the past four years to avoid the smog that envelopes Indian cities during the festival, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil with fireworks and small oil-filled clay lamps. | true | Environment | As the rest of the country celebrates the Festival of Lights, which falls on Wednesday this year, asthma sufferers like Prakash, 22, will be cooped up at home, dreading the blanket of smoke that worsens the already dire air quality. “I don’t step out of the house on Diwali nights,” says Prakash, a marketing professiona... |
8142 | France toughens lockdown penalties as coronavirus kills medic. | French lawmakers approved tougher penalties for defying a nationwide confinement order as the coronavirus death toll rose on Sunday, with a first member of the country’s medical profession among the victims. | true | Health News | Reacting to news of the doctor’s death, health minister Olivier Veran paid tribute to medical staff confronting the pandemic and urged other workers to keep key services running, even as the lockdown halts many businesses deemed non-essential. “The medical profession is making a heavy sacrifice in our country today,” V... |
41956 | "Those in the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program are ""mostly-adult illegal aliens." | In rescinding the Obama-era Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program, Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ selective use of facts leaves a misleading impression of the program. | mixture | DACA, Dream Act, Illegal immigration, immigration, | In rescinding the Obama-era Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program, Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ selective use of facts leaves a misleading impression of the program:Sessions made his announcement Sept. 5 at the Department of Justice. Under the new policy, the Department of Homeland Security said it will no l... |
912 | Malnutrition, disease rising in North Korea: aid organization. | Rates of malnutrition and disease are increasing in North Korea as it faces a harvest that is half of what was expected, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Thursday. | true | Health News | International aid agencies as well as North Korea state media have been warning that erratic weather with drought and floods, and a lack of access to resources could lead to a food crisis in a country under strict international sanctions over leader Kim Jong Un’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. “We a... |
8676 | Trump declares coronavirus national emergency, says he will most likely be tested. | U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency over the fast-spreading coronavirus to free up $50 billion in federal aid and said he would “most likely” be tested for the virus himself soon after facing possible exposure. | true | Health News | Trump made the announcement at a Rose Garden news conference as he battled to show Americans he is aggressively addressing the health crisis after facing criticism that he was slow to react and played down the threat until the number of cases rose. Trump cautioned that Americans will have to make sacrifices and change ... |
33320 | Retired CIA agent Normand Hodges confessed on his deathbed to assassinating Marilyn Monroe. | World News Daily Report is a fake news site that previously duped readers with claims that an eyewitness account of Jesus’ miracles was found, another alleging loggers cut down the world’s oldest tree, and purported photos of a “prehistoric shark” discovered in Pakistan. | false | Media Matters, marilyn monroe, Not Necessarily The News | On 25 March 2015, World News Daily Report published an article titled “Retired CIA Agent Confesses on Deathbed: ‘I Killed Marilyn Monroe. '” According to that article, former Central Intelligence Agency operative Normand Hodges completed 37 assassinations during his career — numbering among them the killing of a Hollyw... |
10913 | Zinc May Prevent and Shorten Colds | A review of studies about zinc’s benefits for preventing and treating the common cold was handled in slightly different — but important — ways by three outlets: WebMD, the New York Times and Reuters Health. WebMD hit fewer of our marks because it did not make cost information clear, muddied the waters in its analysis o... | false | Supplements,WebMD | There was no mention of costs in this story. What the Reuters Health story did was mention the actual costs for the lozenges and also the cost in lost productivity of people calling in sick from colds. Both would have been nice to see in this story. This story did quantify the potential benefits, but it did so in a way... |
8766 | Novartis's Lescol drug protects heart after surgery. | Giving patients Novartis’s anti-cholesterol drug Lescol after major vascular surgery reduces the risk of serious heart problems, researchers said on Monday. | true | Health News | More than 2 percent of patients undergoing non-cardiac vascular surgery — surgery to arteries and veins — die from heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems. Lescol, a so-called statin drug, appears to be effective in reducing this risk by cutting inflammation and stabilizing plaques in coronary arteries that... |
21858 | "Virginia spends $400,000 on abstinence programs while losing $2.5 million in federal funds due to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s ""political agenda." | NARAL says McDonnell's agenda costs state federal sex ed money | true | Abortion, State Budget, Virginia, NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, | "NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia recently unveiled a video that uses a montage of numbers to criticize Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell’s stance on funding for sex education programs. Among the claims: ""$400,000 -- approximate cost to Virginians to fund ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. $2.5 million -- feder... |
4834 | US flu season arrives early, driven by an unexpected virus. | The U.S. winter flu season is off to its earliest start in more than 15 years. | true | Health, General News, AP Top News, Flu | An early barrage of illness in the South has begun to spread more broadly, and there’s a decent chance flu season could peak much earlier than normal, health officials say. The last flu season to rev up this early was in 2003-2004 — a bad one. Some experts think the early start may mean a lot of suffering is in store, ... |
33805 | Walt Disney prepared a film to be viewed by Disney executives after his death, in which he gave them all instructions about how to run their areas of the company. | """In a bizarre turn, one that underscores the anxiety and paranoia of his last days, Walt made a series of films to be shown after his death.""" | false | Disney | Such is Walt Disney’s reputation as a keen visionary who mastered futuristic projects down the smallest details (and a somewhat secretive figure to boot) that several prominent legends continue to circulate which credit him with formulating long-range plans extending even beyond the grave: He arranged to have himself f... |
26656 | On whether the state should use surplus funds for ongoing expenses. | The state learned in early 2020 that it had $452 million to use for extra spending or a tax cut. In a Jan. 26, 2020 interview Gov. Tony Evers said it was too early to make a decision about how to use the surplus, but said he wanted to be cautious. A week later, Evers asked lawmakers to take up a measure that would allo... | mixture | Economy, Education, State Budget, Wisconsin, Tony Evers, | "Battles over what to do with extra money in the state’s coffers were a hallmark of Wisconsin’s 2020 legislative session. After learning that the state is expected to take in more from tax collections than previously estimated, Republican Senate and Assembly leaders and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers clashed over how to sp... |
10680 | Study: More omega-3 fats didn’t aid heart patients | One of 3 stories we reviewed on this study (Reuters and HealthDay were the others), this one did raise some interesting thoughts about why the study failed to show a difference and reported on some of the other types of foods that are now commercially fortified with omega-3 fatty acids. Health claims in food marketing ... | true | "As the products used in the study are not commercially available, there was no mention of their presumptive costs. (It might have been interesting to explore how fortified margarines compare in cost to those which are not.) The story indicate that there did not appear to be any advantage from the use of the fortified ... | |
14667 | "When terrorists killed more than 250 Americans in Lebanon under Ronald Reagan, ""the Democrats didn’t make that a partisan issue." | "Clinton said that when terrorists killed more than 250 Americans in Lebanon under Ronald Reagan, ""the Democrats didn’t make that a partisan issue."" Clinton has a strong point that the Democrat-held House did not react as forcefully to the 1983 Beirut bombings as the Republican-held House reacted to the 2012 Benghazi... | mixture | National, Congress, History, Terrorism, Hillary Clinton, | "Republican attacks on Benghazi are totally overblown, Hillary Clinton says. The Democrats didn’t act this way when something similar happened under President Ronald Reagan. At a CNN town hall for Democratic presidential candidates, an audience member asked how the former secretary of state will work with Congress in r... |
6364 | Health officials raise concerns about hepatitis A outbreak. | Officials are raising concerns that a hepatitis A outbreak in Missouri could worsen if the liver disease spreads to urban areas. | true | Michael Brown, Health, General News, Hepatitis, Liver disease | The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that officials are urging at-risk people, such as recreational drug users and the homeless, to get vaccinated. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said Wednesday that the state has recorded 414 cases in 35 counties since September 2017, mostly in the southeast part ... |
10138 | Test Can Tell Fetal Sex at 7 Weeks, Study Says | The story outlines how new research about an existing family of consumer blood tests shows accuracy at seven weeks into pregnancy for determining the sex of a fetus. What the story also tells is the complicated weighing of risks and benefits that parents may need to use, since the consumer tests and their laboratories ... | true | New York Times | The story quotes one price estimate of about $250 for the testing. We would have liked more detail about whether new details on accuracy of the tests might change their status in the marketplace, or whether insurability status might change. Parents who fear their child may inherit gender-linked disorders, such as hemop... |
27209 | Pardoned felons are allowed to vote. | Two months ago, giggles floated through the home of fisherman Dada as his four-year-old son played ball outside with his two younger cousins on one of Madagascar’s famed sun soaked beaches. | true | Politics, dinesh d'souza, voting rights | A few weeks later, all three children were dead, victims of the worst measles outbreak on the Indian Ocean island in decades. Measles cases are on the rise globally, including in wealthy nations such as the United States and Germany, where some parents shun life-saving vaccines due to false theories suggesting links be... |
36206 | A meme contains accurate quotes of a conversation between 911 dispatcher Donna Reneau and Debra Stevens, who subsequently drowned in the circumstances of her 911 call. | 911 Dispatcher Donna Reneau/Debra Stevens Drowning Incident | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On September 1 2019, the following meme appeared in the Facebook group “LIVE PD FANS NO BOUNDARIES” (archived here), purportedly detailing an exchange between the woman shown in the photograph (911 dispatcher Donna Reneau) and a victim of flash flooding (Debra Stevens):The text over her head in the photo read:HELLO, I’... |
19065 | "We have more hospitals that are children’s hospitals than any other state in the union."" " | William Batchelder claims Ohio has the most children's hospitals | false | Ohio, Health Care, William G. Batchelder, | "Ohio House Speaker William G. Batchelder, up for re-election Nov. 6, 2012, recently sought the support of The Plain Dealer’s editorial board. During an endorsement interview on Sept. 18, 2012, the subject turned to healthcare in Ohio and the Medina Republican, among other things, noted the state’s impressive network o... |
19880 | Oregon schools receive millions of dollars per year in federal school lunch assistance and yet they are required to spend that money almost anywhere but Oregon. | Ron Wyden says food served in Oregon schools comes from 'almost anywhere but Oregon' | true | Oregon, Congress, Education, Federal Budget, Ron Wyden, | "When the Senate was debating the farm bill recently, Sen. Ron Wyden highlighted the haphazard nature of the way food is purchased and provided to the school lunch program under a program known as USDA Foods. His point was simple: A lot of the food from one program in particular that ends up in school kitchens comes fr... |
7500 | As virus outbreaks multiply, UN declines to declare pandemic. | As cases of the coronavirus surge in Italy, Iran, South Korea, the U.S. and elsewhere, many scientists say it’s plain that the world is in the grips of a pandemic — a serious global outbreak. | true | AP Top News, Italy, Health, South Korea, Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Pandemics, United Nations, Iran, General News, Asia Pacific, Virus Outbreak, Europe, Ebola virus, U.S. News | The World Health Organization has so far resisted describing the crisis as such, saying the word “pandemic” might spook the world further and lead some countries to lose hope of containing the virus. “Unless we’re convinced it’s uncontrollable, why (would) we call it a pandemic?” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghe... |
27706 | Jean Hilliard made a full recovery after she was found frozen in sub-zero temperatures. | "A truly remarkable story, but not an ""unsolved mystery.""" | true | Medical, jean hilliard, medical miracles, Medical Myths | The story of Jean Hilliard, a woman who made a full recovery after she was found frozen stiff in the snow in Minnesota, has been shared in various forms since it was first published in 1980. And with each reiteration the story has grown more astonishing. One of the first reports of the incident, which was published by ... |
337 | Exclusive: Philip Morris suspends social media campaign after Reuters exposes young 'influencers'. | Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc has suspended a global social media marketing campaign in response to Reuters inquiries into the company’s use of young online personalities to sell its new “heated tobacco” device, including a 21-year-old woman in Russia. | true | Health News | The company’s internal “marketing standards” prohibit it from promoting tobacco products with youth-oriented celebrities or “models who are or appear to be under the age of 25.” The company told Reuters of the decision late Friday, saying it had launched an internal investigation into marketing posts and photographs t... |
8694 | Northern Irish women told to sail to England for abortions despite pandemic. | Northern Irish women seeking an abortion have been told they must take an 8-hour ferry to England despite the lockdown, as the regional government resists pressure to offer abortions locally and the coronavirus pandemic stops flights. | true | Health News | Abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland last year after the British parliament bypassed opposition from socially conservative Christian politicians in Belfast to bring the region into line with the rest of the United Kingdom, where abortion has been legal for decades. But the regional health ministry missed an ... |
1823 | Government report finds 2.3 percent of Americans gay or bisexual. | U.S. government data released on Tuesday showed that 2.3 percent of American adults are either gay or bisexual and that these men and women more often reported serious anxiety and having self-destructive habits than their straight peers. | true | Health News | This year’s National Health Interview Survey was the first to ask about sexual orientation in addition to health habits in its 57-year history, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Bisexual women were twice as likely to experience serious anxiety while bisexual men were more likely to indulge in bi... |
16397 | "The non-profit group Feeding America is lying when it claims ""that one in five kids is fighting starvation daily"" in the United States." | Major oil companies have approved $50 billion of projects since last year that will not be economically viable if governments implement the Paris Agreement on climate change, think-tank Carbon Tracker said in a report published on Friday. | false | Children, Poverty, PunditFact, William Benson Huber, | The analysis found that investment plans by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), BP (BP.L) and ExxonMobil (XOM.N) among other companies will not be compatible with the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “Every oil major is betting heavily against a 1.5 degree Celsius world and inves... |
40290 | A forwarded email with links to a video of someone taking apart a digital TV converter box to reveal a video camera and a microphone. The email claims that the government placed these devices in the converter boxes to spy on citizens. | Indonesia’s biggest environmental group on Thursday called for an independent investigation into the death of one of its activists after pointing out suspicious circumstances and saying his work could have made him a target. | false | Warnings | Golfrid Siregar, an activist with the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), was discovered by a pedicab driver lying unconscious on the side of a road in the city of Medan on Sumatra island last Thursday, police said. He was brought to hospital but died three days later, police said. Police initially said it ap... |
5558 | Kansas anti-vaccine groups say membership numbers surging. | A Kansas anti-vaccination group says its membership is growing dramatically since the state added two new vaccination requirements for children returning to school this fall. | true | Meningitis, Health, General News, Kansas, Hepatitis, Topeka | As of Aug. 2, Kansas is requiring a meningitis vaccine for students beginning seventh grade and students entering 11th grade who weren’t vaccinated before their 16th birthdays. And students entering kindergarten or first grade need two doses of the hepatitis A vaccine. The vaccines are required for children in public a... |
36161 | "Although rapper Tekashi 69 ""snitched,"" lifestyle guru Martha Stewart went to prison without offering evidence about others in order to evade a sentence." | Tekashi 69 ‘Snitched’ and Martha Stewart Didn’t? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On September 22 2019, Facebook’s “Man Page” shared the following meme, declaring that hip-hop artist Tekashi 69 — also called 6ix9ine — is “a snitch” and lifestyle personality Martha Stewart is not:On the left side was a photograph of Stewart in a Yankees cap and jersey. To the right, Takeshi 69 was seen in profile. Te... |
13913 | "Sherrod Brown Says Donald Trump made a lot of money from outsourcing jobs thanks to NAFTA ""but never, ever raised his voice against it when Congress was considering it." | "Brown said Trump made a lot of money from outsourcing jobs thanks to NAFTA ""but never, ever raised his voice against it when Congress was considering it."" Yes, Trump has benefitted financially from trade deals like NAFTA. Even he acknowledges that. But Brown’s televised comment makes it sound as though Trump changed... | false | Ohio, Trade, Sherrod Brown, | "Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, seemed taken aback when ABC This Week host Martha Raddatz juxtaposed the harsh views of U.S. trade deals of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump with Brown’s own critiques over the years. Brown has said that he’d like to renegotiate a better North American Free Trade Agreement, as has Trum... |
29366 | "A federal judge ruling in a defamation suit declared that CNN was ""fake news." | "What's true: A federal court judge in Georgia denied CNN's motion to dismiss a defamation suit brought against the network by a former hospital executive. What's false: The ruling denying CNN's motion to dismiss did not state (or even insinuate) that CNN is ""fake news,"" nor did it force a ""shocking punishment"" on ... | false | Media Matters | In February 2017, the web site Freedom Daily published a blog post that reported a federal judge had ruled the CNN cable news station was officially “fake news”: BREAKING: Federal Judge Just Officially Ruled CNN Is FAKE NEWS And Forces SHOCKING Punishment On Them! During his first press conference after winning the pre... |
35321 | U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams has said that the general public should not wear or buy masks to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease. | What's true: In public statements in early 2020, the surgeon general had recommended against the general public buying or wearing masks. What's false: However, in light of new evidence from the CDC, he changed his views and has since argued in favor of people wearing cloth facial coverings in public settings. | mixture | Medical, COVID-19 | U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams made comments in February and March 2020 recommending people not wear masks to help protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, and those comments began to recirculate online in April and May. As of April, though, Adams had changed his views in accordance with evolv... |
8355 | Washington state confirms second U.S. coronavirus death; New York reports first case. | Health officials in Washington state said late Sunday that a nursing home resident had died after contracting coronavirus, while New York’s governor confirmed his state’s first positive case, as the virus moved out of its West Coast foothold. | true | Health News | The coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, has decimated global markets as it quickly moves around the world. It appeared poised for a spike in the United States, in part because of more testing to confirm cases. Florida late Sunday declared a public health emergency as it confirmed its first two cases. Tr... |
9890 | New Diabetes Drugs Give Double Punch | Diabetes is a huge public health problem, but it is also a rapidly evolving field of research. This story reports on the release of clinical trial results of a new class of diabetes drugs at the American Diabetes Association meeting. Although the story claims that the pills are “experimental” and that the drug companie... | false | The story does mention that the drugs are expensive, $3 to $6 a day compared to pennies a day for other diabetes drugs. What isn’t clear is whether these new drugs need to be taken in combination with older ones, which obviously increases the cost. The story provides quantification of benefits in relative terms only. A... | |
9743 | T-cell therapy results more modest than hoped for chronic leukemia | Patient Bill Ludwig is the focus of this story on a leukemia therapy. Early results of T-cell therapy raised hopes for some leukemia patients, but immunotherapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia is proving helpful only for a minority of those who receive it. In this story, an early pioneer patient shares the terrifying ... | true | cancer,immunotherapy,leukemia,University of Pennsylvania | Although this therapy only exists for patients in clinical trials, we still think cost should have received more than a single word of attention. “The method is complex and costly,” the story stated. Our quick review identified a Wall Street Journal article suggesting that the cost could be as high as $500,000 per pati... |
13938 | As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton laundered money to Bill Clinton through Laureate Education, while Bill Clinton was an honorary chairman of the group. | "Trump said Hillary Clinton ""laundered money to Bill Clinton through Laureate Education, while Bill Clinton was an honorary chairman of the group."" That's a serious of charge of illegal activity. Actually, the State Department under Clinton never made any direct transfers to Laureate Education. Trump’s source conflat... | false | National, Candidate Biography, Ethics, Donald Trump, | "Donald Trump assailed Hillary Clinton’s credibility in a rapid response email following her speech on economics on June 21. Trump claimed that Clinton used her role as secretary of state as a vehicle to funnel government money to her husband. ""As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton laundered money to Bill Clinton thr... |
15946 | "Texas has ""the lowest crime rate in this state since 1968"" because of changes in law regarding nonviolent drug offenders." | Perry said Texas has its lowest crime rate since 1968 because of changes in law regarding nonviolent drug offenders. In 2013, an index combining Texas rates for property and violent crimes reached its lowest level since 1968. Legislated changes affecting drug offenders surely contributed. But in Texas and nationally, c... | mixture | Criminal Justice, Drugs, Crime, Texas, Rick Perry, | "Changes in law, Rick Perry said, explain why Texas crime is at hippie-era lows. In his last appearance before state lawmakers as governor, the Republican presidential prospect saluted bipartisan efforts to treat alcoholism and drug addiction as diseases. ""Over the years, I came to see our approach to nonviolent drug ... |
11597 | Obese adolescents susceptible to liver disease, studies find | "This was an alarmist piece that focused on the number of children needinig liver transplants for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The story indicated that testing for the condition was inadequate and that more testing should be done. But the story provided no insight into the magnitude of benefit that might be gaine... | false | "The costs associated with liver transplantation were not provided beyond the sense that they were out of reach for a family of modest means without medical insurance. The costs associated with the recommendation that pediatricians include liver testing as a routine part of patient care was also not discussed. Lastly –... | |
8318 | Italy's daily coronavirus death toll falls, but new cases accelerate. | Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 542 on Wednesday, a lower tally than the 604 the day before, but the number of new cases pushed higher to 3,836 compared with a previous 3,039. | true | Health News | The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 rose to 17,669, the Civil Protection Agency said, the highest in the world. The number of confirmed cases climbed to 139,422, the third highest global tally behind that of the United States and Spain. There were 3,693 people in intensive care on Wednesday... |
7296 | Trial begins in challenge to 4 abortion laws in Virginia. | A doctor testifying Monday in a lawsuit challenging four abortion-restriction laws in Virginia said abortion is “one of the safest medical procedures that exist.” | true | Planned Parenthood, Health, Lawsuits, Abortion, Virginia, Richmond, Womens health, Alabama | Dr. Mark Nichols, an obstetrician/gynecologist who worked for years as the medical director of a Planned Parenthood chapter in Oregon, testified as the first witness for women’s health groups who are suing Virginia over laws they say are overly restrictive and limit access to abortion in the state. Nichols, during cros... |
10647 | Aspirin’s heart benefits vary | This piece presents relative benefits of aspirin for men and women without providing similar context of the risks from daily aspirin use. And the piece provides no absolute figures – only relative. So, for example, it says that “in women, aspirin reduces the rate of stroke blood clots in the brain, the most common type... | mixture | Cost said to be ‘cheap’ but no actual figure of cost was provided. Presented relative risk reductions only; the study upon which the story is based provided calculation of absolute risk reduction, but the story didn’t use it. Harms of treatment mentioned without providing estimate for size of that increased risk. No me... | |
8534 | India set to ship drug sought by Trump for coronavirus. | India is set to begin shipping the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to the United States where President Donald Trump has touted it as a potential weapon against the coronavirus. | true | Health News | “The first shipments should start next week,” said Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA). India is the world’s largest producer of hydroxychloroquine but last month banned most exports to secure its own supplies, drawing warnings of retaliation from Trump. This week India allowed som... |
3403 | Budget deal puts access to health care above curbing costs. | The bipartisan budget deal announced in Congress protects access to health care under the Affordable Care Act but it also ditches one of that law’s main cost controls. | true | Access to health care, Health, General News, Politics, Business, Steven Mnuchin, Kathleen Sebelius, Barack Obama | The deal would repeal a cost-control measure in “Obamacare” known as the Cadillac Tax, an unpopular levy on benefit-rich health insurance plans scheduled to take effect in 2022. That means Congress is upsetting the balance between expanding access and controlling costs that former President Barack Obama tried to strike... |
35471 | "U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in July 2020 that will lower the price Americans pay for insulin to ""pennies a day." | "What's true: Trump issued an executive order in July 2020 that was intended to lower the price of insulin for some Americans. What's false: Rather than targeting all diabetic patients nationwide, the directive was written to help low-income diabetes patients of certain community clinics, who are uninsured or underinsu... | mixture | Politics, COVID-19 | Sitting in front of a mock pharmacy and flanked by people in white lab coats, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on July 24, 2020, that he framed as end-all solutions for Americans who struggle to pay high premium prices for prescription drugs. Of one of the directives, specifically, Trump ... |
9978 | Fecal Occult Stool Tests for Colorectal Cancer Screening | In this brief story, the reporter describes three available fecal occult stool tests used to detect colorectal cancer. The story compares the three on such dimensions as false positives and reductions in cancer deaths. Since the story is largely descriptive, it is unfortuante that one of the important variables missing... | mixture | U.S. News & World Report | Cost should be a prominent part of this story, as the narrative is engaged in offering comparative advice about procedures, but we only learn, quite late in the story, that Medicare typically covers such screening. The costs are the key for some patients, especially those with high deductible plans. According to the He... |
11090 | 'Scoring System' May Spot Those in Greatest Need of Colonoscopy; But one expert cautions that even 'low risk' patients can still develop suspicious polyps | Can a new scoring system help some people avoid a colonoscopy?This is an important story that touches on all sorts of issues involved in public health, including how to best to screen for a disease that takes a terrible toll, how to determine who is at highest risk and how to get the best use out of a test (colonoscopy... | true | Cancer,HealthDay,Screening | The question of cost is cited in the final line of the story, which suggests that the scoring system can “address escalating health care cost issues.” But we didn’t think that was specific enough to warrant a Satisfactory score. The story doesn’t clue readers in to the fact that the financial burden can be measured in ... |
33863 | Richard Gere was taken to a hospital emergency room to have a gerbil removed from his rectum. | Sightings: Look for some tongue-in-cheek references to the Gere-bil in the 1996 film Scream. Also, passing mention is made to this rumor during a student bull session in 1998’s Urban Legend. As well, in an episode of television’s The Vicar of Dibley (“The Easter Bunny”; original air date 8 April 1996), Geraldine (Daw... | false | Risqué Business, bestiality | The following is a true account: A 26-year-old male arrives at the ER complaining of rectal bleeding. He is too embarrassed to provide an accurate history but provides the examing doctor a clue: “There might be something stuck in my rear end.” Examination reveals a non-tender abdomen, but a rectal exam shows blood comi... |
242 | U.S. lawmakers grill e-cigarette maker Juul over efforts targeted at schoolchildren. | E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc funded a “holistic health education” camp as part of efforts to market directly to school-aged children, members of a U.S. congressional panel said on Thursday, citing internal company documents. | true | Health News | Democrats on a subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform released a cache of internal Juul emails and other documents that committee staff described as early attempts to “enter schools and convey its messaging directly to teenage children.” Juul’s use of social media influencers t... |
21178 | The Christian Coalition gave (Adam) Hasner an F. | "Hasner did receive an ""F"" grade from the Christian Coalition in 2007, but LeMieux's video leaves out important details of Hasner's record." | mixture | Gambling, Religion, Voting Record, Florida, George LeMieux, | "Is Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hasner a failure according to the Christian Coalition? That's what one of Hasner's primary opponents, George LeMieux, wants voters to think. A video we saw on LeMieux's website, www.phonyconservative.com, on Oct. 5, 2011, picks apart Hasner's record as a former state legislator... |
4340 | Colorado middle school to be tested for tuberculosis. | Students and staff at a middle school in the Denver area will be tested for tuberculosis after prior screening showed positive results for the infection. | true | Colorado, Health, Aurora, Denver, Tuberculosis | The Denver Post reports that all pupils and staff members at Aurora Hills Middle School will be tested as a precaution after the infection was revealed in January test results. No one has developed the illness despite the positive tests at the school about nine miles outside of Denver. Treatment will be provided for th... |
36 | J&J CEO spurns U.S. congressional hearing on carcinogens in talc products. | Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky has declined to appear at a U.S. congressional hearing set for Tuesday on the safety of the company’s Baby Powder and other talc-based cosmetics. | true | Health News | "In an announcement, the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy said that its efforts to persuade Gorsky to testify included “repeated attempts to accommodate the company” over nearly a month. Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, chairman of the House panel investigating concerns about cancer-ca... |
1558 | Work on sex life of rats, life as a badger honored at Ig Nobel Prizes. | Scientific research into how polyester pants affect the sex life of rats, what it’s like for a human to live like a badger and how different the world looks when viewed through your legs was honored at this year’s Ig Nobel spoof awards. | true | Science News | The group also took a dig at Volkswagen AG, lauding it in chemistry for engineering its vehicles to produce fewer emissions “whenever the cars are being tested.” The prizes will be awarded for a 26th straight year at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday by a group of actual Nobel Prize winners, ... |
26552 | “In Chicago, Covid-19 actually LOWERED the death rate.” | A Facebook post shared over 2,000 times claimed that COVID-19 lowered the death rate in Chicago. But an analysis of cases from the Cook County Medical Examiner suggests the opposite. Deaths in Chicago increased in March 2020 compared to previous years, despite a decline in murders. | false | Crime, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "As the coronavirus forces people across the country to stay indoors, questions have emerged over how the pandemic is impacting crime rates. It’s a debate of particular significance to cities like Chicago, which is accustomed to high levels of violent crime. As of April 1, 2020, the virus sickened over 3,000 people in ... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.