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8770 | Canada says 12 dead in food poisoning outbreak. | Twelve people have now died out of 26 confirmed cases of food poisoning linked to deli meats produced at a plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods Inc, Canadian health officials said Monday. | true | Health News | Maple Leaf Foods President and CEO Michael McCain addresses shareholders at the company's annual general meeting in Toronto April 26, 2006. Canadian health officials said on Monday 12 people have died out of 26 confirmed cases of listeriosis, a food poisoning that genetic tests linked to prepared meats from a Toronto p... |
11450 | Cigarettes, coffee may lower Parkinson’s risk | This story attempted to provide a synopsis of the results of a study that examined whether smoking, caffeine consumption and the use of common pain medications might reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. The story fails to describe the strength of the evidence: a retrospective case-control study cannot pro... | false | "Costs not mentioned, but these are common knowledge. The story provided no quantitative estimate of the beneficial effect cigarettes or caffeinated coffee consumption were found to have in the study. This is particuarly important where the seemingly beneficial effect on this one disease must be weighed against known h... | |
12885 | Spending more taxpayer money on VISIT FL (or less) has not demonstrated a direct impact on tourism. | Corcoran said spending money on Visit Florida doesn’t have a direct impact on the tourism. He has an historical point that spending increases don't always bring more visitors, but that neglects a primary objective of marketing tourism — getting people to spend more money when they’re here. The amount of money visitors ... | mixture | State Budget, Tourism, Florida, Richard Corcoran, | "Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran is throwing sand on the state’s primary tourism agency, one of Gov. Rick Scott’s most prized possessions. Year after year, Scott has called on the Legislature to boost Visit Florida’s budget to bring in more tourists, and this year was no different. Scott asked for $76 million in... |
28274 | An X-ray shows hundreds of bubble tea pearls inside a teenage girl's stomach. | Kashnir added: “I would reassure readers that 1-2 glasses of bubble tea are perfectly safe.” | mixture | Fauxtography | In June 2019, an X-ray image supposedly showing hundreds of bubble tea pearls in a 14-year-old girl started circulating on social media: Bubble tea, also known as boba, is a Taiwanese tea-based drink filled with chewy “pearls” that are typically made from tapioca. The above-displayed image supposedly revealed hundreds... |
2261 | UK panel says new three-parent IVF technique now safe for 'cautious use'. | A three-parent IVF technique designed to reduce the risk of mothers passing hereditary diseases to their babies is safe enough to be offered to patients in special circumstances, a British expert review panel said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | Britain’s parliament last year voted to change the law to allow the three-parent in-vitro-fertilisation (IVF) technique known as mitochondrial transfer, which doctors say could help prevent incurable inherited diseases. The technique involves intervening in the fertilisation process to remove mitochondria, which act as... |
11012 | Multivitamin and prostate cancer link studied | The story reports new findings which suggest a link between heavy multivitamin usage (defined as more than 7 doses per week) and advanced types of prostate cancer. The story makes it clear that the new findings don't prove this link because of the study design (observational vs. randomized controlled trial). Other crit... | true | "The story does not mention costs of multivitamins, but it's safe to assume this is common knowledge. The story provides absolute rates of excess numbers of deaths expected with heavy vitamin use. If treatment is considered to be heavy multivitamin use, harms associated with this treatment are discussed, namely an incr... | |
27472 | The Department of Health and Human Services has scheduled web site maintenance for Healthcare.gov on most Sundays during Obamacare open enrollment. | According to the United States Digital Service, which is part of the Executive Office of the President, the Healthcare.gov web site was online 99.9% of the time during the 2015 and 2016 open enrollment periods, which were themselves twice as long as the upcoming open enrollment period. | true | Politics, affordable care act, donald trump, health and human services | In September 2017, numerous news accounts reported that the Healthcare.gov web site was scheduled to be shut down for maintenance on several occasions during the 2018 “Obamacare” health insurance open enrollment period, which runs from 1 November to 15 December 2017, prompting queries to us from readers about the issue... |
9027 | HETLIOZ® (tasimelteon) Demonstrates Efficacy to Treat Jet Lag Disorder in an 8 Hour Phase Advance Clinical Study | This drug company news release describes positive results of a clinical trial of tasimelteon, a melatonin receptor agonist, to treat jet lag in long-distance — especially eastward going — flyers across multiple time zones. The trial of 318 healthy volunteers in a sleep lab, the release states, showed “significant and c... | false | jet lag,tasimelteon,Vanda Pharmaceuticals | Hetlioz currently costs an estimated $280 per capsule or $102,000 a year for the blind and a relatively few non-blind who use it to treat a rare circadian rhythm disturbance. Cost is a significant data point in any story promoting a drug’s benefits, especially if the benefits are relatively modest. The release offered ... |
14662 | "As part of legislative fights over abortion rights, ""Mike Coffman co-sponsored a bill to redefine rape." | "Emily’s List said that Coffman ""co-sponsored a bill to redefine rape."" The record shows Coffman did co-sponsor the bill to redefine a ban on federal funding for abortions to exempt ""forcible rape."" Yet he later voted on the floor for an amended version that had removed the ""forcible"" modifier from the bill. Give... | true | Abortion, Colorado, Corrections and Updates, Criminal Justice, Crime, Women, EMILY's List, | "Emily's List is stoking the abortion debate in Colorado's 6th Congressional District race with a fundraising email saying Republican incumbent Mike Coffman ""co-sponsored a bill to redefine rape."" Emily's List -- a political organization that supports the election of Democratic women who support abortion rights -- ha... |
35316 | A photograph shows four Asian giant hornets barely fitting on the palm of someone's hand. | Henderson noted in the comments that these bugs were all deceased (she acquired the bugs from a website called Insect-Sale) and that queen Japanese giant hornets, a colored variant of the Asian giant hornet, were 40-45 millimeters long (approximately 1.75 inches). | true | Critter Country | In May 2020, The New York Times reported that Asian giant hornets, often referred to as “murder hornets,” had been spotted for the first time in the United States. This was not welcome news, and social media sites quickly filled up with alarming images of these large insects. One such photograph supposedly showed four ... |
15014 | "Planned Parenthood is ""nothing more than a referral service. … They don’t do anything except profit from killing babies and then selling body parts of those aborted babies." | "Patrick said Planned Parenthood is ""nothing more than a referral service. … They don’t do anything except profit from killing babies and then selling body parts of those aborted babies."" To the contrary, Planned Parenthood provides family planning and other women’s health services, including abortions and there’s be... | false | Abortion, Health Care, Public Health, State Budget, Texas, Dan Patrick, | "Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a nationally broadcast interview that Planned Parenthood does little more than profit from killing babies. Patrick, a Republican, appeared Oct. 19, 2015, on ""Your World with Neil Cavuto,"" a Fox News program. That was the day a Texas state official moved to cut off $3.1 million in a... |
8903 | Lilly Anti-Clotting Drug Gets U.S. Priority Review. | U.S. regulators have granted priority review to a closely watched drug for preventing blood clots being developed by Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) and Daiichi Sankyo (4568.T), the companies said on Thursday. | true | Health News | The pill is widely considered the most important experimental medicine in Lilly’s pipeline, and its shares rose nearly 3 percent on the news. A priority review means the Food and Drug Administration likely will decide within six months whether to approve the drug, known generically as prasugrel, rather than the usual 1... |
23064 | "Lizbeth Benacquisto's supporters ""would make (abortion) illegal in all cases, including rape, incest, even to save a woman's life." | "Kevin Rader says ""extremist"" supporters of his opponent would make abortion illegal in all cases" | true | Abortion, Message Machine 2010, Women, Florida, Kevin Rader, | "In stark, black-and-white montages of tear-streaked female faces, District 27 state senate hopeful Kevin Rader blasts his Republican opponent in a campaign ad for her anti-abortion views. Rader, a Democrat and state House member, accuses Republican Lizbeth Benacquisto of strongly opposing abortion and having ties to e... |
16553 | Cory Gardner is sponsoring a bill to ban all abortions right now. | "The DSCC said Gardner ""is sponsoring a bill to ban all abortions right now."" The claim is based on Gardner’s cosponsorship of a bill that grants a fetus the same rights as a person from the moment of fertilization. It’s clear that such personhood bills are anti-abortion measures, but there’s a lot of uncertainty in ... | mixture | Abortion, National, Message Machine 2014, Women, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, | "Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who’s running to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, is finding his stance on abortion targeted by another Democratic attack ad. We previously rated a Udall claim that Gardner ""championed"" an effort to ban birth control in Colorado as . The latest 30-second spot, aired by the Democratic Se... |
9201 | New MRI method aids long-term concussion prognosis | This news release from the University of California – San Francisco (UCSF) describes how functional MRI (fMRI) could be a predictive tool for physicians in determining a patient’s prognosis after a concussion. Researchers scanned the brains of 75 patients aged 18 to 55 to assess the connectivity of certain neural netwo... | false | concussion,MRI,University of California-SanFrancisco | Medical imaging studies are known to be expensive, and MRIs are no exception. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a relatively new procedure that uses MRI techniques to measure metabolic changes in an active part of the brain. MRIs focus on a body part’s anatomical structure, while fMRIs mainly concentrate ... |
9310 | CURE FOR CANCER? FDA ANNOUNCES NEW AGGRESSIVE DRUG ATTACKING ORIGINATING GENES | This story is based on an FDA news release announcing the approval of a drug to treat cancer that springs from an abnormality called neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase, or NTRK, gene fusion. The story accurately reports that Vitrakvi (larotrectinib) is the second drug approved for use based on a tumor biomarker, rat... | false | cancer,precision medicine | Surprise — or at least it will be to readers of this Newsweek story: The list price of the drug is nearly $400,000 a year, as a more complete story in Forbes reported. The company marketing the drug said it will help patients pay their share of the cost. The headline calls this drug “aggressive.” But the story doesn’t ... |
11393 | Acupuncture and Alexander Technique ease chronic neck pain better than usual care | This news release describes the outcome of a study on two alternative therapies — acupuncture, a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that involves placing thin needles in specific points of the body, and the Alexander Technique, which teaches people how to improve their posture and movement habits in an effort t... | mixture | Journal news release,Pain management | The news release does not mention the costs of either acupuncture or the Alexander Technique. This is important to include since both therapies probably require the patient to pay out of pocket, at least in the United States. A quick web search found that the median cost of an acupuncture session nationwide is $100. A... |
28286 | Family relatives of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder own property used as an abortion clinic. | What's true: Holder's wife and sister-in-law are co-trustees of a family trust which includes a property at 6210 Old National Highway in College Park, Georgia, which since the 2000s has been the location of a clinic that performs abortions. What's false: Holder's wife and sister-in-law are only the trustees of the trus... | mixture | Politics | In the spring of 2019, an old meme re-emerged on social media claiming that Eric Holder, who served as U.S. Attorney General during the Obama administration, and his wife Sharon Malone Holder “own abortion clinics.” On 2 April, a Facebook user posted a widely-shared meme that featured a photograph of the couple along w... |
9250 | For women, caffeine could be ally in warding off dementia | This news release, promoting research findings published in the peer-reviewed Journals of Gerontology: Series A, describes what researchers from the University of Wisconsin conclude is a significant positive relationship in older women between reduced odds of getting some form of dementia and consuming the amount of ca... | mixture | caffeine,dementia,Oxford University Press USA | Caffeine is already ubiquitous and people consume it daily in coffee, tea, sodas and supplements. A discussion of costs isn’t necessary. The release states that among older women in a large study, “self-reported caffeine consumption of more than 261 mg per day was associated with a 36 percent reduction in the risk of i... |
25890 | No U.S. presidents elected before Donald Trump were racist. | Historians agree that many presidents in the past either had racist beliefs, implemented racist policies, or both. Donald Trump has made multiple racist or offensive statements. | false | History, Race and Ethnicity, Joe Biden, | "At a town hall meeting, a home care provider spoke to former Vice President Joe Biden about racist rhetoric targeting Asian Americans during the pandemic. Biden responded by leaning into racism allegations against President Donald Trump. ""We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, they’ve tried to get elected president.... |
5716 | Salina center’s therapy dogs help manage mental health. | Whenever Jackie Casteel has difficulty dealing with her depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, she knows she can rely on the comforting paw of a four-legged therapist named Louise. | true | Health, Salina, Dogs, Mental health | Louise, a black English Labrador, doesn’t ask anything of Casteel except to provide a warm lap to sit in or a ball to chase across the room. For Casteel, it’s about the best therapy she’s ever had. ″(Louise) calms me down,” said Casteel, who lives in the Manhattan area. “She’ll play with you, she’ll sit with you. She k... |
10988 | FDA Rejects Health Claim for Green Tea | This article reported on the the FDA’s rejection of a petition to allow sellers of green tea to legally claim that it reduces the risk of heart disease. Although green tea has become more popular during the last decade, there is insufficient evidence to support the contention that green tea is beneficial in terms of he... | mixture | The article did not contain any reference to the cost of green tea. The article reported that the FDA found no evidence of heart disease benefit associated with consumption of green tea. This article reports that consumption of green tea is not an effective means for reducing risk of heart disease. However, it failed t... | |
3973 | Chronic wasting confirmed in a captive elk in Clark County. | South Dakota’s state veterinarian says chronic wasting disease has been confirmed in a captive elk in Clark County. | true | Health, South Dakota, Animal health | Dustin Oedekoven said Wednesday the owner of the 21-month-old female elk noticed the animal was sick and contacted his veterinarian. The USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, later confirmed samples tested positive for the disease. Chronic wasting disease is endemic in free-ranging deer and elk ... |
10206 | The Downside of a Cancer Study Extolling CT Scans | These were some of the special elements of this column: Putting “downsides” in the headline – a rarity in a screening story. Giving the number needed to screen of 300 – that 300 needed to be screened in order to extend just one life – and putting that in the third sentence of the story. Seeking and including quotes fr... | true | Cancer,New York Times,Screening | Good job on this. The story stated: However, it could have also included at least a line about the costs of following testing and possible treatment of false positives. Excellent. The story put the important number needed to screen in the third sentence of the story: “A major government study found the screening scans... |
36771 | Facebook removed a “Little Timmy Salutes the Flag” photo of a boy saluting the American flag because some groups reported it as “offensive.” | Chinese health authorities on Thursday reported a fresh case of bubonic plague in the country’s northern Inner Mongolia region, bringing the total number of plague cases to four since the beginning of the month. | false | Politics | A rural herder in Siziwang county was diagnosed with the disease in a local hospital, according to a statement released by the Inner Mongolian health commission. Prior to the diagnosis the herder had been active in an area where plague sources had been identified, it said. The person is in a stable condition after trea... |
9070 | Scientists make significant breakthrough on superbug-killing antibiotic teixobactin | New antibiotics are desperately needed, but an advance in the synthesis of a new antibiotic should not be called a breakthrough when the drug has yet to be tested in people. This release neglects to tell readers that all the claims are based on only laboratory tests. There is little acknowledgment of the uncertainties ... | false | antibiotic,MRSA,teixobactin,University of Lincoln | A key point of the release is that the researchers have developed a form of the teixobactin antibiotic that could be commercially viable. This statement implies that they made some rough calculations of the potential cost of manufacturing the drug. Even though it may be too early to guess at a market price (which depen... |
3700 | China investigates respiratory illness outbreak sickening 27. | Chinese experts are investigating an outbreak of respiratory illness in the central city of Wuhan that some have likened to the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic. | true | Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Epidemics, General News, Wuhan, International News, China, Asia Pacific, Health | The city’s health commission said in a statement Tuesday that 27 people had fallen ill with a strain of viral pneumonia, seven of whom were in serious condition. It said most had visited a seafood market in the sprawling city, apparently pointing to a common origin of the outbreak. Unverified information online said th... |
9403 | ANTIDEPRESSANTS DO WORK, AND MANY MORE PEOPLE SHOULD TAKE THEM: MAJOR INTERNATIONAL STUDY | This Newsweek story covers an analysis of the best available trial data to attain a high-level assessment of 21 antidepressant medications. The story gives good context about how prevalent depression is and how many people go without treatment of any kind, and reminds us that psychotherapy is also a viable treatment. A... | false | Lancet,Newsweek | Without mentioning any numbers, the story does say that the costs of antidepressant drugs tend to be lower than the other major treatment approach for depression, which is talk therapy. The story would have been stronger with cost data. For example, the four drugs found most effective in the analysis– mirtazapine, esc... |
18012 | "Ken Cuccinelli Says Terry McAuliffe is ""the person who invented the scheme to rent out the Lincoln Bedroom." | In the halls of MD Anderson Cancer Center, the drug Vitrakvi is known for having a “Lazarus effect” in some patients because it can reverse late-stage cancer that has defied all other treatment options. | false | Campaign Finance, Ethics, History, Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli, | Developed by Eli Lilly and Co’s (LLY.N) Loxo Oncology and marketed by German drugmaker Bayer (BAYGn.DE), it fights a rare genetic mutation that appears in less than 1% of solid tumors, regardless of where they appear in the body. Finding those patients will require widespread adoption of sophisticated tests that look f... |
7474 | Outbreak at German slaughterhouse reveals migrants’ plight. | Big white trailers adorned with pictures of juicy roasts and the wholesome slogan “Straight from the farmer” sit idle in northwestern Germany, their usual pork hauls disrupted by a coronavirus outbreak at one of the country’s biggest meat processing companies that has put the industry in the spotlight. | true | Understanding the Outbreak, International News, General News, Eastern Europe, Health, Business, Germany, Pandemics, Virus Outbreak, Europe, Meat processing | At least 260 workers at Westfleisch’s slaughterhouse in the city of of Coesfeld have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, causing alarm at a time when the country is trying to slowly relax the restrictions that were imposed to curb the pandemic. As authorities scrambled to contain the growing outbreak over the ... |
9211 | Vaccine shows promising results for early-stage breast cancer patients | This news release covers a randomized trial of 54 women with early-stage breast tumors that studied the safety and efficacy of a vaccine that uses messenger cells in the immune system, called dendritic cells, to target a protein on cancer cells. The study’s main goal was to compare the safety and immune responses using... | false | DCIS,Ductal Carcinoma In Situ,Moffitt Cancer Center,vaccine | There’s no mention of how much this treatment costs. The news release states that “approximately 80% of evaluable patients had a detectable immune response in their peripheral blood and/or in their sentinel lymph node wherein their cancer is most likely to spread to first.” It also states that 13 patients achieved an a... |
7156 | Updated deer regulations aim to halt chronic wasting disease. | Hunters are prohibited from bringing whole carcasses of deer, elk, moose or caribou into New York state under new regulations aimed at stopping the spread of chronic wasting disease. | true | Environment, New York, General News, Deer, Moose | State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos says chronic wasting disease hasn’t spread to New York yet and regulatory changes that took effect this week are aimed at keeping the disease out of the state. Under the regulations, hunters can bring only certain parts of deer and related species... |
22597 | Tom DeLay Says Travis County, home to Austin, is the most liberal county in the United States. | Tom DeLay calls Travis County, home to Austin, the most liberal county in the land | false | Polls and Public Opinion, Texas, Tom DeLay, | "Questioning his Travis County conviction for laundering corporate money to help GOP Texas House candidates, Tom DeLay reminded NBC-TV’s ""Today"" show Jan. 13 that his trial took place on Republican-unfriendly turf. Asked by NBC’s Matt Lauer about the jury’s motivation, DeLay replied: ""Well, first of all, I was trie... |
36753 | A message circulating across social media, discussion forums and forwarded emails warns that while Americans were distracted by “Russian Spy Drama,” bills have been introduced to abolish the EPA, the Department of Education and public education, repeal the Affordable Care Act, criminalize abortion, and mobilize agains... | Heads Up: Bills Introduced While Americans Were Distracted by 'Russian Spy Drama' | mixture | Government, Politics | This warning about legislation introduced during the 115th Congress while most most Americans were “too sidetracked by the Russian spy drama” or accusations that President Obama wire tapped Trump Tower are a combination of truth and fiction. It’s not clear where the warning originated, but it had been widely circulated... |
14541 | When Republican extremists tried to take away abortion rights … Blake Rocap stopped them. | "Rocap said in a voter mailer: ""When Republican extremists tried to take away abortion rights… Blake Rocap stopped them."" Rocap ranks among Texas ""pro-choice"" advocates who battled and sometimes derailed Republican moves pitched as reducing the prevalence of abortion. But Republicans also ultimately passed multiple... | false | Abortion, Candidate Biography, Texas, Blake Rocap, | "A Democratic aspirant for the Texas House seat to be relinquished by Elliott Naishtat of Austin presents himself as so much of a legislative pro, he stopped extremists from taking abortion rights. A Blake Rocap mailer presents this message: ""When Republican extremists tried to take away abortion rights … Blake Rocap ... |
33760 | "During a 1955 speech at West Point, General Douglas MacArthur told assembled cadets: ""The next war will be an interplanetary war. The nations of the earth must someday make a common front against attack by people from other planets." | So, General Douglas MacArthur did suggest the notion of an eventual interplanetary war on at least a couple of occasions; one of them was in 1955, and one of them was during a speech at West Point. But he never stated it would be the “next war” fought on (or by) Earth, or that it was likely to happen in any timeframe o... | false | Questionable Quotes | This item is a difficult one to classify: It’s literally false as worded, because the person named didn’t speak the specific words attributed to him at the time and place claimed (or at any other time and place). However, by combining things the same person said at different times and places, one could come up with a r... |
3204 | English Channel dolphins carry ‘toxic cocktail’ of chemicals. | Bottlenose dolphins in the English Channel harbor a “toxic cocktail” of chemicals, some of which have been banned for decades and which may be harming the rare marine mammals’ health, scientists said Thursday. | true | Cocktails, English Channel, International News, General News, Environment, Health, Science, Europe, Harbors, Dolphins | Belgian and French scientists said they’ve detected high accumulations of industrial fluids and mercury in the blubber and skin of dolphins in the Normanno-Breton Gulf, off the northwest coast of France. Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers said they measured levels of pollutants similar to those ... |
2533 | Mars had the right stuff for life, scientists find. | Seven months after NASA’s rover Curiosity landed on Mars to assess if the planet most like Earth had the ingredients for life, scientists have their answer: Yes. | true | Science News | Analysis of powdered samples drilled out from inside an ancient and once water-soaked rock at the rover’s Gale Crater landing site show clays, sulfates and other minerals that are all key to life, scientists told reporters at NASA headquarters in Washington and on a conference call on Tuesday. The water that once flowe... |
29467 | President Obama is giving Mexico $75 million to build a wall on their southern border. | Members of the Sackler family behind OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP have asked a judge to toss a lawsuit by the Massachusetts attorney general that claims they helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic, arguing it contains “misleading and inflammatory allegations.” | false | Politics Immigration, barack obama, immigration, mexico | The wealthy family in a motion on Monday argued that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s lawsuit mischaracterized internal records to create the “false impression” they personally directed privately-held Purdue’s marketing of painkillers. Her lawsuit, filed in June in Suffolk County Superior Court and revised... |
6251 | North Carolina county reports 19 cases of hepatitis A. | Health officials in a North Carolina county are reporting 19 cases of hepatitis A, adding that there have been no deaths so far. | true | Health, Winston-Salem, General News, North Carolina, Hepatitis | The Winston-Salem Journal reports the Forsyth County Health Department says the source of the outbreak is among people who inject illegal drugs and other substances and share needles, homeless and transient people. It is usually transmitted person-to-person and spreads when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from o... |
26350 | Facebook post Says the current survival rate for COVID-19 in the U.S. is “98.54%” | The current COVID-19 survival rate in the U.S. isn’t 98.54%, as one Facebook post claims. In an ongoing pandemic the numbers continue to change. Mortality rates can serve as snapshots into the disease but data is incomplete and reporting practices vary. Survival rates also vary widely when broken down by demographics, ... | mixture | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "An unsourced but seemingly optimistic statistic on the survival rate of the novel coronavirus in the United States is making a splash on Facebook. ""Current survival rate for COVID19 in the US is 98.54%. Let’s share this story. Positive vs. Panic,"" it reads. The post, which was shared in mid-April, was flagged as par... |
894 | Congo minister's resignation over Ebola snub could unblock new vaccine. | Congo’s health minister resigned on Monday after being stripped of responsibility for managing the country’s Ebola outbreak, potentially paving the way for the introduction of a second vaccine to contain the spreading epidemic. | true | Health News | Oly Ilunga has overseen Democratic Republic of Congo’s near year-long response to what is the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. It has killed more than 1,700 and been declared an international health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). President Felix Tshisekedi on Saturday appointed a team led ... |
2439 | Mississippi blues: The cost of rejecting Medicaid expansion. | As Americans across the nation begin to find out what Obamacare has in store for them, many of Mississippi’s most needy will find out the answer is nothing. | true | Health News | That is likely the case for William and Leslie Johnson of Jackson County, since the state decided not to expand the Medicaid program for the poor under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. As a result, nearly 300,000 adults there will fall through the cracks of healthcare reform. Many are the working poor - tr... |
37960 | An image purportedly showing a petri dish of bacteria grown after swabbing a mask worn by a child for twenty minutes proves that face masks are a health risk. | In September 2020, an unsourced image purportedly depicting “bacteria grown in a petri dish,” “from a swab taken from the inside of a mask after 20 minutes of use by a child” spread like wildfire across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Throughout 2020, medical experts and scientists repeatedly debunked similar claims.... | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | In late September 2020, the following image began circulating on social media, purporting to show what sort of bacteria can be cultured in a petri dish after a face mask was worn by a child for twenty minutes, then swabbed:This is #bacteria grown in a #PetriDish from a swab taken from the inside of a #mask after 20 min... |
26396 | “We’re also using a sterilization process ― some great equipment that will sterilize masks up to 20 times per mask. So that’s like ordering 20 times more masks.” | The FDA granted emergency authorization to new technology that can sterilize respirator masks up to 20 times. Experts uniformly agree that sterilized respirator masks aren’t as protective as new ones — and that this is an emergency measure, not a solution for shortfalls of personal protective equipment. In many cases, ... | mixture | Health Check, Coronavirus, Donald Trump, | "As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, front-line health care workers are decrying unsafe working conditions — in particular, describing inadequate access to personal protective equipment, or PPE. Many hospitals and state lawmakers blame Washington, saying the Trump administration has not done enough to make this critic... |
9542 | Hospitals Fast-Track Treatments for Hip Fractures | This is a feature story about the potential benefits in treating hip fractures as a critical emergency, and providing “fast-track” access to surgery to improve outcomes. As the story indicates, limited research so far shows that waiting more than a day or so leads to a higher risk of complications and death. This story... | mixture | hip surgery | The story does not discuss costs, and this is an important oversight considering how expensive inpatient surgery is. Presumably this fast-track surgery is less expensive since it reduces time spent in the hospital, but we’re not giving any specifics. The story doesn’t get into the measured specifics. We’re told delayed... |
2085 | British man becomes first to walk Amazon length. | A former British army captain became on Monday the first known person to walk from the origin of the Amazon river to its mouth, after enduring “50,000” mosquito bites, attacks by hostile Indians and tropical disease in his nearly 2-1/2 year odyssey. | true | Environment | "Ed Stafford of Leicestershire, England walks in between trees as he walks through the Amazon jungle in Brazil in this undated handout photo. Former British army captain Stafford became on Monday the first known person to walk from the origin of the Amazon river, the world's second-longest river, to its mouth, after wi... |
35939 | On Sept. 18, 2020, Twitter user @JohnCammo predicted that U.S. President Donald Trump would announce in October that he had tested positive for COVID-19. | Many other Twitter users made similar predictions of Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. As one of the most talked-about public figures alive today, and as a 74-year-old man engaging in the activities of a presidential reelection campaign, it was inevitable that at least some social media users would speculate that Trump would... | true | Politics, 2020 election | In October 2020, readers asked Snopes to examine the authenticity of what appeared to be a tweet, posted on Sept. 18, 2020, predicting that U.S. President Donald Trump would announce he had contracted COVID-19 in October. On Oct. 2, Trump announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19 a... |
28584 | "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said of the Affordable Care Act, in 2010: ""We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." | What's true: Nancy Pelosi did utter the words attributed to her about the passage of the Affordable Care Act. What's false: The infamous soundbite doesn't reflect the full context and meaning of her remarks. | mixture | Politics, nancy pelosi, obamacare | On 21 June 2017, the web site Chicks on the Right reported that Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had said, of the Affordable Care Act, in 2010 “We [need] to pass the bill in order to find out what [is] in it.” The website contrasted this with Pelosi’s tweet, on 20 June 2017, in which she declared that “Ame... |
9106 | Cardiac stem cells from young hearts could rejuvenate old hearts, new study shows | This news release positively spins a study in which researchers observed physical changes in old rats that were injected with cardiac stem cells from newborn rats. Publishing in the European Heart Journal, researchers concluded that cells from baby rats appeared to “rejuvenate” aged rats compared with a placebo. The ne... | false | cardiac stem cells,Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,heart disease | There’s no discussion of the potential cost of stem cell infusions generally or of CAP-1002. The news release says rats injected with stem cells: It gives no numbers to give readers an idea of how large these benefits were. It doesn’t tell us how many animals were involved in the study and what the comparator was (base... |
4301 | Study: Asian carp could find plenty of food in Lake Michigan. | Asian carp are likely to find enough food to spread farther if they establish breeding populations in Lake Michigan, reinforcing the importance of preventing the invasive fish from gaining a foothold, scientists said in a paper released Monday. | true | Biology, Lake Michigan, Animals, Michigan, Freshwater biology, Lakes, Science, U.S. News, General News, Fish, Traverse City | A study led by University of Michigan researchers found that despite a drop-off in plankton, the tiny plants and animals on which bighead and silver carp typically feed, the lake has enough dietary options to sustain individual fish that venture away from nutrient-rich shoreline areas where most would congregate. That ... |
3755 | Trans teen’s war with his body started when he was just 10. | Theo Ramos learned how to cut himself when he was in fifth grade, when his body seemed to revolt. | true | Gender identity, AP Top News, Health, North America, U.S. News | Exploring online was easy, with hashtags like #scars, #hurt and #brokeninside. Nothing made sense back then, but Theo absorbed what he saw on websites like a religion. All he could focus on was how the exterior he was born with — that of a girl — didn’t look or feel right. That was six years ago, when he had another na... |
13110 | "Jill Stein Says climate scientist James Hansen says ""we have until perhaps 50 years from now,"" or maybe a little longer ""and at that point, we are looking at 10, 20, 30 feet of sea-level rise." | "Stein said Hansen predicted 10 to 30 feet of sea-level rise within 50 years or ""maybe a little bit longer."" Hansen published startling predictions exceeding established forecasts of sea-level rise related to climate change. But even under the most urgent scenario, the Hansen-led study projects about one meter—3.3 fe... | false | Climate Change, Texas, Jill Stein, | "Presidential candidate Jill Stein told a boisterous Texas crowd that a respected scientist foresees the loss of coastal cities within a half century due to creeping seas. ""In this election, we’re not just deciding what kind of a world we will have, but whether we will have a world or not going forward,"" Stein said O... |
8738 | NASA astronaut Christina Koch returns to Earth after record mission. | American astronaut Christina Koch, who led the first all-female spacewalk in 2019, landed in Kazakhstan on Thursday after a record stay on the International Space Station, ending a 328-day mission expected to yield new insights into deep-space travel. | true | Science News | Koch, a North Carolina-born engineer who joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2013, set the record for the longest stay in space by a woman. Her mission will provide researchers valuable data on how weightlessness and space radiation affect the female body on long spaceflights. “Women acclimate well to space, so I think th... |
10653 | New Help to Free Legs From a Web | "This condition for the vast majority of people is a minor cosmetic annoyance that in no way affects their health, but the article suggests that everyone is potentially a candidate for expensive removal procedures based on trumped-up discussion of health risks. And while the story provides a fair amount of useful infor... | false | "No discussion of costs — a big hole when we’re talking about treatments that are highly profitable for specialists and are often sought out for cosmetic reasons and not because of any health risk. The benefits discussed in this story were ALL anecdotal. In addition, the story reports on a newly approved pharmaceutical... | |
37507 | EMS workers in New York City and on Long Island are receiving binding orders not to transport patients in cardiac arrest or those they are unable to resuscitate outside the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, effective as of April 2 2020. | EMS Workers in New York City, Long Island, Receive Orders Not to Transport Patients Who Cannot Be Resuscitated in the Field | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | Update, April 2 2020, 4:55 PM: Director of Communications for the NYS Department of Health Jonah Bruno responded to our query, stating:The State Department of Health has not issued, or approved, any such guidance[,] but we are working with EMS providers throughout the state to ensure the health and safety of all New Yo... |
36138 | "Two altar boys were arrested for ""putting weed in the censer-burner." | ‘Two Altar Boys Arrested for Putting Weed in the Censer Burner’ Claim | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In September 2019, a number of social media users shared an article claiming two altar boys had been arrested for “putting weed in the censer-burner”:What started as a joke ended with the future of two altar boys from Spain. They were detained overnight, after having surprised them putting weed in the censer-burner of ... |
34532 | Summer Zervos was paid $500,000 to fabricate her sexual harassment claim against Donald Trump. | has put forth controversial articles based on little to no evidence. In the summer of 2016, the site published at least two articles painting Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, two black men who were killed by white police officers, as gang members. We looked into both those claims and found the “evidence” behind the... | unproven | Junk News, donald trump, election 2016, got news | On 3 November 2016, the web site Got News published an article reporting that former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos had been paid $500,000 to accuse Donald Trump of sexual harrassment: The Apprentice loser and Trump “fake rape” accuser Summer Zervos was bribed $500,000 by Democrat fundraiser and lawyer Gloria Allr... |
26622 | “Wisconsin is the only state where all Republicans voted against protecting its citizens.” | Wisconsin is indeed the only one of the 50 states where all Republicans voted no. But it’s a bit of an exaggeration to describe that vote as “against protecting its citizens.” | true | Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "In just over 24 hours, some 12,000 people shared a post from the Kenosha County Democratic party slamming the coronavirus vote by Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation. The emergency measure — which includes free testing for COVID-19, paid emergency leave and other emergency appropriations — easily passed bo... |
22980 | Re: (Marco) Rubio's support of earmark ban: In 2002 alone, he requested 37 earmarks worth $43 million. | Marco Rubio wasn't always against earmarks, Florida Democrat claims | true | Federal Budget, State Budget, Florida, Steven Schale, | "A top Florida Democrat claims that the state's Republican U.S. Sen.-elect Marco Rubio is changing stories on budget earmarks. Rubio has become one of the leading advocates of a proposal from Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., to seek a nonbinding ban on budget earmarks among Republicans in the chamber. ""I think earmarks are ba... |
9514 | ‘WEEKEND WARRIOR’ WORKOUTS ARE BENEFICIAL AS JUST 20 MINUTES OF EXERCISE A DAY | This story highlights the findings of a large, longitudinal study conducted in England and Scotland. However, “large” doesn’t mean “conclusive,” which this story seems to indicate. As we saw in our review of The Guardian’s take on the same study, the story confuses association with causation (see more in Why This Matte... | true | exercise | Given the nature of the study we don’t think that this issue is relevant. The story used only relative risk numbers to quantify the benefit. This is inadequate, as we explain in Reporting the findings: Absolute vs relative risk. Also, the story confused association with causation, i.e., “researchers in the U.K. found t... |
3911 | 114 Colorado schools split $10M for upgrades after shooting. | A Colorado county has approved spending $10 million on physical and technological upgrades at more than 100 schools and on mental health programming in response to a deadly school shooting in May. | true | Shootings, Mental health, Health, General News, Denver, School shootings, Colorado | Douglas County commissioners on Thursday appropriated about $7.7 million for physical safety and set aside $1.3 million for technology for schools to deploy in the future, the Denver Post reported. About $990,000 will go toward mental health programs, including curriculum, training and surveys about school culture. Tha... |
9506 | Tweaking brains with ‘smart drugs’ to get ahead in Silicon Valley | This story about purported brain-boosting pills would have been easier to swallow if it came with a stronger shot of skepticism. The story would have benefited greatly from at least one source who isn’t involved in the cognitive-enhancement movement. It does a better job of describing the availability of these suppleme... | mixture | neurology,smart drugs | There’s no discussion of cost. We found one drug cited in this story — piracetam — online for $39.99 for 180 capsules. For those seeking a cocktail of supposed brain boosters, startup Nootrobox charges $135 for “all the nootropics you need to enhance your cognitive state for one month.” The company explains: “Cognitive... |
9387 | Selfie medicine: Phone apps push people to take their pills | This story about the potential use of smartphone apps to monitor how well patients stick to their prescriptions is clear that the technology still has to prove itself. It includes concerns about privacy and data security. But, the story did not adequately report relationships between some sources and app developers. Al... | mixture | selfies | Although the story does include some discussion of costs, the specifics implied that smartphone app systems are inherently less expensive than alternatives. However, as the story points out, the actual costs and effectiveness of the apps discussed are still being studied. The hoped-for cost savings might not materializ... |
32722 | A college student wound up in a coma after ingesting two gallons of semen as part of a social media challenge. | Both TMZWorldNews and Empire Herald are among fake news sites that have no disclaimer notices warning readers that their content is fictional. Hoaxes previously advanced by the latter outlet included a claim about a dog meat restaurant, a racially charged falsehood about a serial killer who purportedly carved “Black Li... | false | Junk News, empire herald, semen challenge, social media challenges | On 1 February 2016, a story began to circulate on social media that a college student fell into a coma after ingesting two gallons of semen as part of a social media “Swallow Challenge”: Swallow Challenge? College Student In A Coma After Attempting To Drink 2 Gallons of Semen https://t.co/IGEPpuNSeP — Empire Herald (@E... |
22095 | "John Whitmire Says the Texas Board of Nursing has a backlog of ""3,000 complaints against nurses, many of them sexual assaults, malfeasance." | State Sen. John Whitmire says the Texas Board of Nursing has a backlog of 3,000 complaints, including many cases of sexual assault and malfeasance | true | Health Care, Crime, Regulation, Texas, John Whitmire, | "Explaining why he couldn’t support the Texas Senate’s version of the 2012-13 state budget, Sen. John Whitmire said he didn’t know how state agencies can cope with further budget cuts, singling out the Texas Board of Nursing as an example. ""I asked them for their backlog of investigations,"" he said. ""They’ve got 3,0... |
16906 | "There have been 74 ""school shootings in America since Sandy Hook." | "A statistic calculated by Everytown for Gun Safety, and shared widely on social media, said that there have been 74 ""school shootings in America since Sandy Hook."" The group’s figure is accurate only if you use a broad definition of ""school shooting"" that includes such incidents as suicides, accidents and spillove... | false | National, Children, Education, Guns, Everytown for Gun Safety, | "After an Oregon high school freshman armed with an assault rifle injured a teacher, killed a student and killed himself Tuesday, a striking statistic began circulating on the internet. It said that at least 74 school shootings had occurred since December 2012, when an assault on Sandy Hook Elementary School by Adam La... |
7476 | EU official warns of extremists exploiting virus outbreak. | The European Union’s counterterrorism official is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is being used by extremists as an opportunity to spread their message and could be exploited to carry out attacks. | true | Understanding the Outbreak, Counterterrorism, International News, General News, Health, Terrorism, Virus Outbreak, Europe | In a confidential briefing to member nations obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove cautioned that right-wing extremists and Islamic militants “could view attacks on medical personnel and facilities as highly effective, because these would generate a massive shock i... |
6772 | Wisconsin sanctions assisted living facility after death. | Wisconsin has ordered an assisted living facility to stop taking new residents after an elderly woman with dementia was found frozen to death outside late last year. | true | Health, Assisted living, Wisconsin | Faith Gardens in Sun Prairie was also fined $4,200, the Wisconsin State Journal reported . Alice McGaw was discovered dead outside the facility in December when temperatures were below 10 degrees. McGaw had been transferred to the facility in October after she rolled her wheelchair out of another assisted living facili... |
4112 | Kentucky health agency now without infectious diseases chief. | Kentucky is struggling with the nation’s worst hepatitis A outbreak, and its state Department of Public Health is suddenly without its infectious diseases chief. | true | Health, Kentucky, Infectious diseases, Hepatitis, Public health | John Bennett tells The Courier Journal that he was dismissed on Friday. Cabinet for Health and Family Services spokesman Doug Hogan confirmed in an email to the AP that Bennett is no longer with the health department. Bennett says he wasn’t given a specific reason for his dismissal and nothing suggests it was related t... |
11423 | Generic heart medication shown to prolong ovarian cancer patients' survival | A news release from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center describes a journal article about a study that found patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), the most common form of ovarian cancer, had better overall survival times if they were taking beta-blockers — a fairly common medication used to reduc... | mixture | Academic medical center news release,Cancer,Observational studies | The release doesn’t mention cost at all. Beta-blockers are currently available, and a monthly prescription can run patients from 10 to hundreds of dollars. The non-selective beta-blockers mentioned in the release are all available as a generic product and are relatively inexpensive as compared to the selective agents T... |
4069 | King County confirms 7th case of vaping-related lung disease. | King County health officials have confirmed a new case of severe lung disease associated with vaping. The case brings the total number of patients in King County to seven since Sept. 20. | true | Health, General News, Washington, Lung disease, Vaping, Seattle | The man who is in his 20s was hospitalized but is now recovering. Officials say they are investigating which products he was using to vape. KING-TV reports there have been 15 cases of severe lung disease associated with vaping in Washington state since April 2019, and 67% of the patients are male, according to the Wash... |
5023 | Gambians file suit against ex-leader over alleged HIV ‘cure’. | Three survivors of a supposed HIV treatment program run by Gambia’s former leader Yahya Jammeh featuring what he called an herbal remedy “cure” filed a lawsuit Thursday against him, claiming they suffered under the forced regimen. | true | Yahya Jammeh, International News, Gambia, Lawsuits, Africa, Health, Senegal, West Africa, HIV and AIDS | This is the first time Jammeh has been sued in a Gambian court over alleged abuses during his 22-year rule of this tiny West African nation, the advocacy group AIDS-Free World said. Jammeh’s program was “the most egregious premeditated assault on people living with HIV and AIDS in the history of the global AIDS crisis,... |
4900 | Northeast officials team up to push pot, vaping regulations. | The governors from several Northeastern states said Thursday they want to work together to regulate marijuana and vaping, including possible regional restrictions on flavored vaping products. | true | Ned Lamont, New York City, Health, General News, Recreational marijuana, Marijuana, Vaping, Connecticut, New York, U.S. News | Democratic governors from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania met in New York City with health and legislative officials. Representatives from Massachusetts and Colorado were also on hand for the meeting. “What we want to do is coordinate this on a regional basis,” said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, notin... |
9155 | FDA approves new combination treatment for acute myeloid leukemia | acute myeloid leukemia (AML) This release from the Food and Drug Administration announces approval of a new drug, Rydapt (midostaurin), for the treatment of specific acute myeloid leukemia patients who possess certain genetic FLT3 mutations that affect the immune system. It points out that when these patients are ident... | true | FDA,leukemia | There is no mention of the cost of this new drug, Rydapt (midostaurin), or of the cost of the diagnostic tool, the LeukoStrat CDx FLT3 Mutation Assay, which the FDA approved for use in determining the appropriateness of using this drug. Many patients will need to be tested for this mutation in order to find the individ... |
36408 | A meme contrasts the official statements of President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama on the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. | Are These Presidents Obama and Trump’s Statements on the Notre Dame Fire? | mixture | Disinformation, Fact Checks | ,On April 16 2019 the Facebook page “Proud Liberal Americans” shared a subsequently popular meme (archived here), purportedly contrasting statements provided by United States Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump about the fire that gutted Notre Dame Cathedral:At the top was a photograph of Obama and a quote:“Notre ... |
3336 | Nursing home where 12 died after storm has license revoked. | Florida has revoked the license of a nursing home where 12 elderly patients died in the heat after it lost power during a 2017 hurricane. | true | Health, Florida, Hurricane Irma, Storms, Hurricanes | The Agency for Health Care Administration issued its order Friday, saying an administrative law judge correctly concluded the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills “created an unsafe environment” in September 2017 after Hurricane Irma knocked out its air conditioning. Patients began dying three days after the storm ... |
32177 | A photograph shows a man who was diagnosed with eye cancer due to using his cell phone at night. | The American Cancer Society, the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology have not issued any warnings concerning a connection between cell phone use (at night or otherwise) and eye cancer. | false | Uncategorized, cancer, cell phones | A photograph purportedly showing a man who was diagnosed with eye cancer after using his cell phone too much at night was widely circulated by conspiracy, humor, and “health” web sites in March 2016. Most of these web sites shared the photo along with clickbait headlines such as “MAN DIAGNOSED WITH EYE CANCER BECAUSE O... |
36262 | Tommy Lee wrote a scathing rant about Donald Trump and his followers. | Did Tommy Lee Write a Lengthy Anti-Trump Screed on Twitter? | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On August 7 2019, musician Tommy Lee shared a screenshot of a longer post to Twitter, commentary in which he purportedly began “You Trumpsters better pray that liberals never gain control of the WH again”:pic.twitter.com/XLT4DQJo5b— T❍mmy L33 (@MrTommyLand) August 7, 2019A screenshot of the tweet spread on Facebook as ... |
33764 | Rapists are using small children who appear to be lost to lure victims to them. | Warnings that rapists are employing children pretending to be lost in order to lure victims to them are unsubstantiated. | false | Crime, crime warnings | A warning about seemingly lost children being used as victim lure by rapists appeared on the Internet in late March 2005. Versions in circulation via cell phone text message and e-mail in November 2010 repositioned the alert from one about lone attackers luring women to houses whose doorbells had been wired to deliver ... |
26332 | Barack Obama “is the first ex-president to ever speak against his successor.” | Barack Obama called the Trump administration’s response to COVID-19 “an absolute chaotic disaster.” A Twitter post, retweeted by Trump, claims that Obama is the first ex-president to speak ill of his successor. From Hoover to Truman, Ford to Carter and beyond, ex-presidents have criticized the person who followed the... | false | National, Coronavirus, Tweets, | "In a call with past members of his administration, former President Barack Obama criticized the Trump administration for bungling the response to the coronavirus. ""It would have been bad even with the best of governments,"" Obama said May 8. ""It has been an absolute chaotic disaster."" Obama’s words drew anger from ... |
1583 | Sting like a bee: alternative therapy in Gaza. | Rateb Samour sees 250 patients a day whose complaints range from hair loss to cerebral palsy and cancer. But he is not a doctor and has never worked in a hospital. | true | Health News | Samour inherited the skill of bee-sting therapy from his father, who used to raise bees. Then in 2003, the agricultural engineer started to dedicate all his time to studying and developing the alternative medicine treatment of apitherapy, which uses all bee-related products, including honey, propolis - or bee glue used... |
9744 | Women are not getting treated for menopausal symptoms | This story highlights a survey finding that appears to have broadly useful implications for millions of women across the globe: “Many women with severe menopausal symptoms are not being treated for them even though safe, effective remedies are available.” But there’s a tension at the heart of this story that unfortunat... | mixture | menopause | The cost of therapies for menopausal symptoms is not discussed. Prempro (the common oral estrogen/progesterone tablet) is $1.65 per pill on an online pharmacy price checker, and must be taken daily — so the cost implications of some options are significant. The story is ostensibly about the findings of a survey which f... |
27204 | "A passage from a speech JFK was supposed to deliver on the day he was assassinated stated that ""our duty as a party is not to our party alone, but to the Nation, and, indeed, to all mankind." | The words of President John F. Kennedy that the world never got to hear. | true | Politics, john f. kennedy | An image graphic purportedly featuring an excerpt from a speech President John F. Kennedy was scheduled to deliver on the day that he was assassinated was recirculated on social media in November 2018: These lines were part of a speech JFK was slated to make to the Texas Democratic State Committee in the Municipal Aud... |
10374 | Three Heart Tests Every Woman Should Know About | "This was classic morning show health news garbage. ""Three heart tests that all women should know about""? ""All"" suggests that even women without symptoms should be thinking about these tests. But the segment later says that the tests are only for women with symptoms, but then never gives a detailed description of t... | false | "No discussion of costs. No discussion of the potential cost impact of telling all women that they ""need to know about"" these three tests. The costs of false positive tests in lower risk women is also not noted. Cost of diagnostic testing is a significant issue that is a major driver of healthcare costs. There was no... | |
40973 | Covid-19 patients have been misdiagnosed as having pneumonia when they actually have a blood clotting condition called disseminated intravascular coagulation. | It is incorrect to say that Covid-19 patients have been misdiagnosed with pneumonia when they have disseminated intravascular coagulation. Severe Covid-19 can cause pneumonia as well as blood clotting problems. | false | online | Antibiotics should be used to fight Covid-19. Antibiotics are not recommended in patients with Covid-19. Covid-19 is caused by a virus and antibiotics are used to prevent or treat bacterial infections. Antivirals should be used to fight Covid-19. Antiviral drugs can be used to treat viral infections, but no specific an... |
28843 | "A male penguin searches an entire beach for the ""perfect pebble"" to lay at the feet of his chosen female penguin." | What's true: Male penguins of many species gift their mates with rocks. What's false: Female penguins don't rely on pebble presentation as a key aspect of mate selection;, and penguins don't appear to care as much about the characteristics of a pebble so much as its ability to add to their nest. | mixture | Critter Country, Wild Inaccuracies | A popular “Did you know?”-style assertion holds that penguin mating rituals closely mimic human courtship, in that the male’s finding just the right symbolic gift to present to his female of choice is of the utmost importance: When a male penguin falls in love with a female penguin, he searches the entire beach to fin... |
7676 | WHO panel calls for registry of all human gene editing research. | It would be irresponsible for any scientist to conduct human gene-editing studies in people, and a central registry of research plans should be set up to ensure transparency, World Health Organization experts said on Tuesday. | true | Science News | After its first two-day meeting in Geneva, the WHO panel of gene editing experts - which was established in December after a Chinese scientist said he had edited the genes of twin babies - said it had agreed a framework for setting future standards. It said a central registry of all human genome editing research was ne... |
16251 | "Suicide comes from federal government largesse ""saying you are not worth anything but you are going to get something for nothing." | "Young said that suicide comes from federal government largesse ""saying you are not worth anything but you are going to get something for nothing."" Data suggests high suicide rates among Alaska Natives stem more from cultural changes, including the transition from rural, traditional practices to urban life." | false | National, Race and Ethnicity, Public Health, Don Young, | "In mid October, long-serving Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, provoked a firestorm with a series of comments about suicide. It’s a significant issue in his home state: In recent years, Alaska has experienced suicide at roughly twice the national rate. The controversy began when Young spoke to more than 100 students and staff... |
26830 | Viral image Says 20 million Chinese converted to Islam after it’s proven that the coronavirus doesn’t affect Muslims. | Video claiming to show Chinese converting to Islam after the current coronavirus outbreak was published before the first reported case in Wuhan in 2019. Muslims can be affected by the disease. | false | China, Islam, Public Health, Religion, Coronavirus, Viral image, | "Amid fears about the coronavirus disease, a YouTube video offers a novel way to inoculate yourself: convert to Islam. ""20m Chinese gets converted to Islam after it is proven that corona virus did not affect the Muslims,"" reads the title of a video posted online Feb. 18. The footage shows a room full of men raising a... |
10318 | Oxygen therapy breathes new life into autism treatment | Reporting on an alternative treatment for autism is always risky–the condition is disabling, the science poor, the anecdotes powerful, the parents emotional and the providers self-interested. This story, which focsues on the use of hyperbaric oxygen treatments for autism, does a decent job navigating the minefield. Thr... | true | "The story cites costs at one center of $3,000 for 40 treatment sessions. As the article makes clear, there is no high-quality research into the treatment’s efficacy. The article fails to make the risks of hyperbaric oxygen treatment clear. Risks include: seizures; problems in the lungs, eyes and vascular system; and i... | |
1004 | Uganda clears three experimental Ebola treatments, watches for spread. | Health workers have got the all-clear to use three experimental Ebola treatments in Uganda, a week after the deadly disease spread over the border from Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | Two people who had travelled from Congo died in Uganda last week, the World Health Organization said. A three-year-old boy who was sent back to Congo after testing positive for the disease died at the weekend, Congo’s health ministry said. At least another 1,411 people have died in Congo since August in the second wors... |
2116 | At least 42 fatalities tallied in California's deadliest wildfire ever. | Search teams have recovered remains of 42 people killed by a fierce wildfire that largely incinerated the town of Paradise in northern California, marking the greatest loss of life from a wild land blaze in state history, authorities said on Monday. | true | Environment | The latest death toll, up from 29 tallied over the weekend, was announced by Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea at an evening news conference in the nearby city of Chico after authorities found the bodies of 13 more victims of the devastating blaze dubbed the Camp Fire. The fire already ranked as the most destructive on r... |
2528 | U.S. pediatricians back gay marriage, adoption rights. | Gay and lesbian couples should be able to get married for the health and well-being of their children and families, the nation’s leading group for pediatricians said on Thursday in a policy statement that also backs adoption rights. | true | Health News | The American Academy of Pediatrics, in calling on the legal right for same-sex couples to marry, said children’s well-being is affected far more by other factors such as their parents’ health and economic security than their sexual orientation. “It is better that children have two parents than one parent, and assuming ... |
14874 | 29 mass shootings have been committed by concealed carriers since 2007, while during this period only one (1) licensed civilian meaningfully intervened in a mass shooting. | "When we looked, the Gun Free UT blog included this claim: ""29 mass shootings have been committed by concealed carriers since 2007, while during this period only one (1) licensed civilian meaningfully intervened in a mass shooting."" The first Gun Free UT claim is accurate in that in that 29 mass shootings, according... | mixture | Texas, Guns, Gun Free UT Gun Free UT, | "When Texas lawmakers agreed to allow people to carry concealed handguns in college and university buildings, the law included wiggle room for school presidents and boards to determine rules and regulations for their campuses. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 11 - the ""campus carry"" measure - into law on Jun... |
24340 | Most Texans aren't millionaires. | China’s top legislature will consider tougher rules on research involving human genes and embryos, the first such move since a Chinese scientist sparked controversy last year by announcing he had made the world’s first “gene-edited” babies. | true | Economy, Elections, Texas, Linda Chavez-Thompson, | He Jiankui, associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, attracted condemnation from the global scientific community when he said he had used a technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of twin girls born in November. Chinese authorities launched an investigation ... |
40836 | Under the current system, people on a work, study or family visa only pay a £400 surcharge to use the NHS. | This is the current level the international health surcharge is set at each year, but the taxes that people who come to work in the UK pay also goes towards things like the NHS. | true | health-tourism | Under the current system, people on a work, study or family visa only pay a £400 surcharge to use the NHS. This is the current level the international health surcharge is set at each year, but the taxes that people who come to work in the UK pay also goes towards things like the NHS. Under the current system, people on... |
2521 | New York City wants to ban cigarette sales to people under 21. | New York City took the first step on Monday in outlawing sales of cigarettes to anyone under age 21, in an effort to reduce smoking among the age group in which most smokers take up the habit. | true | Health News | The bill, which was introduced by the City Council and has the backing of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, would make New York City, which already has the highest cigarette taxes in the nation, the first big city or state to set the smoking age at 21. Currently, individuals must be 18 to buy cigarettes. Eight in 10 adult smoke... |
28300 | A video documents that Planned Parenthood harvested the brain from a living, late-term aborted fetus. | What's true: According to unedited Center for Medical Progress video reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, the heart of an aborted fetus was briefly restarted before its brain was harvested. What's false: A portion edited out of the video stated that the fetus was dead at the time the organ was removed. | mixture | Politics, abortion | On 11 February 2019, Fox News personality Laura Ingraham posted a tweet referencing a discredited news item from 2015 that was the center of a media and political storm over abortion and women’s health care provider Planned Parenthood: Butchers: Planned Parenthood kept aborted babies alive to harvest organs, ex-technic... |
17229 | Every 20 seconds, a child dies because they lack access to clean water and sanitation. | "Damon said, ""Every 20 seconds, a child dies because they lack access to clean water and sanitation."" The Bourne series star appears to be using an outdated statistic in his ABC appearance that claimed 1.5 million deaths from diarrhea caused by tainted water. More recent reports put the number at about 760,000 deaths... | mixture | Water, PunditFact, Matt Damon, | "When we woke up Sunday morning to catch the political talk shows, we expected plenty of talk about Ukraine and the lost Malaysian airplane. We didn’t quite anticipate a conversation about clean water with Matt Damon. Or a startling statistic worth fact-checking. How do you like them apples? (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.... |
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