claim_id stringlengths 1 234 | claim stringlengths 14 491 | explanation stringlengths 1 4.18k | label stringclasses 5
values | subjects stringlengths 0 223 | main_text stringlengths 18 41.7k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2193 | Drought-hit Australian towns prepare for 'unimaginable' water crisis. | The little town of Guyra in eastern Australia lies next to a freshwater lagoon just half a day’s drive from Sydney, but its drinking water is due to run dry in 400 days’ time. | true | Environment | The local authorities have been trucking in fresh water, built a pipeline to a local dam and will soon start drilling in the hope of finding new supplies. For Mayor Simon Murray, the biggest worry is that Guyra is not alone. “A lot of towns are forecast to run out at the same time - and then where do you get the water ... |
31919 | Everyone with cancer has a pH that is too acidic. | Wolfe’s use of the Warburg Effect to suggest that “every single person who has cancer has a pH that is too acidic” is a classic example of circular logic. Warburg’s main contribution to cancer research was the observation that cancer cells actually produce low oxygen and high acid conditions, not that they are caused b... | false | Medical, cancer, david avocado wolfe | A meme stating that every person who has been diagnosed with cancer has a pH that is “too acidic” (and that cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment) has been popping up on social media since late 2016. This specific meme was posted by prolific internet misinformation artist and frequent abuser of the appeal to na... |
10317 | “I’ve gotten my life back”: Hopkins reports success with MS treatment | The story describes a new method of administering an existing drug to a subset of patients in the early stages of a debilitating form of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The story discusses why this method of delivery may be an improvement over existing immunosuppressant drug regimens for difficult-to-treat MS cases. And it ex... | true | "The cost of currently available low-dose, pulsed immune suppressing drugs could have been mentioned. It would be good to know if there would be a potential cost-saving for the patient with HiCy therapy. The story does note the economics driving drug research and implications for the development of new treatments for p... | |
34296 | Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra was sued by his bandmates because he didn’t want one of their songs used in a Levi’s commercial. | Unfortunately, neither the court nor the jury were asked to rule on what initially caused the litigants to move to trial, and we were not there when the alleged incident happened. As such, we rank the claim that a Levi’s ad dispute precipitated the lawsuit between members of the Dead Kennedys as unproven. | unproven | Entertainment, bands, dead kennedys, levi's | In 1998, three members of the 1980s punk band Dead Kennedys sued their former frontman, Jello Biafra. Those three members — East Bay Ray, Klaus Fluoride, and D.H. Peligro — sued Biafra to recover unpaid royalties as well as to maintain rights over the band’s musical catalog. The case was acrimonious and both sides tell... |
15069 | States with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths. | "Obama said, ""States with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths."" Research shows that the more gun laws a state has, the fewer gun deaths there are. Obama gets some wiggle room because he said ""tend to"" as opposed to making a definitive statement. The problem is, however, that this is an overly gener... | true | National, Corrections and Updates, Guns, Barack Obama, | "In the wake of a Oct. 1 shooting spree in Oregon that killed 10, many -- including President Barack Obama -- are calling for more gun control laws. ""There is a gun for roughly every man, woman, and child in America,"" Obama said in remarks the day of the shooting. ""So how can you, with a straight face, make the argu... |
23426 | When the mayor of Providence's brother wrote over 100 grand in bad checks to the city, Joe Fernandez didn't have the guts to prosecute him. He let him off the hook. | Kilmartin says Fernandez didn't prosecute mayor's brother for writing bad checks to Providence | false | Rhode Island, Ethics, Crime, Message Machine 2010, Peter Kilmartin, | "Democratic Attorney General candidate Peter Kilmartin came out swinging against primary opponent Joseph Fernandez last week, accusing the former Providence city solicitor of not having the courage to prosecute John Cicilline, Mayor David Cicilline's brother, after John wrote two bad checks to the city. ""When the mayo... |
24531 | "Health insurance companies deny ""1 out of 5 treatments prescribed by doctors." | TV ad overstates health insurance denials | false | National, Health Care, Health Care for America Now, | "Supporters of health care reform have portrayed insurance companies as insensitive and too quick to deny claims. In a recent television ad, Health Care for America Now, a group supporting the Democrats' health care reform bill, says insurance companies get wealthy by denying those claims. The group's ad mockingly expl... |
37986 | ....There are people trying to make legal age of consent 4 years old. Let that sink in. #SaveOurChildren | A viral Facebook post claimed that “there are people trying to make legal age of consent 4 years old,” even though people “can’t buy alcohol or cigarettes until we are 21.” The only mentions of anyone trying to “make the age of consent 4” were in Reddit posts mocking the post in question, and we were unable to locate a... | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | A viral September 3 2020 Facebook post claiming that “there are people trying to make the age of consent four years old” racked up a six-figure share count (archived here) in one week:It read:We can’t buy alcohol or cigarettes until we are 21,but there are people trying to make legal age of consent 4 years old. Let tha... |
2019 | Philadelphia tops list of U.S. most toxic cities. | Philadelphia, Bakersfield and Fresno, California, are the most toxic cities in America, according to a new study that looked at air and water quality in metropolitan areas. | true | Health News | A girl sits in the arms of a statue in Rittenhouse Square on a warm fall day in Philadelphia, October 17, 2010. REUTERS/Brian Snyder “Philadelphia doesn’t have great air, but other cities have worst,” said Morgan Brennan, of forbes.com, which conducted the report. “But the Philadelphia area has over 50 Superfund sites,... |
33753 | Experiment proves water that has been boiled in a microwave oven is harmful to plants. | As for the coda to the example quoted at the head of this page, there have been some cases in which the use of microwave-heated blood in medical procedures has been cited as causing serious problems, but not because microwave heating “corrupts the DNA.” Rather, conventional microwave ovens can heat blood too quickly an... | false | Science, Microwaves, Toxin Du Jour | The introductions of new, widely-adopted technologies are often accompanied by fears of possible deleterious effects from the use of such devices, everything from concerns that telephones would spell the end of regional accents to parental admonitions not to sit too close to the television (lest you ruin your eyes!). U... |
6459 | UN rights chief airs worries on climate change, migrant kids. | The U.N. human rights chief said Monday she was “alarmed” that migrant children are still being held in centers in the United States and Mexico and warned that climate change has become an unprecedented threat to human rights worldwide. | true | Climate, Climate change, General News, India, Immigration, Israel, Environment, Environmental concerns, Chile, Michelle Bachelet, Europe, United States | In her introductory address for the start of the Human Rights Council’s latest session, Michelle Bachelet aired concerns from unlawful killings and injuries of Palestinians by Israeli security forces to India’s actions against Kashmiris, But the rights chief, who is a former president of Chile, put her main focus on en... |
5008 | Lawmakers decry perilous federal lockups for migrant kids. | Lawmakers on Friday were calling for swift change after reports this week of more than 250 infants, children and teens being held inside a windowless Border Patrol station, struggling to care for each other with inadequate food, water and sanitation. | true | AP Top News, General News, Immigration, El Paso, McAllen, Border patrols, Latin America, Health, Texas, U.S. News | It’s a scene that is being repeated at other immigration facilities overwhelmed with too many migrant children and nowhere to put them. “This facility wasn’t even on our radar before we came down here,” said law professor Warren Binford, a member of the team that interviewed dozens of children this week detained in Cli... |
6519 | Choctaw historian to release new book on food sovereignty. | The published works of Devon Mihesuah fill a wide space between two bookends in her office at the University of Kansas. | true | Lawrence, Health, University of Kansas, Kansas, Nonfiction, Healthy eating, Native Americans, United States | The prolific author juggles her time between being a professor, writing (both fiction and nonfiction), and advocating for healthy eating in the Native American community, among many other interests. Mihesuah, a Choctaw historian, is KU’s Cora Lee Beers Price Teaching Professor in International Cultural Understanding. H... |
38920 | Photos of a dog’s badly burned paws with warnings about the dangers of walking dogs on hot asphalt have circulated social media sites. | Warnings About Dogs Burning Their Feet on Hot Pavement | mixture | Animals | Hot asphalt burns dog paws, but that’s not what the grizzly photos on social media sites show. The photos show the red, blistered paws of a dog that was left on a scalding rooftop in Pennsylvania back in 2011. Bernie, a two or three year old pit bull, suffered third degree burns on his feet, but he later made a full re... |
38335 | Authorities have warned that fake Xanax pills have killed nine people in Florida and contain Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin. | Fake Xanax Pill Kills Nine in Florida; 50 Times Stronger than Heroin | mixture | Medical, Warnings | Warnings about fake Xanax pills killing nine people in Florida — but those fake Xanax warning were a year old when they were re-reported as breaking news in March 2017. The original report came out of Pinellas County Florida on March 21, 2016. Sheriff Bob Gualteieri warned at the time that a fake Xanax “super pill” had... |
20374 | "Rosemary Lehmberg Says she ""created the first felony deferred prosecution program for nonviolent first-offenders"" in Texas." | Lehmberg said the program she started in 2010 was the state’s first felony deferred prosecution program for nonviolent first-offenders. We found two similar, though not identical, programs in other counties. One was implemented the same year as Travis’, the other five years earlier. Since neither program shares all of ... | false | County Government, Criminal Justice, Legal Issues, Crime, Public Safety, Texas, Rosemary Lehmberg, | "In an online video, Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who seeks re-election this year, says she has instituted reforms since she took office in 2009. ""My office is the most progressive DA’s office in the state,"" she says. ""I’ve created the first felony deferred prosecution program for nonviolent f... |
23104 | "Ed Perlmutter voted for ""Viagra for rapists"" paid for with tax dollars." | Ed Perlmutter voted for Viagra for sex offenders, paid for by health care bill? Nope | false | National, Health Care, Crime, Message Machine 2010, American Action Network, | "A new campaign ad makes the startling claim that the new health care law will pay for Viagra for rapists -- and that Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., voted for the measure. The ad shows two young women chatting online about the new health care bill. Here's how their conversation goes: ""Hey, you have to check out the art... |
15073 | "Birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger ""believed that people like me should be eliminated." | "Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said that birth control activist Margaret Sanger ""believed that people like me should be eliminated."" He later clarified that he meant African-Americans. While Sanger indeed supported the eugenics movement, substantial evidence shows that she was not racist and in fact wo... | false | Abortion, New Hampshire, Ben Carson, | "Despite being dead for 49 years, Margaret Sanger, founder of the organization that became Planned Parenthood, has a way of turning up in the news. Her latest appearance came during remarks by Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson at a retirement center in Exeter, N.H. Answering a question at RiverWoods Retirem... |
9974 | Olive oil lovers show lower stroke risk | This story explored the nature of an observational study about the stroke-reducing risks of olive oil. The story appropriately discussed other possible reasons for the findings and why a clinical trial is stronger evidence. With so much news coverage touting an apparent benefit from olive oil in this study (CBS had a h... | true | Reuters Health,Stroke | Not applicable. The cost of olive oil is not in question. This story did the best job of the three stories we reviewed in quantifying the potential benefits observed in the study. “Over the next five to six years, those intensive users suffered strokes at a rate of 0.3 percent per year. That compared with just over 0.5... |
10493 | Treatments for kidney injury found to yield similar results | This story described the results of a recent study which found that more intense treatment of acute kidney injury resulted in neither improved nor worsened outcomes. The story provided factual information about the study. It also indicated that there could be cost savings to the health care system if additional treatme... | mixture | "There was not explicit information in this story about costs to the individual undergoing care, though one could surmise that less intense treatment would cost less. The story included estimates of the impact from the results of the study on costs to the health care system. The story did mention that the two approache... | |
4028 | US officials: Don’t eat romaine grown in Salinas, California. | U.S. health officials on Friday told people to avoid romaine lettuce grown in Salinas, California, because of another food poisoning outbreak. | true | Food poisoning, AP Top News, Health, General News, Salinas, California, Poisoning, U.S. News | The notice comes almost exactly one year after a similar outbreak led to a blanket warning about romaine. Officials urged Americans not to eat the leafy green if the label doesn’t say where it was grown. They also urged supermarkets and restaurants not to serve or sell the lettuce, unless they’re sure it was grown else... |
36373 | Facebook is donating $1 for every share of a photo to fund treatment of a puppy's tumor. | In a barn in southwest France, farmer Valerie Fosserie squirts serum into a gosling’s mouth as a prelude to what she says is production of the world’s first ethically friendly foie gras. | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | The delicacy, long a feature on the menu of gourmet restaurants across the globe, is made by force-feeding geese to turn their livers to fat, a process long denounced as cruel by animal rights activists and increasingly viewed with unease by authorities in some western cities. In October, New York City, often considere... |
5852 | Health officials: Rhode Island STD cases reach 10-year high. | Rhode Island health officials say cases of sexually transmitted disease in the state are at a 10-year high. | true | Rhode Island, Sexually transmitted diseases, Chlamydia, Health, Gonorrhea, Syphilis | State Department of Health data released to The Providence Journal show chlamydia cases have risen 55 percent from 2007, gonorrhea cases are up 78 percent and syphilis cases have more than tripled. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday released numbers showing record increases in infections fro... |
5464 | Health chief requires FOIA from senator to release emails. | Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration is forcing state lawmakers to use the public-records law to get emails regarding a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy. | true | Freedom of information, Quincy, Health, Legionnaires disease, Illinois, Freedom of Information Act, Bruce Rauner, Disease outbreaks, Veterans, Public health | Illinois Public Health Director Nirav Shah told a joint House-Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee that his agency denied Senate committee chairman Tom Cullerton’s demand for communication about the crisis under an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act. The Democratic-led committee is reviewing the Republican admin... |
3953 | Health officials urge flu shots as virus becomes widespread. | There has been one flu-related death and 24 hospitalizations in Rhode Island so far this flu season, according to state health officials. | true | Health, Rhode Island, General News, Flu | The Rhode Island Department of Heath released the numbers Thursday and urged residents to get flu shots. During the last flu season, there were 39 deaths and 1,032 hospitalizations associated with the flu, according to the department. Health officials use a five-tier system to measure flu activity. The flu in Rhode Isl... |
3449 | France: Groups want Notre Dame enclosed during lead cleanup. | Environmental groups and one of France’s largest labor unions called Monday for a containment shield and other safety measures to ensure decontamination work at Notre Dame Cathedral does not expose workers and residents to unsafe levels of lead. | true | Paris, General News, Labor unions, France, Environment, Health, Travel, Notre Dame Cathedral, Europe | The Paris regional administration suspended the job of removing hazardous substances from the fire-ravaged Paris cathedral last month under pressure from labor inspectors concerned about health risks for workers. The administration had said that when the lead-removal work resumed, stricter safety procedures, new equipm... |
1939 | Preemies may face higher death rates as adults. | Health problems are common among premature babies, who are more likely to die than their full-term peers during the first few years of life — and they may also face slightly increased death rates as young adults, a study said. | true | Health News | "A nurse takes care of a 2-month-old premature infant lying in an incubator at a hospital in Enshi, Hubei province, China May 4, 2010. REUTERS/China Daily “This is an entirely new finding,” said Casey Crump of Stanford University, whose findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “Even pe... |
28768 | The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has classified kratom as a Schedule I substance as of 30 September 2016. | What's true: The DEA has announced intent to place kratom alongside Schedule I drugs such as heroin. What's false: The proposed scheduling status is not necessarily permanent. | mixture | Medical, DEA, Home Cures, kratom | On 30 August 2016, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued a press release announcing their intent to effectively ban a little-known herbal compound called kratom as of 30 September 2016. The DEA’s release held that kratom poses “an imminent hazard to public safety,” adding that 660 calls had been made to poison ... |
10435 | Looming ruling on breast cancer drug splits patient advocates | "In December, an FDA advisory panel will decide if it should revoke the approval of the drug Avastin for treating metastatic breast cancer based on the results of two major trials suggesting that the serious side effects outweigh the time that patients live without the disease getting worse. This story met many of our ... | true | The story mentions that Avastin is associated with serious side effects, such as high blood pressure and internal bleeding; however, it did not provide data on how many women in each treatment arm experienced these side effects. The story briefly mentioned the two trials, RIBBON-1 and AVADO, on which the FDA will base ... | |
31113 | Malia Obama was arrested while attempting to purchase marijuana in Chicago. | None of site’s articles are truthful — including this one about Malia Obama’s arrest in Chicago. | false | Junk News, chicago, doctored photos, land of the free | On 5 May 2017, the The Last Line of Defense web site (and subsequently related shill sites such as USA Politics Now) published an article reporting that Malia Obama, the daughter of former president Barack Obama, had been “arrested with a gang of thugs in Chicago” on charges related to dogfighting: Malia Obama may have... |
15082 | We sell 40 percent of our guns without a background check. | "Kelly said, ""We sell 40 percent of our guns without a background check."" The figure he’s citing comes from a 21-year-old survey with a small sample size before a key gun law took effect. Even its authors say they’re not sure if it holds true today. Still, there are few credible alternative statistics because of a tw... | mixture | PunditFact, Guns, Mark Kelly, | "As the country grapples with Thursday’s mass shooting at an Oregon community college, a retired astronaut whose wife survived a killing spree four years ago is leading the charge for stricter gun control. Mark Kelly is married to former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was severely injured in a 2011 mass shooting in ... |
30450 | Swedish-born producer DJ Avicii died under suspicious circumstances while he was trying to use music videos to expose a pedophile ring | The inaccuracy of Neon Nettle’s reporting is not surprising, as Neon Nettle is a fake news site with a special fascination for peddling fabricated and sensationalized stories about pedophiles. | false | Junk News, neon nettle | On 20 April 2018, news broke that the Swedish-born producer and DJ known as Avicii had been found dead in the country of Oman: Publicist Diana Baron said in a statement that the 28-year-old DJ, born Tim Bergling, was in Muscat, Oman. “The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy... |
9719 | Portable gluten test promises to ease dining woes | This feature story describes a start-up company’s plans to soon begin marketing a pocket-sized device said to quickly detect gluten in any food with “99.9 per cent” accuracy. To its credit, the article makes clear that the device, called Nima, is neither FDA-approved, nor meant to diagnose or manage celiac disease or “... | mixture | Gluten | The story clearly states the cost of the “pre-order” version of Nima and the cost of “test pods.” The story references a company official who says that Nima can tell if the food sample has 20 parts per million or more of gluten. But the story never provides any data tor numbers to back this up. The inventors claim that... |
27354 | A teacher trained in the use of firearms accidentally discharged a handgun in a California classroom, causing minor injury to a student. | Both accidents added fuel to an ongoing national debate over proposals by the Trump administration, the National Rifle Association, and other gun rights advocacy groups to arm teachers to defend their students in the event of school shootings. According to a March 2018 poll of National Education Association members, ed... | true | Politics Guns, armed teachers, california, gun safety | On 13 March 2018, one day before a scheduled nationwide student walkout protesting Congress’s inaction on gun violence in the United States, reports surfaced that a teacher trained in the use of firearms had accidentally fired his handgun in a California high school classroom, injuring at least one student. According t... |
10091 | Ah, there’s the rub: Medicine catches up with what clients always knew about the health benefits of massage | The story discusses massage therapy for physical and emotional well-being. One of the reasons massage isn’t covered as frequently by insurance as other alternative therapies, such as acupuncture and spinal manipulation, is that there is relatively little evidence of benefit in well controlled studies. The article impli... | mixture | The story does not provide the actual cost of massage for those uses described. Granted, these costs are likely to vary quite a bit, but the story could have provided a range of costs. The story does explain that massage is often not paid for by insurers. Indeed one of the points of the article is that by accrediting m... | |
35248 | Images show mass graves being dug in New York to bury victims of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic in 2020. | What's true: Drone footage showed people in hazmat suits digging trenches and burying coffins on New York’s Hart Island. At the start of April 2020, Hart Island saw burials increase from about 25 a week to 25 a day. What's false: Not all local people who die from COVID-19 are automatically buried at this site. For more... | true | Fauxtography, COVID-19 | In April 2020, images supposedly showing mass graves being dug in New York to bury those who died during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic started to circulate on social media: NYC Mayor confirms they are now burying many #Covid19 corpses in mass graves on Hart Island. Today alone there were at least 40 coffins... |
2283 | Activists submit signatures for California condoms-in-porn vote. | A campaign to require condom use in pornographic film productions in California has submitted enough signatures to election officials before Monday’s deadline to put a ballot measure before state voters in 2016, organizers said. | true | Health News | “Unlike most politicians, voters are not squeamish about this issue, seeing it as a means to protect the health and safety of performers,” Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and a backer of the measure, said in a statement. “It’s only fair that adult film performers be afforded the same sa... |
16147 | "Benjamin Crump Says ""99 percent of the time police officers aren't charged when they kill young people of color." | Crump said 99 percent of the time police officers aren’t charged when they kill a young person of color. With the caveat that police officers are rarely charged at all, the limited data and the opinions of criminologists back up Crump’s claim. But there is no hard data for either the number of police officers indicted ... | mixture | Criminal Justice, Human Rights, PunditFact, Benjamin Crump, | "Even before the grand jury in Ferguson, Mo., announced its decision in the police shooting death of teenager Michael Brown, the lead lawyer for the Brown family challenged the grand jury process. Attorney Benjamin Crump said the ground rules were skewed in favor of police officer Darren Wilson. All one needed for proo... |
38330 | President Donald Trump has repeated the claim that Hillary Clinton sold 20 percent of America’s Uranium to Russia while secretary of state on the campaign trail and while in office. | Hillary Clinton Sold 20 Percent of World's Uranium to Russia | false | Government | Claims that Hillary Clinton sold 20 percent of America’s uranium capacity to Russia. But Clinton played a role in the deal’s approval process, and stakeholders of the uranium transaction made financial contributions to the Clinton Foundation while its approval was in flux. President Trump deflected questions about his ... |
37717 | Pennsylvania state Rep. Russ Diamond (R) released a statement opposing the use of face mask that mimicked remarks by Dr. Rachel Levine regarding transphobic harassment. | Did a Pennsylvania Lawmaker Release a Statement Mocking the State Health Secretary? | true | Fact Checks, Politics | A Pennsylvania state lawmaker came under criticism for attempting to compare the transgender community to people refusing to follow guidelines against spreading the COVID-19 pandemic.A statement from State Rep. Russ Diamond allegedly standing up for the “unmasked population” prompted Gov. Tom Wolf to urge Diamond’s fel... |
10958 | Study Shows Proposed Merck Drug For Diabetes Lowers Blood Sugar | The article describes a new drug that may help improve blood sugar in people with diabetes more so than other drugs (e.g. metformin alone) or with reportedly fewer side effects. Overall, the story does address what type of evidence the claims are based on and what the reported benefits are, although context is lacking.... | false | The story does not mention projected costs for the new drug. The story could have provided some insight into the costs of available drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes. The likelihood of this new drug in combination with metformin being less exepnsive than available drugs is very low. The story reports the benefit in terms ... | |
17634 | "Back door gun control is in full effect in the United States"" due to ""Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency." | "West wrote that ""back door gun control is in full effect in the United States"" due ""to Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency."" But there is no evidence that it was a clandestine effort at back door gun control. Rather, the EPA’s settlement with Doe Run -- which concluded a case that began years before Obama was ... | false | Environment, Health Care, Public Health, Florida, Guns, Allen West, | "Former Congressman Allen West has taken aim at a surprising gun control villain: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. ""It seems that back door gun control is in full effect in the United States. Why? Thanks to Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we can no longer smelt lead from ore in the United State... |
35607 | In June 2020, Weis Markets banned its employees from wearing any representation of the American flag because it was considered controversial amidst the political climate. They also banned the flag from being displayed on merchandise. | Malaysia’s health authorities on Sunday said they are working with UNICEF to bring polio vaccines to the state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, where the country’s first polio case in nearly three decades was detected last week. | false | Business | A three-month-old infant was diagnosed with polio on Dec. 6 after being admitted to hospital with a fever and muscle weakness, the first such case since 1992. It comes after the Philippines, north of Borneo, reported its first cases of polio since 1993 in September. Malaysia’s health ministry had said the child was inf... |
11040 | MRIs urged in breast cancer detection | This 5-star story is an example of excellent health journalism. The story provides a thorough review of the pros and cons of MRI breast cancer screening. The reporter cites unbiased sources who provide evidence-based advice. What is particularly noteworthy in this story is the discussion of the value of early screening... | true | The story lists the costs of this screening tool and notes the cost may not always be covered by insurance. The story also notes the cost to public health spending for additional, and sometimes unnecessary, diagnostic tools. The story provides a good review of the benefits of MRI screening for women at high risk of bre... | |
30865 | "Seven ""key witnesses"" to the 1 October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas have suspiciously died in a cover-up." | According to police radio traffic which can be found archived at Broadcastify, Paddock did not exchange gunfire with police. When they breached the door and went inside, Paddock was already down. | false | Politics Conspiracy Theories, las vegas conspiracy theories, las vegas mass shooting, neon nettle | On 2 November 2017, the disreputable web site Neon Nettle reported falsely that seven “key witnesses” to the mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip one month earlier had died under “suspicious circumstances”, and that there was a “sinister” plot afoot to snuff out people who made statements in the immediate aftermath of ... |
2048 | Deep-sea sharks protected as EU sets fish quotas. | European fisheries ministers have agreed minor cuts to quotas for some vulnerable deep-sea fish and more stringent measures to protect rare sharks. | true | Environment | The European Union is trying to nurse its fish stocks back to health after decades of over-exploitation. Deep-sea fish are particularly vulnerable as they reproduce so slowly. The ministers’ decision late on Monday affected just 80 million euros ($104 million) worth of fish, but was seen as an important test case in a ... |
3665 | Rwanda avoids US-style opioids crisis by making own morphine. | It was something, the silence. Nothing but the scuff of her slip-on shoes as Madeleine Mukantagara walked through the fields to her first patient of the day. Piercing cries once echoed down the hill to the road below. What she carried in her bag had calmed them. | true | Opioids, International News, General News, Africa, Health, Rwanda | For 15 years, her patient Vestine Uwizeyimana had been in unrelenting pain as disease wore away her spine. She could no longer walk. Her life narrowed to a dark room with a dirt-floor in rural Rwanda, prayer beads hanging on the wall by her side. A year ago, relief came in the form of liquid morphine, locally produced ... |
10784 | Study: Cholesterol drug lowers blood clot risk | Overall this story did a good job on an interesting study. The story was well written and provided a reasonably balanced view of the study. There were several aspects of the study that could have provided readers with several important provisos. The results reported were based on a secondary outcome measure of the JUPI... | true | The story mentions the daily cost of Crestor as well as the CRP test. The story does not adequately quantify the benefits of statins. The story uses language that makes the benefit appear larger than it is. By not presenting the rate of VTE in the study population, the story does not give the reader the adequate contex... | |
9568 | New Ways to Fight Super Lice | The treatment of childhood cases of head lice infestations is a popular news media perennial at the start of the school year, and this Wall Street Journal story falls into that category. It covers the usual elements — prevalence of the infestations among school age children, over-the-counter and prescription treatments... | true | lice | The article does a good job of noting the cost of the combing salons, as well as cost of the medicinal shampoos and other drug treatments, specifically noting also that insurance may not cover the costs. The article cites data from a recent review article in a medical journal that outlines the effectiveness (or lack th... |
11303 | Peanuts, peanut butter may hold key to preventing obesity | Carrying a misleading headline, and some not-quite-accurate and confusing descriptions of the study, this news release describes research designed to evaluate the impact on overweight or obese teens of complying with a healthier snacking regimen — one involving peanuts and peanut butter. It could have been markedly str... | false | Academic medical center news release | The release didn’t address costs, but we won’t penalize it because peanuts cost, well, peanuts. That being said, the release could have been improved by the addition of some context about the high costs of eating well, especially in urban food deserts and among families without the time, transport, and resources to buy... |
6782 | Measles epidemic in Madagascar kills more than 900, says WHO. | The World Health Organization says that an epidemic of measles in Madagascar has caused more than 900 deaths. | true | World Health Organization, Madagascar, Immunizations, Health, Measles, Africa, Epidemics | According to WHO figures, there have been more than 68,000 cases of the disease in which 553 deaths were confirmed and another 373 suspected from measles since the outbreak began in September. Those most at risk are infants from nine to 11 months old. The epidemic is blamed on a low immunization rate for measles across... |
9068 | Northwestern Medicine offers new Minimally Invasive Breakthrough Treatment for Enlarged Prostate | This news release was remarkably short on details and long on promise about an apparently new method to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men. Sadly this was a missed opportunity to educate readers about how the surgery was studied and how it compares to the other common methods to treat enlarged prostates — ... | false | Benign prostatic hyperplasia | There was no discussion of the costs of the procedure or the patented system used, nor of the downstream costs associated with recovery from the procedure. There was also no data on how long patients were followed and how many required a repeat intervention–either repeat UroLift or other invasive treatment. This outcom... |
2026 | Anti-abortion group releases more video of Planned Parenthood. | An anti-abortion group released on Friday three more undercover videos, which it said show Planned Parenthood employees helping a man posing as a pimp get abortions and birth control for underage girls. | true | Health News | The footage, said to be filmed in January at Planned Parenthood clinics in Falls Church, Charlottesville and Roanoke, Virginia, is the latest in a series of videos made public by Live Action, a California-based group that opposes abortion. Live Action said in a statement that the videos are evidence Planned Parenthood ... |
10718 | Cutting Edge Healing: Super Bowl Player Gets Help | "Is this news? Or an ad for an uNPRoven, costly idea sold to an uninformed public? This was a very incomplete report on platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy for tendonitis (and maybe other problems?). The story was filled with anecdotes but lacked any data. Viewers were not given any sense of the track record for this ap... | false | "No mention of costs. The New York Times, in a piece also this week (curious: did they both get the same news release, or did ABC just react to the NYT piece or are we to believe this is mere coincidence?) was able to report that ""the procedure costs about $2,000 — compared with $10,000 to $15,000 for surgery."" No e... | |
14037 | "Priorities USA Action Says Donald Trump mocked ""someone with a disability." | "In an ad from Priorities USA Action, parents of a disabled child said Trump ""mocked"" a disabled reporter at a campaign rally. Trump did mimic the man’s oddly angled right hand while flailing his arms and shouting in a strange voice. Disabled people and advocates said the candidate clearly was mocking him. Trump’s ex... | true | Colorado, Disability, Priorities USA Action, | "A super PAC backing Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton has launched a $20 million campaign that accuses her Republican opponent Donald Trump of ""mocking"" a disabled news reporter. The emotionally charged ad focuses on an Ohio couple, Chris and Lauren Glaros, talking about raising their daughter, Grace, w... |
2869 | Almost 40,000 cleared to start using water in West Virginia. | West Virginia officials on Tuesday lifted more of a ban on drinking tap water for customers who had been affected by a chemical spill that left the state’s water supply nearly unusable for hundreds of thousands since last week. | true | Environment | A total of about 38,000 customers can now use tap water, with residents of the Southside, Southridge and George Washington areas near state capital Charleston cleared to drink or wash with their tap water, West Virginia American Water said in statements. Downtown Charleston and nearby Kanawha City were given the go-ahe... |
25979 | Florida state Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen “turned her back on President Trump, refusing to ban sanctuary cities.” | Florida state Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, R-Fort Myers, actually supports banning sanctuary cities. She was absent for a 2018 vote banning sanctuary cities but voted for a sanctuary cities ban in 2019. | false | Florida, Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, | "An ad in a Florida Senate primary race portrays Republican Heather Fitzenhagen as a liberal who ignored an immigration enforcement priority of President Donald Trump. ""Fitzenhagen turned her back on President Trump, refusing to ban sanctuary cities,"" says the narrator. The ad makes a series of other claims about her... |
41086 | US-Patent 5676977 is for AIDS. | This number is for a now-expired patent for an ineffective AIDS cure. | mixture | online | US-Patent 8835624 is for the H1N1 virus. The patent with this number was for a strand of DNA that binds to the H1N1 virus, not the virus itself. US patent number 20120251502 is for Ebola. This application number was for a strain of the Ebola virus but the application has now been abandoned. The virus was not created by... |
9617 | Ovarian cancer blood tests: Available, not widely used | This is a story about the apparent underuse of two blood tests—ROMA and OVA1—that are FDA approved to help clinicians decide whether surgery to investigate abnormal growths should be performed by a gynecologic oncologist (“gyn-onc”) trained to remove malignant ovarian cancer, rather than an obstetrician-gynecologist or... | true | ovarian cancer,screening tests | Costs are mentioned reasonably early in the story, and with specificity. This was good to see. Benefits of these tests are touted, but not quantified. An officer of the National Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance, an advocacy group, testifies that the outcomes of women who have surgery from a gynecologic oncologist ... |
5848 | Health officials concerned about STDs in central Oregon. | A big jump in cases of sexually transmitted diseases in central Oregon is causing concern and testing health agencies with fewer resources, according to health officials across multiple counties. | true | Sexually transmitted diseases, Chlamydia, Health, Oregon, Gonorrhea, Syphilis | Chlamydia cases have been rising since 2010, increasing from 432 cases in Deschutes County a decade ago to 675 last year, The Bulletin newspaper in Bend reported . The number of cases in Crook County has nearly doubled and the number in Jefferson is up 52 percent. Syphilis cases are also on the rise, and gonorrhea diag... |
14769 | More than 60 percent of people in America support Planned Parenthood and only 11 percent approve of Congress. | Richards said that more than 60 percent of people in America support Planned Parenthood, and only 11 percent approve of Congress. Richards had a bead on Congress, which was wallowing in 11-percent approval territory in November 2015. In addition, most polls suggested more than 60 percent of Americans opposed the federa... | true | Abortion, Congress, Texas, Cecile Richards, | "In a Dec. 15, 2015, interview with actress and writer Lena Dunham in Lenny Letter, Dunham’s feminist email newsletter, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards discussed testifying to Congress, running Planned Parenthood in the wake of the shooting in Colorado Springs and her experiences fighting for reproductive ... |
24469 | "A ""massive"" federal computer network will make your medical records available to ""millions of people"" with a ""complete lack of privacy and confidentiality,"" while doctors and hospitals who don't take part face ""stiff penalties." | Seniors' group warns about risks of electronic health records | false | National, Health Care, Technology, Privacy Issues, Senior Citizens League, | "Could Big Brother — or garden-variety snoopers — soon get their hands on your medical data? The Senior Citizens League, a group that boasts 1.2 million members and is affiliated with the Retired Enlisted Association, recently sent out a mailing saying it was possible. According to a copy obtained by the Huffington Pos... |
38824 | A new Facebook Drug Task Force monitors all posts and reports illegal drug activity to authorities. | Facebook Drug Task Force Now Monitoring All Posts | false | Crime / Police | A fake news website is behind the false reports of a new Facebook Drug Task Force. National Report, a website that published fake news stories, reported that the Facebook Drug Task Force would be launched on October 1: Beginning October 1st, Facebook will be implementing a drug task force designed to arrest those who b... |
254 | GSK's two-drug HIV Dovato treatment meets main goal in study. | GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s two-drug HIV regimen Dovato was successful in suppressing the AIDS-causing virus in patients over 48 weeks at the same level of a previous three-drug treatment in a late-stage trial, the drugmaker said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | Dovato, a combination of dolutegravir and lamivudine, was approved in the United States in April for newly-diagnosed patients, boosting the British drugmaker’s prospects against Gilead Sciences Inc, which currently leads the HIV treatment market. Liberium analyst Graham Doyle said the study results will add to the data... |
8731 | Iran coronavirus death toll reaches 26, many Friday prayers canceled. | Iran said on Thursday its death toll from coronavirus had risen to 26, by far the highest number outside China, and the total number of infected people now stood at 245, including several senior officials. | true | Health News | The outbreak prompted authorities to call off Friday prayers in the capitals of 23 of Iran’s 31 provinces, including Tehran and the Shi’ite Muslim holy cities of Qom and Mashhad as well as some other infected areas, state TV reported. Iran’s state news agency IRNA said Iran had banned Chinese citizens from entering. Th... |
12171 | Austin is the safest big city in Texas. | "Adler called Austin the safest big city in Texas. As we’ve said before — and as experts keep stressing — using crime data to declare one city ""safer"" than another is fraught with peril. That said, FBI statistics suggest the five-county Austin region in 2015 had a lower violent-crime rate than other Texas regions. Bu... | mixture | Crime, Texas, Steve Adler, | "Austin Mayor Steve Adler, urging transgender members of the military threatened by President Donald Trump to come to work for the Texas capital’s law enforcement agencies, ran out several tweets including a July 26, 2017, post stating: ""Austin is the safest big city in Texas partly because we know our differences mak... |
9099 | Studies explore the potential benefits of red raspberries | This news release from the National Processed Raspberry Council (NPRC) summarized findings from eight recent studies on the potential health benefits of raspberries. Based on presentations from the 2017 Experimental Biology conference in Chicago, the release described studies that looked at the effects of raspberries o... | mixture | National Processed Raspberry Council (NPRC),raspberries | The news release doesn’t refer to costs. Despite the claim that these studies support future research of red raspberries and their potential to reduce “inflammation, obesity, and type 2 diabetes risk,” none of the study summaries include actual numbers putting the benefits in context. Some of the results were called “s... |
940 | Shaken communities take stock of damage after Southern California quakes. | High desert communities in Southern California on Saturday assessed damage and braced for potentially dangerous aftershocks from a major earthquake that shook buildings, ruptured gas lines and sparked fires near the remote epicenter of the second temblor in as many days. | true | Environment | The powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked the Mojave Desert town of Ridgecrest south of Death Valley National Park as darkness fell on Friday, jolting the area with eight times more force than a 6.4 quake that struck the same area 34 hours earlier. California Governor Gavin Newsom placed the state Office of Emergenc... |
11290 | Hot Chemotherapy Bath: Patients See Hope, Critics Hold Doubts | This story opens readers’ eyes to a debate that flared up before attendees of a recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology – but a debate that most of us wouldn’t know about. The sidebar story, “Some Stealth Marketing by a ‘Hot Chemo’ Company,” was an important addition. This is an important piece of e... | true | New York Times | Good job on this, stating “The cost of the surgery and Hipec, including hospitalization, ranges from $20,000 to more than $100,000, doctors said. While Medicare and insurers generally pay for the operation, the heated treatment may not be covered. But doctors added it may be if it is described merely as chemotherapy.” ... |
30474 | Anna Mae Dickinson survived a variety of infamous tragedies, including the sinking of the Titanic, the Hindenburg explosion, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. | The story about the Anna Mae Dickinson, or “luckiest woman to ever live,” was invented for a 2006 article chiding New Yorkers who felt that it was “too soon” to make a movie about the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. This article, which featured a fictional interview in a non-existen... | false | History, 11 september, grandma moses, hindenburg | A photograph purportedly showing Anna Mae Dickinson, dubbed “the luckiest woman to ever live,” has been making the rounds for several years along with a story about all of the deadly incidents that she was purportedly lucky enough to survive during her lifetime: Anna Mae Dickinson is quite possibly the luckiest woman e... |
33702 | The Swiffer WetJet poses a general danger to dogs and other household pets. | Also, given this message’s similarity to a different, unfounded e-mail warning about another Procter & Gamble product, Febreze, we’d have to consider the possibility that someone with a grudge against Procter & Gamble is maliciously trying to damage the company by deliberately spreading false information about their pr... | false | Critter Country, ASP Article, cats, Crusader Habit | I recently had a neighbor who had to have their 5-year old German Shepherd dog put down due to liver failure. The dog was completely healthy until a few weeks ago, so they had a necropsy done to see what the cause was. The liver levels were unbelievable, as if the dog had ingested poison of some kind. The dog is kept i... |
35710 | British media personality Piers Morgan penned a scathing open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, marking the end of their years-long friendship. | This is a terrifying illustration of how dangerous your rhetoric can be. | true | Politics, COVID-19 | In late May 2020, Snopes readers asked whether a “brutal” open letter written by British media personality Piers Morgan to U.S. President Donald Trump, ending their years-long friendship, was authentic. Morgan’s letter is real and was published on April 27, 2020, by the British tabloid Daily Mail. The letter is scathin... |
10826 | Bone Drug Zometa Flops Overall as Breast Cancer Treatment | This story offered a solid, informative overview of a randomized controlled trial called AZURE—which assessed the benefits and risks of zoledronic acid as a treatment for early stage breast cancer. Its clarity, and cautious interpretation of this clinical trial, make it stand out in comparison with the other story we r... | true | Cancer,HealthDay | We won’t require a discussion of costs in this story because the use of zoledronic acid for early stage breast cancer is still up in the air. However, since the drug is already being sold for other indications, the story would have been better if it had told readers something about the costs of using the drug for appro... |
8901 | Tests of new AIDS gel show promise for women. | A gel that uses a popular HIV drug to protect women from the AIDS virus is safe and acceptable to women, although it is too early to know if it actually prevents infection, researchers reported on Monday. | true | Health News | A researcher archives plasma samples from an HIV clinical trial in a file photo. A gel that uses a popular HIV drug to protect women from the AIDS virus is safe and acceptable to women, although it is too early to know if it actually prevents infection, researchers reported on Monday. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne The gel uses ... |
29169 | "Most states that have legalized marijuana use have subsequently banned marijuana users from owning guns as a ""back-door"" gun control measure." | What's true: Under federal law it is illegal for a marijuana user to buy or possess a firearm, even if that user lives in a state which has legalized marijuana use. What's false: It is not the case that states have been legalizing cannabis use and subsequently legislating to bar cannabis users from owning guns. Rather,... | false | Politics, gun control, marijuana | Several states legalized either recreational or medical marijuana use in 2018, including Vermont, Michigan, Utah, and Missouri. Those measures brought to 10 the number of states where cannabis use has been made legal for recreational purposes (along with the District of Columbia), and 33 states now have full medicinal ... |
4084 | Minesota officials report state’s 1st vaping death. | Minnesota health officials are reporting the state’s first vaping death amid a national outbreak of serious lung illnesses linked to the practice. | true | Health, Lung disease, General News, Minnesota | The state health department says the victim was more than 65 years and had a history of lung disease. State epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield says the state began looking at the case after the patient died and found the lung injury was associated with vaping THC products. THC is the high-inducing component of marijuana, and... |
37536 | "Close-up of U.S. President Donald Trump's coronavirus prepared remarks show he crossed out ""corona"" in ""coronavirus,"" writing ""Chinese"" in its place." | Trump Crosses out ‘Corona’ on Virus Prepared Remarks, Writes ‘Chinese’ | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | "On March 19 2020, a number of tweets purportedly showed a close-up of United States President Donald Trump’s prepared remarks on the progress of a coronavirus pandemic, where he apparently used a marker to cross out the “corona” of “coronavirus” and add “Chinese” in its place:Close up of President @realDonaldTrump not... |
6974 | DuPont to pay $50M over mercury-contaminated Virginia rivers. | Chemical giant DuPont will pay more than $50 million but admit no fault under a proposed environmental settlement after releasing toxic mercury for decades that made its way into Shenandoah Valley waterways, state and federal officials announced Thursday. | true | Water quality, Wildlife, Virginia, Environment, Business, Terry McAuliffe, Waynesboro, U.S. News, Pollution | The deal would resolve alleged violations of civil environmental statutes, including the Clean Water Act, related to the pollution from a company factory in Waynesboro. It would amount to the largest environmental damage settlement in Virginia history and the eighth largest in the nation, officials said. The money woul... |
3225 | Brazil reckons with new oil spill mystery: When will it end?. | Brazilian authorities said on Monday that they have no way of knowing how much more oil will wash ashore the country’s northeastern coast, despite President Jair Bolsonaro’s ominous warning during a Sunday night TV interview that “the worst is yet to come.” | true | Brazil, Environment, Rio de Janeiro, General News, Latin America, Caribbean, Jair Bolsonaro, Oil spills | In the interview, Bolsonaro also stuck to the government’s assertion that a Greek freighter caused the oil spill scattered across beaches along 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) of coastline even after the shipowner’s denial of any leakage from its vessel. “All signs point to this Greek cargo ship. All of them,” he told R... |
8541 | Moscow, in U-turn, to assume all pneumonia patients may have coronavirus. | The city of Moscow’s health department said on Thursday it would begin regarding all pneumonia patients as potential sufferers of the new coronavirus and route them to hospitals accordingly, after doctors raised concerns about the accuracy of tests used to diagnose the virus. | true | Health News | The policy change was made at the request of doctors at hospitals specially designated to treat the new coronavirus, which often causes pneumonia. Tests for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, were producing accurate results only 70%-80% of the time, the doctors said. The policy change is l... |
10684 | Ladies: 5 ways to feel sexy again | Along the way the story engages in some pretty egregious disease-mongering, relies almost exclusively on positive anecdotes instead of data, and manages to avoid quoting anyone with a remotely skeptical view of these therapies. This story is a good example of the problem of reporting on complementary and alternative th... | false | "No information about costs here — significant considering that the therapies discussed have very little evidence to show that they work and will be paid for out of pocket. We can understand why this story was a bit short on data showing the benefits of these treatments, since there really aren’t any. But that’s no exc... | |
16480 | "Mike Wise Says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell interviewed domestic abuse victim Janay Rice with Ray Rice present and for ""every domestic violence agency, every law enforcement agency, that’s a no-no." | "Wise has a problem with Goodell meeting with Ray and Janay Rice together as Goodell sought information about the February elevator incident and aftermath that would inform Rice’s discipline by the league. First, there’s little debate that the meeting occurred, as it has been widely reported and not challenged by the N... | true | Criminal Justice, Sports, PunditFact, Mike Wise, | "The Sunday news shows broke from their usual coverage of Washington’s inner-workings to examine another institution fraught with controversy: the National Football League. The heat is on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for his discipline of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who was shown in a video leaked ... |
25763 | Facebook post Says Kamala Harris wants to eliminate beef. | Kamala Harris co-sponsored a bill to protect workers at meatpacking plants from the spread of COVID-19. Harris said the government should offer incentives and dietary guidelines to reduce the consumption of meat, but she didn’t say she wants to eliminate beef altogether. | false | Agriculture, National, California, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Hundreds of Facebook users have shared a post that says that Kamala Harris, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s running mate, wants to put an end to beef production. The post shows a picture of meat and claims that the California senator worked with Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey to go after animal a... |
23716 | "He has ""ushered in $3 billion in new investment." | Cicilline says he ushered in $3 billion in Providence development | false | Rhode Island, Candidate Biography, Economy, David Cicilline, | "Rome wasn't built in a day. But Providence was built in just a few short years. By one man. Or so Mayor David Cicilline would like you to think. Since he launched his campaign for Congress, the Providence Democrat, who took office in 2003, has repeatedly taken credit for billions in economic development throughout the... |
9133 | Online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is effective for military | When claiming something is “effective” always have back-up. Researchers at the University of North Texas announced that cognitive behavioral training for insomnia (CBTi) delivered through the internet was more helpful than no CBTi for military personnel, but that in-person therapy was better than both, according to a s... | mixture | cognitive behavioral therapy,insomnia,University of North Texas | Obviously there are likely major differences in costs associated with in-person CBTi versus internet-delivered CBTi so it is unfortunate these were not discussed in this release. The only mention of cost was that of the $1.16 million grant the University received for the 6-week study. There were numbers to back up the ... |
3947 | Flu hospitalizations spike across Wisconsin with 11 deaths . | Wisconsin health officials are urging people to protect themselves as flu numbers spike across the state. | true | Madison, Wisconsin, Health, Flu, Infectious diseases | The Department of Health Services reported Friday that Wisconsin has seen 459 hospitalizations and 11 deaths due to flu complications this season. The number of hospitalizations is three times higher than last year at this time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has elevated Wisconsin to its high flu categ... |
3427 | Oklahoma AG calls company ‘kingpin’ in state’s opioid crisis. | Consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson was a “kingpin” company that helped fuel the most devastating public health crisis in Oklahoma history, the state attorney general argued Monday during the close of his case against the opioid drug manufacturer. | true | Chronic pain, Norman, Opioids, Health, General News, Marketing campaigns, Business, U.S. News, Oklahoma | Mike Hunter said the New Jersey-based company and its subsidiaries, including Janssen Pharmaceuticals, created a public nuisance by launching a “cunning, cynical and deceitful” marketing campaign that overstated the benefits of opioid drugs for treating chronic pain and understated the risk of addiction. “There was a s... |
33449 | Maternal figures were typically absent in Walt Disney's animated films because he felt responsible for his own mother's death. | Fourteen non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including Amnesty and Global Witness have opposed plans by the London Metal Exchange to ban cobalt tainted by human rights abuses, a letter seen by Reuters showed. | false | Disney, Walt Disney | Cobalt is a key ingredient in the batteries that power electric vehicles, a fast-growing sector of the auto industry, and in metal alloys used to make jet engines. It was singled out in LME proposals to embed responsible sourcing principles into metal brands deliverable against its contracts, which include copper and z... |
9268 | Study paves way for steroid treatments with fewer side effects | Adrenal gland disorders such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia are controlled by steroid treatments, usually cortisol, which can lead to weight gain, high blood pressure and diabetes. Researchers here are testing another of the body’s steroids, corticosterone, and find in basic studies that it may avoid some of those s... | mixture | steroid treatment,University of Edinburgh' | Although this is basic research at the moment, the study does compare health outcomes between corticosterone and an existing treatment. It could well have also offered a preliminary cost assessment. The release does a brief but nice job of explaining the effects of corticosterone on fat cells. We would have liked to ha... |
9933 | Doctors Test Ways to Grow Knee Cartilage | The article describes two potential treatments for knee problems: using stem cells donated from bone marrow to re-grow cartilage pads and using cartilage plugs, approved for use in bone, to fill in gaps in cartilage. The story does a good job of describing the evidence (either an ongoing clinical trial using stem cells... | true | Costs of either new treatment approach are not discussed, nor whether they might be covered by insurance. Since the first-ever clinical trial of stem cells to regrow cartilage pads is ongoing, benefits cannot be quantified. A similar challenge in reporting benefits of cartilage plugs is that this approach doesn’t appea... | |
7148 | Lawsuit challenges Vail development in bighorn sheep habitat. | Vail residents fighting to protect habitat for a beleaguered herd of bighorn sheep as developers push to build housing for resort workers have taken their case to state court. | true | Sheep, Environment, Vail, Lawsuits, Financial markets | A lawsuit filed this week in Eagle County District Court contends Vail town officials violated local rules when they approved a Triumph Development project to build high-density worker housing along Interstate 70 where the bighorns forage during winter. The residents also argue that a Vail Resorts employee on the local... |
69 | Merck wins European approval for first-ever Ebola vaccine. | U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co Inc on Monday received approval from the European Commission to market (bit.ly/2NZ0QMB) its Ebola vaccine, less than a month after a European medicines panel backed the first-ever vaccine against the deadly virus. | true | Health News | The vaccine, Ervebo, is approved for individuals aged 18 years and older and has already been used under emergency guidelines to try to protect against the spread of a deadly Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo. The shot is also being reviewed by U.S. health regulators and a decision is expected in the first... |
37715 | This is Brian. Brian is an Antifa street rioter. Brian has an allergy. Brian is allergic to hitting a woman in front of a REAL MAN. Don't be like Brian. | A Facebook post claiming a man with a black eye was “Brian,” an “antifa street rioter” who was justly harmed for “hitting a woman” in the presence of a “real man” was composed of lies from start to finish. The man’s name was not Brian, it was Devin Norman. Norman was never accused of “hitting a woman,” rather, he was i... | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | On July 6 2020, Facebook user John Sargent shared the following image, which he claimed showed an “antifa street rioter” named Brian — heavily implying that “Brian’s” injuries were from receiving a righteous beatdown after he “hit a woman”:The ClaimSargent wrote:This is Brian. Brian is an Antifa street rioter. Brian ha... |
35090 | The phone number 1-866-211-9966 connects callers with the United Way's COVID-19 Community Economic Relief Fund. | What's true: The displayed phone number is a valid one related to the United Way of Central Indiana's COVID-19 fund. What's false: The assistance connected with that phone number is local to a particular region of the U.S. and is not available to persons residing outside the Indianapolis area. | mixture | Politics, COVID-19 | In mid-March 2020, amidst the economic dislocation created by the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic, a message popular on social media offered a handy phone number persons needing help with bills, rent, and food could call to connect them with a United Way COVID-19 Community Economic Relief Fund: In case anyone ne... |
25790 | “Central Park actually used to be a town called Seneca Village” founded by African Americans in 1825. | Seneca Village was located in what later became Central Park, and many of the earliest residents were African Americans. The village was evicted through eminent domain before the park was built. It’s worth noting that Irish and German immigrants were also residents of Seneca Village and that Seneca Village only account... | true | History, Race and Ethnicity, New York, TikTok posts, | "A viral TikTok post says New York City’s Central Park once was a town called Seneca Village. The video, which was later removed from the platform, boasted over 3 million views. It’s preserved in this tweet. In the video, TikTok user Hannah Stater said in part, ""Central Park actually used to be a town called Seneca Vi... |
39629 | This is a photograph of a letter from C. Dennis Packee of Reiman’s Harley-Davidson in Kewanee, Ill., to Christopher and Jamie Walters. The letter explains that Reiman’s will store the Walters’ motorcycles at no charge. It is their way of saying thank you to military members on deployment. | The world’s first Ebola vaccine was recommended for approval by European drugs regulators on Friday in a move hailed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “triumph for public health” that would save many lives. | true | Military, Miscellaneous | The vaccine, developed by U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co, is already being used under emergency guidelines to try to protect people against the spread of a deadly Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo. It protects against the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus - the one that most commonly causes outbreaks. The shot is... |
11069 | Schering-Plough reports data on hepatitis C drug | "This story reports on preliminary results suggesting that the protease inhibitor, boceprevir, reduced viral loads in hepatitis C patients who were previously unresponsive to other drug therapies. However, this piece does not tell the reader much about the study methods, specifically, that boceprevir was administered a... | mixture | "Since this drug is not yet available, we can understand that cost information was not included. But since the story points out that Merck is acquiring boceprevir for $41.1 billion, couldn’t it at least have mentioned the high cost of current hepatitis C treatment, as well as the high cost of its complications? The st... | |
11120 | Low-dose combination of Avandia and metformin decreases progression to diabetes by two-thirds with few side effects | A well-constructed, balanced story that was missing just one piece of information: cost. Had the article discussed the price tag of this approach, it would’ve aced our criteria. Type 2 diabetes represents a significant public health problem that is now reaching epidemic proportions in many countries. Although lifestyle... | true | "Costs and the cost-effectiveness of this strategy are not discussed. Any discussion of a preventive strategy should include comments on cost. Avandia and metformin, at the doses used in the study, cost about $195 a month, according to drugstore.com. We get absolute benefits, relative benefits, and the all-important nu... | |
29344 | Peanut butter can be used to diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease. | What's true: A preliminary and limited study demonstrated a correlation between the early stages of Alzheimer’s and the reduced ability to detect odor in a person’s left nostril compared to their right, utilizing peanut butter as the source of odor. What's false: This study, which was published in 2013 and had a sample... | false | Medical, alzheimer's, david avocado wolfe, peanut butter | On 7 December 2016, celebrity spokesperson for the United States’ number-one selling kitchen appliance David “Avocado” Wolfe (who believes, among other things, that the oceans contain salt to prevent water from levitating away from the planet’s surface) published an article titled “Here’s How You Can Use Peanut Butter ... |
41041 | Covid-19 starts with a sore throat lasting 3-4 days. It then blends into a nasal fluid that enters the trachea and the lungs, causing pneumonia, which takes about 5 or 6 days. With pneumonia comes high fever and difficulty breathing. The nasal congestion makes you feel like you’re drowning. | This is a roughly accurate description of the most common symptoms, although not everyone with Covid-19 gets pneumonia. The symptoms may not come in this order or at these times. There have been no reports of sufferers experiencing nasal congestion that makes them feel they are drowning. | unproven | online | If you have a runny nose and sputum, you have a common cold. These are the symptoms for the common cold, but they don’t rule out Covid-19. 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. The... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.