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31192 | "In July 2017, Don Moen died of ""stomach pain""." | HoustonChronicle-TV.com is not in any way associated with the Houston Chronicle newspaper. | false | Junk News, death hoax, don moen, fake news | On 12 July 2017, the HoustonChronicle-TV web site published an entirely fake story, reporting that American gospel singer and pastor Don Moen had died after a “short illness”: American singer-songwriter, Evangelist Don Moen has died after [a] short battle with stomach pain. His family confirmed that he died early this ... |
17966 | "An account of attacks in Benghazi written by former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers shows that the body of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was ""dragged through the streets"" and abused." | "The chain email forwarded an account purportedly written by Dee Dee Myers of how her cousin and Ambassador Chris Stevens were killed in the Benghazi attack, including being ""sodomized and beaten and cut and stabbed and burned."" Myers told PolitiFact that she had nothing to do with the email, and that anything it sai... | false | National, Foreign Policy, Terrorism, Chain email, | "A reader recently forwarded us a chain email about the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012. Similar emails have been circulating for months, speculating about how U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed by Islamic extremists in the attack. But this email caught o... |
35323 | H.R. 6666 provides $100 billion to entities that perform COVID-19 testing but prohibits them from allowing any non-vaccinated persons into their facilities. | "What's true: H.R. 6666 creates grants for health care, school-based, academic, and nonprofit entities to run mobile testing sites and hire staff to perform diagnostic tests and contact tracing. What's false: The bill does not require participating entities to ""only allow people into their facilities that have the COV... | mixture | Politics, COVID-19 | On May 1, 2020, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois introduced the Testing, Reaching, and Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act to the U.S. House of Representatives, a piece of legislation that was assigned the ominous-sounding number H.R. 6666. The intent of H.R. 6666, as summarized on GovTrack, is as follows: This bill would ... |
1794 | More U.S. households smoke-free, study says. | Nearly twice as many U.S. households are smoke-free compared to 20 years ago, reflecting an increased awareness of the health hazards from secondhand smoke, but too many people still are exposed, according to a federal study released Thursday. | true | Health News | In the early 1990s, 43 percent of U.S. homes were smoke-free, a figure that rose to 83 percent in 2010-2011, according to the study, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90 percent of homes without a smoker and nearly half of those with at least one adult smoker had smoke-free rules, the ... |
38794 | Reports that are eerily similar to the plot of “Back to the Future II” claim that Michael J. Fox has been arrested for insider sports betting. | Michael J. Fox Arrested for Insider Sports Betting | false | Celebrities, Humorous | Don’t believe stories about Michael J. Fox being arrested for insider sports betting. The rumor started out as a joke about Back to the Future II, but lots of people missed the punch line. In the movie, Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox) travels to the future — October 21, 2015, to be exact — to prevent his nemesis... |
10293 | Study disputes wait-and-see approach to prostate cancer | "The article describes a new study which suggests aggressive treatment with surgery or radiation may benefit older men who were traditionally thought not to benefit (or benefit as much) from these treatments, due to their life expectancies. The article does provide some context around the nature of early prostate cance... | mixture | "The article does not provide any cost information, and there are clearly wide variations in costs among the various prostate cancer treatment options. The article only provides relative risk reductions when absolute risk reductions are best (and are provided in the study findings). The article also claims that the stu... | |
9284 | Simple score predicts risk of death for middle-aged adults in the UK | For the second time in a month, The Lancet is promoting a “simple” test that may help predict one’s risk of death. A few weeks ago it was the notorious death grip study, this time it’s a questionnaire that predicts your “Ubble age.” The new test is based on Swedish researchers’ efforts to correlate an array of lifestyl... | true | Sense About Science,The Lancet,Ubble Age | Access to an interactive site for purposes of computing a score predicting one’s risk of dying will be free. However, this should have been stated in the release. We can’t rate the release Satisfactory if there’s no mention of cost at all, so we’ll rate it Not Applicable. Very little about this news release is quantita... |
11240 | Fighting Alzheimer’s With Dimebon | This felt like a hurried attempt to cover a story appearing in the journal, The Lancet. And journalists should not be rushed when reporting about Alzheimer’s Disease. Yet ABC did rush to these conclusions: On the air, they referred to the drug Dimebon as “a drug which might, and we stress might, give some hope to the ... | false | Alzheimer's | The story doesn’t mention anything about costs. Using the phrase “showed significant improvement in mental tests” does not meet our standard for quantifying benefits. What does this mean? All drugs have side effects; this story mentioned none. The story only states that those taking the drug “showed significant improve... |
9575 | Rethinking the Use of Hormones to Ease Menopause Symptoms | In this New York Times’ Well blog post, the gist of the text is supporting the idea that old fears about the health risks of hormone replacement therapy for women have been rethought and new conclusions should reassure the public about its safe use–especially in short-term (fewer than 5 years) relief of menopausal syst... | false | menopause | Costs are not discussed. This story is about risks and benefits, and about the misunderstandings that can result. But we did not find the absolute risk and benefit numbers that would have helped to clarify. Here is a benefit statement, which we found incomplete. We would have preferred some absolute numbers. “In a Dani... |
10959 | Garlic powerless against cholesterol | This is little gem of a story—a 454-word précis that lays out a succinct history of the research on garlic’s purported success in lowering LDL cholesterol (lab and animal studies), describes the methods and results of a new randomized trial in adults who have moderately high cholesterol, adds the voices of four sources... | true | Though the article does not mention costs or compare costs of garlic and garlic supplements with other treatments, many readers will be familiar with these. The story reports that the consumption of garlic in any of three forms (raw, powdered supplement, aged extract supplement) had no effect on LDL cholesterol or trig... | |
16897 | Only after news broke that our veterans are dying because of inadequate health care did Harry Reid and Senate Democrats take action. | "Cassidy said that ""only after news broke that our veterans are dying because of inadequate health care did Harry Reid and Senate Democrats take action."" That’s not accurate. Democrats tried to pass an expansive veterans’ bill that included funding for the same 27 new clinics that Cassidy and the House passed last De... | false | National, Veterans, Bill Cassidy, | "As details of the turmoil within the Department of Veterans Affairs continue to unfold, Congress is scrambling to pass legislation to fix to the problem. One House Republican accused Democrats of closing the barn door after the horse got out. ""It’s been more than 177 days since the House passed bipartisan legislation... |
29298 | "Police in Sweden admitted they are ""no longer"" investigating rape since migrant arrivals." | What's true: A series of complicated and serious criminal investigations and in the country's southern regions, along with an overall staffing shortage, have taxed Sweden's law enforcement resources. What's false: Police have not stopped investigating rape cases, and migrants who famously arrived seeking asylum beginni... | false | Uncategorized, infowars, migrant crisis, migrants | In March 2017, British Brexit supporter and former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage was investigated by the United Kingdom’s broadcasting standards authority Ofcom for a grossly-misleading comment he made on his radio show which quickly went viral: Farage claimed, falsely, that the Swedish city of Malmö... |
6560 | AP Exclusive: Evidence of spills at toxic site during floods. | The U.S. government received reports of three spills at one of Houston’s dirtiest Superfund toxic waste sites in the days after the drenching rains from Hurricane Harvey finally stopped. Aerial photos reviewed by The Associated Press show dark-colored water surrounding the site as the floods receded, flowing through Vi... | true | Houston, AP Top News, Hurricane Harvey, Floods, Politics, North America, Environment, Pasadena, Hurricanes, Pollution, Texas, Toxic Sites | The reported spills, which have not been publicly detailed, occurred at U.S. Oil Recovery, a former petroleum industry waste processing plant contaminated with a dangerous brew of cancer-causing chemicals. On Aug. 29, the day Harvey’s remnants cleared out, a county pollution control team sent photos to the Environmenta... |
28616 | A list documents the myriad reasons why people were committed to insane asylums in the 19th century. | In general, this document might be more accurately described as “a list of some reasons why people were believed to have eventually developed illnesses that led to their being admitted to the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane” and not a list of “symptoms” or “reasons” why people were admitted to that hospital. | mixture | History | In February 2016, an image of a list purportedly documenting dozens of reasons why people were committed to insane asylums between 1864 and 1889 began circulating on social media. The list was frequently shared with humorous messages about how common acts such as “novel reading,” “laziness,” or the “overstudy of religi... |
16255 | $2.4 million of the NIH dollars was spent on ‘origami’ condoms. | "In trying to document waste at NIH, Paul said the health agency spent $2.4 million on ""origami"" condoms. Paul didn’t provide any more information in his speech, leaving the crowd to wonder whether tax dollars are going to the development of paper condoms folded into fancy shapes. What he didn’t say is that ORIGAMI i... | true | Ebola, Public Health, Virginia, Rand Paul, | "During a recent visit to Virginia, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul took exception to claims that budget cuts have hurt the National Institute of Health’s efforts to find a cure for Ebola. The Kentucky Republican was the headliner at an Oct. 15 rally in Ashland for Dave Brat, the GOP nominee for the 7th District congressional seat... |
7939 | Coronavirus causes historic market drop, global scramble to contain 'invisible enemy'. | Coronavirus fears led to a historic drop in U.S. stocks, shut borders and disrupted daily life around the world, as governments took increasingly drastic measures to try to reduce the severity of the global outbreak. | true | Health News | Financial markets had their worst day in 30 years despite emergency action by global central banks to try to prevent a recession, with U.S. stock markets falling 12% to 13%, wiping out trillions of dollars in market value. Just a month ago, financial markets were hitting record highs on the assumption the outbreak woul... |
21913 | "Milwaukee’s police chief can fire officers ""for basically no cause." | Wisconsin Rep. Robin Vos says Milwaukee’s police chief can fire officers for no reason | false | City Government, State Budget, Wisconsin, Robin Vos, | "In Madison, plenty of familiar fights are being fought as Republicans who control the Legislature seek to undo changes approved when Democrats were in charge. An unexpected issue -- pay for fired Milwaukee police officers -- joined the list when Republicans introduced a budget amendment that would require city taxpaye... |
41646 | There are 16,481 fewer beds in hospitals since 2010. | This is in the right ballpark, but it doesn’t seem to be the best comparison. It seems to compare the number of beds at different times of the year, but the number available fluctuates seasonally. Comparing July-September in 2010 and 2017, the decrease in beds available overnight in England is closer to 13,200. | true | health | There are 16,481 fewer beds in hospitals since 2010. This is in the right ballpark, but it doesn’t seem to be the best comparison. It seems to compare the number of beds at different times of the year, but the number available fluctuates seasonally. Comparing July-September in 2010 and 2017, the decrease in beds availa... |
8646 | Swiss government expands powers to force firms to make supplies to fight COVID-19. | The Swiss government on Friday boosted its powers to order companies to raise production of critical medical supplies like drugs and protective gear should more be needed in the fight against coronavirus-caused COVID-19. | true | Health News | “If the supply...cannot be guaranteed otherwise, the Federal Council (cabinet) may oblige manufacturers to manufacture important medical goods, to prioritise the production of such goods or to increase the production quantities,” according to an order from Bern. The expanded authority comes as the government doubled th... |
39662 | A Muslim group has asked for pork-free food to be offered by food banks in Minnesota. | When night falls in the Indian village of Nabipur, the backyard furnaces come to life, burning waste tires from the West, making the air thick with acrid smoke and the soil black with soot. | true | Religious | Not long ago, Nabipur was a quiet farming village in northern India. Now the village is home to at least a dozen furnaces burning a steady stream of tires to make low-quality oil in a process known as pyrolysis. Global trade in waste tires has almost doubled in the past five years, mainly to developing countries like I... |
9966 | Diabetics Try New Round-The-Clock Sensor | "The article does a good job of describing the growing use of continuous glucose monitors and how they may be helpful in diabetes care. Importantly, it makes clear that the efficacy of the device is not fully established, that insurance currently may not pay for it, and that there are significant limits on its practica... | mixture | "The article does an excellent job of stating the costs clearly, and exploring the issue of insurance coverage both currently and pending a current study. What the story did not make clear is that you still have to have the additional costs of a regular glucose monitor and strips available because the technology is not... | |
27583 | SpaceX will be transporting a potentially deadly pathogen to the International Space Station as part of their next launch. | Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem that gained increased media attention with the death of a patient from a bacterial infection resistant to 26 different antibiotic medications in August 2016. | true | Science, nasa, spacex | On 18 February 2017, the SpaceX space transport service will launch a capsule to the International Space Station for a resupply mission (CRS-10) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Among the items contained within the capsule will be a sample of the highly infectious Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterium, ... |
5131 | Massachusetts OKs ban on flavored vaping, tobacco products. | Massachusetts lawmakers passed a groundbreaking ban Thursday on the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products, including menthol cigarettes. | true | Legislature, Health, General News, Legislation, Charlie Baker, Business, Massachusetts, Vaping, U.S. News, Public health, Tobacco industry regulation | The bill would also place a 75% excise tax on vaping products and require health insurers, including the state’s Medicaid program, to cover tobacco cessation counseling. “This nation-leading step will save lives,” Democratic House Speaker Robert DeLeo said. The ban was passed by the Senate early Thursday before the leg... |
18779 | "Jeff Merkley Says, ""Since 1994 when VAWA was first passed, incidents of domestic violence have dropped more than 50 percent." | Jeff Merkley says domestic abuse against women has fallen 50 percent since federal law went into effect | true | Oregon, Congress, Women, Jeff Merkley, | "Violence - or the potential for violence - is everywhere. It’s the reason we have police and laws, jails and federal programs to study the causes and suggest responses. It’s the reason, too, that Congress passes laws to address crime in all its facets. One of those is the Violence Against Women Act, which is intended... |
4507 | Maine senator backs push for better public health data. | Maine’s independent senator is among a group of lawmakers backing a bill that calls for the modernization of public health data systems. | true | Tim Kaine, Johnny Isakson, Health, General News, Maine, Angus King, Bills, Public health | Sen. Angus King says the proposal would ensure accurate and timely information sharing to help protect residents from health threats like viruses and prescription drug abuse. He’s joined by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia on the proposal. King says the bill is importa... |
9145 | New cancer drug can prevent reactions to common airborne allergens | What we have here is a tentative demonstration of a new concept in allergy treatment, reported in a brief letter to the editor of a medical journal, which is puffed up to look like proof of effectiveness. Meanwhile, looming challenges of both safety and cost are soft-pedaled or ignored. There is legitimate news that an... | false | allergy,ibrutinib,Northwestern University | Although this line of research is in the earliest stage of human tests, the release should have noted that the drug, as it was used in the study, cost more than $100 a day. Obviously, cost is an issue that would have to be dealt with before declaring that this treatment could be used routinely by allergy sufferers. The... |
6365 | Health officials warn restaurant customers about Hep A case. | Public health officials say customers who ate at a Lynnwood restaurant that was shut down because of a Hepatitis A infection could be at risk of contracting the virus. | true | Health, General News, Liver disease, Hepatitis, Public health | KOMO-TV reports the Snohomish Health District allowed Ashiya Teriyaki to reopen Friday after forcing its closure on Wednesday due to a food worker there who had contracted the highly infectious liver disease. The health department was notified by the worker’s health provider. Hepatitis A is spread from person-to-person... |
2056 | New monkey found in Myanmar near China dam project. | A new type of snub-nosed monkey has been found in a remote forested region of northern Myanmar which is under threat from logging and a Chinese dam project, scientists said Wednesday. | true | Environment | A new type of snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) is seen in this undated handout of an artist rendering released on October 26, 2010. A new type of snub-nosed monkey has been found in a remote forested region of northern Myanmar which is under threat from logging and a Chinese dam project, scientists said on We... |
36061 | "There is credible evidence of ""a false flag attack"" planned for Seattle on November 3 2019." | Seattle November 3 2019 False Flag Attack Rumor | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | Rumors of a “false flag” terror attack in Seattle on November 3 2019 spiked in popularity in specific shadowy corners of social media in late October 2019, although by that point, the highly specious claims were several weeks old.A September 24 2019 YouTube video, “False Flag attack on Seattle on Nov 03, 2019,” was a f... |
9812 | Hot flash remedies: Estrogen may be the best answer | Since the story employed helpful sidebars, we yearned for a sidebar that provided some actual data on the tradeoff in HRT benefits and harms. And we would have liked to learn more about the International Menopause Society: who’s in it and do they have any conflicts of interest? We did appreciate the one overview line ... | mixture | hot flashes | There is no mention of the cost of prescription hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or of any of the non-prescription approaches described. Cost information would be valuable for readers because many women who do choose HRT use it for years. The story focused on the analysis of non-prescription approaches to hot flashes ... |
37701 | "Comedian Patton Oswalt tweeted ""I am a proud pedophile,"" a tweet which resurfaced in 2020." | Did Patton Oswalt Tweet ‘I Am a Proud Pedophile’? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | "On August 3 2020, a Facebook user shared a purported tweet from comedian Patton Oswalt, in which Oswalt purportedly claimed to be a “proud pedophile”:Commenters on the Facebook post folded it into a larger conspiracy theory about child trafficking:It’s not funny. Were talking about innocent children. Being raped moles... |
38806 | Reports have gone viral that 23 seniors died after receiving flu shots sold at pharmacies. | 23 Seniors Died After Receiving Flu Shots | false | Health / Medical | Flu vaccines purchased at pharmacies haven’t killed 23 seniors. The rumor that the flu vaccine had killed 23 seniors first surfaced in 2013, but it wasn’t true back then, either. An FDA package insert for the Fluzone high-dose flu vaccine from 2013 stated that 23 seniors had died within 180 days of receiving a flu vacc... |
14864 | More black babies are aborted in NYC than born. | ": A Hillary Clinton declaration that every child should be allowed to live up to his potential prompted a tweet from a spokeswoman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that ""More black babies are aborted in NYC than born."" The tweet from Deputy Press Secretary Cynthia Meyer echoes what has become a talking point am... | true | Abortion, Corrections and Updates, Women, Texas, Cynthia Meyer, | "During the first Democratic presidential debate in October 2015, Hillary Clinton proclaimed, ""We’ve got to be committed to getting every child to live up to his or her God-given potential."" Cynthia Meyer, who took up the post of deputy press secretary for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in early 2015, fired back w... |
2751 | Given Imaging gets FDA clearance for colon camera pill. | Camera-in-a-pill maker Given Imaging said on Monday it received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for a pill to provide visualization of the colon that has a global market of 3 million procedures a year. | true | Health News | The pill, called the PillCam Colon, may be used for detection of colon polyps in patients after an incomplete optical colonoscopy, the Israeli medical device maker said. There are 750,000 patients in the United States alone who experience an incomplete colonoscopy each year, Given Imaging said, and they often incur add... |
31719 | "A gruesome photograph of a shredded hand depicts a ""new punishment for reading the Bible"" in Saudi Arabia." | As for the photograph, it is demonstrably not related to any “new punishment for reading the Bible” in Saudi Arabia. Its first appearance on the internet dated back to April 2010 (possibly earlier) and it was widely interpreted to be a photograph of a gruesome accident, not a brutal punishment. | false | Fauxtography, bible, Body Modifications, saudi arabia | On 13 December 2015, a Facebook user published the image below with a claim that the injuries depicted were inflicted as part of a “new punishment for reading the Bible in Saudi Arabia.” Even taken solely as a rumor, the “new punishment” was not all that new; earlier versions of the claim appeared on anti-Islam blogs ... |
2488 | Michelle Obama, Laura Bush spotlight Africa women's health. | U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and predecessor Laura Bush combined their star power to draw attention on Tuesday to efforts to improve women’s health and welfare in east Africa. | true | Health News | Michelle Obama is visiting Tanzania on the last day of President Barack Obama’s eight-day tour of Africa. She helped Laura Bush open a summit of the wives of African leaders, saying Africa was “at the hub of global development”. The summit aims to promote women’s well-being on the continent. The unusual Obama-Bush comb... |
33529 | The Talking Angela app unsafely prompts children to provide personal information about themselves. | The Talking Angela app supposedly unsafely prompts children to provide personal information about themselves. | false | Computers, internet | “Talking Angela” is not a web site, but an iOS app available through iTunes that provides a cute interactive feature for youngsters: when children activate the app and respond to prompts to interact with it, Angela, a cat who inhabits an outdoor table at a Parisian cafe, responds to their gestures and mimics what they ... |
8714 | Some plateauing of London coronavirus outbreak, UK says. | It will take a week or two before Britain’s social distancing measures start to translate into lower hospitalization rates but there has been a bit of a plateauing in London in recent days, NHS England Medical Director Stephen Powis said. | true | Health News | “There is reason to be hopeful that some of the changes we are observing in infections and perhaps in hospitalizations is now reflecting the benefit of the social distancing,” he told a news conference. “It will be a week or two before the measures that are put in place translate into lower hospitalization rates. But .... |
7068 | ‘Mom’ star Janney visits, donates to Planned Parenthood. | The star of the hit CBS sitcom “Mom” and one of its creators paid a visit Tuesday to the president of Planned Parenthood, and they didn’t come empty-handed. | true | Entertainment, Planned Parenthood, Allison Janney, Health, Cecile Richards, North America, Teen pregnancy, Sitcoms, TV | Actress Allison Janney and “Mom” co-creator and co-executive producer Gemma Baker dropped in on Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards to deliver a check for $250,000. They pointed out the show addresses issues that include teen pregnancy. Janney and Baker said the money otherwise would have been spent on a promo... |
9655 | Many women could benefit from earlier mammograms, analysis finds | This story summarizes an as-yet-unpublished research study that performed risk assessments for breast cancer among women age 40 to 44 visiting a specialty breast clinic. Of the 900 women whose risks were assessed, about 50 percent had an above-average risk for breast cancer, the analysis found. The study did not examin... | false | breast cancer,cancer,mammography | Costs were not discussed in the story. It is not clear if such a breast cancer risk assessment would be covered under insurance if they asked their doctor for such an assessment. This is the claim of benefit made in the story: “Many women could benefit from earlier mammograms, analysis finds.” But this claim is left un... |
28047 | "Justin Schneider was ""given no jail time,"" despite having strangled and assaulted a hitchhiker in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2017." | What's true: Schneider admitted to assaulting and strangling the woman, but his sentence was structured so that he didn't have to go to jail. What's false: The judge in the case did give Schneider a two-year prison sentence, but one year of that was suspended, and he was credited with time served for spending a year un... | true | Politics | Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are often where the public expresses concern and even outrage over perceived miscarriages of justice. In recent years, internet users have been especially prolific in promoting awareness of a perceived tendency among some judges and prosecutors to seek and accept insufficient p... |
4883 | Veteran Affairs head discusses mental health aid in NC visit. | The secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs says the government is making changes to improve mental health services, which he called “the last great medical frontier.” | true | Mental health, Health, General News, North Carolina, Robert Wilkie, Fayetteville, Veterans, Veterans affairs | The Fayetteville Observer reports Secretary Robert Wilkie spoke earlier this week about veterans’ mental health during the North Carolina Business Trade Show in Fayetteville. He pointed to the new mental health center being built at the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center as evidence of the VA’s commitment to ... |
41673 | Scotland’s drug-related death rate is the highest in the EU. | Correct if you compare Scotland to a league table of EU sovereign countries. This is based on a comparison of the drug-related death rate per million people aged 15 to 64 in 2015 and 2016. | true | health | There were nearly 1,000 drug-related deaths in Scotland last year. Correct, there were 934 registered in 2017. The UK has the highest death rate in the EU from drugs. Estonia had the highest rate of drug-related deaths per million people aged 15 to 64 in the EU, based on research using data from 2015 and 2016. The UK p... |
8084 | 'Delivering coffins non-stop': coronavirus stalks a Paris nursing home. | Outside a Paris retirement home on Wednesday, a director rushed out and told the man delivering a coffin to use a side entrance, away from prying eyes. | true | Health News | The coffin, one of three brought the same morning, came hours after officials said 13 elderly residents had died in the home since March 11 and that more than 80 others were believed to have the coronavirus. Most of the dead were aged over 90, an official at the regional health authority told Reuters. Authorities have ... |
41847 | "Christine Blasey Ford testified that she had “one beer, that’s the only thing I remember"" about what happened on the night that she was allegedly sexually assaulted." | Speaking to supporters in Mississippi, President Donald Trump made a series of false statements about Christine Blasey Ford’s sworn testimony about an alleged sexual assault. | false | Supreme Court confirmation, | Speaking to supporters in Mississippi, President Donald Trump made a series of false statements about Christine Blasey Ford’s sworn testimony about an alleged sexual assault.Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her when the two were in high school 36 years ago. I... |
26175 | “No tear gas was used and no rubber bullets were used.” | White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said federal police used neither tear gas nor rubber bullets to clear protesters from around a D.C. church where Trump was to visit. Federal police used pepper balls containing a chemical irritant that matches a federal definition of tear gas. Pepper balls are fired at about... | false | National, Civil Rights, Race and Ethnicity, Kayleigh McEnany, | "Federal officers’ use of force to clear the area around a church where President Donald Trump was due to visit June 1 has drawn the American public into the nuances of tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper balls. When a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany if the administration had second thoughts... |
11443 | Vitamins get ‘F’ in cancer prevention | "What a refreshing experience to read a story in this top-circulation daily paper that a magic bullet may be losing its magic! We applaud the reporter and the paper for bucking the trend of hyping ""new"" medical commodities and instead describing that previously embraced therapies are discovered to be ineffective. It ... | true | The story provided no cost estimates for vitamin and mineral supplements. The magnitude of wasted expenditures that could be saved is relevant. The story indicated that there was no cancer risk reduction associated with the vitamin supplements studied. A quote in the story from the author of one of the studies indicate... | |
6697 | Documents: $6 million to Armstrong family in wrongful death. | An Ohio hospital paid the estate of astronaut Neil Armstrong $6 million in a confidential agreement to settle allegations that post-surgical complications led to Armstrong’s 2012 death, according to court documents and a report in the New York Times. | true | Neil Armstrong, AP Top News, Cincinnati, Technology, General News, Health, Science, Ohio, U.S. News | The 2014 settlement went to 10 family members, including Armstrong’s two sons, sister, brother and six grandchildren, according to documents filed with the Hamilton County Probate Court in Cincinnati which were publicly available on Tuesday. Armstrong’s widow, Carol, did not receive any money in the settlement. Armstro... |
37938 | Mail-in voters in the United States can send their ballots with first-class postage to ensure that it is delivered on time before the November 3 2020 election. | Can You Have Your Mail-In Ballot Delivered as First Class Mail? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | As social media users expressed alarm over United States President Donald Trump’s administration’s apparent efforts to sabotage the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), one Twitter user’s suggestion caught traction on August 14 2020.That account wrote:Heard this from a postal worker- IF you return your ballot BUT place 2 First ... |
32091 | "Consumers should be aware of plastic rice from China that is difficult to discern from ""real rice." | The plastic rice story (and its fellow counterfeit Chinese food export legends) resemble an internationally viral 2007 CCTV segment about pork buns purportedly made with scrap cardboard, for which an independent journalist was eventually detained and accused of faking the oft-referenced story. | false | Food | Since early 2011, social media rumors have asserted plastic rice was being manufactured in China, exported, and consumed by people in other countries unaware the rice they were eating was in fact not a food at all. In February 2011, Raw Story and The Mary Sue published items about the purported plastic rice controversy... |
10495 | One antidepressant shown to control weight during 2-year study | This news release describes results of a retrospective study by Group Health on the link between antidepressant drugs and weight change over a two-year period in adults with already-diagnosed depression. The results of the study suggest that compared to a “reference” drug, fluoxetine (best known as Prozac), an SSRI or ... | true | industry/commercial news releases,Weight loss | A quote from one of the study’s co-authors mentions “costs” and “patient preferences” as sensible considerations in first choice of antidepressant therapy, but the release offers no information about the comparative costs of the drugs that were studied or even the estimated average annual cost of such therapy. The rele... |
30346 | A Zimbabwean inventor named Sangulani Maxwell Chikumbutso invented an electric car that requires no charging. | In our view, however, the burden of proof for upending the first and second laws of thermodynamics lies squarely on the person making that claim. No proof has been offered in the three years since the claim was first made, and as such we confidently rate the claim that he invented a car that “never needs charging” as f... | false | Science, zambian observer | Since 2015, a Zimbabwean man named Sangulani Maxwell Chikumbutso has been hailed by some on the internet as iconoclastic genius and self-taught inventor who successfully created an electric car that runs perpetually without ever needing a charge. As outlandish and self-evidently incorrect as that assertion is, the jour... |
27509 | A man in Stockholm, Sweden died from a fat embolism after undergoing penis enlargement surgery. | Based on this case report, Zilg and Rasten-Almqvist theorize that the risk of a fat embolism might be elevated when fat is injected into pretraumatized tissue (as in this case, where a penis elongation was performed before the fat injection). | true | Medical, cosmetic surgery, penis enlargement, sweden | On 31 July 2017, reports appeared that a 30-year-old man had died from a fat embolism after undergoing penis enhancement surgery in Sweden: The first case of a man killed by penis enlargement surgery has been reported in Sweden. A healthy 30-year-old had wanted to increase both the girth and length of his genitals usi... |
38385 | The Crusades Have Finally Started Again, a forwarded email and forum post making the rounds online since 2016, makes a number of claims about foreign countries cracking down on Muslims and urges similar steps in the United States. | The Crusades Have Finally Started Again Commentary | mixture | Religious | The Crusades Have Finally Started Again commentary makes a series of claims about steps supposedly being taken around the world to curb the spread of Islam that we have found to be equal parts truth, fiction and misleading. It’s not clear exactly where The Crusades Have Finally Started Again began, but many of its clai... |
33704 | Using gasoline is a recommended treatment for getting rid of head and body lice. | Bedding and toys need to be washed at high heat or dry cleaned as well. | false | Medical, Home Cures | The practice of using gasoline (or kerosene, naptha, benzine, or turpentine) to kill head and body lice is an old one — references to it appear in medical journals as far back as 1917, with even those sources positioning that mode of treatment as a well established one. It therefore poses no mystery that this bit of me... |
1513 | As temperatures soar, desperate Gazans try any means to beat heat. | As Middle East summer temperatures soar above 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), Gazans are struggling to stay cool amid a power crisis, with less than four hours of electricity a day and little chance to run fans and air-conditioners. | true | Environment | The power crisis is affecting health and sanitation - because sewage treatment plants can’t run, raw sewage is pouring into the Mediterranean - and now the elderly and sick are desperately trying to handle the heat. Plastic trays and scraps of cardboard are doubling as hand-held fans. Precious piped water is hosed over... |
10598 | Lymph Node Study Shakes Pillar of Breast Cancer Care | We do wish that the story had provided a few more hard numbers, especially in regard to cost. And the story could have made it clear higher up that this study does not mean that lymph nodes should never be removed. But, overall, this story earns a top five-star score. The story says it all: “The discovery turns standar... | true | Cancer,New York Times | Clearly, the costs involved in cancer treatment already are high. By removing a layer of treatment from an estimated 40,000 patients, those costs would have to drop, but it is unclear from the story by how much. Also, it would have been worth mentioning whether this is likely to affect how insurance companies handle ly... |
11268 | New “morning-after” pill effective and safe: FDA staff | By definition, emergency contraception is meant to be used only when other means of contraception fail. Controversy about emergency contraception typically centers around how it works – whether it prevents ovulation or blocks implantation of a fertilized egg. If emergency contraception works after fertilization, some w... | mixture | "The story does not mention costs. Although it is hard to say definitively how much the drug would cost in the US since it is not yet available, the story could have mentioned the cost of the drug in Europe or provide an estimate from the drug manufacturer or even from an analyst. The story provides no quanitification ... | |
11373 | Drug also halts HIV in straight couples | This AP story was more thorough than the competing coverage from CNN in a couple of key respects: It noted that the drugs being tested in these studies may not be available to poor Africans who are at greatest risk of contracting HIV, and that the benefits reported by researchers may not be reproducible in a less struc... | mixture | Associated Press | Cost is one of the factors driving the supply problem mentioned above (i.e. people can’t afford the drugs without assistance), but the story didn’t explicitly address this. Although these drugs are available cheaply in developing countries (less than $1 per pill according to some estimates), even these modest costs can... |
1706 | French parliament debates 'deep sleep' bill for end of life. | France’s parliament will debate a bill on Tuesday allowing patients on the brink of death to stop treatment and enter a “deep sleep” until they die, a move some critics say amounts to euthanasia in disguise. | true | Health News | If passed, the legislation would give dying patients in the secular but traditionally Catholic country more power over their own treatment. It would also bolster Socialist President Francois Hollande’s image as a social reformer after a hotly contested move to legalize gay marriage in 2012. Jean Leonetti, a center-righ... |
8113 | South Africa braces for lockdown as coronavirus cases spike to 554. | South African businesses braced for a nationwide lockdown and panic buyers stockpiled food and other essentials on Tuesday as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 554 from 402 a day earlier. | true | Health News | President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the 21-day lockdown from midnight on Thursday in an address to the nation on Monday, saying Africa’s most advanced economy needed to escalate its response to curb the spread of the respiratory pandemic. South Africa has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in sub-Saharan... |
25643 | Nick Freitas “supports a plan letting insurance companies deny coverage for preexisting conditions like asthma or diabetes.” | Freitas has voted for extended short-term health insurance plans, which can legally deny coverage based on preexisting conditions. He has repeatedly called for the abolition of Obamacare, which mandates coverage of preexisting conditions, and has not endorsed or proposed a replacement plan. | true | Health Care, Voting Record, Virginia, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, | "Democrats have launched a TV ad accusing Nick Freitas, the Republican congressional candidate in Virginia’s 7th District, of seeking to undermine insurance protections for people with preexisting conditions. The ad, sponsored by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, features black-and-white photos of Freita... |
4093 | 20 years later, Libby’s asbestos fight goes on. | The bleak world of asbestos science is tinged with subtle hues of gray and white, barely perceptible shadows that don’t strike the untrained eye as anything abnormal. But for those whose lives and careers are defined by the hundreds of people sick and dying in this tiny mountain community, the reality of the human trag... | true | Financial markets, Health care reform, Lung disease | Dr. Brad Black runs the nonprofit Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) and perhaps more than anyone he sees a clear picture of Libby’s plague — but it’s a picture that muddies the further one strays from the former mining town, and away from its medical professionals who have been charting an alarming rate of asb... |
36523 | A Chicago man lost his penis after developing frostbite during the 2019 Polar Vortex. | Did a Man Lose His Penis to Frostbite After Urinating Outside During a Cold Snap? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks, Viral Content | In early February 2019, the Facebook page Sexy Atheists shared a link to an article titled “Chicago Man Loses His Penis To Frostbite After Peeing Outside,” which appeared to report:The bitter cold in Chicago has kept hospitals busy, with doctors at one facility during the brunt of an Arctic freeze treating 50 frostbite... |
10500 | High-Precision Proton Therapy More Effective in Treating Certain Cancers When Combined with Thermal Therapy | Proton beam therapy has been in vogue for the past few years due to promises to provide more precise radiation therapy, theoretically leading to fewer side effects. A news release from the University of Maryland Medical Center/School of Medicine claims that the center is the only facility in the world to offer both pro... | false | Hospital news release | The news release doesn’t mention the cost of either of the treatments, or whether or not insurance will cover these procedures. We’ve discussed before that proton beam therapy can cost between $30,000 and $120,000. But it is hard to find cost information on the more experimental hyperthermia treatment, and the Universi... |
8267 | London can host 2020 Games if moved over coronavirus - mayor candidate. | London would be ready to host the 2020 Olympics if the outbreak of the coronavirus forced the Games to be moved from Tokyo, Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate for mayor of the British capital, has said. | true | Health News | London hosted the Olympics in 2012, but British officials played down the prospect of taking away the Games from Tokyo, which has been planning the event for seven years since its bid won in 2013. The flu-like coronavirus, which has killed more than 2,000 people in China and infected over 74,000 globally, has had a maj... |
26585 | Duey Stroebel Says that under order from Gov. Tony Evers, he and his eight children can’t legally have dinner together anymore. | The key here is what Stroebel’s tweet didn’t say – that five of the children he referenced were adults living on their own. Evers’ order does indeed ban gatherings of immediate family members in different households. | mixture | Families, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Duey Stroebel, | "It’s hard to find something that hasn’t changed in Wisconsin amid the coronavirus pandemic — work, school, church, home. On the eve of Gov. Tony Evers’ ""Safer at Home"" order limiting all non-essential movement, a Republican lawmaker lamented the last item on that list. ""Laura, my eight children and I are enjoying o... |
36148 | "A meme claiming that popular animated series ""The Simpsons"" predicted Greta Thunberg includes authentic and unaltered imagery from from the show, with Lisa Simpson glaring at Donald Trump." | ‘The Simpsons Predicted Greta Thunberg’ Meme | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | There is a common, cyclical rumor that animated comedy series The Simpsons — which began its run in 1989 — has predicted numerous events to come. In September 2019, one such iteration claimed that climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg was among future possibilities divined by the animated series many years before.A Se... |
11508 | Washing away sinus problems | This article about the benefits of nasal irrigation helps introduce readers to an often overlooked treatment for sinus congestion. It generally is successful at doing so. As the sources suggest, for many people this is an excellent first treatment for sinus congestion and headaches. However, the article falls short of ... | mixture | "It would have been simple and useful to cite the costs of the device, the spray equivalent, and the solution. The story does not provide sufficient data about the outcomes, instead summarizing with the words ""effective,"" ""safe,"" and ""inexpensive."" The key study of 28 people showed a 30 to 40 percent improvement ... | |
11022 | Cervical cancer breakthrough | This story reports on the decision of an FDA panel to recommend approval of a vaccine against HPV, the leading cause of cervical cancer. The story treats the FDA approval as fait accompli. Although the FDA usually goes along with the panel recommendations, approval is not automatic or occur when it is predicted. The st... | mixture | The story does not mention costs, which are likely to be substantial given the scope of a potential vaccination program. Furthermore, because women will likely still have to get pap smears, an HPV vaccination program is unlikely to save money. The cost of the three injections are estimated to be around $500. The cost o... | |
27559 | The term '420' entered drug parlance as a term signifying the time to light up a joint. | However, as amusing as it is to tie 420 to pot smoking and hunt for it in popular movies, the number has its dark side. Hitler was born on 20 April 1889, and the massacre of 13 victims at Columbine High School in Colorado took place on 20 April 1999. | true | Language, cannabis, marijuana, Story Time | Odd terms sneak into our language every now and then, and this is one of the oddest. Everyone who considers himself in the know about the drug subculture has heard that ‘420’ has something to do with illegal drug use, but when you press them, they never seem to know why, or even what the term supposedly signifies. It’s... |
8785 | Gene raises risk of lifetime smoking habit: study. | For most people, the first experimental drags on a cigarette bring on nausea, coughing and other signals from the brain that say, “Turn back. This is a bad idea.” But for some, they bring a wave of pleasure. | true | Health News | Those in the second group likely bear a gene type that not only increases their addiction risk, but has been implicated in the development of lung cancer, researchers said on Friday. “If you have this variant, you are going to like your earliest experiences with smoking,” said Ovide Pomerleau of the University of M... |
13956 | Thanks to (North Carolina’s) governor and the legislature, the average teacher salary can barely support a family. | The plan to build a petrochemical plant near the Iranian city of Firouzabad had everything usually needed to get a project off the ground: approval from the nation’s top authority, funding from the Revolutionary Guards and plentiful gas feedstock. | false | Education, Families, State Budget, Workers, North Carolina, Hillary Clinton, | But a decade on, work at the site is only 10% complete because of a row over an increasingly scarce resource in Iran that is vital to keep the facility cool: water. “In early project studies, there were some mistakes about the amount of water the plant would need,” said Hamidreza Soleymannejad, one of the plant’s proje... |
18489 | "Clean Water Portland Says ""If you compare the Portland Metro area to the CDC’s statewide cavity rates ... the Portland Metro area would actually rank as having the 15th lowest cavity rate in the U.S." | Do numbers put Multnomah Co. on par with 15th lowest cavity rate in the country? | false | Oregon, Public Health, Water, Clean Water Portland, | "Portland residents will vote in May on whether to add fluoride to the city’s drinking water. This is a long-running, divisive and emotional issue for people on both sides. Supporters say fluoridated water is the best way to strengthen teeth, especially for vulnerable children who lack access to regular dental care. Op... |
22608 | "The federal health care law is ""probably the biggest tax increase ever in the history of our country." | Rick Scott says health care law is biggest tax increase in U.S. history | false | Health Care, Taxes, Florida, Rick Scott, | "Florida Gov. Rick Scott's new job isn't getting in the way of his old hobby -- criticizing the federal health care law. Scott, who in 2009 formed Conservatives for Patients' Rights to oppose health care reforms being proposed by President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress, has continued to fight the health care r... |
40776 | There’s been an increase in the number of EU staff in the NHS since the referendum. | Around 4,400 more EU nationals worked for the NHS in England in June 2018, compared to June 2016. But some of the increase could be down to more staff reporting their nationality. The proportion of staff who report they are EU nationals is about the same in 2018 as in 2016. | true | health | The number of EU nurses coming to the UK has fallen by 90% since the Brexit vote. The number of nurses and midwives from the EEA joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s register fell by 91% from 2015/16 to 2017/18. The number of EU nationals leaving the NHS jumped by 14% in 2017. EU nationals have fallen as a perce... |
2106 | Green is the new organic in wines. | It’s easy being green in Mendocino, California, where many of the county’s 84 vintners are certified organic, biodynamic or carbon neutral. | true | Environment | Tim Thornhill, a transplanted Texan who formed the Mendocino Wine Company six years ago in the county north of San Francisco, is one of them. Along with his brother, Tom, and former Fetzer Vineyards winemaker Paul Dolan he bought the Parducci Wine Cellars and revived the wine’s reputation. He also used his background i... |
9224 | Dabigatran superior to warfarin when anticoagulation is resumed after bleeding | This news release touts an analysis of Medicare data for 1,500 patients who suffered a major bleeding event while taking anticoagulants for atrial fibrillation. Researchers found that patients who resumed anticoagulants after a hemorrhage had better stroke and mortality rates than those who did not, and those who resum... | false | bleeding,stroke | There’s no mention of the significant cost difference between the two anticoagulants. A one-month supply for the highest recommended dosage runs about $400 for dabigatran, marketed as Pradaxa, versus $11 for warfarin, which has additional monitoring costs. The news release does not provide sufficient data to assess ris... |
5757 | Hawaii lava boat tours continue after explosion, injuries. | Hawaii tour boat operators plan to continue taking visitors to see lava, but will follow the Coast Guard’s revised policy and stay farther away after an explosion caused molten rock to barrel through the roof of a vessel, injuring 23 people. | true | AP Top News, Coast guard, Hawaii, Science, Travel, North America, Kilauea, Explosions, U.S. News | The Coast Guard prohibits vessels from getting closer than 984 feet (300 meters) from where Kilauea volcano’s lava oozes into the sea. The agency had been allowing experienced boat operators to apply for a special license to get closer up to 164 feet (50 meters), but it stopped allowing those exceptions Monday morning.... |
652 | Science of far-away planets and infant universe wins Nobel prize. | Canadian-American cosmologist James Peebles and Swiss scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physics on Tuesday for revealing the wonder of the evolution of the universe and discovering planets orbiting distant suns. | true | Science News | Peebles, of Princeton University in the United States, was awarded half of the 9-million-Swedish-crown ($910,000) prize while Mayor and Queloz, from Switzerland’s University of Geneva and Britain’s Cambridge University, shared the rest. “This year’s Nobel laureates have painted a picture of our universe far stranger an... |
334 | California jury hits Bayer with $2 billion award in Roundup cancer trial. | A California jury on Monday awarded more than $2 billion to a couple who claimed Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused their cancer, in the largest U.S. jury verdict to date against the company in litigation over the chemical. | true | Health News | "The large punitive damages award is likely to be reduced due to U.S. Supreme Court rulings that limit the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages to 9:1. The jury awarded a total of $2 billion in punitive damages and $55 million in compensatory damages. It was the third consecutive U.S. jury verdict against the comp... |
11376 | Drug May Reduce Plaque in Brains of Alzheimer’s Patients | We applaud the restraint the WebMD headline writer employed with “Drug May Reduce Plaque in Brains of Alzheimer’s Patients.” That’s about all you can say at this point, and the body text of the story explains why. In that regard, this story got off to a better start than its HealthDay competitor. This story was better... | true | Alzheimer's,WebMD | Not applicable. It’s understandable that costs wouldn’t be discussed at this early stage of research. Adequate explanation of results observed in study participants at different dosing levels. More importantly, the story simply explained: “Since it’s not completely clear what reductions in brain plaques mean for Alzhei... |
9668 | No-Drill Dentistry: Fluoride Treatments Can Prevent Cavities In Adults | This “better safe than sorry” story about the advantages of more intensive measures to prevent tooth decay in adults is thick with promises, but thin with evidence about who might benefit and by how much. The strong points: The reporter did a good job talking to multiple sources, and made an effort to discuss costs and... | true | cavities,dentistry,oral health | The story does include a discussion of price, reporting that a fluoride varnish treatment can cost $23 to $55, while a filling can cost $86 to $606. That’s enough to be rated Satisfactory. However, the story also should have stated that those numbers aren’t a head-to-head comparison, since the varnish treatment must be... |
17780 | Wisconsin is not as obese as the national average is. The national average, 35.7 percent of the population is obese. In Wisconsin, it's closer to 26 percent. | "Thompson said: ""Wisconsin is not as obese as the national average is. The national average, 35.7 percent of the population is obese. In Wisconsin, it's closer to 26 percent."" In one study, 35.7 percent of American adults were estimated to be obese. In another study, which used a different methodology, the rate was 2... | false | Corrections and Updates, Health Care, Public Health, States, Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson, | "Editor’s note: On Oct. 7, 2013, we rated this statement True. Several readers cited additional information we hadn’t considered, so we have issued a new rating. Since losing to Democrat Tammy Baldwin in a U.S. Senate race in 2012, former Republican Wisconsin governor and U.S. health and human services secretary Tommy ... |
10140 | Statin drugs may lower colon cancer risk: study | Not only did the quotes come from a news release, but the news came from a talk at a scientific meeting. There are limitations to the conclusions you can draw from such presentations, as they have not undergone the same kind of rigorous review that, for example, a journal article would. We offer a primer on this topic.... | false | "Although statin medications have been on the market for a long time and information about the costs of both name brand and generic versions of these drugs is readily available, the story included no information about costs. The story only presented relative risk of being diagnosed with colon cancer (i.e. ‘patients wh... | |
26288 | Anthony Fauci was on the Clinton Foundation board for 20 years and “currently serves on Gates Foundation.” | Anthony Fauci never served on the Clinton Foundation board, according to the nonprofit. He also isn’t a member of the Gates Foundation leadership team. | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Anthony Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He wasn’t on Microsoft’s board of directors — a claim we recently debunked. But more misinformation abounds, and one Facebook post pads his resume with some new positions. ""Whoa!"" the May 12 Facebook post says. ""Dr Fauci was... |
6156 | Trump EPA nominee opposed by GOP senators from NC. | North Carolina’s two Republican senators say they oppose President Donald Trump’s pick to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency, putting Michael L. Dourson’s nomination at serious risk. | true | Susan Collins, Richard Burr, North Carolina, Politics, North America, Environment, Business, Thom Tillis, Donald Trump, Pollution | Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis issued statements saying they will vote against Dourson to serve as head of EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Environmentalists and Senate Democrats have vehemently opposed Dourson, a toxicologist with close ties to the chemical industry. That means only one... |
35526 | In June 2020, the Michigan House of Representatives passed legislation that would allow employers to microchip workers on a voluntary basis. | What's true: On June 24, 2020, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill that would prohibit employers from making microchip implants mandatory for employees and establish protections for workers who choose not to use the technology. What's false: The proposal does not establish a new system to permit or enco... | false | Politics | On June 24, 2020, the Michigan House of Representatives approved the “Microchip Protection Act” — a three-page piece of legislation that establishes guidelines for how businesses can use microchips implanted under people’s skin in their workflows. Some onlookers interpreted the vote as lawmakers’ endorsement of the use... |
16841 | An average of nine children a day in the U.S. die of gunshot wounds. | Do an average of nine children a day die in the United States of gunshot wounds? | false | Oregon, Public Safety, Guns, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, | "Editor’s Note: We rarely find it necessary to re-examine a PolitiFact Oregon fact-check, but this was an exception. Our original fact-check, based largely on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, readers brought significant new information to light that we thought warranted a new analysis... |
2979 | CES tech show: Say no to junk food; machines make cocktails. | A wristband that will help you say “no” to junk food. A machine that will mix drinks for you. | true | Nutrition, Products and services, Technology, Consumer Electronics Show, General News, Consumer electronics, Cocktails, Health, Business, Las Vegas, U.S. News, Lifestyle | These were among the gadgets showcased this week at the CES technology conference in Las Vegas. The four-day show, which opened Tuesday, is a place for companies to unveil their products and services for the coming year, though Apple, Google and other tech giants often hold their own announcement events. Streaming serv... |
8242 | Airbnb hosts to provide free rooms for British health workers. | Airbnb hosts will provide free rooms for workers in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) to support their work during the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Sunday. | true | Health News | Nearly 1,500 places to stay have been made available under the scheme amid a slump in bookings on the home rental start-up as travel restrictions and curbs on social gatherings come into force around the world. Britain has looked to bolster its public health service to deal with the crisis, including establishing a fie... |
3979 | New case of mild bird flu found in Minnesota turkey flock. | The Minnesota Board of Animal Health has identified another case of a mild form of bird flu in a Minnesota turkey flock. | true | Health, Flu, Minnesota, Animal health, Bird flu | Rutine testing confirmed the presence of low-pathogenic H5N2 virus in a turkey flock in Stearns County. The flock of 13-week-old hens has been quarantined. The farm will be allowed to market the turkeys once the birds test negative for the disease. A similar case of the virus was detected last month in a commercial tur... |
10210 | Device for irregular heartbeat may be more cost-effective than medication | Watchman device. Illustration: Pat Lynch/YaleNewsThis is a brief news release about a device that, when implanted into the hearts of people with atrial fibrillation — irregular heartbeats — may prevent clots from forming. The study it’s based on is not a clinical trial, although it uses data from two completed clinical... | false | Academic medical center news release,cardiovascular disease | The news release does not say how much the new device costs, nor does it say how it compares with the cost of warfarin or non-warfarin oral anticoagulants. This is of concern, since the news release focuses on the cost-effectiveness of the device. The news release says that “the device did appear to be more cost-effect... |
922 | Ebola spread to east Congo's Goma massively raises risk - U.N. | Ebola’s arrival in eastern Congo’s main city of Goma severely raises the risk of the virus spreading if it takes root in this metropolis near the border with Rwanda, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Monday. | true | Health News | U.N. officials and donors met in Geneva to discuss how to tackle the world’s second worst epidemic, which has infected 2,500 people and killed 1,655 in the lush farmlands of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. A toxic mix of armed militias and a deep-rooted mistrust of health officials by communities have hampered ef... |
18495 | "The Manchin-Toomey amendment ""would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members"" to get government approval." | "The NRA said that the Manchin-Toomey amendment would have ""criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution."" The amendment specifically ex... | false | National, Corrections and Updates, Guns, National Rifle Association, | "Not long after the Senate voted down a bipartisan effort to expand background checks on gun sales, the National Rifle Association released a statement hailing the proposal’s downfall as good news. ""This amendment would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong... |
7262 | Meharry, Morehouse partner with the University of Zambia. | Meharry Medical College and the Morehouse School of Medicine have formed a partnership with the University of Zambia to develop an international exchange program focused on disease research and prevention. | true | Health, Zambia, Nashville, Medical schools | Officials at Meharry said the program will focus on seven core areas of health, including: HIV and AIDS, cancer, HPV, late-onset diabetes, hypertension, infectious disease and malnutrition. Meharry President James Hildreth said that in today’s global society the Nashville medical school’s mission is no longer contained... |
8891 | Stryker launches partial knee resurfacing systems. | Stryker Corp said on Tuesday it has launched a partial knee resurfacing system in the United States. | true | Science News | The system preserves the most amount of natural bone, making it a less invasive way to treat diseased joints. Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Stryker, one of the top makers of reconstructive implants, said its system, called Triathlon PKR, is beneficial because it allows surgeons to provide personalized solutions by only sha... |
8086 | Palestinians report first death from coronavirus. | The Palestinians reported their first death from the coronavirus on Wednesday, a woman in her 60s who lived in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. | true | Health News | “The woman had experienced symptoms and was later hospitalised” before succumbing to the illness, said Ibrahim Melhem, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the West Bank. The woman was from Bidu, a Palestinian village north of Jerusalem and southwest of Ramallah, Melhem added. There... |
19581 | "Barack Obama Says that as Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney ""condemned coal-fired plants, saying they kill people." | Barack Obama says Mitt Romney condemned coal-fired power plants as killers | true | Environment, Ohio, Economy, Energy, Barack Obama, | "Mitt Romney came to coal country on Aug. 14, standing before a crowd of miners in eastern Ohio and pledging to fight for their jobs. You could be forgiven if you thought this was much ado about 3,150 jobs -- the number employed directly by coal operations in Ohio, at least before two mines announced layoffs recently. ... |
9549 | How Omega 3 Fats May Improve Fertility | Time magazine’s story states that a University of Colorado study has provided evidence that increasing the amount of healthy fat in one’s diet “can boost your chances of getting pregnant.” No, no, no. We just can’t know this yet: It’s mouse research. Involving all of 10 mice. The story acknowledges this later, stating ... | false | infertility,mice studies,Omega-3 | The article includes no discussion of the cost of adding either omega 3 supplements or foods high in omega 3 fats to an individual’s diet. Omega 3 supplements may not be especially expensive, but the story doesn’t address this issue either. Given that the research under consideration here involved 10 mice — and genetic... |
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