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28369 | 20 percent of women killed in Intimate Partner Homicides (IPH) who had restraining orders were killed within two days of obtaining it. | What's true: A 2008 study reported that 20 percent of victims of Intimate Partner Homicide who had restraining orders were killed within two days of obtaining those orders. What's false: The study also found that just 11 percent of IPH victims overall had restraining orders in place at the time they were killed. | mixture | Politics Crime, domestic violence | With October marking Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the U.S., readers contacted us regarding a graphic circulating online sharing an alarming statistic regarding homicide rates for partners who obtained restraining orders. The graphic, which was unattributed but bore the hashtag #DVAM2018, read as follows: 1/5 o... |
14699 | In 40 years of broadcast, I have never endorsed any candidate. | Beck declared in Iowa he hadn’t previously endorsed a candidate. Beck made a kidding endorsement of a Democrat a few years ago and previously urged support for, or votes against, individuals. But we spotted no evidence of Beck lock-down endorsing a candidate before he stood with Cruz. | true | History, Texas, Glenn Beck, | "Glenn Beck, the conservative former Fox News host who now has a radio show and online live-video program, declared at an Iowa rally for Texan Ted Cruz that he was breaking with his own long history simply by endorsing someone for office. ""The press today has been reporting that I’m here to endorse Ted Cruz,"" Beck sa... |
5016 | Aldo Dávila set to be Guatemala’s 1st openly gay congressman. | Aldo Iván Dávila Morales is poised to take up a seat in Guatemala’s congress in January, making history as the first openly gay man elected to the country’s legislature. | true | Legislature, Religion, Health, General News, Latin America, Guatemala City, Caribbean, International News, Guatemala | Proudly gay and living with HIV, the 41-year-old activist says the rainbow flag will not be his only cause. He intends to begin his congressional career with three main agenda points: Fighting endemic corruption, ensuring Guatemalans’ right to health care and defending human rights, with a focus on the LGBTQ community.... |
1436 | Fiery mailboxes and dogs in bags: fleeing California's wildfire. | Nicole Montague and her 16-year-old daughter Destiny noticed a red glow on the horizon as they drove to school in Paradise, California, that Thursday morning. They did not think much of it as they had seen fires nearby in the past. | true | Environment | Since they had not heard any warnings, they shrugged it off. But within minutes mass panic broke out, said Nicole Montague, 45. They gathered their nine dogs and a few belongings as the trailer park they live in burst into flames. “As we were driving out, the mailboxes were on fire,” Nicole said. “All you could hear we... |
8291 | Putin orders daily coronavirus projections as Russia's tally nears 37,000. | Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to provide daily forecasts of the spread of the novel coronavirus as Russia recorded almost 5,000 new cases in a single day. | true | Health News | Coronavirus infections in Russia began rising sharply in April after reporting far fewer infections than many western European countries in the outbreak’s early stages. On Saturday, Russia’s official tally of coronavirus cases was 36,793, a record overnight rise of 4,785, and death toll rose by 40 to 313. The governmen... |
3071 | A growing number of states call porn a public health crisis. | More than a dozen states have moved to declare pornography a public health crisis, raising concerns among some experts who say the label goes too far and carries its own risks. | true | Arizona, Health, Entertainment, Sylvia Allen, North America, Social issues, Pornography, U.S. News, Public health | The Arizona Senate approved a resolution this week calling for a systemic effort to prevent exposure to porn that’s increasingly accessible to younger kids online. At least one legislative chamber has adopted a similar resolution in 15 other states. “It is an epidemic in our society, and this makes a statement that we ... |
26426 | “The Democrats are pushing for an implanted microchip in humans, and everyone to be vaccinated.” | There’s no evidence that implanted microchips are being contemplated in a serious way to fight the coronavirus. This notion appears to stem from an incorrect interpretation of comments made by philanthropist Bill Gates. Democrats are not “pushing” for mandatory vaccinations, because state government already has the pow... | false | Public Health, Privacy Issues, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Is the coronavirus pandemic going to force Americans to undergo microchip implants? What about mandatory vaccinations? That’s what a Facebook post says. ""The Democrats are pushing for an implanted microchip in humans, and everyone to be vaccinated."" says a Facebook post with text on a plain background. ""These are w... |
10568 | Penn research: An FDA-approved Alzheimer's drug could help smokers quit | This news release describes a report on an ongoing trial of the Alzheimer’s drug galantamine as a smoking cessation aid. The release also notes that the study on which it’s based sought to explore whether the drug would have less of an effect on participants’ “executive functions” while going through withdrawal than ot... | true | Academic medical center news release,Alzheimer's disease | There is no mention of costs in the release. Some mention of costs would have been useful and could have taken a number of different forms such as how the cost of these drugs would compare to buying cigarettes on a daily basis, comparing the drug price to other tools for quitting smoking, or providing cost estimates of... |
9276 | Treating pain without feeding addiction: Study shows promise of non-drug pain management | The release focuses on a recently published journal article that reported patients with chronic pain who are fighting drug addiction can reduce their pain using an approach called Improving Pain during Addiction Treatment (ImPAT). The release notes that the intensity of pain decreased, alcohol use decreased, and abilit... | mixture | University of Michigan Health System | Costs aren’t addressed. How much might one ImPAT session cost–given that patients may need as many as 10 sessions (or more) to see benefits? Is it possible that these sessions would be covered by insurance? It’s not clear. However, to the release’s credit, it does note that this treatment “has the potential to be easil... |
41083 | The starting salary for teachers increased from £21,600 in 2010 to £24,400 in 2020. | The United States has warned its citizens to take extra care when visiting Tanzania amid concerns over Ebola, adding to calls for the East African country to share information about suspected cases of the deadly disease there. | true | online | U.S. travelers should “exercise increased caution”, the State Department said on Friday in an updated travel advisory that cited reports of “a probable Ebola-related death in Dar es Salaam”. Tanzania denies the reports, saying no cases of Ebola have been confirmed, but with transparency key to combating the deadly and ... |
9801 | Patient’s own stem cells help heal heart, early research shows | The story did a better job than a competing WebMD story in covering most of the necessary ground to give readers a realistic assessment of this stem cell study. It described the actual study with an appropriate level of detail. However, it missed two important points that were noted in the WebMD piece: the lead researc... | true | heart attack,stem cells | It’s too early to have a meaningful discussion of costs. The story does not provide a lot of hard data on benefits, and we would have liked to have seen more. For example, it says that “about half of their scar tissue dissolved and the reduction in scar size appears to get bigger after the first six months.” But we app... |
155 | UK fears crisis as 11.5 million get potentially addictive drugs. | More and more Britons are being prescribed potentially addictive medicines including sleeping pills, opioids and other painkillers, raising the risk of a drug crisis like the one in the United States, health officials said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | In a government-commissioned report, researchers at Public Health England (PHE) said evidence showed that “since at least 10 years ago more people are being prescribed more of these medicines and often for longer”. In 2017 to 2018 alone, 11.5 million adults in England - more than a quarter of the adult population - was... |
1309 | UK signals changes on medicinal cannabis use after epileptic boy's case. | The British government will look into possible changes to rules on the use of cannabis-based medicines, a minister said on Monday, after an epileptic boy whose medication was confiscated was hospitalized. | true | Health News | Interior minister Sajid Javid used an exceptional power on Saturday to release medicinal cannabis oil that had been taken from Billy Caldwell, 12, by customs officials at London’s Heathrow Airport. Billy’s mother, Charlotte Caldwell, had been pleading for the medication to be given back because without it her son suffe... |
10281 | Nose treatment cuts hospital-acquired infections | "The story centers the majority of its attention on a single study, providing little comment on an accompanying editorial and on a second study published in the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. And the one that got less attention was perhaps more important, as supported by the accompanying editorial. ... | false | The story does not adequately discuss costs, an important consideration. Cost benefits are briefly mentioned. But those cost-saving implications are not validated in any way in the story. And no estimates of absolute costs were disclosed. Independent assessment of the cost implications would have been preferable. The p... | |
11095 | Rare surgery brings more weight loss, more risks | While the story begins with a small research study about two different methods of weight-loss surgery, it expands and includes context about wider debate over whether shedding pounds improves health and life expectancy. We do wish it had included cost and insurance coverage information. Size matters. Today’s obese Amer... | true | Reuters Health | No mention in this lengthy story of the costs of the two procedures or insurance coverage. Readers need this information, and the fact that the duodenal switch may not be covered by most insurance. The total cost of gastric bypass is about $20,000. The story makes clear that the duodenal switch surgery, in comparison w... |
31085 | A study determined that the active tuberculosis incidence rate for refugees in San Diego was more than 100 times higher than it was in the rest of the United States. | While both the study and the Starbucks event were legitimate, their connection stopped there. One had absolutely nothing to do with the other except in the context of the commitment by the coffee company to hire more refugees and the hiring drive itself. | false | Uncategorized, breitbart, El Cajon, san diego | On 8 August 2017, right wing news site Breitbart.com published a story suggesting that residents of the city of El Cajon, California were in danger of contracting tuberculosis, based on a study of refugees to the U.S. published in 2013: Starbucks held a hiring event exclusively for refugees in El Cajon, California on T... |
26381 | "Tony Evers Says Wisconsin measures have ""prevented the death of at least 300 Wisconsinites, and perhaps as many as 1,400 lives." | We of course can’t know something like “lives saved” for certain, but this kind of claim is pretty standard in discussions of disease trajectory. This claim lines up with projections made by DHS, and experts say it’s in line with what other models projected as well. But Evers neglects to describe this as an estimate or... | true | Health Care, Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Tony Evers, | "Pushing back against a lawsuit seeking to block his ""Safer at Home"" extension, Gov. Tony Evers laid out his case for isolation measures in Wisconsin. He said striking down the order would ""cripple our ability to respond to the pandemic."" Places without such measures, he said, have yielded ""reports of doctors rati... |
36242 | An average of 22 veterans of the U.S. military take their own lives every day. | Do an Average of 22 United States Military Veterans Kill Themselves Every Day? | false | Fact Checks, Military | While seeking to boost awareness and help toward United States military veterans, a long-standing online claim and the various graphics promoting it are based on some misreporting of data regarding veteran suicide rates.The claim often states that on average, 22 veterans kill themselves every day:As the Los Angeles Tim... |
33317 | Hillary Clinton was fired from the House Judiciary Committee's Watergate investigation by Chief Counsel Jerry Zeifman. | Hillary Clinton was not fired from the House Judiciary Committee's Watergate investigation, by Chief Counsel Jerry Zeifman or anyone else. | false | Uncategorized, hillary clinton, richard nixon, watergate | On the (thankfully rare) occasions when Congress must consider whether the sitting President of the United States has committed misdeeds that merit his forced removal from office, the task of initiating the impeachment process rests with the House Judiciary Committee: A resolution impeaching a particular individual is... |
9398 | Alcoholics Anonymous works for some people. A new study suggests the alternatives do too. | This is excellent coverage of a study suggesting that Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and similar 12-step programs aren’t the only worthwhile support groups for those recovering from alcohol use disorders. Alternative programs that (unlike AA) aren’t based on a spiritual philosophy may be just as effective, the results show.... | true | alcohol use disorder | The story does not discuss costs associated with either AA or the alternative addiction treatment groups. That would be useful information for people who may not understand how these groups work. However, since these groups generally don’t charge members for participation (although they may solicit donations or require... |
28968 | " A new strain of treatment-resistant ""super lice"" is spreading to dozens of states." | So while it’s true that some research supports the claim lice are growing resistant to common treatment products, researchers first began to observe that trend nearly two decades ago. And although it doesn’t necessarily compromise research findings, studies on lice resistant to over-the-counter products have been funde... | mixture | Medical | In August 2015 (just as kids were heading back to school around the United States), a number of web sites published articles about a purportedly new, treatment-resistant strain of head lice. Among the articles was an 18 August 2015 piece published to TIME, titled “Head Lice in 25 States Are Now Resistant to Treatment.”... |
37937 | A new strain of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, D614, is ten times more infectious than the predominant strain and discovered in Malaysia in August 2020. | Reports of a “new strain of coronavirus” called D614G and described as “ten times” more infectious than circulating strains spread in non-medical news outlets, and the claim was originally reported by Bloomberg.com on August 16 2020. That seemingly viral article was quietly changed after it began circulating, changing ... | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On August 16 2020, a number of anxiety-provoking tweets discussed the purported discovery of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2 (D614G), described as “ten times more infectious” after mutating:The highly infectious Covid-19 mutation, known as D614G, has been detected in the country.Dr Noor Hisham said the virus with the D614G ... |
6879 | UNH gets grant to help child sex abuse investigators. | A research center at the University of New Hampshire is getting a federal grant to support police officers and others who investigate crimes involving child sexual abuse images. | true | New Hampshire, Police, Mental health, Health, General News, Crime, Durham, Crimes against children, Sexual abuse | Officials say a surge of such images online and new technology designed to intercept them means more investigators are being hired to review such material, but doing so can have toxic effects on their mental health. The university’s Crimes Against Children Research Center will use a three-year grant to interview police... |
10733 | Surgery For Sinus Misery: Better, But Still No Cure | "While we typically wouldn’t advise reporters to focus exclusively on a single patient’s experience, as this story about endoscopic surgery for treating sinus infections did, the result here is a winner thanks to the patient’s familiarity with the subject and unusually dispassionate perspective. She is the relatively r... | true | "A comment about the overall cost of endoscopic sinus surgery, as well as insurance coverage and likely out-of-pocket expenses for patients, would have been appropriate in this story. In addition, the costs associated with the equipment and upkeep are also important considerations. However, the story didn’t mention cos... | |
5869 | Kaine downplays presidential readiness amid Clinton illness. | Tim Kaine’s role as Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate means he’d be one heartbeat away from the presidency. Clinton’s health scare, complete with a widely-viewed video of her stumbling and being supported by aides after abruptly leaving a 9/11 memorial service in New York City, makes that fact more relev... | true | Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton, New York City, Campaign 2016, New York, Michigan, AP Politics, Ted Strickland, Pneumonia, Health, Ann Arbor | Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland found that out by offering what’s usually benign praise of any presidential running mate, telling an audience on Monday that Kaine was, “wonderfully prepared” to “be the president if that ever became necessary.” Asked the same day if there’s more pressure to prove he’s up for the preside... |
34750 | Virginia congressional candidate Nathan Larson admitted that he is a pedophile. | As for Larson’s congressional campaign, his nathanlarson.org web site was not operational as of 1 June 2018, although archived versions of it were captured a few weeks earlier, and separate election-related sites still listed Larson as a candidate in Virginia’s 10th congressional district. Larson eventually withdrew fr... | mixture | Politics | On 31 May 2018 Huffington Post reporters Andy Campbell and Jesselyn Cook published an article about Nathan Larson, a Independent candidate from Charlottesville, Virginia, who was running for House seat in the U.S. Congress. The story was headlined “Congressional Candidate in Virginia Admits He’s a Pedophile” and opened... |
41070 | The symptoms of Covid-19 are that it first infects the throat, so you’ll have a sore throat lasting 3 or 4 days. The virus then blends into nasal fluid that enters the trachea and then the lungs causing pneumonia. This takes about 5 or 6 days. With pneumonia comes high fever and difficulty breathing | This is a roughly accurate description of the most common symptoms, although not everyone with Covid-19 gets pneumonia, and the symptoms may not come in this exact order or at these times. | unproven | online | Coronavirus pneumonia is a dry cough with no runny nose. Some Covid-19 patients do get pneumonia, and one of the symptoms is a dry cough. A runny nose doesn’t rule out Covid-19. This new virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed by a temperature of just 26/27 degrees. It hates the Sun. There’s no evidence for this... |
2740 | Fewer U.S. children dying in car crashes: CDC. | Fewer U.S. children are dying in car crashes, with death rates falling by 43 percent from 2002 to 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | But one in three of the children who died in a car crash in 2011 was not using a seat belt or child safety seat, suggesting many more deaths could be prevented, the CDC said. The results were based on a study in the Morbidity and Mortality report, the agency’s weekly report on death and disease. According to the report... |
33835 | "Buddy Holly's group named themselves ""The Crickets"" because the sound of a chirping cricket accidentally appeared on one of their recordings." | Although the account presented in The Buddy Holly Story about the origins of the name “Crickets” is complete fiction, it does have one small element of truth to it. When Buddy and the Crickets recorded the song “I’m Gonna Love You Too,” a real cricket that had made its way into the recording studio did let loose with a... | false | Entertainment, Artists, music | The film The Buddy Holly Story depicts the name “The Crickets” being bestowed upon Buddy’s group by zealous Buffalo disk jockey ‘Madman’ Mancuso, who — after having locked himself in the studio while he plays “That’ll Be the Day” over and over — tracks down Buddy for a phone interview. Upon learning from Buddy that one... |
9178 | Erectile dysfunction drugs are safe, possibly beneficial after heart attack | The release summarizes a Swedish study that found men who took erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs following a heart attack had a lower risk of dying or being hospitalized for heart failure than men who did not use these drugs. The release does a good job providing information about this retrospective observational study. ... | mixture | American College of Cardiology,erectile dysfunction drugs | The study was observational and the number of ED drug doses men took was not reported or calculated. Since the study was conducted in Sweden, it’s possible there was no cost for individual patients but the drugs were covered by the national health system. Since this release was issued by the American College of Cardiol... |
15002 | Georgia has the highest flu activity in the country. | Georgia had the highest flu activity in the country based on data provided by doctors offices across the country and mapped by the CDC for the week of Oct. 4 through Oct. 10. That information factors into the CDC’s efforts to track what goes on through flu season. But it’s based on data submitted voluntarily and that, ... | true | Georgia, Drugs, Health Care, Public Health, States, Centers for Disease Control, | "The flu season is upon us. But is it hitting the Peach State harder than other places? We wondered after seeing a map on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website Thursday, showing Georgia with the highest flu activity in the country, and hearing television reports repeating the claim. The short answer:... |
12249 | Barack Obama tweets sick attack on John McCain, says he should have died. | "Bloggers wrote, ""Barack Obama tweets sick attack on John McCain, says he should have died."" The story and the tweet it described appeared on multiple outlets, but sprang from a website devoted to writing absurd stories about liberals in an attempt to fool conservatives. Obama’s only tweet about McCain’s brain cancer... | false | Fake news, PunditFact, Bloggers, | "A fake news story that claimed former President Barack Obama tweeted that he wanted U.S. Sen. John McCain to die from a brain tumor originally came from a parody website looking to troll conservatives. The headline on a July 20, 2017, post on DailyThings.world read, ""Barack Obama tweets sick attack on John McCain, sa... |
34709 | "An 1894 treatise against the evils of marital sex exhorted young brides to ""give little, give seldom, and above all, give grudgingly." | Did an 1894 treatise exhort young brides to 'give little, give seldom, and above all, give grudgingly'? | unproven | Weddings, marriage, Newlyweds, sex | Example: [Collected on the Internet, 1996] The following is a reprint from The Madison Institute Newsletter, Fall Issue, 1894: At this point, dear reader, let me concede one shocking truth. Some young women actually anticipate the wedding night ordeal with curiosity and pleasure! Beware such an at... |
27794 | A Facebook message requesting Christmas cards for 8-year-old burn victim Safyre Terry is legit. | On 15 December 2015, a nonprofit organization called Baking Memories 4 Kids, which uses funds from cookies they sell to send children with life-threatening conditions on free vacations with their families, surprised Safyre with a trip to Walt Disney World. | true | Viral Phenomena, christmas, christmas cards, facebook | "Christmas may be a time for giving, but it’s also a time for scams. Internet swindlers attempt to take advantage of people’s generosity during the holiday season with a variety of schemes. This is probably why some people looked at a request for Christmas cards for an 8-year-old burn victim named Safyre Terry with a s... |
36005 | "As of November 2019, koalas as ""functionally extinct"" in Australia due to bushfires destroying their habitat." | Are Koalas ‘Functionally Extinct’ as of November 2019? | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In November 2019, Facebook page “The Other 98%” was among others on social media sharing the news that koalas had become “functionally extinct” after bushfires in Australia:Under a photograph of a koala that appeared to be singed and in distress, text read:“The chairman of the Australian Koala Foundation, Deborah Tabar... |
27013 | Marco Rubio voted against funding health clinics that provide critical care during this public health emergency (Zika). | "NARAL’s TV ad said, ""Marco Rubio voted against funding health clinics that provide critical care during this public health emergency (Zika)."" The text on the screen stated that Rubio ""voted against contraception and family planning."" The ad creates a misleading impression that Rubio’s votes show he is indifferent ... | false | Abortion, Congress, Health Care, Florida, NARAL Pro-Choice America, | "As the number of Floridians infected with the Zika virus continues to escalate, political groups and and candidates have lobbed attacks in the U.S. Senate battle in Florida. NARAL Pro-Choice America, a liberal organization that supports abortion rights, attacked Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s record on Zika in an ... |
26644 | “President Trump, COVID-19 coronavirus: U.S. cases 1,329; U.S. deaths, 38; panic level: mass hysteria. President Obama, H1N1 virus: U.S. cases, 60.8 million; U.S. deaths, 12,469; panic level: totally chill. Do you all see how the media can manipulate your life.” | Numbers that suggest H1N1 was worse than COVID-19 are misleading. It’s too early to calculate how deadly the coronavirus will be, but there are signs it’s much worse. | false | Corrections and Updates, Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Viral image, | "A viral image comparing Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama argues that the coronavirus has infected far fewer Americans than did the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu — but that, due to media coverage, reaction to the coronavirus has been overblown. Here is the full claim: ""President Trump, COVID-19 coron... |
5887 | Indiana county working on invasive plants ordinance. | A southwestern Indiana county is continuing work on an ordinance that would combat invasive plants. | true | Environment, Indiana, Vincennes, Invasive species | Knox County’s proposed ordinance hasn’t been drafted yet, but County Attorney Yvette Kirchoff said the ordinance wouldn’t be retroactive so homeowners won’t have to remove existing plants. If the measure is approved, Knox County would be the first in Indiana to move forward with such an ordinance, Kirchoff told the Vin... |
14884 | @Jorge_Elorza still think your plan is safe? Rescue Captain Kenyon just worked 96 hours straight. 96 hours. | "No one disputes that Kenyon was on duty for 96 straight hours, Kenyon had some opportunity for sleep and it’s likely he did. But he doesn’t remember when that was, or for how long. He only recalls sleeping during the last 7 of the 96 hours The question that Doughty Tweeted: ""@Jorge_Elorza still think your plan is saf... | true | Rhode Island, Public Safety, Unions, Paul Doughty, | "In early November, a Providence fire captain, Zachariah Kenyon, clocked 96 hours in a row — the equivalent of two 48-hour work weeks. The 45-year-old’s marathon tour of duty follows much argument over the restructuring of the firefighters’ shift schedule, ordered in August by Mayor Jorge O. Elorza. Instead of working ... |
26319 | New York City could pay to house its homeless population in hotel rooms currently sitting vacant, but Mayor Bill de Blasio “has absolutely to this point refused to do that.” | The number of hotel rooms being used for housing homeless New Yorkers is well short of the tens of thousands of rooms needed to house all of New York City’s homeless population. The main reason is the high cost, although the city has modestly increased the number of homeless individuals it has moved into hotels since t... | true | Homeless, Public Health, New York, Coronavirus, Coalition for the Homeless, | "New York City has been hit especially hard by coronavirus, and the city’s homeless population in particular has struggled to comply with social distancing practices that public health officials have urged to contain the pandemic. In an urgent letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo on April 3, 2020, a gro... |
9400 | What’s in the IV bag? Studies show safer option than saline | There have been many studies through the years comparing the pros and cons of using normal saline vs. balanced fluids (aka “balanced crystalloids” or “lactated ringers”) in IV bags. The studies mentioned in this article both come from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. They were presented at this past week’s annual ... | mixture | IV fluids | In comparing the costs of normal saline vs. balanced fluids, the article states “the fluids cost about the same — a dollar or two per IV — and many suppliers make both types, so switching should not be hard or expensive.” This is sufficient for a satisfactory rating, but readers should be aware that even a difference o... |
30171 | A video shows a new species of plant created by crossbreeding marijuana with a Venus flytrap. | A video purportedly documenting a new strain of marijuana that was crossbred with a Venus flytrap actually shows a barnacle. | false | Fauxtography, animals, marijuana | A video purportedly showing a strange new plant created by crossbreeding marijuana with a Venus flytrap has racked up millions of views since it was first posted to the internet in 2016: Growers in Colorado have developed a powerful new strain of Marijuana by cross breeding it with a Venus Flytrap. However, rather tha... |
9414 | New Findings Could Save Lives of More Stroke Patients | This story discusses research findings that could improve the treatment options available to stroke patients. By extending the eligibility cutoff for blood clot removal from 6 to 16 hours post-stroke, researchers found that more lives could be saved and disability among stroke patients reduced. The story included some ... | mixture | stroke | There’s no mention of how much the special imaging and surgical procedure will cost patients. The article describes the impact of blood clot removal on “functional independence” and death rates for stroke patients. Readers learn that 45 percent of patients who had blood clots removed became functionally independent com... |
10170 | Less acid, brittler hips? Some heartburn drugs may be behind an increase in fractures | This is a compact (only 566 words), nicely reported story that places a potentially important development in its appropriate context. The researchers went to great lengths in their published study to weed out variables other than heartburn drugs that might explain the increase in hip fractures that they observed. Never... | true | The report notes that combined sales of these drugs account for more than $10 billion annually. The article does not mention comparative costs for other ways of managing the medical conditions these drugs treat. The news article does not quantify the potential benefits of treatment with heartburn or antacid drugs. They... | |
11192 | The Promise (and Limits) of Pediatric Proton Radiation | This magazine feature story falls firmly in the category of what science and medical journalists call an “explainer,” a relatively intensely reported effort to put context and common sense around an emerging and sometimes controversial discovery or treatment. In this case, it’s proton beam therapy (PBT), a sharply-focu... | true | Cancer,U.S. News & World Report | The article does an exemplary job of reporting details of access, insurance coverage, and direct costs. It cites a December 2015 journal article that concludes that PBT for a deadly form of childhood brain cancer is “cost-effective.” The article could have used more data and research results about clinical outcomes to ... |
12532 | Nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care. | "At the town hall, Labrador said, ""Nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care."" Extensive research over the previous decade generally points to tangible reductions in mortality after patients obtain health insurance. Two papers found more equivocal results, but we reached authors of both papers, and th... | false | National, Health Care, Raul Labrador, | "What Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, told a restive town hall audience in Lewiston, Idaho, was destined to go viral. And it did. At the May 5, 2017, event, questioners asked the congressman about the Republicans’ vote the previous day on a major health care overhaul that would roll back many aspects of President Barack O... |
11194 | Tai chi eases fibromyalgia symptoms, study finds | Four people were found dead on Sunday after massive flooding that has hit southeastern France since Friday, causing major damage in the region, local authorities said. | false | One person was found dead near Muy, between the towns of Nice and Marseille, after falling off a rescue boat near Muy late on Saturday, the police prefecture of the Var department said in a statement. Another body was found in a car in Cabasse and two people were found dead in Tanneron, it added. A 77-year old man has ... | |
7016 | Lovato has concert activities for mental health awareness. | On Demi Lovato’s latest U.S. tour, she opened each show with “You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore,” an ode to shaking her addiction to substance abuse. | true | Mental health, Health, Entertainment, Bipolar disorder, North America, Newark, Music, Demi Lovato, Concerts | But while the song is inspiring, it’s what happened before the show that seemed to matter most to her. Lovato, who says that she “thrives” with bipolar disorder, held what can be described as one-hour therapy sessions for a few hundred fans before she taking the stage. “It’s something that I’m passionate about, mental ... |
20653 | Preventive care … saves money, for families, for businesses, for government, for everybody. | "As a general notion, the idea that ""preventive care … saves money, for families, for businesses, for government, for everybody"" is no more true today than it was in 2009. Yes, preventive measures often save lives and keep patients healthier. Certain preventive measures may save money as well. But the findings of CBO... | false | National, Health Care, Barack Obama, | "It’s been a staple of health care politics for years -- the claim that preventive care saves money. A little money up front, lots of money saved on the back end. Patients living longer and healthier lives. That makes sense, right? But while there’s little doubt that preventive care saves lives, the money is a differen... |
4111 | Indianapolis’ new needle exchange will enlist mobile vehicle. | Marion County is launching a needle exchange program that will enlist a vehicle the size of a small school bus to combat Indianapolis’ soaring hepatitis C rate by distributing clean syringes and collecting used ones. | true | Indianapolis, Health, Hepatitis, Infectious diseases, Indiana | The vehicle unveiled Wednesday by the county’s health department will begin visiting two east side Indianapolis neighborhoods next week. But it could eventually make stops in other neighborhoods, based on recommendations by police and health officials. Marion County’s hepatitis C cases soared 1,000 percent between 2013... |
10752 | Prostate drug shows safer side | "The article describes two new studies that suggest that the drug finasteride may not be linked with a higher chance of developing dangerous types of prostate cancer, as was previously thought. The article fails to address several of our criteria including costs, the strength of the evidence, quantifiable benefits, whe... | false | The article does not mention any costs. The article does not provide any quantifiable benefits. Harms of treatment are mentioned, including the possibility of an increased risk of dangerous types of prostate cancer with this drug. While this is one potential harm, the story doesn’t adequately describe other potential h... | |
11397 | Heart Health: New Treatments For America’s #1 Killer | Is it possible that medicine can detect silent heart disease and save lives with technology as reliable, safe—and apparently cheap–as the ultrafast CT calcium test described in this broadcast? It is a problem that has stumped researchers for a very long time. The broadcast strikes several emotional chords in quick succ... | false | "The broadcast does not mention the cost of this technology. “No study has demonstrated that EBCT reduces healthcare costs,” according to the American Heart Association. The broadcast does not provide a quantitative estimate of the benefits. Doing so is challenging. Research suggests that high calcium scores are associ... | |
9116 | Laser Treatment Reduces Eye Floaters | This release summarizes the results of a modest study of the ability of lasers to vaporize eye floaters, which are deposits or condensation in the vitreous, the material that fills the back of the eye. The text briefly captures the outcomes of the study: six months out, patients who received laser treatments reported s... | mixture | eye floaters,laser surgery | Cost does not make an appearance. Given the ubiquity of these floaters, some reflection on cost is warranted, as laser treatment of both eyes can run into the thousands of dollars. The release briefly summarizes the results. It states, “A total of 19 patients (53 percent) in the YAG laser group reported significantly o... |
11861 | ‘The largest bust in U.S. history’ 412 Muslims arrested from Michigan! | "Fresh Media News wrote in a headline "" ‘The largest bust in U.S. history’ 412 Muslims arrested in Michigan!"" The federal government announced the bust of 412 people in a health care fraud scheme in July, but the suspects were from across the nation. We found no evidence that all the suspects are Muslims." | false | Fake news, Legal Issues, Crime, Religion, PunditFact, Freshmedianews.com, | "Hundreds of Muslim doctors in Detroit were arrested by the federal government in a record-breaking bust, stated an article on Facebook. ""The largest bust in U.S. history: 412 Muslims arrested from Michigan,"" stated a headline we saw in November on Fresh Media News. Facebook users flagged the post as being potentiall... |
42094 | A photo circulating online claims to show a border patrol officer badly injured on Nov. 25 when a group of migrants tried to breach the U.S. border in San Diego. | Piles of debris, decaying human and animal corpses and fetid water on storm-hammered Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas are posing a new risk for those who survived Hurricane Dorian’s wrath: Disease. | false | Customs and Border Protection, immigration, | As the insect population temporarily cleared when Dorian slammed into the islands on Sept. 1 with top sustained winds of 185 miles (298 km) per hour, water-borne and insect-borne diseases, including malaria and dengue fever, are fresh threats for those who remain or return to the island, the Pan American Health Organiz... |
8978 | New stroke imaging technology could reduce potential for patient brain damage | The news release focuses on new software that, it claims, could expedite the ability of health care providers to identify cause of stroke and the site of whatever is causing the stroke. This, in turn, could then allow health care providers to provide treatment more quickly, which would improve patient outcomes. However... | false | Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery,stroke imaging technology | Costs are not addressed, either of this form of CT imaging compared to standard, or to the overall cost of care for acute stroke management. Nor does the release outline any factors that may influence potential cost. Is software the only thing new here? Or is new hardware also needed? This part is confusing. The releas... |
35326 | "Americans without disabilities can legally use a federal ADA ""loophole"" to avoid wearing a mask in stores that require them. " | What's true: Businesses that require customers to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic are required to accomodate people who may not be able to wear masks due to a medical condition. What's false: Americans without disabilities are not protected under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Further, the f... | false | Medical, COVID-19 | In April 2020, as major stores such as Costco started requiring customers to wear masks in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, a message started to circulate on social media that appeared to encourage Americans to lie about having medical conditions in order to exploit a “mask loophole.” Th... |
24604 | Health care reform legislation is “likely to mandate free ‘sex change’ surgeries.” | "Conservative news release says health care bill ""likely"" to cover sex change surgery" | false | National, Health Care, Bloggers, | "In trying to build opposition to President Barack Obama's health care proposal, critics have suggested that health care would be government-controlled , that people would be left to die if their treatment exceeded a certain cost and that it would require counseling telling people "" how to end their life sooner ... |
11607 | New drug may put jet lag to rest | "This is an incomplete story about an early stage study of a drug in Phase 2-3 development. The headline and the opening paragraph suggest that the drug does in fact work for jet lag. It is far too early to jump to that conclusion. The study design and sample size are noted as well as a word of caution from an expert n... | mixture | "If it’s not too soon to talk about experimental results that brought ""relief to jet-lagged travelers and night-shift workers,’ then it’s not too soon to expect some discussion of costs. Even projections. The story might have also reported on the cost associated with existing drugs noted in the article as a reference ... | |
28960 | A pair of memes accurately describes the benefits and downside of the social system in Denmark. | In short, it’s true Denmark’s taxes are far higher than those in the United States, but that’s offset by significantly reduced costs to citizens for expenditures such as healthcare, education, and child care. A gallon of gas doesn’t cost Danes anywhere near $10, but tax on new cars is 180%. We were unable to find any r... | mixture | Politics, denmark, socialism, taxes | On 20 October 2015, the web site The Federalist Papers shared a meme in a post titled “BRUTAL Meme Reveals Truth About European Socialist Countries” which included a photograph of a woman and various criticisms about Denmark’s general way of life: That meme was something of a rebuttal to an earlier, similar graphic th... |
34436 | A blow to the testicles can kill a man. | While there have been cases in both the media and the scientific literature that report a connection between testicular trauma and fatalities, these case reports are speculative, sparse, and do not provide enough information to confidently demonstrate the mechanisms hypothesized behind them. A kick in the balls may lea... | unproven | Medical, balls, gonads, reproductive science | Kicking, punching, or squeezing testicles has long been prized as an effective means to briefly incapacitate men, as it brings about a powerful full-body pain. The reasons for such a blow’s power stems from the lack of protection the testes receive from the scrotum, the high concentration of pain receptors called nocic... |
1631 | U.S. fast-food meat still mostly raised on antibiotics: consumer groups. | Most large U.S. fast-food chains still serve meat from farm animals that have been routinely fed antibiotics, consumer groups said in a new report, which concluded that many companies have not yet laid out plans to curb the practice. | true | Health News | Subway, Starbucks, KFC and Domino’s Pizza were among the industry leaders graded “F” for their antibiotic policies in the report from consumer and health groups, titled “Chain Reaction,” released on Tuesday. The groups, which did not release results to companies prior to publication, based their grades on public statem... |
10122 | Some evidence vitamin D might fight colds | The story points out that the results of the study provided only weak support for the idea that vitamin D has a protective effect and that in fact for the main outcome of this trial there was no statistically significant difference between the participants given vitamin D and those who took placebo pills. It almost fee... | true | This story does not mention cost. Sure, vitamin pills cost only pennies a day, but treating everyone would cost billions of dollars a year. Assuming just a nickel a day for 400 IU of vitamin D (the dose used in this study), the cost of treating everyone in the U.S. would exceed $5 billion a year. That bill has to be co... | |
40034 | This is a plea to send a boy with an inoperable brain tumor birthday cards. | Birthday Cards for Danny Nickerson | true | Miscellaneous, Pleas | According to a July 24, 2014, article by KJRH, a CBS news affiliate in Tulsa, OK, Danny Nickerson has made a special request for his birthday, “a big ol’ box of cards.” Nickerson has an inoperable brain tumor and turned 6-years-old on Friday, Jul. 25. The article said that “Danny’s already received a mountain of cards... |
1074 | Scientists warn a million species at risk of extinction. | One million animal and plant species are at imminent risk of extinction due to humankind’s relentless pursuit of economic growth, scientists said on Monday in a landmark report on the devastating impact of modern civilization on the natural world. | true | Environment | Scientists made an impassioned appeal to governments and businesses worldwide to confront “vested interests” they said were blocking reforms in farming, energy and mining needed to save the Earth’s ecosystems. “If we want to leave a world for our children and grandchildren that has not been destroyed by human activity,... |
31609 | "Mark Zuckerberg said that he was ""disgusted with social media"" and that he was leaving Facebook as a result." | Reports that the social media maven is stepping down were fiction created to sell a skin care product -- or an April Fool's Day joke. | false | Junk News, ecomaxx, facebook, get ink news | In March 2017, an advertisement disguised as a news story appeared to report that Facebook CEO’s Mark Zuckerberg was leaving the company in order to sell skin care products. The hoax report was published on the web site GetInkNews.co: This fake news article is full of deceptive information, including digitally manipul... |
27255 | "Senator John McCain's remains were carried to Washington, D.C., on a Boeing C-32A airplane commonly used as ""Air Force Two." | The aircraft normally designated “Air Force Two” carried John McCain and his family to Washington, D.C. on the late senator's final flight across the country. | true | Politics, donald trump, john mccain | When Senator John McCain passed away from cancer in his home state of Arizona in August 2018, a memorial service was held for him in the capital city of Phoenix, then his remains were transported to Washington, D.C., to lie in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Another memorial service was held for the late senator in Washingto... |
10410 | Statins May Lower Rates of Prostate Cancer Recurrence | A relatively clear breakdown of the unclear picture of whether statins may help in this specific area of research. One thing that made this story better than its WebMD competition was the expert source who put this study in the context of other studies that have been done and raised questions about statistical problems... | true | "The story says statins can cost $5 a day or more. Only relative risk reduction figures were used. So when the story said ""30% less likely"" – readers need to know ""30% of what?"" The story explained that statins may cause liver problems and muscle damage, ""although the likelihood of that is low."" The story raised ... | |
10758 | New Drug for H1N1 Flu Offers Hope | This story about giving some people hospitalized with H1N1 flu emergency access to an unapproved antiviral drug, peramivir, does a good job of emphasizing how much is unknown about the potential benefits of the drug and that the drug will be offered to patients who don’t have other treatment options. The story also hig... | true | The story says the federal government is paying about $2,250 per patient for a standard 5-day treatment course. It also notes that the approved alternative treatments are less expensive. The story points out that the benefits of peramivir have yet to be proven and that it is being offered only because some patients are... | |
5750 | Parents rally at state Capitol to keep vaccine exemptions. | Hundreds of parents and vaccine skeptics have called on New York lawmakers not to narrow existing exemptions to the state childhood immunization rules. | true | Immunizations, New York, Measles, Health, Childhood immunizations, Public health | The group stood in the rain outside the state Capitol Tuesday urging lawmakers to protect a state law that permits people not to vaccinate their children for religious reasons. They say that parents are best suited to make medical decisions for their children — even if the vaccines are recommended by public health expe... |
10673 | Beyond wrinkles: Botox is a salve for everything from cerebral palsy to writer’s cramp | This is a thoroughly reported story on a medical therapy that merits skepticism but which has also earned a reasonable amount of scientific respect in recent years. It does a nice job of explaining the myriad uses of Botox in medicine today and issues some needed cautions about potential harms, nonapproved uses, and mi... | mixture | "The cover story points out that Botox is big business—accounting for some $830 million in annual sales. It explains that insurance companies will reimburse treatments for FDA-approved uses and in some cases nonapproved uses. It mentions cost of wrinkle treatments in a sidebar, but it doesn’t compare the costs of Botox... | |
9920 | Patients May Benefit From New Heart Device | This is a reasonably well written story about the impending release of data on a new medical device. The news of the soon-to-be released study might have specific interest for investors in Abbott or those in the medical device industry. For the rest of us, however, little of value could actually be discerned from the s... | true | Devices,heart disease,Wall Street Journal | We were happy to see some attention to the potential cost of the stent and in comparison to the existing drug eluting stents. In addition, the story provided information on the market size at the present time. The story really does not provide a crisp rationale for a bioabsorbable stent. An important limitation of exis... |
11294 | Pot may provide some chronic pain relief: study | The story did a great job evaluating the evidence, providing outside voices, discussing alternatives to marijuana smoking, and presenting both the benefits and the potential harms. It could have done a better job discussing possible costs, availability and conflicts of interest. From the headline to the last sentence, ... | true | "It is less surprising that neither story discussed costs, given that so few stories do. But sample costs could have been obtained by calling any of the numerous medical marijuana outlets in states where it is legal. Both stories did a decent job of quantifying the benefits.This story provided more details, though, inc... | |
38146 | “Fun Facts About the NFL” claims that the NFL has taken an uneven approach to free speech. While no action has been taken against national anthem player protests, there are many examples of the league fining or threatening players for exercising free speech over the years. | Fun Facts About the NFL's Stance on Free Speech | mixture | 9/11 Attack on America | Examples in the “Fun Facts About the NFL” commentary about players being fined or threatened for exercising free speech are either true or mostly true. The NFL has had a notoriously strict dress code over the years. Rules dictate that players can be fined for wearing unapproved clothes before, during and after games — ... |
1921 | For snow and lawn machines, gasoline remains king. | In America’s quest for cleaner fuel, at least one major U.S. industry is holding on to the sputter and grime of the internal combustion engine. | true | Environment | Groundskeepers cut the grass on the first fairway following the final practice round for the 2008 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, April 9, 2008. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn From log splitters to snow blowers, the $15 billion outdoor power equipment industry sells tens of million... |
3813 | Trump aims to reduce drug costs under Medicare. | President Donald Trump will propose lowering prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries by allowing them to share in rebates that drug companies pay to insurers and middlemen, an administration official said Thursday. | true | Seniors, Medication, Health, Politics, North America, Prescription drug costs, Business, Medicare, Prescription drugs, Donald Trump | A senior administration official outlined the plan on condition of anonymity ahead of the release of Trump’s 2019 budget plan next week. Pharmaceutical companies now pay rebates to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to help their medications gain a bigger slice of the market. Insurers apply savings from rebates to ... |
31259 | A Californian and Ecuadorian couple proved it is possible to live on nothing but air. | Although claims of “breatharians” surviving and thriving pop up every few years, we were unable to find any evidence contradicting the body of science demonstrating humans require water and food to stay alive. It’s possible the couple profiled by The Sun in June 2017 both genuinely made and believed their own claims, b... | false | Medical, breatharian, breatharianism, dangerous woo | In mid-June 2017, tabloids and similar sources published articles about a couple that purports to survive by eating little to no food. Akahi Ricardo and Camila Castello, the articles said, call themselves “breatharians,” and say they survive on “the universe’s energy,” along with pieces of fruit and vegetable broth eat... |
26358 | We’ve still had more deaths to the flu this year than we've had COVID-19. | North Carolina Lt. Governor Dan Forest, a Republican, is running for governor against Democratic incumbent Roy Cooper and has criticized Cooper's stay-at-home order as too heavy-handed. In an interview on April 24, Forest said coronavirus deaths hadn't topped flu deaths for the year. He cherry-picked from the CDC's pre... | false | Public Health, North Carolina, Coronavirus, Dan Forest, | "Some people have tried to put COVID-19 into perspective by comparing it with the flu. On April 24, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest told a group of young Republicans that the flu had actually killed more people than the novel coronavirus. Forest, who’s running for governor against incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper, has ... |
13453 | "Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump ""publicly invited Putin to hack into Americans’ (emails)." | Johnson & Johnson said on Friday it is recalling around 33,000 bottles of baby powder in the United States after U.S. health regulators found trace amounts of asbestos in samples taken from a bottle purchased online. | mixture | National, Civil Rights, Homeland Security, Crime, Foreign Policy, Technology, Hillary Clinton, | J&J shares fell more than 6% to close at $127.70. The move marks the first time the company has recalled its iconic baby powder for possible asbestos contamination, and the first time U.S. regulators have announced a finding of asbestos in the product. Asbestos is a known carcinogen that has been linked to deadly mesot... |
11356 | Flu shots a tough sell to health care workers | This story, which explores healthcare workers’ compliance with flu vaccine recommendations, is flawed in two fundamental ways: Its sourcing and its lack of reporting on the vaccine’s effectiveness. The main source in the story is the leader of a group funded by the vaccine industry, whose mission is to educate the publ... | mixture | The story should have mentioned the cost of a flu shot. It’s not vital to this story, but during a period of such close scrutiny of health care costs, the price of procedures should be reported whenever possible, as a matter of course. And the economics of the flu vaccine could have been mentioned; According to the CDC... | |
9074 | Genetic test could help fight secondary breast cancer | The news release gives a strong impression that a new genetic test could help women “fight” secondary breast cancers, specifically bone metastases. The genetic test would direct treatment to include (or not include) a specific class of drugs called bisphosphonates. Although the published study reports results from an i... | false | bisphosphonates,genetic testing,University of Sheffield | There was no mention of the cost of the proposed genetic testing for MAF amplification (MAF is a gene expressed in certain cancers and used as a biomarker for bone metastasis) nor any mention of the cost of treatment with a bisphosphonate. Treatment with a bisphosphonate is often recommended for 5 years so this cost sh... |
26584 | Facebook post Says to leave objects in the sun to avoid contracting the coronavirus. | There’s no evidence that sunlight can kill the coronavirus. Experts say ultraviolet light in the sun isn’t strong enough. The best way to avoid contracting COVID-19 is to wash your hands with soap and water, avoid touching your face, disinfect surfaces in your home daily and avoid close contact with people. | false | Environment, Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Advice attributed to a delivery driver calls for leaving objects in the sun as a way to avoid contracting the coronavirus. This is what was shared in a Facebook post: ""I received an Amazon delivery this morning. The driver was almost to his truck by the time I opened the door, bent to pick up the box and said thank y... |
4882 | Officials investigate possible meningitis case at NC college. | Health officials in North Carolina are investigating a possible case of bacterial meningitis at Methodist University. | true | Meningitis, Health, General News, North Carolina, Fayetteville | Officials in Cumberland County say the Department of Health was told Saturday that a person affiliated with the university was hospitalized with a “possible diagnosis of a bacterial meningitis infection.” They did not say if the ill individual is a student. Officials say they are coordinating with the school and the st... |
340 | Without vaccine, hundreds of children die in Madagascar measles outbreak. | 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 | Health News | 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... |
12649 | Seven out of ten doctors are not taking any new Medicaid patients as lower reimbursement rates make it cost-prohibitive. | "Campbell said: ""Seven out of ten doctors are not taking any new Medicaid patients as lower reimbursement rates make it cost-prohibitive."" Texas Medicaid payment rates indeed trail those for other kinds of insurance. But the crux of this statement, the 7-in-10 statistic, lacks factual footing partly because it combin... | false | Health Care, Medicaid, Texas, Donna Campbell, | "In a March 2017 email blast, a Texas state senator who's a physician said that in a meeting with President Donald Trump, she’d promoted federal block grants as a way to give states more sway over the costs of Medicaid, the decades-old federal-state insurance program for the poor and disabled. Donna Campbell, R-New Bra... |
27870 | Photographs show an infant Egyptian girl with a second head. | There had been ten previous surgical cases like Maged’s, but she was the only one to survive the procedure. | true | Fauxtography | Images that appeared on the Internet in early 2005 were photographs of a 10-month-old Egyptian girl named Manar Maged who was born with craniopagus parasiticus, a very rare birth defect that develops when an embryo starts to split into identical twins but does not complete the process. Often the second, undeveloped twi... |
12498 | Barack Obama arrested in a Japanese drug bust. | Conspiracy theorists concoct fake report of Obama arrest for drug smuggling | false | Fake news, PunditFact, Bloggers, | "A fake news story that said former President Barack Obama was busted for his links to a drug smuggling operation is part of an extensive and completely unsupported conspiracy theory popularized online. A May 2, 2017, headline on AmericanFlavor.news declared, ""Just in: Barack Obama arrested in a Japanese drug bust."" ... |
34047 | "U.S. President Donald Trump said people with Down syndrome ""risk being subjected to the too-often terminations of their lives before birth." | Prenatal screening tests performed beginning at around 10 weeks’ gestation can provide an estimate of the risk of a given child being born with Down syndrome, which may then factor into a parental decision to terminate the pregnancy. According to the most recent data available, the rate at which parents choose to termi... | true | Politics | In October 2019, during a month celebrated annually since the 1980s as Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Snopes received inquiries about the authenticity of a quote attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump. It was shared in meme form on social media as follows: “Those thought to have Down syndrome also risk being subjec... |
10409 | Concussion-Related Measures Improved in High School Football Players Who Drank New Chocolate Milk, UMD Study Shows | Got facts? They are almost absent from this boastful release touting vague neurological benefits of a specific chocolate milk. The release says high school football players, including some who suffered concussions, who drank the milk improved their scores on a computer-based concussion evaluation, but the release not o... | false | University news release | The price of the chocolate milk product used in this study is not mentioned, even though it is being sold to schools. The release says that high school football players who drank the chocolate milk had higher scores after the season on nine of 36 measures in a computer-based concussion evaluation, and that among the pl... |
3703 | 50 children killed by measles in Samoa as outbreak worsens. | Samoa’s government said Monday that another five children had died within the past day from a measles outbreak, bringing the death toll from the epidemic to more than 50 as authorities race to vaccinate the entire population. | true | Samoa, Health, Measles, General News, New Zealand, Epidemics, Asia Pacific, International News | Samoa declared a national emergency last month and mandated that all 200,000 people living on the South Pacific island nation get vaccinated. The government has closed all schools and banned children from public gatherings. In all, 53 people have died in the outbreak since late October, including one adult and two olde... |
5120 | Whitefish man reaches plea agreement in father’s stabbing. | A Whitefish man has reached a plea agreement in the July 2018 stabbing death of his father. | true | Homicide, Mental health, Health, Kalispell, Montana | Attorney Will Managhan filed court records saying 27-year-old Tanner Hosek planned to plead guilty to mitigated deliberate homicide by reason of mental disorder. An autopsy found 65-year-old Eric Hosek had been stabbed 10 times. Tanner Hosek’s change-of-plea hearing is set for Nov. 7. He is expected to appear via video... |
35198 | "In 2016 Mike Bloomberg said he ""could teach anybody to be a farmer"" but information technology required ""a lot more gray matter." | Despite the significant volume of words, Bloomberg’s basic argument can reasonably be summarized as follows: Income inequality is not as chronic as it was in the past, but is still a significant problem. The primary cause for concern is educational inequality, and in particular the extent to which older people who prev... | true | Politics | In February 2020, we received multiple inquiries from readers about remarks attributed to U.S. presidential candidate and former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, in which the billionaire businessman appeared to say he could teach “anybody” to be a farmer, but that information technology required greater intelligence. On ... |
37916 | Jeepers Creepers last woke up in 1997... & he rises every 23 years.... 2020...... at this point I won't be surprised seeing him. | A viral meme maintained that “Jeepers Creepers last woke up in 1997″ and “he rises every 23 years,” the latter part of the claim being true. The meme was one of innumerable posts about 2020 being a “bad year,” with the joke hinging on 2020 also being 23 years since 1997, the year Jeepers Creepers‘ monster last “woke up... | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On August 29 2020, the Facebook page “90’s Kids Only” shared the following post concerning the film Jeepers Creepers — and purported film lore that holds its monster “rose every 23 years,” most recently in 1997:Black text against a white background read:Jeepers Creepers last woke up in 1997… & he rises every 23 years….... |
1950 | Obesity to worsen, weigh heavily on healthcare costs. | Obesity is most widespread in Britain and the United States among the world’s leading economies and if present trends continue, about half of both men and women in the United States will be obese by 2030, health experts warned on Friday. | true | Health News | "Clifford Clark, weighing 485 pounds waits in line for an open casting call for season 11 of ""The Biggest Loser"" television show in Broomfield, Colorado July 17, 2010. REUTERS/Rick Wilking Obesity is fast replacing tobacco as the single most important preventable cause of chronic non-communicable diseases, and will a... |
12085 | "North Carolina is home to ""two rivers of the top five most polluted rivers"" in the U.S." | "Richardson said that N.C. is home to two of the ""top five"" most-polluted rivers in the state. His assistant acknowledged that he might've misquoted the American Rivers ""most endangered"" list – but PolitiFact looked around to see if other data might support his claim. There’s evidence that the Neuse River and Cape ... | false | Environment, North Carolina, Billy Richardson, | "It’s one thing to say a couple of North Carolina’s rivers — the Neuse and the Cape Fear — are in danger of becoming very polluted. A report from one reputable environmental advocacy group supports that, and other groups are worried too. It’s another thing to say what state Rep. William ""Billy"" Richardson said about ... |
24648 | In Wisconsin, the stimulus paid for a bridge to a bar called Rusty's Backwater Saloon. They've got great burgers, but no new jobs. | Boehner ad says stimulus paid for a Bridge to Rusty's | false | National, Economy, Stimulus, John Boehner, | "In a hokey Web ad from House Republican leader John Boehner last week, the GOP ""releases the dogs on the money trail"" to find jobs created by the Obama-backed economic stimulus package. The stimulus was supposed to be all about jobs, according to the folksy narration by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., ""but after fiv... |
22347 | Since Corey Stewart became chairman in November 2006, unemployment is up 150% and average home price sales are down $150,000. | Babur Lateef says unemployment up 150 percent since Corey Stewart became Prince William chairman | mixture | Economy, Housing, Jobs, Virginia, Babur Lateef, | "As Republican Corey Stewart contemplates a 2012 bid for the U.S. Senate, he also faces a re-election battle back home in Prince William County this fall for the chairmanship of the board of supervisors. Because of Stewart’s statewide aspirations, his backyard challenge is being widely watched. He is being taken on by ... |
35100 | A video demonstrates there have been exponentially more cases of new coronavirus than other diseases such as SARS, MERS, Ebola, and swine flu. | What's true: The video documents that tens of thousands of cases of coronavirus were reported over a short period of time. What's false: However, the video that went viral was not the full video but a clip. The longer version clearly shows that, although the coronavirus has spread quickly, it is nowhere near as widespr... | mixture | Medical, COVID-19 | In February 2020, as fears about the spread of a new coronavirus reached a fever pitch, a video clip circulated on social media supposedly showing how this disease was spreading farther and faster than previous epidemics. The video, which has racked up nearly 2 million views, supposedly shows how diseases such as Ebola... |
38984 | Social media posts warn dog owners not to give their dogs Canine Carry Outs brand dog treats because an anti-freeze called propylene glycol is listed in its ingredients and will poison their pet. | Canine Carry Outs Dog Treats Poison Dogs with Antifreeze | false | Animals, Food / Drink, Health / Medical | This one has a sliver of truth, but it’s mostly fiction. The panic was started by Facebook posts like this one that warn dog owners not to feed their pets bacon flavored Canine Carry Outs because it contains propylene glycol, an anti-freeze agent: “Please check the ingredients of the dog foods and treats you are feedin... |
8876 | Femara Cuts Cancer Recurrence Even if Started Late. | Taking the breast cancer pill Femara can significantly reduce the chances that a woman’s cancer will return, even long after she has stopped taking the estrogen blocker tamoxifen, U.S. researchers said on Monday. | true | Health News | They said post-menopausal women who took the Novartis AG NOVN.VX drug Femara anywhere from one to seven years after finishing a five-year regimen of tamoxifen reduced the risk the cancer would come back by 63 percent. “What our results have shown for the first time in breast cancer treatment history is that taking an a... |
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