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37406 | 500,000 Americans will go bankrupt this year from medical bills. | 500,000 Americans Will Go Bankrupt This Year from Medical Bills? | true | Fact Checks, Politics | "On January 12 2020, the Facebook page “Lower Drug Prices Now” shared what appeared to be a screenshot of a tweet, which claimed that “500,000 Americans will go bankrupt this year” due to medical bills:Claims referencing “this year” can be difficult to fact-check, as images like the one above could circulate for severa... |
1292 | Roche boss says Brexit and curbs on drug use pose threat to UK science. | Uncertainty over drug regulation and a reluctance by Britain’s health service to use certain pricey modern medicines pose a threat to the country’s respected life sciences sector, the head Swiss drugmaker Roche said on Thursday. | true | Science News | With only six months to go until the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union, the highly regulated pharmaceuticals industry still does not know exactly how medicines oversight will function. Severin Schwan, chief executive of the world’s biggest maker of cancer drugs, said in an interview that Europe was alre... |
36890 | A video clip that apparently shows Hillary Clinton suffering a seizure on the campaign trail has raised questions about her health. | Hillary Clinton Had Seizures on Camera-Reported as Fiction! | false | Politics | Claims that video shows Hillary Clinton having a seizure on the campaign trail appear to be false. Theories that Hillary Clinton suffered a seizure on the campaign trail, or that she was suffering visible side effects from a stroke, went viral on websites like Reddit and 4chan. Users debated whether a video of Hillary ... |
38249 | Congressman Trey Gowdy was found badly beaten and bloodied after being dragged from his congressional office in Washington, D.C., in June 2017 — and police are on the lookout for his attacker. | Congressman Trey Gowdy Found Beaten, Placed in Medically-Induced Coma | false | 9/11 Attack on America | A self-described fake news website is behind false reports that U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy was found beaten and bloodied outside his office in Washington, D.C., on June 28, 2017. The rumor started with a report that appeared Last Line of Defense under the headline, “Trey Gowdy Found Beaten, Bloody And Unconscious.” The artic... |
4359 | Texas officials investigating possible tuberculosis exposure. | Health officials say about 150 high school students in western Texas may have been exposed to tuberculosis. | true | El Paso, Health, Tuberculosis, Public health, Texas | El Paso’s Department of Public Health is investigating the possible TB exposure at Hanks High School. Officials believe a student came in close contact with someone who had an active case of TB. Robert Resendes is the director of the city’s Public Health Department. He says free testing will be available to those who m... |
32234 | An African American man living in the Boston area was shot by police officers following a dispute regarding a marijuana cigarette. | While Associated Media Coverage may be changing their name to The Boston Tribune, their content is still nothing more than fake news. | false | Junk News, associated media coverage, boston tribune | On 23 September 2016, the Associated Media Coverage fake news site, which has now rebranded itself as the Boston Tribune, published an article reporting that a Boston police officer had killed a black man in a dispute over a marijuana cigarette: On the heels of recent scandals involving police brutality among the Afr... |
9826 | Debate over who needs a thyroid check in pregnancy | The article gives extensive context to the recent Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism study and refers to other research done in the field. The article effectively breaks down and explains a complex debate in the physician community – whether all pregnant women should be screened for thyroid function and whe... | true | Pregnancy | The story states that a $25 blood test can identify someone with a thyroid disorder. The costs associated with daily hormone therapy are not discussed. The article does an excellent job explaining the importance of thyroid hormones during pregnancy for fetal brain development, especially during the first trimester. It ... |
7215 | Biden to discuss fight to end cancer at South By Southwest. | South By Southwest says former Vice President Joe Biden will give a speech at the festival about efforts to end cancer. | true | Cancer, Health, Joe Biden, Beau Biden, Austin, Texas | Organizers announced Monday that Biden will be a featured speaker in Austin on Sunday, during the portion of the festival focusing on interactive technology. Biden will discuss plans for his new cancer-fighting initiative. Biden has said recently that the initiative will focus on improving data standards to help resear... |
41882 | "Said he got ""52 percent"" support from women during the 2016 presidential election. " | Trump’s August speech in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was packed with familiar factual distortions. | false | estate tax, immigration, infrastructure, jobs, NATO, Russia investigation, Taxes, trade deficit, Veterans Affairs, | President Donald Trump has embarked on a string of political rallies around the country to support Republican candidates and tout his accomplishments as president. These speeches are often sprinkled with a regular roster of false and misleading claims. Here, we are highlighting more than a dozen familiar claims the pre... |
5733 | Data show 25% increase in religious exemptions for vaccines. | New data released Thursday show more Connecticut students are being exempted from vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella for religious reasons. | true | Immunizations, Health, General News, Connecticut, Public health | The overall number of religious exemptions in the state climbed by 25%, from the 2017-18 school year to the 2018-19 school year, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. The agency said the increase from 2% of students to 2.5% represents the largest single year upturn in religious exemptions for vaccinatio... |
5857 | Wyoming health officials report rise in STDs. | Wyoming health officials say there were six times as many gonorrhea cases in 2016 than in 2012. | true | Casper, Health, Wyoming, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Chlamydia | The Casper Star-Tribune reported Monday (http://bit.ly/2oUz0aa ) that a press release by the Wyoming Health Department said while the rates for other sexual transmitted diseases such as chlamydia and syphilis have risen, gonorrhea has affected young people the most. The department says there were 44 reported gonorrhea ... |
9926 | Olive Oil Linked to Reduced Stroke Risk | An added nice touch was the discussion of the possible etiology of the olive oil effect (e.g., inflammation). Overall, a solid summary. When an observational study points to a statistical association between one factor and one outcome, it is important to explain why that doesn’t necessarily mean that one factor caused ... | true | Stroke,WebMD | Not applicable. The cost of olive oil is not in question. The story only cited a 41% lower risk of stroke but didn’t give the actual numbers of how many versus how many in the different groups. That may give an inflated sense of benefit or risk reduction. Not applicable. Unlike the LA Times piece, WebMD rurns to an edi... |
31736 | Studies have proved that having an abortion increases a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. | Observational studies of any kind will always come with limitations and wiggle room for politically motivated players to exploit, as was the case 2002. As a whole, however, we regard use of these data to make a causal link between breast cancer and abortions, without any discussion of their significant caveats involved... | false | Medical, abortion, breast cancer, cancer | The claim that undergoing an abortion increases a woman’s chances of contracting breast cancer, often cited by anti-abortion activists, arguably has two origins: a scientific one and a political one. Its scientific origins have their roots in the 1980s and 1990s, with a series of studies investigating a link between in... |
8743 | Paracetamol use may raise asthma risk in children. | Infants who have been given the common pain reliever paracetamol may have a higher risk of developing asthma and eczema by the time they are 6 or 7, a large study covering children in 31 countries has found. | true | Health News | An asthma sufferer wears a paper face mask as she is attended by nurses in this undated file image. REUTERS/Jason Reed The findings were published in the journal Lancet together with two other studies, which found that runny noses and wheezing early on in life may be strong predictors of asthma. In the first study, res... |
11168 | Diabetes drug linked to heart attacks, death | The story reports that the popular diabetes drug Avandia may potentially be linked to a higher chance of cardiovascular disease or death. An important omission in the story is that the evidence upon which the study findings are based is not discussed, which is very important because there are important limitations to t... | mixture | "The story does not mention any costs of treatment of this drug or other glucose-lowering drugs. The story describes relative risks only and not absolute risks. (See our primer on this topic.) So, when the story states ""the drug increases heart attacks by 43% and heart deaths by 64 percent,"" the audience and the jour... | |
27851 | Photographs show Peng Shuilin, a Chinese man who lost the lower half of his body in an automobile accident. | In November 2009, the Australian Daily Telegraph reported that Peng had opened his own bargain supermarket, called the Half Man-Half Price Store. | true | Fauxtography, People | A set of photographs circulated online show Peng Shuilin, a Chinese man who lost the lower half of his body in an automobile accident in the town of Shenzhen in 1995. Surgeons were able to save his life by closing up his bottomless torso, but his weakened condition required him to remain largely immobile in a horizonta... |
29280 | Internet list accurately cites historical facts and figures proving that the worst mass exterminations of civilian populations in the twentieth century were the result of gun control laws. | "What's true: Mass killings of civilians by military dictatorships in the 1900s were more often than not preceded by the confiscation of firearms from targeted populations, a task made easier by laws requiring the registration and/or licensing of privately-owned weapons. What's false: ""Gun control"" isn't synonymous w... | false | Politics Guns, armenian genocide, genocide, gun control | If you’ve landed on this page, odds are another mass shooting has occurred in the United States. We don’t say this flippantly. Depending on how you define “mass shooting” (there’s a discussion of the various ways to do so here), as of 7 August 2019 there had been no fewer than seven (according to Mother Jones magazine)... |
8159 | Italy coronavirus deaths surge by 793 in a day, lifting total death toll to 4,825. | The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has leapt by 793 to 4,825, officials said on Saturday, an increase of 19.6% — by far the largest daily rise in absolute terms since the contagion emerged a month ago. | true | Health News | On Thursday, Italy overtook China as the country to register most deaths from the highly contagious virus. The total number of cases in Italy rose to 53,578 from a previous 47,021, an increase of 13.9%, the Civil Protection Agency said. The hardest-hit northern region of Lombardy remains in a critical situation, with... |
6754 | 3 indicted in unlicensed assisted living facilities case. | Maryland’s attorney general has announced three people have been indicted for allegedly operating unlicensed assisted living facilities in the Baltimore area. | true | Health, General News, Indictments, Assisted living, Maryland, Baltimore | Brian Frosh announced the indictments on Wednesday. Officials say multiple charges have been filed against Troy Brown, Sharon Isaac and Barbara Parker, all of Baltimore. The charges include abuse and neglect of a vulnerable adult and financial exploitation. The attorney general’s office says it began investigating Neis... |
10823 | Study: Monthly fasting may help heart | "This report on findings about heart disease in a mostly Mormon population of once-a-month fasters is solidly done. It presents data fairly and quotes one independent source. It also includes the essential caveats that the study is ""far from proof"" that fasting cuts heart disease risk, that monthly fasting may be a m... | true | "There are no financial costs associated with fasting one day per month. The article generally presents data well: While at the top it uses the phrase ""40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with heart disease,"" later in the text it explains that 67 percent of the non-fasters were diagnosed, compard to 59 percent of ... | |
9745 | Asterias's stem cell therapy shows promise in study | Stem cell therapy is a controversial area both in terms of ethics and scientific merit. Despite the promise, there has been little progress in the treatment of disease. Asterias Biotherapeutics released the results of the first stage of a phase 1/2 trial of a stem cell-derived therapy called AST OPC-1 in the treamtent ... | mixture | spinal cord injury,stem cells | The therapy, AST OPC-1, is in its early developmental stages – making it difficult to estimate costs in this case. Since the story is clear about the early state of the research. We think this report could have done a more thorough job here, especially since its headline claims the stem cell therapy “shows promise.” We... |
7515 | China virus outbreak may wallop economy, financial markets. | News that a new virus that has afflicted hundreds of people in central China can spread between humans has rattled financial markets and raised concern it might wallop the economy just as it might be regaining momentum. | true | AP Top News, Health, Ebola virus, Asia, Wuhan, Business, China, Travel, Asia Pacific, General News, Economy | Health authorities across Asia have been stepping up surveillance and other precautions to prevent a repeat of the disruptions and deaths during the 2003 SARS crisis, which caused $40 billion to $50 billion in losses from reduced travel and spending. The first cases of what has been identified as a novel coronavirus we... |
14148 | Almost 100,000 people left Puerto Rico last year. | "Lew said that ""almost 100,000 people left Puerto Rico last year."" That appears to be close. Airline data suggests about 89,000 more people departed Puerto Rico for the United States then entered it in 2015. While that’s not a perfect estimate to measure out-migration, all the population trends suggest Puerto Rico is... | true | Global News Service, Bankruptcy, Economy, Population, Jack Lew, | "Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is urging Congress to pass legislation to deal with Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, saying that without action the economy and welfare of the U.S. territory will continue to deteriorate. During an interview on the Bloomberg network, Lew said that Puerto Rican hospitals are ill-equipped to deal ... |
23397 | "On whether President Obama's speeches to school children spread ""socialist ideology." | Former Florida GOP chair apologizes to Obama on education speech | false | Education, Florida, Jim Greer, | "A year ago, we fact-checked a statement from the Republican Party of Florida that claimed President Barack Obama intended to indoctrinate school children with socialist ideology. The alleged vehicle: a back-to-school speech given to the nation's students. Some of Obama's other political opponents echoed the charge, an... |
37569 | "Quarantined children in Wuhan ""defeated"" the app assigning them homework by deluging it with one-star reviews, which caused it to be removed from the app store." | Did Quarantined Kids in in Wuhan Defeat a Homework App by Spamming it With One-Star Reviews? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In a tweet which became a Facebook post, @zenalbatross reported that Wuhan’s clever schoolchildren “defeated the app assigning them homework” by spamming it with one-star reviews to trigger its deletion from an app store:good morning to all the kids under quarantine in wuhan who defeated the app assigning them homework... |
2831 | South Korea steps up measures to contain bird flu. | South Korea is stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of bird flu ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, after migratory birds were found to be infected with the same strain of the virus that hit poultry farms last week. | true | Health News | The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement on Monday that it suspects a flock of migratory birds found dead last week brought the latest outbreak of the H5N8 strain of bird flu. Since the virus hit three farms in the southwestern part of the country last week, about 90,000 poultry have been... |
12492 | "Farmers ""are now dumping milk into the ditches"" because of a trade dispute with Canada" | "Collins said farmers ""are now dumping milk into the ditches"" because of a trade dispute with Canada. The Canadian dairy industry's new pricing for ultra-filtered milk affects dairy processors and farmers in upstate New York, but we could not find any who have dumped their milk because of the trade dispute. It has be... | false | Agriculture, Economy, New York, Chris Collins, | "You’re not supposed to cry over spilt milk -- unless you’re a dairy farmer in upstate New York. Rep. Chris Collins says a trade dispute with the Canada has forced New York state farmers to dump their milk ""into ditches"" because they can no longer sell it across the border. ""They’ve now taken something they call ult... |
2128 | U.N. helicopters fly baby Congo gorillas to safety. | United Nations peacekeepers in Congo have used helicopters to airlift endangered baby gorillas to a sanctuary after they were rescued in a conflict zone where they faced being captured or eaten. | true | Environment | The animals ferried to safety are eastern lowland gorillas, a species that only lives in Democratic Republic of Congo and is classified as “endangered” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list. The four gorillas, which had been rescued from traffickers in various parts of Congo’s rebe... |
2486 | Three million Europeans catch infections in hospital annually. | On any given day, some 80,000 patients in Europe are fighting an infection they picked up in hospital, often while in intensive care, the EU’s disease monitoring agency said in a survey published on Thursday. | true | Health News | Although some of these infections can be treated easily, others - like the superbug MRSA and other drug-resistant bugs - can be fatal or affect patients’ health very seriously, taking several months of costly hospital care and medication to beat. A survey by the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control (ECDC... |
12758 | According to the FBI, Mexican drug cartels are working with 100,000 street gang members in Chicago alone. | "LaPierre said, ""According to the FBI, Mexican drug cartels are working with 100,000 street gang members in Chicago alone."" LaPierre cites data in a 2013 national gang report produced by the FBI’s National Gang Intelligence Center. But it’s hard to gauge how solid that figure is, and experts question its veracity. T... | mixture | National, Drugs, Homeland Security, Crime, Guns, Wayne LaPierre, | "Echoing President Donald Trump’s views on criminal activity in the United States, the top executive with the National Rifle Association recently said crime is going up in many American cities and raised concerns about the role Mexican criminal organizations play. ""According to the FBI, drug gangs are expanding their ... |
17733 | "In 1929, the Secretary of State shut down a program that was ""collecting information to protect America"" because it was ""unseemly,"" but that move led to ""millions and millions"" of deaths in World War II." | "Rogers said that in 1929, the Secretary of State shut down a program that was ""collecting information to protect America"" because it was ""unseemly,"" but that move led to ""millions and millions"" of deaths in World War II. He is generally correct in his description of that year’s shuttering of a pioneering codebre... | mixture | National, History, Foreign Policy, Mike Rogers, | "The debate over the federal government’s surveillance policies -- prompted by the release of National Security Agency documents taken by leaker Edward Snowden -- has revived interest in a decades-old tale of spycraft. The story of the ""American Black Chamber"" intelligence program came up during an interview with Hou... |
10181 | Gene therapy for rare bleeding disorder achieves proof-of-concept | Credit: UC Davis Comparative Oncology ProgramThis short news release describes a gene therapy experiment in four dogs that might turn out to help human patients with a rare blood disorder known as Factor VII deficiency. The release does a good job of making clear that this is just a proof-of-concept and needs human tri... | true | Animal research,Hospital news release | The news release does not bring up costs, but we’ll rate this Not Applicable since the release is clear that this is early-stage work that is not yet ready for use in humans. Some mention of costs would have been valuable nonetheless. Gene therapy is known to be extremely costly, and when a disease is rare, as this is,... |
40832 | People from black and minority ethnic populations are most affected by detentions under the Mental Health Act. | If you're black and minority ethnic, you're more likely to be detained than if you're white. Overall, more white people are detained, since they make up a larger portion of the population. | true | mental-health | Four times as many black people are being detained as white people. If you're black, you're about four times as likely to be detained than if you're white. Overall, more white people are detained, since they make up a larger portion of the population. The number of people detained under the Mental Health Act has increa... |
4464 | Another gene-edited baby may be on the way, scientist says. | A Chinese researcher who claims to have helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies says a second pregnancy may be underway. | true | AP Top News, Genetics, International News, Hong Kong, Genetic Frontiers, North America, Health, Science, Asia Pacific | The researcher, He Jiankui of Shenzhen, revealed the pregnancy Wednesday while making his first public comments about his controversial work at an international conference in Hong Kong. He claims to have altered the DNA of twin girls born earlier this month to try to make them resistant to infection with the AIDS virus... |
910 | Climate fears lift Greens' chances of running Germany. | A former trampolinist and a children’s author have led the Greens to a spectacular comeback in Germany, raising the once-unthinkable prospect of a Green chancellor succeeding Angela Merkel. | true | Environment | Tapping mounting concern in Europe about climate change, especially among young people, ‘Die Gruenen’ won 20.5% of the German vote in May’s European Parliament elections, their best-ever result. Their success has caused convulsions in Merkel’s fragile coalition of conservatives and center-left Social Democrats (SPD), w... |
7294 | Federal lawsuit filed to block Alabama’s new abortion ban. | A federal lawsuit filed Friday asks a judge to block an Alabama law that outlaws almost all abortions, the most far-reaching attempt by a conservative state to seek new restrictions on the procedure. | true | American Civil Liberties Union, AP Top News, Planned Parenthood, Health, Lawsuits, Abortion, North America, U.S. Supreme Court, Laws, Courts, Alabama, Montgomery, U.S. News | The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers seeking to overturn the Alabama law that would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison for the abortion provider. The only exception would be ... |
16317 | "Weeks after accepting a quarter-million-dollar campaign contribution"" from a hospital board chairman, Greg Abbott went to court against victims of a drug-taking neurosurgeon." | "Davis said that weeks ""after accepting a quarter-million-dollar campaign contribution"" from a hospital board chairman, Greg Abbott went to court against victims of a drug-taking neurosurgeon. Davis’ statement needs clarification – that Abbott’s intervention was limited to defending the constitutionality of Texas’ to... | true | Campaign Finance, Health Care, Legal Issues, Texas, Wendy Davis, | "CORRECTION, 5:22 p.m., Oct. 15, 2014: This story has been amended to remove the incorrect original declaration that the $250,000 donation was given before the suits were filed. According to copies of the filings provided by Zac Petkanas, a spokesman for Davis, one of several suits singled out by Davis as the basis of ... |
10741 | Scientist optimistic about obesity vaccine | This TV news segment discussed a different type of intervention being studied as a possible means to help people manage obesity. It is about the potential for a vaccine against a protein called ghrelin to treat or prevent obesity. While being clear about the experimental nature of the vaccine being studied, the story d... | mixture | There was no estimate for the costs that might be associated with a vaccine for weight management. The story did mention that the vaccine currently being tested in humans might require regular inoculation to be effective in contrast to the vaccine in the rats which might only require a single injection early in life. T... | |
38923 | Monsanto plans to replace honeybees that are wiped out by pesticides with genetically modified ants. | Monsanto Says Genetically Modified Ants Could Replace Honey Bees | false | Insects | There aren’t any plans to replace honeybees with genetically modified ants. That claim surfaced on the fake news website World News Daily Report and quickly went viral on social media sites. Taken out of context, many believed that fake news report was real: A team of researchers at Monsanto believe they might be on th... |
2837 | U.S. FDA approves Medtronic heart valve system early. | Medtronic Inc’s minimally invasive system for replacing diseased heart valves won U.S. approval for use in patients deemed too frail to endure traditional open heart surgery, the U.S. medical device maker said on Friday. | true | Health News | The Food and Drug Administration approved Medtronic’s CoreValve system based on U.S. clinical trials in which it was shown to be safe and effective while demonstrating low rates of stroke and valve leakage, the company said. Medtronic and Wall Street analysts had not expected the approval decision until April, giving t... |
39696 | Posts on social media sites warn that White Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillars are poisonous and can cause skin irritation or more serious health complications when touched by humans. | White Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillars Are Poisonous | true | Warnings | Experts say that White Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillars are both poisonous and allergenic, but most people who encounter them experience mild symptoms, like itchy skin or a rash. The White Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar’s longer white lashes are connected to poison glands inside the caterpillar’s body. These hollow ... |
6675 | More vaping illnesses reported, many involving marijuana. | Health officials are recommending people who vape consider avoiding e-cigarettes while they investigate more cases of a breathing ailment linked to the devices. | true | AP Top News, Alex Azar, Health, General News, Marijuana, U.S. News | While the cause remains unclear, officials said Friday that many reports involve e-cigarette products that contain THC, the mind-altering substance in marijuana. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they are looking at 215 possible cases across 25 states. All the cases involve teens or adu... |
199 | Inside drugmakers' strategy to boost cancer medicines with 'Lazarus effect'. | In the halls of MD Anderson Cancer Center, the drug Vitrakvi is known for having a “Lazarus effect” in some patients because it can reverse late-stage cancer that has defied all other treatment options. | true | Health News | Developed by Eli Lilly and Co’s (LLY.N) Loxo Oncology and marketed by German drugmaker Bayer (BAYGn.DE), it fights a rare genetic mutation that appears in less than 1% of solid tumors, regardless of where they appear in the body. Finding those patients will require widespread adoption of sophisticated tests that look f... |
10981 | Doubts on Ovarian Cancer Relapse Test | "CA-125 is the only existing blood test or tumor marker that is used for ovarian cancer follow-up. It measures a microscopic substance which is produced by the tumor and breaks off, circulating in the bloodstream. It is not elevated in every patient with ovarian cancer, and can be falsely elevated in people who have no... | true | The story does not describe the cost of CA-125. The story adequately quantifies the survival benefit with CA-125 compared to no testing. The story adequately describes the major harm of CA-125 testing, which is that it could lead to unnecessary treatment in women who would not benefit from it. The story does a good job... | |
4079 | Oregon officials confirm 2nd case of vaping-related illness. | State officials say a second Oregon resident has received medical treatment for severe lung disease linked to vaping. | true | Health, Marijuana, Oregon, Lung disease | The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the person did not die from their illness, according to the Oregon Health Authority, which provided no other details about the person or where they were treated. The reported case comes a week after state health officials announced that a middle-age Oregonian died from a respiratory ill... |
7436 | Hampton Beach guidelines passed, back-to-school talk starts. | A task force approved guidance for reopening Hampton Beach on Thursday and another group started fall back-to-school discussions. | true | New Hampshire, General News, Virus Outbreak, Public health | Coronavirus-related developments in New Hampshire: BEACHES Guidance on walking, swimming and other activities at Hampton Beach were approved Thursday by a task force on reopening New Hampshire during the coronavirus pandemic. The guidance initially had a June 1 starting date, but the Governor’s Economic Reopening Task ... |
20265 | Ellen Rosenblum Says Dwight Holton has never set foot in an Oregon courtroom. | Has Dwight Holton 'never set foot' in an Oregon courtroom? | false | Oregon, Candidate Biography, Message Machine 2012, Ellen Rosenblum, | "There are two narratives in the race between two Democrats for Oregon attorney general. Dwight Holton paints himself as an exciting advocate and opponent Ellen Rosenblum as a boring government lawyer. Rosenblum describes herself as the home-grown -- double Duck! -- candidate and Holton as not from around here. ""When ... |
11116 | Extra servings of veggies fail to prevent cancer | "Ostensibly reporting on a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, this story, although labeled as ""In Depth,"" actually gave little time to the results of the study or its ramifications. The majority of the air time went to various pieces of information about breast cancer prevention without any... | true | "There was no discussion about the cost of increasing fruit and vegetable content in the diet, but it’s safe to assume that most people know the costs from their grocery shopping. The story mentioned that the study it was reporting on found no reduction in breast cancer recurrence for individuals that reported eating m... | |
26284 | States like New York, Illinois and California have been vocal in their demands for funding to bail out their pension systems, which were failing long before the COVID-19 outbreak, and other programs that aren’t related to this crisis. | New York's pension system is one of the best-funded in the nation and has not asked for federal funds. Illinois' pension fund is one of the worst-funded in the nation, while California is about average. Economic shutdowns related to the pandemic have severely diminished tax revenues, which pay for many state services. | false | Arizona, State Budget, New York, Coronavirus, Andy Biggs, | "Some conservative federal lawmakers continue to oppose sending more money to New York and other states hard-hit by the new coronavirus. The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and some of his colleagues sent a letter to President Donald Trump. More federal funding for states forces citizens... |
8703 | UK scientists to make a million potential COVID-19 vaccines before proof. | A million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by British scientists are already being manufactured and will be available by September, even before trials prove whether the shot is effective, the team said on Friday. | true | Health News | The Oxford University team’s experimental product, called “ChAdOx1 nCoV-19”, is a type known as a recombinant viral vector vaccine and is one of at least 70 potential COVID-19 candidate shots under development by biotech and research teams around the world. At least five of those are in preliminary testing in people. T... |
28776 | The Clinton Foundation rates higher than the Red Cross in charity rankings. | "What's true: The charity ranking site CharityWatch grades the Clinton Foundation as an ""A"" and the Red Cross as an ""A-."" What's false: The larger and more highly regarded Charity Navigator stopped evaluating the Clinton Foundation after an early 2015 dispute over bad press and allegations of a lack of transparency... | mixture | Politics, charity navigator, charitywatch, clinton foundation | On 28 August 2016, a popular tweet initiated a rumor that as a charity, the Clinton Foundation scored higher in efficiency than the well-known aid-providing Red Cross organization: today’s fun fact: CharityWatch gives the Clinton Foundation a higher rating (A) than it gives the Red Cross (A-). #discuss — Eric Boehlert ... |
28536 | "The NFL gave Donald Trump a ""lifetime ban"" after he was involved in a disastrous lawsuit against the league." | "What's true: As owner of the New Jersey Generals USFL team in the 1980s, Trump was a driving force behind an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL that was successful but won only $3.76 in damages, effectively putting an end to the upstart league. What's false: Trump did not sue the NFL in a personal capacity, nor did the... | mixture | Politics, donald trump, football, nfl | In the midst of an ongoing public debate about national anthem protests by NFL players that grew to involve even President Donald Trump in September 2017, Internet users were reminded of an infamous 1980s lawsuit involving the now-defunct United States Football League and the NFL in which Trump had played a key role: ... |
21529 | Before Medicare, only 51 percent of Americans 65 and older had health care coverage and nearly 30 percent lived below the poverty line. Today, thanks to Medicare ... nearly all seniors have coverage and 75 percent fewer struggle in poverty. | "U.S. Rep. Ron Kind says that ""thanks to Medicare,"" 75% fewer seniors are in poverty, and most have health coverage" | mixture | Medicare, Poverty, Wisconsin, Ron Kind, | "Democrats marked the 45th anniversary of Medicare by accusing Republicans of renewing hostilities against the popular program. A partisan scrap over Medicare and the elderly? That’s nothing new. But there was one aspect of the rhetoric during the summer of 2011 that caught our attention. Democrats reminded audiences o... |
14680 | I have never supported cap and trade. | Sanofi SA said on Friday it would recall popular heartburn medicine Zantac in the United States and Canada, after the medicines were linked with a probable cancer-causing impurity. | true | Candidate Biography, Cap and Trade, Florida, Marco Rubio, | The French drugmaker said it was working with health authorities to determine the level and extent of the recall, which it called a precautionary measure being taken due to possible contamination with a substance called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Sanofi has sold over-the-counter Zantac in the U.S. and Canada since ... |
643 | California governor says broad power shutdown to prevent fires 'unacceptable'. | California Governor Gavin Newsom called a widespread electricity shutdown triggered by a power company to prevent wildfires “unacceptable”, as gale-force winds and dry weather posed a critical fire threat to the north of the state. | true | Environment | Pacific Gas and Electric Co (PG&E) has imposed unprecedented shut-offs that left more than 730,000 homes and workplaces in northern California without power on the second day of planned outages. But as of late Thursday, power was restored to more than half of those who had lost it, PG&E officials said in a release. Ab... |
8392 | Adherence to social distancing spurs dip in projected U.S. coronavirus deaths. | Better-than-expected social distancing practices have led an influential research model to lower its projected U.S. coronavirus death toll by 12%, while predicting some states may be able to safely begin easing restrictions as early as May 4. | true | Health News | The University of Washington’s predictive model, regularly updated and often cited by state public health authorities and White House officials, projected on Friday that the virus will take 60,308 U.S. lives by Aug. 4, down from 68,841 deaths forecast earlier in the week. Strict adherence to stay-at-home orders and bus... |
16801 | "The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ""received zero complaints"" about the Washington Redskins name." | "Conservative blog posts smell a scandal in the cancellation of the Washington Redskins trademark, pointing out that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ""received zero complaints"" about it before an administrative law court ruled in June. The case was opened because someone complained -- so that assertion is wrong o... | false | Sports, PunditFact, Bloggers, | "There’s new hysteria surrounding the cancellation of the Washington Redskins trademark registration, and it goes like this: The government’s decision was much ado about nothing. After reading our fact-check about the Obama administration’s (lack of) direct involvement in the decision, a reader asked us to look into a ... |
8980 | Sugar improves memory in over-60s, helping them work smarter | This news release highlights findings of a small, short-term trial that suggests glucose (a form of sugar) enhances performance on memory tests in older adults. The release touts benefits in performance, motivation, and mood while taking these tests, but fails to include any data. Nor does it mention how these outcomes... | false | dementia,University of Warwick | The intervention used in this research was 25 grams of glucose (aka dextrose) dissolved in water. Glucose is a major source of energy, in particular, for our brain. Most of the glucose found in our blood comes from the breakdown of carbohydrates in our diet, but if you wanted to buy pure glucose, 50 tablets would cost ... |
6071 | Maine officials investigate Legionnaires’ disease cluster. | The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a cluster of six Legionnaires’ disease cases in the Bangor area. | true | Health, Legionnaires disease, Bangor, Maine | The CDC said Friday health care providers have diagnosed about one case in each month since last November, and officials are trying to determine if they’re related. The CDC said all six individuals were hospitalized and that one died, although it’s unclear if the Legionella bacteria was to blame. Legionnaires’ disease ... |
9827 | Spinal Manipulation, Home Exercise May Ease Neck Pain | When researchers randomized 272 neck pain patients to receive either spinal manipulation, medication, or instructions on home exercises, they found some differences that were statistically significant. But the big picture is that all the patients tended to get better and those who got manipulation or home exercise inst... | true | exercise,pain | It’s too bad this story didn’t mention costs. Considering that the trial found only small differences in the effectiveness of the treatments, it seems that cost might be a key deciding factor for many people with neck pain. It’s notable that two educational sessions about home exercise were as effective as 15 chiroprac... |
29614 | "Statistics demonstrate that ""Islam will overwhelm Christendom unless Christians recognize the demographic realities and begin reproducing again." | Statistics demonstrate that 'Islam will overwhelm Christendom unless Christians recognize the demographic realities and begin reproducing again'? | false | Uncategorized, muslim demographics, viral videos | Example: [Collected via e-mail, April 2009] I have just received the following youtube on Muslim Demographics. Can you verify the accuracy of this message? Origins: The notion that “Christendom” (primarily western Europe, but also North America) is in danger of being overwhelmed within a few generations by Muslim i... |
10552 | There are alternatives to hysterectomies | "The question of whether hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) is overused or appropriately performed for benign conditions such as fibroids or abnormal uterine bleeding is controversial and hotly debated. What is clear is that, regardless of treatment choice, women should be informed about the availability and... | mixture | "The story does not mention costs of hysterectomy or of the available alternatives. Although the story mentions a ""90 percent success"" rate of the alternative procedures, this is not sufficient quantification of benefits. Not only is it not clear how ""success"" is defined, but also for which procedure and compared t... | |
37684 | A lengthy email represented as lies told by Senator Barack Obama. | Obama Lies? | mixture | Obama, Politics, Terrorism | This is a list of alleged “lies” by presidential candidate Barack Obama that circulated during the 2008 presidential primary season. There were several different versions, the first having only about 25 criticisms of Obama and instead of calling him a “liar” it ended each claim with the phrase “Not quite.” Then it was... |
34555 | JFK smoked cannabis in the White House during his presidency to treat various medical ailments. | I’m not seeing anything that confirms this assertion. I’ve never actually seen the medical records from his Personal Papers, but am relying on accounts of biographers, Dallek and O’Brien, who have both viewed the papers with physicians and wrote about their findings. While they list a number of drugs and various treatm... | unproven | Fauxtography, cannabis, history, john f. kennedy | A long-circulating image seen often on social media claims that President John F. Kennedy (JFK) habitually smoked cannabis in the White House during his presidency to alleviate back pain and the symptoms of Addison’s Disease. References to the rumor appeared in the New York Daily News in 1991 and the New York Times in ... |
27607 | A 12-year-old girl livestreamed her suicide by hanging. | National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 | true | Uncategorized, death, suicide, video | A disturbing video that has gone viral and apparently shows a young girl hanging herself has turned into a criminal investigation by police. While we made numerous unsuccessful attempts to reach Polk County police in an effort to verify the video, Chief Kenny Dodd told local reporters the video is authentic. Dodd told ... |
32173 | "An Alabama man suspected of creating a ""real life human centipede"" remains at large." | Around the same time the Alabama Observer popped up to spread fabrications, the Baltimore Gazette and Boston Tribune web sites were set up to spread false clickbait stories by camouflaging themselves as mainstream metro-area news outlets. | false | Junk News, alabama observer | On 7 October 2016, the Alabama Observer web site reported that authorities were seeking a suspect believed to be involved in the creation of a “real life human centipede”: Residents in Alabama’s Pullman County have been urged to be on the lookout for a suspect, described as a Caucasian male between the ages of 50-60, ... |
31748 | President Trump filed for re-election early, which means non-profits can't criticize him without losing their tax-exempt status. | Mayer also pointed out that pro-President Trump nonprofits are under the same laws as all the others, which casts further doubt on his early re-election filing being about anything other than getting a fundraising advantage. | false | Politics, campaign, donald trump, fake outrage | On 29 January 2017, a community member at the Daily Kos posted in a string of tweets by “The Resisterhood” account, which claimed that because President Donald Trump had filed early for re-election, it means that nonprofit organizations cannot oppose him without risking their nonprofit status. The story, which was wide... |
36152 | Flint, Michigan still does not have clean water as of September 2019. | ‘Another Teenager with an Important Message’ (About the Flint Water Crisis) | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | As Greta Thunberg made news (and fake news) on September 24 2019, a Reddit post featuring “another teenager with an important message” about Flint, Michigan’s purported lack of clean water quickly moved to the top of r/all:Here’s another teenager with an important message from picsA red tag added to the post (presumabl... |
15129 | Eighty-three law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty this year. Twenty-four of them were shot and killed in cold blood. | Cagle right on law enforcement death count | true | Georgia, Criminal Justice, Crime, Public Safety, Public Service, Guns, Casey Cagle, | "Years have passed, but not the collective chill that comes when our minds are drawn back to Sept. 11, 2001. In the days leading up to this year’s 14th anniversary of the terrorists’ attacks, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle issued a press release, urging Georgians to stop to reflect on the critical role that law enforcement offic... |
3780 | US report: Prescription drug prices down slightly last year. | Prices for prescription drugs edged down by 1% last year, a rare result driven by declines for generics and slow, low growth in the cost of brand-name medications, the government said Thursday. | true | Medication, Health, General News, Legislation, Politics, Prescription drug costs, Prescription drugs, Prices | Though modest, it was the first such price drop in 45 years, according to nonpartisan economic experts at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, who deliver an annual report on the nation’s health care spending. The price drop was for retail pharmacy prescriptions, not medications administered in hospital... |
3381 | Legionnaires’ cases may be linked to Chicago-area hospital. | State health officials are investigating whether three cases of Legionnaires’ disease are linked to a suburban Chicago hospital. | true | Chicago, Health, General News, Legionnaires disease, Illinois, Public health | The Illinois Department of Public Health said Friday the three people were all patients at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Chicago. One person was an inpatient, while the other two had outpatient visits. IDPH said the three patients also had other possib... |
5711 | Medical pot use won’t put Missouri patients’ welfare at risk. | Missouri patients with medical marijuana cards won’t be at risk of losing welfare if they test positive for pot under a revamped state policy. | true | Michael Brown, General News, Social services, Marijuana, Medical marijuana | The change comes after Missouri voters in 2018 said patients with cancer, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder and other illnesses may use cannabis with doctor approval. But legalizing medical marijuana put those patients at odds with another Missouri law that requires Temporary Assistance for Needy Families applic... |
9208 | Natural tooth repair method, using Alzheimer's drug, could revolutionize dental treatments | One of the most basic elements of any news release about a lab study with implications for humans is to make it clear that the study is still at the animal or — in this case — animal cell stage. This release not only skips any mention of mice, it also makes the leap that because the drug in question has “previously bee... | false | dental treatment,King's College London,mice studies | There is no discussion of costs in the release. Tideglusib, the drug they refer to, is listed by one chemical supplier (in the US it appears only to be available from research lab suppliers) as going for $80 for 10mg to $280 for 50 mg. This is not exactly inexpensive and it is unclear how much needs to be used, especia... |
35814 | "Under the ""COVID Act,"" school officials in the U.S. can quarantine children with COVID-19 symptoms outside their family home without their parents' or guardians' consent." | Similarly, the right of a parent to live with and raise a child is not absolute. A child also has a fundamental right to be free from physical, sexual, and emotional harm, as well as a right to a basic level of nutrition, shelter, and safety. Where those rights come into conflict, such as in cases where a parent neglec... | false | Politics Legal, COVID-19 | In August 2020, as states and school districts in the United States grappled with whether and how to reopen schools for the fall semester, multiple readers asked Snopes to examine the accuracy of a social media post, shared widely by users in the United States, that claimed children who showed symptoms of COVID-19 coul... |
34849 | Insect repellent companies hired a Ugandan man whose flatulence was deadly to mosquitoes. | Multiple news websites from around the world were taken in by a crude hoax in December 2019. | false | Junk News | We received multiple reader inquiries in December 2019 about news reports that claimed a man in Kampala, Uganda, had been hired by mosquito repellent companies because, according to him, they were interested in studying how his flatulence purportedly kills mosquitoes. On Dec. 10, the U.K. tabloid newspaper The Sun publ... |
32228 | The wife of famous golfer blurted out on the air that she kisses her husband's balls for luck. | Old broadcast legend holds that the wife of a famous golfer blurted out on the air that she kisses her husband's balls for luck. | false | Entertainment, arnold palmer, Radio & TV, Television | The word “balls” has long been used as the basis for double entendre jokes. Because it is widely recognized as a slang term for a portion of the male genitalia (the testicles) but also has some very common and innocuous meanings (e.g., spherical objects used in sports and games; formal social dance gatherings), risqué... |
32269 | Eleven states are introducing a truck curfew from 11PM until 6AM. | The “truck curfew” story was one of several fake news items in a subset targeting specific populations on social media, among whom the stories would be heavily shared (and by which the sites involved would rake in traffic and revenue). Along with the motorcycle curfew claim, a similar outlet reported fabricated motorcy... | false | Junk News, associated media coverage, best source of videos | On 13 September 2016 the web site Best Source of Videos published an article reporting that the U.S Department of Transportation is working with eleven states to keep trucks off the road between 11PM and 6AM: 11 states working in conjunction with the U.S Department of Transportation (U.D.O.T) have agreed to implement a... |
29293 | The National Football League enjoys tax-exempt status as a nonprofit organization. | What's true: The NFL League Office used to be a tax-exempt entity. What's false: The NFL's tax exemption applied only to the league office and not to the teams themselves, and the office has since given up its non-profit status. | false | Politics Business, nfl | In September 2014, amid controversy over the National Football League’s (NFL) handling of domestic abuse cases involving some of its players, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey introduced a bill that sought to accomplish what other members of Congress had previously attempted to do: disallow professional sports leagues,... |
3663 | Deal will let more companies make an overdose antidote spray. | More companies could begin making an easy-to-use version of an opioid overdose antidote under a deal announced Thursday by New York’s attorney general. | true | Opioids, Technology, General News, Health, Business, U.S. News | Under the agreement, Emergent BioSolutions will no longer enforce a contract that had allowed it to be the only company to develop a nasal spray version of the drug nalmefene for use as an antidote in a nasal spray. The attorney general’s office said the new agreement came after it found that Adapt Pharma, which has si... |
31487 | A man in Florida cut off his own genitals and fed them to an alligator while high on methamphetamine. | Although both sites pose as legitimate news sources and neither carries an open disclaimer identifying their content as satirical, both have published false information in the past. The Florida Sun Post ran a story very similar to this one asserting that a woman had died while taking an “alligator selfie.” Boston Leade... | false | Junk News, alligator, boston leader, fake news | On 14 April 2017, the untrustworthy web site the Florida Sun Post published an article reporting that a man was rushed to the hospital with a highly unusual self-inflicted injury: A 52-year-old man from Florida’s Nassau County is tonight in intensive care after he was seriously injured during what has been described by... |
16270 | Obama, instead of nominating a health professional, he nominated someone who is an anti-gun activist (for surgeon general). | "Cruz said, ""President Obama, instead of nominating a health professional, he nominated someone who is an anti-gun activist."" Murthy has a long list of credentials showing he is a health professional, including his position as an attending physician at a leading hospital. Murthy runs a health care reform organization... | false | National, Congress, Corrections and Updates, Ebola, Guns, Health Care, Public Health, Ted Cruz, | "The lack of a surgeon general -- the federal government’s top public health spokesperson -- has become a point of contention as the public panics about Ebola. Sen. Ted Cruz said President Barack Obama is to blame for the fact that the position hasn’t been filled. ""Look, of course we should have a surgeon general in p... |
29537 | New York voters will be turned away from the polls if they wear shirts endorsing specific candidates, and polling hours have been deliberately shortened to suppress primary votes. | What's true: New York election law prohibits wearing candidate shirts or hats within 100 feet of polling places; primary voting in some counties has historically been shorter than for general election voting. What's false: Voters wearing shirts endorsing any candidates will be denied the right to vote; poll hours were ... | false | Politics Ballot Box, 2016 primary, bernie sanders, electioneering | New York’s 2016 primary election was rife with rumors, due in part because New York’s primaries are closed, and also because an early change-of-party deadline had already created a good deal of confusion in an already complicated system. One claim that emerged from the rumors warned Bernie Sanders voters not to wear sh... |
7905 | Dead meat: Industry faces 'ruin' if slow on adapting to climate change. | The world’s meat industry must adapt to the challenges posed by climate change and growing demand for plant-based alternatives or face ruin, according to a group of investors managing $20 trillion in assets. | true | Environment | Policymakers and investors are turning up the heat on companies across sectors in the run up to global climate talks in Glasgow in November, demanding they assess the risks and put plans in place to mitigate them. Incoming United Nations climate envoy Mark Carney is pushing all companies to use a risk-assessment framew... |
5964 | Lowest US birth rate in 3 decades could pose risk to economy. | Women in the United States gave birth last year at the lowest rate in 30 years, a trend that could weigh on economic growth in the coming decades. | true | United States, Health, Health statistics, Birth rates, North America, Business, Economic growth, U.S. News, Generations, Economy | The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics said Thursday that the number of U.S. babies born last year fell 2 percent from 2016 to 3.85 million, also a 30-year low. Births have fallen for three straight years. The fertility rate dropped 3 percent last year to 60.2 births per 1... |
10697 | Fish Oil Study Finds Little Benefit for Pregnant Women | Some important questions the story didn’t address: how did researchers measure development/intelligence at 18 months? What effect size were they hoping for? In a few small but significant ways, this story used language that explained the findings more clearly than the competing New York Times story. But both stories wh... | true | "There was no discussion of costs and we always think there should be – even if inconsequential. Overall, we would have wished for more specificity on the data that was reported. There were glimpses of specifity, as when the story reported: ""The latest study does suggest that some subgroups of women might benefit from... | |
7227 | Davenport gym offers workouts for people with Down syndrome. | The parking lot is packed on a recent weeknight at CrossFit OC3 in Davenport, which looks like a typical warehouse gym from the outside. | true | Iowa, Down syndrome, Health, Lifestyle, Davenport | On this night, however, there’s a 90-minute class being offered unlike any other in the Quad-Cities. A small group of teens, 20- and 30-somethings with Down syndrome is clapping and cheering for each other as they jump on boxes, toss medicine balls and walk on their hands and feet, also known here as a bear crawl. The ... |
39328 | An antifreeze-like ingredient in the Swiffer Wetjet kills pets and cause liver failure in children. | Antifreeze in Swiffer Wet Jet Kills Pets, Children | false | Animals, Household, Warnings | Emails warning that antifreeze in the Swiffer Wetjet cleaning solution kills pets and can cause liver or kidney failure in young children have been circulating since the early 2000s — but they’re not based on credible threats. One of the earliest occurrences of the Swiffer Wetjet warning was an email that circulated in... |
13170 | "Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump ""says organized crime runs wild on reservations." | "Clinton said Trump ""says organized crime runs wild on reservations."" Trump did say that at least twice -- but that was 23 years ago. He later implied such a connection in 2000. But there’s no indication he said that publicly in the past 16 years, including during the 2016 campaign. So Clinton’s use of the present te... | mixture | National, Gambling, Crime, Race and Ethnicity, Hillary Clinton, | "Speaking in Arizona -- the battleground state with the largest population of Native Americans -- Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of speaking ill of Native Americans. ""Imagine a president who insults Native Americans, says organized crime runs rampant on reservations, and mocks Sen. Elizabeth Warren by calling he... |
42184 | US Surgeon, Who Exposed Clinton Foundation Corruption In Haiti, Found Dead | Q: Did the late surgeon Dean Lorich expose “Clinton Foundation corruption in Haiti”?A: No. Lorich co-authored an article criticizing the medical response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, not the Clinton Foundation. | false | earthquakes, | Q: Did the late surgeon Dean Lorich expose “Clinton Foundation corruption in Haiti”? A: No. Lorich co-authored an article criticizing the medical response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, not the Clinton Foundation. FULL QUESTIONIs this true or not? THANK YOU!!! !FULL ANSWERFor years, conspiracy theories have abounded ... |
7897 | Rattled world 'at war' with coronavirus as deaths surge in Italy, France. | Hundreds of millions of people faced a world turned upside down on Wednesday by unprecedented emergency measures against the coronavirus pandemic that is killing the old and vulnerable and threatening prolonged economic misery. | true | Health News | “This is a once-in-a-hundred-year type event,” said Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, warning the crisis could last six months as his nation became the latest to restrict gatherings and overseas travel. The fast-spreading disease that jumped from animals to humans in China has now infected over 212,000 people a... |
35132 | Using a hair dryer to breathe in hot air can cure COVID-19 and stop its spread. | A viral video that claims breathing hot air from a hair dryer could cure COVID-19 demonstrates a basic and dangerous lack of understanding about science. | false | Junk News, COVID-19 | Viral misinformation about the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic was rampant in mid-March 2020. One example was a video created by “futurologist” Dän Lee Dimke who claimed that sticking a blow dryer in your face or sitting in a sauna and breathing in hot air would kill the coronavirus. The information given by Dimk... |
9835 | Magnet Therapy May Help Stroke Survivors Recover | Low-hanging fruit this story could have snatched include: With that being said, we thought the story overall offered an informative account of the study and excelled at providing context. We wish more stories about new treatments made the effort to quote four independent experts. Brain damage caused by stroke affects m... | true | Stroke,WebMD | The story notes that TMS equipment is expensive and requires specialized training. However, this story didn’t put a dollar figure on the cost of the machine as Reuters did. And neither this story nor its Reuters counterpart attempted to quantify the costs of treatment for patients and insurers. The story tells us that ... |
13106 | "Donald Trump Says he ""won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally." | "Trump tweeted that he ""won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."" Neither Trump nor his allies have presented any evidence of widespread illegal voting. In reality, studies have consistently shown that voter fraud is nowhere near common enough to call into question millions and m... | false | Immigration, National, Elections, Donald Trump, | "President-elect Donald Trump provoked a firestorm on social media with a series of tweets on Nov. 27 that questioned the integrity of the balloting that elected him president. In one tweet, Trump wrote, ""In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of ... |
7757 | Poland's wild boar cull prompts protests. | Hunters and activists have united against the Polish government’s decision to cull most of Poland’s wild boar population in an effort to curtail health risks related to African swine fever (ASF). | true | Environment | “There is no scientific basis for this, it is barbarism,” said Katarzyna Karpa-Swiderek, a spokeswoman for animal rights organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Poland. “We broadly do not protest against hunting wild boars, but in our opinion the scope of the proposed cull is excessive.” Estimates of Poland’s wild boar... |
13666 | "Donald Trump Says the U.S. election system is ""rigged." | Trump has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. election system is rigged. He has cited examples of voter fraud, which is extremely rare, often unintentional and not on a scale large enough to affect a national election. While there are isolated examples of bought local elections, experts say it cannot be replicated on a na... | false | National, Elections, Donald Trump, | "Donald Trump preemptively challenged the results of the November presidential election, claiming in media appearances and rallies that the entire system is ""rigged."" Trump’s charges of election fraud are not new to his campaign. He’s tweeted about dead voters delivering President Barack Obama’s victory in 2012, floa... |
11098 | Actelion Sleep Aid Does Well In Midstage Clinical Trial | This is a short story about a possible new drug treatment for insomnia. The most helpful information in the story is that the drug has a novel mechanism, and is currently being tested. While of interest, the story failed to provide sufficient information for readers because it is lacking in independent expert opinions ... | true | "Costs were not discussed but this drug is still in development. The story reported the benefit (increased time spent sleeping compared with a placebo) as ‘significant’, though the only statistically significant result contained in the company presentation about this product was something termed ""increased sleep effic... | |
24086 | "Frederica Wilson Says she introduced a ban on ""dirty dancing." | Frederica Wilson says she banned dirty dancing | true | Candidate Biography, Children, Education, Pop Culture, Florida, Frederica Wilson, | "State Sen. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Gardens Democrat running for the congressional seat now held by Kendrick Meek, is making an unusual boast about her accomplishments as a school board member: She says she introduced a ban on ""dirty dancing. ""Here is what she says on her campaign Web site: ""As a member of the Mia... |
13916 | More people now die in Wisconsin from drug overdoses than car crashes. | Schimel said more people now die in Wisconsin from drug overdoses than car crashes. The most recent data available from 2014 supports his statement -- 2009 was the first year when more people died from drug overdoses than in car crashes. | true | Drugs, Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, | "More than a month after Prince died at the age of 57, toxicology tests determined the visionary musician’s cause of death: fentanyl, a synthetic opiate up to 50 times more potent than heroin. On June 6, 2016, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel penned a guest column in the Wisconsin State Journal connecting Prince... |
10799 | The shallow waters of dolphin therapy claims | Another strong entry in this regular Healthy Skeptic column by the LA Times, this story provides readers with nearly everything they need to know about dolphin therapy treatment centers. We especially liked how the story showed that different claims are being made by different centers and all of the claims lack support... | true | Los Angeles Times | The story notes the costs of several of the therapy sessions offered. “A five-day program costs $2,200 and includes about 20 minutes of dolphin time each day.” The story only makes reference to one specific claim of quantified benefits. “The website for the Living From the Heart Dolphin Experience says that 95% of auti... |
41715 | The government have announced the end of hospital parking charges for patients. | In December it was announced that hospitals in England will have to provide free car parking to frequent hospital visitors, blue badge holders and at certain times to staff and parents of child patients. | mixture | health | There will be 50,000 more nurses going into the NHS. The government has committed to do this by 2024/25. Not all of these nurses will be ‘new’. The government have announced the end of hospital parking charges for patients. In December it was announced that hospitals in England will have to provide free car parking to ... |
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