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10034 | Studies endorse ‘virtual colonoscopy’ | The article describes a new study that supports similar accuracy of virtual colonoscopy (or CT colography) cused to screen for colon cancer compared to traditional colonoscopy. The article does a nice job of describing benefits (providing absolute numbers), costs, availability, novelty, a range of harms, and sources. T... | true | "The article provides costs of ""regular"" colonoscopy and that of CT colography. The article does state that ""about the same number of advanced polyps"" were found in each group (comparing virtual to regular colonoscopy). It then goes on to give absolute numbers of people with an advanced polyp (the total number of p... | |
4675 | W Virginia to open medical marijuana business applications. | Businesses hoping to break into West Virginia’s fledgling marijuana market will soon be able to apply for permits as growers, processors, dispensaries and laboratories. | true | Medical marijuana, Health, General News, Marijuana, West Virginia | The state Bureau of Public Health says its Office of Medical Cannabis will open applications on Dec. 19. Citing a state news release, news outlets report applications are due by February 18 and will be online only. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the medical marijuana program created in 2017 was meant launch in Jul... |
4066 | Tick towns: Researchers target neighborhoods in Lyme effort. | Maybe it will take a village to fight Lyme disease. Or a bunch of them. | true | New York City, New York, Ticks, Lyme disease, Health, U.S. News | With a bumper crop of blacklegged ticks possible this season, researchers in a Lyme disease-plagued part of New York’s Hudson Valley are tackling tick problems across entire neighborhoods with fungal sprays and bait boxes. The $8.8 million, five-year project aims to find out if treating 24 neighborhoods in Dutchess Cou... |
5651 | State reports new findings of mosquito-borne illnesses. | Rhode Island officials have confirmed a fourth finding of the potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus eastern equine encephalitis and the first finding of West Nile virus. | true | Health, Rhode Island, General News, Westerly | State environmental and health officials said Tuesday a second mosquito sample trapped at Chapman Swamp in Westerly, Rhode Island tested positive for eastern equine encephalitis and mosquitoes trapped in Tiverton are the first to test positive for West Nile in the state this year. The state said last week that a man ov... |
7361 | Missouri lawmakers OK mail-in voting on final day of work. | Missouri lawmakers wrapped up their work Friday by passing bills allowing people to vote by mail because of the coronavirus and ramping up criminal penalties in response to an uptick in violent crime in the state’s biggest cities. | true | Bills, Voting, Michael Brown, Health, General News, Elections, Crime, Virus Outbreak, Violent crime, Laws | Legislators signed off on the special voting provisions for the 2020 elections shortly before their deadline to pass bills in an unusual session that was interrupted for several weeks because of concerns about the virus that causes COVID-19. Voters currently can request absentee ballots only if they provide an excuse f... |
16699 | "Nathan Deal Says Jason Carter has ""gotten David Axelrod to come down and be his campaign advisor." | Deal wrong, Axelrod not working for Carter | false | Georgia, Elections, Nathan Deal, | "Gov. Nathan Deal was on radio recently to address allegations that two of his aides pressured the director of the state ethics commission to settle cases against his campaign. WSB radio’s Erick Erickson asked the governor what he thought of Democratic opponent Jason Carter’s call for an independent investigation. Deal... |
20872 | "Gwen Moore Says Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker eliminated ""cancer screenings for uninsured women"" and offered ""no alternatives." | Gov. Scott Walker ended Planned Parenthood contract for cancer screenings, Dem Rep. Gwen Moore says | false | Corrections and Updates, Health Care, Women, Wisconsin, Gwen Moore, | "Twice on Dec. 27, 2011, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., accused Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker of eliminating a cancer-screening program for low-income women. ""Scott Walker cuts cancer screenings for uninsured women, offers no alternatives,"" read Moore’s first statement on Twitter, the online messaging site th... |
15297 | Caution: Kissing and cuddling chickens can be hazardous to your health. | CDC: Kissing and cuddling backyard chickens linked to salmonella infections | true | Georgia, Agriculture, Animals, Food Safety, Public Health, Urban, Centers for Disease Control, | "Raising backyard chickens has been satisfying some foodies’ affection for the uber-local egg and lower-fat meat in urban areas, including metro Atlanta, for about a decade. Now the Centers for Disease Control is warning of a downside to the popular trend: salmonella outbreaks traced to some backyard owners kissing and... |
15734 | "US Uncut Says Indiana Gov. Mike Pence ""provides zero state funding for homeless shelters." | The activist group US Uncut said Gov. Mike Pence provided zero state funding for homeless shelters. While the state budget and summaries from the experts and staffers we contacted confirmed that, it’s really an approach of the Indiana state government more than that of any particular person. Advocates say the state has... | true | Housing, State Budget, PunditFact, US Uncut, | "Indiana’s Religious Freedom law quickly turned into a political and economic minefield for Republican Gov. Mike Pence. One activist group, US Uncut, took the moment to cast Pence as a man who defended religion while acting in ways that fell short of Christian charity. It posted this image on its Facebook page, which h... |
10796 | Early intervention improves preschoolers' heart healthy habits | A study in Madrid of 2,000 preschoolers compared those who received special education in heart-healthy living with those who didn’t – and showed a modest improvement for children who received the lessons. An editorial used the word “groundbreaking” for the study, but the numbers seemed quite modest. The release could h... | mixture | Association/Society news release,cardiovascular disease,Exercise,Weight loss | The news release does not talk at all about costs, and this three-year intervention including education for 3-5 year-old children sounds as if it could have had substantial cost. The release does quantify benefits – but it leaves readers a bit underwhelmed. The numerical differences shown are rather small for the concl... |
35667 | A bottle of hand sanitizer will spontaneously combust if left in a hot car. | Light consists of numerous photons, which are subatomic particles that travel in a straight line, Madden said. Eyeglass and microscope lenses direct the photons so they converge on a point. “You can use that to see something better, get it in focus. Or, you can focus a lot of light onto a very small point and concentra... | false | Viral Phenomena | Editor’s note: Fire experts warn that a plastic bottle containing any liquid — including, but not limited to, hand sanitizer — left in a car and exposed to direct sunlight can potentially focus sunlight into a beam hot enough to start a fire. The following article deals specifically with the specific claim that hand sa... |
1644 | High on the menu: cannabis spaghetti features at Italian foodfest. | Any Italian will tell you: pasta is healthy and makes you feel good. But what about spaghetti made from cannabis? | true | Health News | Farmers from southern Italy presenting their wares at a London food festival this week say their hemp pasta, oil and bread won’t get you high, but do provide a healthy, tasty alternative to the traditional, wheat variety. “Hemp food is truly organic,” said Marzio Ilario Fiore, 30, whose farm in the Molise region produc... |
1075 | Scientology cruise ship faces renewed quarantine at home port in Curacao. | A Church of Scientology cruise ship quarantined by the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia for measles is due to arrive on Saturday back at its home port on the island of Curacao, where it will face similar restrictions, a top health official there said. | true | Health News | A team of health officers in Curacao plans to board the vessel to determine who aboard may have been exposed to a crew member diagnosed with measles and who aboard has previously been vaccinated against the highly contagious disease, the official said. Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth, chief epidemiologist for the Curacao Biomedi... |
12589 | No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days. | "Trump said, ""No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days."" Trump has had some achievements in office, but at the very least, they are much less numerous and far-reaching than those of Roosevelt, the standard against whom all presidents are measured. In more recent years, other presidents, including ... | false | National, Donald Trump, | "As he neared the end of his first 100 days in office, President Donald Trump touted his first three months as a rousing success. ""No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days,"" Trump told an audience in Kenosha, Wis. That’s a pretty high bar, especially for an administration that has registered histo... |
8953 | Study shows diet and weight may affect response to bipolar disorder treatment | There are several red flags for readers to be aware of in trying to understand this unpublished study (presented as a conference poster) looking into possible dietary influences on bipolar disorder. Mainly, this is a very small study, of limited duration, in which supportive data are not provided, and some key study de... | mixture | bipolar disorder,European College of Neuropsychopharmacology | The study investigated three interventions: 1) A combination treatment of over a dozen “mitochondrial enhancing agents” (including N-acetylcysteine, or NAC); 2) NAC alone; 3) placebo. NAC is the only intervention that is routinely used as a treatment. Its cost is not included. According to Amazon.com a 600 mg tablet co... |
29258 | Heather Holland, a 38-year-old grade school teacher in Willow Park, Texas, died because she couldn't afford the co-pay for her flu medication. | The details of Trump’s proposal, which eschews broad price controls in favor of accelerating the FDA’s drug approval process, tweaking Medicare drug policies, and incentivizing other countries to raise prices to a level such that the U.S. market isn’t overburdened with innovation costs, are laid out in a February 2018 ... | false | Medical, big pharma, flu, flu shot | Among the casualties of the 2017-2018 flu season (a season described as especially severe by federal health officials) was a second-grade teacher from Willow Park, Texas. Heather Holland, who died of influenza complications on 4 February 2018, was an otherwise healthy 38-year-old who left behind a husband and two young... |
40947 | Italy disobeyed world health law from the WHO saying not to carry out autopsies on Covid-19 patients. | The WHO never said autopsies couldn’t take place. | false | online | Italy has concluded Covid-19 is not a virus, and people are actually dying of amplified global 5G electromagnetic radiation poisoning. Italy disobeyed world health law from the WHO saying not to carry out autopsies on Covid-19 patients. The WHO never said autopsies couldn’t take place. Italy has found that Covid-19 is ... |
10132 | New drug advances the fight against pancreatic cancer | This story succinctly captures the important take-aways of the new study in terms of survival advantage and quality of life, while employing two key experts for perspective. Pancreatic cancer is typically such a poor-prognosis tumor that research like this is newsworthy. | true | Cancer,USA Today | No discussion of cost. The story did an adequate job of summarizing the benefits reported in the study and putting them into context. The story stated that Folfirinox “caused more serious side effects than standard chemo” but never named them nor quantified them. The journal article reports, for example, that: 75 of th... |
26390 | “We’ve tested more than every country combined.” | The United States has performed more coronavirus tests than any other single country. But it has not done more “than all major countries combined.” The raw tally of coronavirus tests isn’t a good metric, experts say. When you control for population, or consider other meaningful statistics, the United States is still ... | false | Health Check, Coronavirus, Donald Trump, | "Responding to weeks of criticism over his administration’s COVID-19 response, President Donald Trump claimed at a White House briefing that the United States has well surpassed other countries in testing people for the virus. ""We’ve tested more than every country combined,"" Trump said April 27. It was a variation on... |
18151 | Americans for Prosperity Says health insurance premiums will rise under Obamacare. | Americans for Prosperity produced an ad that claimed that health insurance premiums would go up under Obamacare. To make a universal statement, the group both wants us to accept certain details about a woman, Julie, and disregard others. Chief among these is how she gets her insurance today. Statistically, she is most ... | mixture | National, Health Care, Americans for Prosperity, | "The conservative organization that spent more than $33 million in the last election to defeat President Barack Obama and other Democrats has turned its sights to undermining support for the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. The group, Americans for Prosperity, launched a television ad in Ohio and Flor... |
38473 | A fleet of mutation response vehicles spotted near Longwood, Florida, has stirred speculation about sinister motives. | Mutation Response Vehicles Spotted in Florida | mixture | Government | The mutation response vehicles spotted in Florida are real — but they’re not associated with a government agency or coordinated emergency response efforts. Videos and photos of the vehicles quickly made their way around Facebook and YouTube after they were spotted in Florida, just outside of Orlando, on August 17th. So... |
6876 | Kentucky lawmaker to continue campaign despite brain tumor. | The family of a state lawmaker in Kentucky says he will continue his re-election campaign after initial hospital tests indicated he has some sort of a brain tumor. | true | Health, Tumors, Elections, Kentucky, Campaigns | Family members of Democratic state Rep. Wilson Stone posted a message to his personal Facebook page on Sunday. It says Stone “had a spell” while teaching Sunday school. They said testing at a local hospital “revealed some type of brain tumor” and that more tests are scheduled. “He reminded us that the election is 3 wee... |
27065 | The U.S. House of Representatives voted to compel the Department of Defense to disclose if it ever used ticks as part of a biological weapons program. | The next step for Smith’s initiative is to reconcile the House version of the 2020 Defense Authorization with the Senate version, which does not presently contain such an amendment. | true | Military | This article addresses the narrow claim that the U.S. House of Representatives ordered an investigation into whether the Department of Defense experimented with ticks or insects as biological weapons. This claim is true: As first reported by Roll Call on July 15, 2019, the stipulation was added in an amendment to the 2... |
10868 | Clinical study finds a specialized lollipop can end a kid's earache in nine of ten cases | This release describes a medical device that is promoted as a safe first-line treatment for pediatric ear ache symptoms and an alternative to antibiotics. It combines xylitol (a sugar alternative) and Vitamin C which are delivered in a patented lollipop shape to draw congestion out of the middle ear. All parents can re... | false | industry/commercial news releases,medical devices | The news release does not discuss costs, which is surprising. On Amazon, the cost is $12 for two ClearPop lollipops, more than you might pay out of pocket if you have insurance that covers antibiotics but still relatively cheap. The release does not adequately quantify the benefits of the lollipops. It says: “Children ... |
37968 | High school students in Stevenson, Washington were asked about their willingness to smother a crying baby in a Google Classroom lesson in September 2020. | On September 16 2020, a Facebook user shared the subsequently viral “smother your crying baby” screenshot to Facebook; separate posts featuring his screenshot spread more widely. Although some readers were outraged by the claim, others correctly pointed out that it has been around in some form or another for years.We h... | mixture | Disinformation, Fact Checks | In September 2020, screenshots of a virtual lesson about the ethics of smothering a crying baby (which was purportedly posed to students in Stevenson, Washington) spread virally on Facebook and Twitter.A September 17 2020 post from user Chellie Anne seemed to be the most popular of the posts (archived here):The questio... |
6348 | Health officials: Oakland County measles outbreak over. | Health officials in a county that includes many of Detroit’s suburbs say Michigan’s largest local measles outbreak since 1991 has ended. | true | Pontiac, Health, Measles, Michigan, Detroit | The Oakland County Health Division announced the update Wednesday about the outbreak that began in March when an ill traveler from New York visited the area. Forty of the 44 confirmed measles cases in Michigan occurred in Oakland County, and those infected ranged in age from 8 months to 63 years. The county Health Divi... |
9320 | F.D.A. Approves New Drug for Flu | This story is one of two we are reviewing that focuses on FDA’s approval of a drug designed to speed patient recovery from flu symptoms (the second story is from ABC News). The drug is baloxavir marboxil, marketed under the trade name Xofluza. This New York Times story hits most of the points that we want to see in a s... | true | influenza | The story devotes its second paragraph to cost, including how that cost may differ depending on whether patients have insurance. Well done. This is a really close one. The story does a lot of things well here. It notes that, in one trial, there was no difference in the benefits between Xofluza and existing flu treatmen... |
10909 | Drugs To Prevent Weak Bones Linked To Unusual Fractures In Women | There was a very clear explanation of the difference between relative and absolute risk. And a very clear summary statement: “That’s obviously a lot more benfit than risk.” The story ends with another strong point: discussing some of the issues that women should be discussing with their doctors in a truly informed shar... | true | NPR | The story gives no cost information. We wish the story had given the yearly cost of at least one of these therapies, and even some comment on the high cost of recovery from a typical hip fracture for the thousands of elderly women who suffer them. The story did a good job explaining the tradeoffs of benefits and harms ... |
37700 | "President Trump said the ""great pandemic"" of 1917 ""ended World War II"" because all of the soldiers ""got sick." | Did Trump Say That in 1917 a ‘Great Pandemic’ Ended World War II Because the Soldiers Were All Sick? | true | Fact Checks, Politics | "On August 10 2020, memes appeared purportedly quoting United States President Donald Trump saying that the “Great Pandemic” of 1917 likely ended World War II, because “all the soldiers got sick”:In addition to “Yes he really said that,” the above meme read:“In 1917, the great pandemic … probably ended the Second World... |
41703 | Alcohol deaths in England at record high after 6% rise in a year. | Correct, in terms of deaths that are a direct result of alcohol misuse. However, the number of alcohol-specific deaths per 100,000 people has remained virtually the same over the last ten years. | true | health | One in five people are drinking too much alcohol. 21% of adults aged 16+ in England reported to an NHS Digital survey that they usually drank more than the recommended 14 units of alcohol a week in 2017. Alcohol deaths in England at record high after 6% rise in a year. Correct, in terms of deaths that are a direct resu... |
14490 | Over 32,000 people die from #GunViolence every year. Yet, (The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is banned from researching ways to prevent this. | "Baldwin said ""over 32,000 people die from #GunViolence every year. Yet, @CDCgov is banned from researching ways to prevent this."" The most comprehensive data available supports the first part of the claim, that more than 32,000 people die from gun violence every year. On the research ban, while the language from the... | true | Guns, Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin, | "While Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin is not up for re-election until 2018, she’s still engaging in at least one of the biggest issues in the 2016 campaign. In January, she co-sponsored legislation to appropriate $10 million to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the next five year... |
25828 | “There have been five randomized controlled, placebo controlled trials that do not show any benefit to hydroxychloroquine.” | Studies from the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Spain looked at whether hydroxychloroquine prevented people from getting infected with the coronavirus, or helped them recover faster. All of the studies randomly assigned patients to treatment and control (non-treatment) groups. None of the studies found ... | true | National, Coronavirus, Brett Giroir, | "President Donald Trump and top health officials in his administration are now openly at odds over hydroxychloroquine. Both Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator for the White House task force, have said careful studi... |
7332 | Puerto Rico discovers protective supply cache amid COVID-19. | The suspected mismanagement of essential supplies during Hurricane Maria turned out to be a boon for Puerto Rico as it fights a rise in coronavirus cases. | true | Hurricane Maria, Health, General News, Storms, Latin America, Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Hurricanes, Virus Outbreak | Health Secretary Lorenzo González said Saturday that officials discovered a cache of urgently needed personal protective equipment at a hospital in the nearby island of Vieques that remains closed since the Category 4 storm hit the U.S. territory in September 2017. He said the equipment includes face masks, gloves, gow... |
1844 | When working out is too much of a good thing. | Constantly thinking about the next workout? Upset about missing a exercise class? Fitness experts say more is not always better and overworking a workout can sap strength and invite injury. | true | Health News | People participate in a YogaWorks class in Santa Monica, California in this handout picture taken early 2009. REUTERS/Handout “We have fit people and deconditioned people who overdo it,” said Geralyn Coopersmith, national director of the Equinox Fitness Training Institute. “Exercise is like a drug, if you don’t have en... |
1078 | Monstrous rumors stoke hostility to Pakistan's anti-polio drive. | His bearded face was half-covered by a shawl, but Hameedullah Khan’s fear and ignorance was on full display as he delivered a chilling message for anyone who tries to vaccinate his children against polio. | true | Health News | “I will stab anyone who comes to my house with polio drops,” Khan growled, refusing to be filmed or photographed as he shopped in a fly-blown bazaar on the outskirts of Peshawar, a city scarred by years on the frontline of Islamist militancy in Pakistan. This dangerous hostility to immunization teams flared last week a... |
30994 | During a trip to North Vietnam, Jane Fonda turned smuggled messages from U.S. POWs over to their captors. | Nor does she apologize for making broadcasts on Radio Hanoi. “Our government was lying to us, and men were dying because of it,” she said. “And I felt that I had to do anything that I could to expose the lies, and help end the war. That was my goal.” | false | Military, jane fonda, vietnam war | It is perhaps indicative of the divisive nature of U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s that one of the persons most commonly associated with the war was neither a world leader nor a politician, neither a general nor a soldier, neither a participant nor a casualty of the war, but an America... |
36490 | Signs near the US-Mexico border placed by the federal government plainly state that the territory on American soil is essentially lawless and uncontrolled. | Do Border Signs Admit the United States Has Lost Control of Border Territory? | mixture | Disinformation, Fact Checks | On January 13 2019, Facebook user Steve Raabe shared a photograph purportedly showing a sign at the U.S.-Mexico border, along with the following status update:I live on the border with Mexico. As a matter of fact, I live right on the edge. I was raised in Nevada and came to Arizona in 2003 to live. I have a house in bo... |
4533 | Warren, candidate with the answers, dodges tax hike question. | Elizabeth Warren is rising to the top of the Democratic pack with ambitious promises to reshape the political and economic system. But as she faces growing scrutiny, the Massachusetts senator is opening herself to criticism that she’s just another politician dodging the tough questions. | true | Health care reform, General News, Politics, Election 2020, Elizabeth Warren, Medicare, Business, Health | She is in a bind because of her persistent refusal during two straight presidential debates to say whether she would raise taxes on the middle class to pay for the universal health insurance plan known as “Medicare for All.” By not acknowledging taxes would almost certainly increase for a wide range of income earners, ... |
1721 | Key to High Intensity Interval Training found outside comfort zone. | With High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which consists of short bursts of intensive activity followed by short periods of recovery, fitness experts say the harder the push, the greater the reward. | true | Health News | HIIT can blast calories, build muscle and boost endurance with impressive efficiency in just 20 minutes a day, but the catch is finding the right level of intensity outside the comfort zone, fitness trainers say. Sean Bartram, author of the book “High Intensity Interval Training for Women,” said to find that level peop... |
18249 | Rick Perry Says New York has ‘bureaucrats telling you whether you can even drink a Big Gulp.’ | "Perry said New York has ""bureaucrats telling you whether you can even drink a Big Gulp."" City officials are trying to tell New Yorkers they can’t buy large sizes of sugary drinks at some establishments -- but they haven’t succeeded. Notably, the ban Perry referred to would exempt convenience stores." | false | City Government, Government Regulation, Public Health, Texas, Rick Perry, | "Before Gov. Rick Perry took off for New York in hopes of luring businesses to Texas, he previewed his pitch in a radio ad. In the spot, Perry said, ""The new New York sounds a lot like the old New York: Higher taxes. Stifling regulations. Bureaucrats telling you whether you can even drink a Big Gulp."" We learned of t... |
38123 | Partridge Family star David Cassidy died at 67 after being rushed to a Florida hospital with organ failure. | Partridge Family's David Cassidy Dies at 67 from Organ Failure-Reported as Fiction! | false | Celebrities | David Cassidy was admitted to a Florida hospital’s ICU with organ failure in November 2017. And false reports of his death quickly followed. But JoAnn Geffen, David Cassidy’s publicist, confirmed on November 20th that the ’70s pop icon remained in critical condition, despite those false reports. Cassidy has suffered va... |
28201 | "Florida beaches have been invaded with ""sea lice." | Sea anemone larvae (and other larval cnidarians) also possess nematocysts that may cause seabather’s eruption. | true | Critter Country, Lethal Lurkers, sea lice, seabather's rash | In June 2016, popular posts on social media claimed that “sea lice” had invaded beaches in Florida. As the term “sea lice” is not widespread, especially among social media users residing in the northern states, these messages were viewed with skepticism. However, these posts stemmed from genuine news articles: Purple f... |
33741 | Woman gives birth to octopus (or lizard, frog, fish, or snake). | New York: Paradox Press, 1994. ISBN 1-56389-165-4 (p. 77). | false | Fauxtography, Gallery Of The Gruesome | In his 1948 book The Affairs of Dame Rumor, Jacobson mentions this rumor “flooded the Atlantic states in 1934” and notes the story had been published in the Boston Traveler a few years earlier: Example: [Brunvand, 1984] This teen age girl, growing up in a California coastal town, was obviously pregnant — stomach starti... |
11374 | Boomer Bodies: Fresh Approach To Pain Relief | Regrettably, this CBS News broadcast sounds more like an infomercial than a news report. It describes a “new” device that delivers electrical signals to the skin through a one and a half-inch patch containing more than a thousand tiny needles. The broadcast says that invisible electrical waves “penetrate the nerves and... | false | "The story says that the treatment—“for people who’d try anything to make the pain go away”—costs about $300 per treatment and typically is administered during 6 sessions, “one every day or two.” But it says nothing about the costs of a multitude of other treatments for low back pain. The story sums up the benefit by s... | |
14558 | "Samir Chachoua Says he cured Charlie Sheen and the island of Comoros of HIV with ""milk from goats, which had arthritis." | "Chachoua said he cured Charlie Sheen and Comoros of HIV with ""milk from goats which had arthritis."" Chachoua is taking a nugget of science and twisting into an absurd claim. There is no proof that CAEV — a relative of HIV that’s studied for its vaccine potential — neutralizes HIV. Sheen and people on the island of C... | false | Global News Service, Health Care, Public Health, Science, Samir Chachoua, | "An Australian doctor says he cured Charlie Sheen and the island nation of Comoros of HIV with a curious treatment — specifically, arthritic goat’s milk. Samir Chachoua first made headlines in January, when he became the subject of a Dr. Oz intervention. Sheen told Oz that he stopped taking conventional HIV medication ... |
1913 | U.S. judge blocks graphic cigarette warnings. | A federal judge blocked a U.S. rule requiring tobacco companies to display graphic images on cigarette packs, such as a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a hole in his throat. | true | Health News | Combination picture of new graphic cigarette packages, released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration June 21, 2011, shows a varied collection of a man on a ventilator, diseased lungs and dead bodies were among the graphic images for revamped U.S. tobacco labels, unveiled by health officials who hope the warnings wi... |
8215 | India proposes regional fund to fight coronavirus as cases exceed 100. | India proposed setting up an emergency fund to fight the coronavirus outbreak in South Asia on Sunday, with New Delhi offering $10 million to get it going, as the number of confirmed infections in the country rose past 100. | true | Health News | “Any of us can use the fund to meet the cost of immediate actions,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told regional leaders via video conference, adding that India would also offer rapid response teams and other expertise to deal with the crisis. Modi said there were fewer than 150 cases in countries comprising the South As... |
36252 | No public welfare programs existed to help new immigrants in the United States prior to the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935. | Did Public Assistance Programs Exist in the United States Before Social Security? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | In August 2019, disinformation and misinformation about the history of immigration to the United States flourished online following the announcement that United States President Donald Trump’s administration would pursue the so-called “public charge” standard as a means to curb immigration into the country. Much of tha... |
1374 | Brexit regulatory uncertainty 'threatens UK med tech'. | Regulatory uncertainty in the wake of Brexit could leave Britain’s multi-billion-pound medical technology industry out in the cold, with separate regulatory systems threatening exports and jobs. | true | Health News | That is the warning from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME), which on Wednesday became the latest group to highlight the problem of regulatory uncertainty once Britain leaves the European Union. As Reuters reported last month, industries from aerospace to pharmaceuticals and chemicals fear Brexit may create ... |
41004 | Researchers at the Erasmus Medical Center claim to have found an antibody against coronavirus. | Researchers in the Netherlands have released research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, on an antibody against the new coronavirus. | true | online | Doctors in India have been successful in treating coronavirus with a combination of drugs (Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine) and are going to suggest the same medicine globally. India’s ministry of health has advised that the anti-HIV drugs, Lopinavir and Retonovir, are used in some groups of... |
29083 | Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine. | So, yes, at one time there was cocaine in Coca-Cola. But before you’re tempted to run off claiming Coca-Cola turned generations of drinkers into dope addicts, consider the following: back in 1885 it was far from uncommon to use cocaine in patent medicines (which is what Coca-Cola was originally marketed as) and other m... | mixture | Cokelore, classic urban legends, coca-cola, cocaine | Coca-Cola was named back in 1885 for its two “medicinal” ingredients: extract of coca leaves and kola nuts. Just how much cocaine was originally in the formulation is hard to determine, but the drink undeniably contained some cocaine in its early days. Frederick Allen describes the public attitude towards cocaine that ... |
36870 | A long-running rumor that Hillary Clinton once said that nurses were glorified babysitters or overpaid maids (depending on the version) resurfaced during the 2016 presidential contest. | Hillary Clinton: Nurses Are Glorified Babysitters | unproven | Politics | There are a number of different versions of Hillary Clinton’s commentary on nurses — but we couldn’t verify the authenticity of any of them. Clinton has been quoted as saying that “nurses are glorified babysitters” or “nurses are overpaid maids” or “nurses are overpaid and uneducated.” Although different, all of these ... |
8915 | Bayer faces fourth U.S. Roundup cancer trial in Monsanto's hometown. | Bayer AG is set to face a fourth U.S. jury trial over allegations that its Roundup weed killer causes cancer, with four cancer patients in the hometown of its agricultural subsidiary Monsanto scheduled to begin making their case on Friday. | true | Health News | The lawsuit marks the first multi-plaintiff trial in the litigation over whether glyphosate, Roundup’s active ingredient, is carcinogenic, and is the first trial outside of California. It is being held in St. Louis, where Monsanto was headquartered before Bayer bought the company in a $63 billion deal in 2018. Three co... |
34096 | A CVS drug store refused a customer's Puerto Rican driver's license when he was asked to show ID and demanded immigration papers. | What's true: A CVS employee in West Lafayette, Indiana, mistakenly refused to accept a customer's Puerto Rican driver's license as a valid form of identification. What's undetermined: The customer claims that CVS demanded to see a visa and confronted him on his immigration status. CVS said that it was not able to subst... | mixture | Politics | Drug store chain CVS apologized after employees in West Lafayette, Indiana, mistakenly refused to accept a college student’s Puerto Rican driver’s license when he tried to purchase cold medicine in late October 2019, prompting snowballing internet outrage that became national news. The incident resulted from pervasive ... |
9317 | Artificial intelligence can predict Alzheimer’s 6 years earlier than medics, study finds | This brief, 375-word story published by Fox News was sourced from The Sun. It describes a study using an artificial intelligence algorithm to recognize patterns from brain scans. The story at least warns readers that because of the small study size (just 40 subjects), larger studies would be needed to know if the repor... | false | alzheimer's disease | Cost is not mentioned. Nor that the type of scan was specifically a PET scan. According to this survey of six Veteran Affairs hospitals, the cost of a PET scan using FDG is approximately $1,900. Without insurance (and without the FDG tracer) CostHelper lists the cost of a brain PET scan as $6,700. Using the AI would pr... |
27136 | Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted a tweet falsely claiming a convicted child rapist was an illegal immigrant. | Greg Abbott posted a tweet that falsely characterized the citizenship status of a convict. | true | Politics | On 5 February 2019, Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted a link to a junk news site masquerading as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that bore the false headline “ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RAPED HIS ONE MONTH OLD DAUGHTER, LEFT HER WITH 45 BROKEN BONES. PLEASE DEPORT ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT”: This disgusting rape isn’t t... |
11272 | New diet drug: Accidents may happen | This story discusses a new over-the-counter drug for weight loss, Alli, with little evidence about whether it works, and how much weight loss is expected. The story focuses on a side-effect of the drug, anal leakage. The story provides some explanation for the mode of action for this drug, interfering with fat absorpti... | mixture | The story failed to provide information about the cost of this product. It did mention the $50 starter kit price, but did not include information about the cost of continual use of this product. The enhanced weight loss that an individual may achieve with the use of Alli was reported to be 50% greater than if they foll... | |
13446 | "Donald Trump Says Hillary Clinton’s energy agenda ""will cost the U.S. economy over $5 trillion" | "Trump said Clinton’s energy agenda ""will cost the U.S. economy over $5 trillion."" The Trump campaign said Trump was referring to one study that looked at how much it would cost to reach Clinton’s climate goal; it referred to a high-end, 30-year estimate of implementation costs. The study did not actually measure the... | false | National, Energy, Donald Trump, | "Donald Trump attacked Hillary Clinton on energy issues at a campaign stop in Virginia just two days before the two were set to go head-to-head at the first presidential debate. ""Hillary Clinton says she wants to put the miners out of work,"" he said. ""Clinton and Kaine also want to shut down shale, and shut down nat... |
4859 | Crumbling health bill dents McConnell image as top tactician. | When the banner Republican effort to scuttle and rewrite President Barack Obama’s health care law crumbled this week, the falling debris popped a hefty dent into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s image as a dauntless legislative tactician three chess moves ahead of everyone else. | true | AP Top News, Barack Obama, Rand Paul, Health care reform, Statutes, Legislation, Politics, North America, Jerry Moran, Medicaid, Bills, Mitch McConnell, Mike Lee | His two attempts to craft legislation replacing Obama’s law have collapsed for lack of GOP support. Republican opposition seems likely to doom a vote next week on his Plan C, a bill simply repealing much of Obama’s statute. Along the way, conservative Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., accused McConnell of a “serious breach of ... |
4005 | Georgia officials identify likely source of measles outbreak. | Georgia health officials say a family of five is the likely source of a measles outbreak in a metro Atlanta county that has sickened 11 people. | true | Atlanta, Measles, General News, Georgia, Public health | The Georgia Department of Public Health said Monday the family’s cases appear to have originated during travel out of the state. Two other families in Cobb County have been affected, and all 11 people were either not vaccinated or did not have a clear vaccination status. Health officials say they are continuing to noti... |
34696 | Mr. Rogers' car was returned after the thieves who stole it realized it was his. | The legend tends to confirm a theory that many want to believe: that even bad people are sometimes swayed by good impulses. | unproven | Entertainment, crime, Grand Theft Auto, Mister Rogers | In 2003 the television world mourned the loss of Fred Rogers, the gentle and genial host who for over 30 years delivered lessons on love, kindness, and friendship to children on the television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Mr. Rogers’ show-opening “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” ditty, his daily on-camera donning of... |
3626 | Hawaii wind farm allowed to increase incidental bat deaths. | Hawaii state and federal agencies have approved an energy company’s request to increase the number of allowed incidental bat deaths at its Maui wind farm, officials said. | true | Wildlife, General News, Hawaii, Environment, Bats, Wailuku | The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources accepted Auwahi Wind Energy’s request to increase the number of allowed hoary bat deaths to 140 by 2037, The Maui News reported Friday. Auwahi Wind Energy submitted the amendments to the incidental take license and habitat conserv... |
3664 | Governor outlines effort to bolster mental health services. | Pennsylvania’s governor announced a broad effort Thursday to improve mental health services and change public perceptions of mental illness. | true | Mental health, Opioids, Health, General News, Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf | Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf rolled out an initiative that includes more resources and a public outreach campaign, saying the approach was inspired by a similar strategy the state has deployed in response to the opioid crisis. “For those struggling with their mental health, we have one message: your mental health matters a... |
26313 | Gates Foundation stands to make nearly £31.5 billion on a coronavirus vaccine in U.K. | The £31.5 billion figure was calculated by multiplying an estimated cost per vaccine times the population of the United Kingdom. The estimated vaccine cost comes from a Daily Mail story, but we could find no other evidence to back it up. The Gates Foundation has pledged millions of dollars to companies developing poten... | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "claims about the Gates Foundation’s connection to the novel coronavirus know no borders. In a May 6 Facebook post, an alternative-health page and website called Revive Yourself claimed the philanthropic foundation of billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates stands to profit from the development of a COVID-19 vaccine in the... |
5314 | Branagh, Friel among winners of International Emmy Awards. | Kenneth Branagh won the International Emmy for Best Actor, while Anna Friel won the Best Actress trophy at the 2017 International Emmy Awards gala Monday night in New York. | true | Turkey, Emmy Awards, Anna Friel, New York, TV, Entertainment, United Kingdom, France, Norway, Kenneth Branagh, Germany, Science, Belgium, North America, Canada, United States | Branagh and Friel were among 11 winning performers and programs spanning eight countries: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The awards are presented annually by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which represents more than 60 countries and ... |
9338 | The Scan That Saved My Life | The story about a reporter’s decision to treat a carotid artery blockage exemplifies the powerful strengths and weaknesses of first-person health care reporting. It carries a powerful emotional punch and an apparently happy ending that overwhelms the evidence presented. Numerous psychology studies document the power of... | false | stroke | While the story reports the cost of scanning carotid arteries to be about $70, it does not discuss the cost of surgery. One analysis of Medicare reimbursements done a few years ago reported hospitals were paid about $11,000 for each patient getting a carotid endarterectomy. An earlier report estimated that in 2008 hosp... |
2389 | Modern humans more Neanderthal than once thought, studies suggest. | It’s getting harder and harder to take umbrage if someone calls you a Neanderthal. | true | Science News | According to two studies published on Wednesday, DNA from these pre-modern humans may play a role in the appearance of hair and skin as well as the risk of certain diseases. Although Neanderthals became extinct 28,000 years ago in Europe, as much as one-fifth of their DNA has survived in human genomes due to interbreed... |
8771 | Lilly depression drug eases back pain in study. | Eli Lilly and Co’s Cymbalta depression treatment significantly reduced chronic low back pain in a relatively small clinical trial, the company said on Monday. | true | Health News | Data from the 236-patient trial, which lasted 13 weeks and compared the effectiveness of Cymbalta with placebos, were presented at the annual congress of the European Federation of Neurological Societies in Madrid. Lilly said 31 percent of patients taking Cymbalta experienced a 50 percent reduction in pain, as meas... |
4823 | Red Cross reports new outbreak of dengue fever in Yemen. | The International Committee of the Red Cross reported a new outbreak of dengue fever in war-torn Yemen on Monday, with thousands of cases reported and several dozen deaths. | true | Dengue fever, Malaria, Health, Cholera, General News, United Nations, Yemen, Middle East, U.S. News | Robert Mardini, the ICRC’s U.N. observer, told journalists that while there has been a de-escalation of fighting in Yemen which is positive news, the Arab world’s poorest nation faces “a very dire humanitarian situation.” It is not only facing an escalation in dengue cases but must also continue to deal with tens of th... |
7409 | Scientists build DNA from scratch to alter life’s blueprint. | At Jef Boeke’s lab, you can whiff an odor that seems out of place, as if they were baking bread here. | true | AP Top News, Technology, Genetic Frontiers, North America, Health, Science, Asia Pacific, U.S. News, Europe | But he and his colleagues are cooking up something else altogether: yeast that works with chunks of man-made DNA. Scientists have long been able to make specific changes in the DNA code. Now, they’re taking the more radical step of starting over, and building redesigned life forms from scratch. Boeke, a researcher at N... |
9907 | Coffee found to reduce risk of diabetes | There is a growing body of literature suggesting that coffee drinking can lower one’s risk of type II diabetes. This story covered the latest such evidence, and made it clear that this is part of a growing body of “more intriguing evidence.” In a brief story (less than 350 words), ABC News did a decent job of covering... | true | While there was no mention of coffee cost, this element is not particulary germane to this story. The article reported that drinking four eight-ounce cups of coffee was linked to a 30% reduction in the risk of developing diabetes. Rather than relative reduction, the article should have included the absolute reduction. ... | |
3151 | Petition suggests medical marijuana for Browns, Bengals fans. | Petitioners are again asking the State Medical Board of Ohio to consider adding anxiety and autism spectrum disorders to the list of conditions that qualify for a doctor to recommend medical marijuana for patients. | true | NFL, Cincinnati, Medical marijuana, General News, Football, Marijuana, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Browns | The conditions suggested in the second round of petitions the board received also include a football-related ailment: being a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals or the Cleveland Browns, both teams coming off disappointing seasons. Don’t expect that proposal to make it very far as a board committee reviews the petitions next... |
30456 | Assembly Bill 2943 would prohibit the sale of Bibles in California. | "A Republican politician and a right-wing television station grossly misrepresented California legislation that would amplify restrictions on ""gay conversion therapy.""" | false | Politics, california, christianity, gay conversion therapy | In April 2018, the right-wing One America News Network (OAN) interviewed California State Assembly member Travis Allen, who is running for governor as a Republican, about Assembly Bill 2943, a proposed law currently before state legislators. The bill relates to “gay conversion therapy,” but according to Allen and “Tipp... |
9644 | An Online Program May Help Prevent Depression In Some People | The story looks at a study published recently in JAMA that found patients who were at risk of developing major depressive disorder (MDD) were less likely to experience MDD if they engaged in online self-help interventions, within a 12-month timeframe. The story does a good job of describing the interventions and the bu... | mixture | depression,mental health,mental illness,online therapy | Cost is not addressed in a meaningful way. The story simply refers to online programs for mental health problems as “low cost.” Given that the online programs used in the study involved generating feedback from online trainers for each session and for each patient, the cost may not be negligible. And it’s not clear whe... |
34473 | Drinking a glass of grape juice three times a day after being exposed to the stomach flu will prevent you from getting sick. | Grapes’ viability as a viral prophylactic, however, has yet to be rigorously tested and demonstrated. | unproven | Medical, Home Cures | A common home remedy posted on various parenting webs ites states that grape juice can act as a preventative tool against a viral infection in your stomach should you or a family member be exposed to someone with a contagious viral stomach infection. The most commonly shared version of this claim comes from the web sit... |
33785 | "Bill Clinton was the ""first pardoned federal felon ever to serve as President of the U.S." | Bill Clinton's questionable activities during the Vietnam-era draft did not make him the 'first pardoned federal felon ever to serve as President of the U.S.' | false | Politics, bill clinton | First Pardoned Federal Felon ever to serve as President of the U.S. Bill Clinton’s Draft Records from the Freedom of Information Act files show he was a Pardoned Federal Felon * Bill Clinton registers for the draft on September 08, 1964, accepting all contractual conditions of registering for the draft. Given Selecti... |
28311 | "U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar has advocated shorter prison sentences for individuals ""caught trying to join ISIS." | "What's true: In 2016, Omar wrote to a U.S. District Judge on behalf of a man convicted of terrorism offences, advocating ""restorative justice,"" rehabilitation, and leniency over a ""long-term prison sentence."" What's false: Omar has not consistently promoted a policy of reducing custodial sentences for those convic... | mixture | Politics, ilhan omar, islam | U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar has been the subject of intense scrutiny, as well as misinformation and junk news, on a national scale ever since she began her ultimately successful campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, made history in January 2019 ... |
7471 | Trump to name former pharma exec as vaccine czar. | President Donald Trump is set to name a former pharmaceutical executive to lead his administration’s all-out effort to produce and distribute a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. | true | Understanding the Outbreak, Army, General News, Politics, Science, Donald Trump, Virus Outbreak, United States | Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, will lead “Operation Warp Speed,” Trump’s push to accelerate the vaccine development process for COVID-19, according to an administration official. Slaoui is to serve in a volunteer capacity, and will be assisted by Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the commander of United Stat... |
16502 | "Fox admits they lie"" and, under the First Amendment, ""have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on public airwaves." | Facebook post claims Fox 'admits they lie,' have right to 'distort news' | false | Civil Rights, Corporations, Ethics, Food Safety, Pundits, Transparency, PunditFact, Facebook posts, | "Critics of Fox News not-so-fondly call the cable channel ""Faux News."" But, according to an Internet meme, Fox not only admits it airs news, it says it has a legal right to do so. ""Fox News admits they lie,"" reads one version of the meme, ""They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right t... |
11245 | A New Frontier in Sun Protection | Drawing on concerns raised earlier this year by a study that found sun damage to skin continues even after exposure to the sun has stopped, this article cites several products that it says may help limit the damage, but it offers scant evidence to support their use. The article takes a consumer’s guide approach to addr... | mixture | skin cancer/sun protection,Wall Street Journal | The story mentions the costs of the products it cites. The story says that “Product formulators are now seeing after-sun care as another line of defense to stop cell mutations and aging in its tracks.” But the story does not cite evidence to show whether their products do that. In the accompanying video, the reporter i... |
2357 | Forty years on, bullying takes its toll on health and wealth. | The negative social, physical and mental health effects of childhood bullying are still evident nearly 40 years later, according to research by British psychiatrists. | true | Health News | In the first study of its kind to look at the effects of childhood bullying beyond early adulthood, the researchers said its impact is “persistent and pervasive”, with people who were bullied when young more likely to have poorer physical and psychological health and poorer cognitive functioning at age 50. “The effects... |
27551 | If you die, you can send your ashes to legislators as one final act of protest. | In 1988, artist and photographer David Wojnarowicz captured a similar spirit of protest when he wore a jacket bearing the message, “IF I DIE OF AIDS – FORGET BURIAL – JUST DROP MY BODY ON THE STEPS OF THE FDA” during a demonstration outside the Food and Drug Administration building. | true | Politics, American Health Care Act, posthumous, protests | If you die an untimely death, can you have your ashes sent to the person of your choice? What if you would like to send it to your least favorite representative in order to protest legislation they have written or voted for? In theory, it is already possible to have your cremated remains sent to Congress, but the idea ... |
25951 | "Wrong"" COVID-19 case count by Orlando Health ""explains the 'outbreak' in Florida." | A Florida Department of Health website showed that one of Orlando Health’s 13 testing sites reported a 98% positive rate on 522 tests for COVID-19. Orlando Health said the positive rate for its system was about 10%. Some small labs have been reporting only positive results to the department, which says it is working wi... | false | Public Health, Florida, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "One theory ricocheting around social media blames Florida’s large coronavirus outbreak on mistakes in case reporting. The claim was made by internet prankster Joey Saladino, who says he creates content ""to expose the Democrats and MSM,"" or mainstream media. The onetime candidate for a New York City congressional sea... |
26289 | “Bill Gates admits his COVID-19 vaccine might kill nearly 1 million people.” | The Gates Foundation is trying to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Gates spoke theoretically about how many people might suffer side effects from a vaccine, not about how many might die from it. | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "The conspiracy section of a conservative website carried an article with this headline: ""Watch: Bill Gates Admits His COVID-19 Vaccine Might Kill Nearly 1,000,000 People."" The article from CloverChronicle.com, shared widely on Facebook, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformatio... |
36403 | There is a Snapchat sex trafficking ring in Lawrence, Massachusetts, using location functions to find and abduct women. | Is There a Snapchat Sex Trafficking Ring in Lawrence, Massachusetts? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | On April 24 2019, a Facebook user shared the following status (archived here), claiming that a Snapchat sex trafficking ring was operating in Lawrence, Massachusetts:So there’s a sex trafficking ring going on in Lawrence Mass. If you get a random person who tries adding you on Snapchat this morning and it says “added b... |
2081 | From machete to machine in Brazil's cane fields. | For nearly five centuries, the classic image of sugar production in Brazil has been one of workers setting cane fields on fire and then descending on the crop with their machetes for harvest. | true | Environment | No longer. More than half of the cane in Brazil’s main sugar-producing area of Sao Paulo state was harvested using machines during the 2009/10 season, a historic first that portends greater efficiency in coming years. The shift is occurring so quickly that some producers face a four-month waiting list to get the right ... |
14619 | "Marco Rubio Says Hillary Clinton ""believes that all abortions should be legal, even on the due date of that unborn child." | "Rubio said Clinton ""believes that all abortion should be legal, even on the due date of that unborn child."" Clinton does not believe that all abortion should be legal. Instead, she’s said she supports restrictions on late-term abortions except in cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life and health are in dan... | false | Abortion, National, Candidate Biography, Marco Rubio, | "Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who’s known for his strong anti-abortion views, said Hillary Clinton is the extremist when it comes abortion, not him. ""Why doesn’t the media ask Hillary Clinton why she believes that all abortions should be legal, even on the due date of that unborn child,"" he said during the Feb. 6 Rep... |
34078 | "Comedian Howie Mandel penned a list of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau's ""accomplishments." | What moral, functioning Canadian human could possible justify voting for you? | false | Politics | A viral piece of text ostensibly written by Canadian comedian Howie Mandel about Justin Trudeau’s “accomplishments” was widely circulated on Facebook in the lead-up to Canada’s federal election on Oct. 21, 2019. This list was often shared under titles such as “Consider this before you vote” and “Trudeau 4 years of acco... |
27995 | The court declaration given by the 13-year-old boy Michael Jackson allegedly molested in 1993 has surfaced. | On 25 June 2009, Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 50. | true | Legal Affairs, michael jackson | Although Michael Jackson was seldom out of the public eye for long, in late 2002 and early 2003 he was the subject of even more intense media attention than usual. Granted, his deep-seated proclivity for strange behavior (wearing masks in public, undergoing bout after bout of plastic surgery to the point that his nose ... |
7410 | Tumor gene testing urged to tell if drug targets your cancer. | Colon cancer. Uterine cancer. Pancreatic cancer. Whatever the tumor, the more gene mutations lurking inside, the better chance your immune system has to fight back. | true | AP Top News, Cancer, Health, Tumors, Politics, Uterine cancer, Genetic Frontiers, North America | That’s the premise behind the recent approval of a landmark drug, the first cancer therapy ever cleared based on a tumor’s genetics instead of the body part it struck first. Now thousands of patients with worsening cancer despite standard treatment can try this immunotherapy — as long as genetic testing of the tumor sh... |
29368 | A video shows a Muslim refugees rioting and taking over an area in France. | What's true: Violent protests captured on video erupted in France in February 2017 after a young black man was allegedly sodomized by a police officer. What's false: The video seen here captures one of those protests, not Muslim refugees taking over an area in France. | false | Fauxtography, muslims, paris, refugees | On 14 February 2017, the anti-Islam Facebook group “Our Eye on Islam” shared a video entitled “France Has Fallen” which purportedly showed Muslim refugees taking over an area of the European country: “Our Eye on Islam” provided little context concerning the events glimpsed in the video, and even though an explanation ... |
34167 | U.S. President Donald Trump brandished his middle finger as a gesture of disdain, disrespect, or anger towards an astronaut who publicly corrected him. | In reality, the only consistent feature of these incidents is the inconsistency of the circumstances and context that surrounded them. As such, it appears doubtful that Trump typically brandishes his middle finger as a way of expressing disdain or anger or disrespect. A far more plausible explanation appears to be simp... | unproven | Politics | In October 2019, we received multiple inquiries from readers about the accuracy of social media posts and online articles claiming that U.S. President Donald Trump had made an obscene gesture towards an astronaut after she corrected a factual error he had made. Anti-gun violence activist Shannon Watts tweeted out a sho... |
18309 | "U.S. Rep. John Barrow’s plan ""puts the IRS in charge of your health care." | GOP group targets Barrow's health care votes | false | Georgia, Health Care, National Republican Congressional Committee, | "U.S. Rep. John Barrow, a Democrat from the Augusta area, keeps arguing he agrees with many Republicans regarding the federal health care law, aka ""Obamacare."" Repeal and replace, he says. Is there a doctor around to examine Barrow? Republican activists ask. Republicans overwhelmingly want the entire law repealed, po... |
10395 | Diabetes care during pregnancy reduces risk of obese children | The Cleveland paper published a shortened version of a story originally reported by the Associated Press. The story describes results from a large study that suggest treatment of maternal high blood sugars in pregnancy may lower risk of overweight or obese children at age 5 or 7. The story does give absolute benefits (... | true | "The article does not mention costs. The story provides absolute proportions of children who were overweight or obese at 5 or 7 years old. Groups compared included children of those mothers with normal glucose levels, children of those with a diabetes diagnosis who were treated, and children of those with high blood su... | |
11383 | Hope for an artificial lung | This article explores artificial lung devices currently in development at the University of Maryland Medical Center and elsewhere. It is an example of a local newspaper reporting on potentially significant medical research occuring within its circulation area. But the story falls short in several important ways: It fa... | false | "The writer does not cite the costs of the current ECMO treatment, the costs of a lung transplant, or the total costs the patient in the opening anecdote generated. It also fails to report on how costs might differ with the new technologies under development. And, if readers aren’t clear about this, these are very expe... | |
10442 | New Take on a Prostate Drug, and a New Debate | "This is a story about the use of the drug finasteride to try to prevent or reduce the risk of prostate cancer. The story did a good job of: giving the history of research on finasteride and the reasons why it ""has had its ups and downs""; citing several top clinician-researchers in the field of prostate cancer. But... | mixture | "The story included an estimated price for the generic version of this medication. Mixed grade on this criterion. The story provided both relative and absolute risk reduction figures – although it gave more space and prime real estate (the beginning and end of the story) to the more impressive-sounding relative risk fi... | |
35775 | Pressing #-9-0 on your telephone will allow scammers to make long-distance calls and charge them to your phone bill. | Snopes has been getting variations on this warning for over 20 years. | mixture | Fraud & Scams, FDA bans e-juice, Telephone Scams | Every few years, we get some variation of this claim in our inbox: [Collected via e-mail, 1998] **HIGH PRIORITY** On Saturday, 24 January 1998, Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base, New Orleans’ Quarterdeck received a telephone call from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician that was runnin... |
3824 | Pharmacy suspension lifted in drug-ravaged West Virginia. | A federal judge has lifted the suspension of a West Virginia pharmacy’s ability to dispense prescription drugs. | true | Opioids, Health, Prescription drugs, West Virginia | The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin last week lifted the suspension against Oak Hill Hometown Pharmacy that U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart had announced in August. Goodwin says federal prosecutors failed to adequately prove the pharmacy posed a public health risk. Stuart says the pharma... |
24600 | "Seniors and the disabled ""will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care." | Sarah Palin falsely claims Barack Obama runs a 'death panel' | false | National, Health Care, Sarah Palin, | "Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, urged her supporters to oppose Democratic plans for health care reform on her Facebook page. ""As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping... |
37711 | A photograph shows a crowded high school hallway on the first day of school in Paulding County, Georgia in August 2020. | First Day of School in Paulding County, Georgia | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On August 4 2020, a purported photograph of the first day of school in Paulding County, Georgia circulated on social media — showing a densely crowded school hallway and only a few students wearing masks:The same image was shared to Reddit’s r/trashy, r/pics, and r/awfuleverything:First day of school in Paulding County... |
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