claim_id stringlengths 1 234 | claim stringlengths 14 491 | explanation stringlengths 1 4.18k | label stringclasses 5
values | subjects stringlengths 0 223 | main_text stringlengths 18 41.7k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
40349 | Famed dog whisperer Cesar Millan died suddenly after suffering a heart attack. | Cesar Millan Died of Heart Attack – Fiction! | false | Miscellaneous | Cesar Millan is alive and well. False claims about Millan’s death were first reported in an article published by the website Noticias Unam. Translated into English, however, the website’s disclaimer states that it is a “satirical newspaper whose sole purpose is entertainment.” According to the article: “Milla... |
37890 | "An image ""they"" keep removing from social media proves a ""canine coronavirus vaccine"" existed in 2001, and public health officials are lying about there being no vaccine for COVID-19." | Was There a ‘Canine Coronavirus Vaccine in 2001’? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | On April 22 2020, screenshots of an image post featuring a “canine coronavirus vaccine” appeared and was circulated alongside captured text about the vial dating back to 2001 (archived here):Text over a battered vial labeled “Canine Coronavirus Vaccine” and “Nobivac” pinched between two fingers said:Now this was 2001 t... |
596 | Exclusive: WHO, Congo eye tighter rules for Ebola care over immunity concerns. | The World Health Organization and Congolese authorities are proposing changes to how some Ebola patients are cared for, new guidelines show, after a patient’s death challenged the accepted medical theory that survivors are immune to reinfection. | true | Health News | There are many unanswered questions surrounding the circumstances of the woman’s death in Democratic Republic of Congo, which has not previously been reported. But it has raised concerns because the woman, whose name has not been released for confidentiality reasons, was thought to have had immunity after surviving inf... |
3987 | Drugmaker Lilly plans IPO for part of animal health business. | Eli Lilly is planning an initial public offering for part of an animal health business that brought in about 13 percent of all company revenue last year. | true | Indianapolis, Health, Animal health, North America, Business, Initial public offerings, Indiana, Eli Lilly and Co | The drugmaker said Tuesday that the IPO will represent an ownership stake of less than 20 percent. Lilly said it will divest its remaining stake in Elanco Animal Health through a tax-efficient deal, but offered no other details. Eli Lilly and Co., based in Indianapolis, once saw animal health as a pivotal asset in equa... |
25748 | “As of the last 24 hours this is the protocol regarding masks: Masks should only be used by healthcare workers, caretakers or by people who are sick with symptoms like fever and cough.” | The photo is outdated. The giveaway is the Nasdaq composite index listed in the bottom right-hand corner. The Nasdaq hasn’t sat at 9,415.23 since mid-June; the post claims the photo was taken in mid-August. The quote depicted in the image is from at least as early of March, a Google search shows. The World Health Organ... | false | Health Care, Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Health Check, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "People are using an old photo of a Fox News graphic to spread new misinformation about mask policies amid the coronavirus pandemic. ""As of the last 24 hours this is the protocol regarding masks — BAM spread the word!,"" the post shared Aug. 14 says. The post points down to an image of a Fox News television graphic th... |
24778 | When the salmonella source was finally identified, FDA officials had to wait for industry approval before they could go live with the [peanut] recall. | Congresswoman's portrait of a toothless FDA is correct | true | National, Consumer Safety, Rosa DeLauro, | "Is our food-safety system really that weak? We realized the recent outbreak of salmonella poisoning from peanut products exposed serious problems with food manufacturing and plant inspections. But Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, alleged it also exposed the federal Food and Drug Administration as toothless w... |
10705 | Food industry can help lower cardiovascular diseases by adding little seaweed to products | This release describes what is apparently a summary of studies related to 35 different types of seaweed and their purported health benefits. Only one study is glancingly referenced, and no real, quantitative evidence is presented to back up any of the claims. A single source — the author of books promoting seaweed as a... | false | cardiovascular disease,Food,University news release | There is no discussion of costs in this piece. This is odd for two reasons: 1. Seaweed of certain varieties is readily available in grocery stores and a staple of sushi bars and other restaurants. 2. The authors are advocating that seaweed become a regular part of baking and cooking, which means that costs need to be c... |
3207 | Dangerous jellyfish return to New Jersey river. | A dangerous species of jellyfish that has a debilitating sting has returned to a New Jersey river. | true | Newark, New Jersey, Environment, Jellyfish | NJ.com reports (http://bit.ly/2r0acen ) that clinging jellyfish were found in the Shrewsbury River. The jellyfish were found in the Manasquan and Shrewsbury rivers last summer. Clinging jellyfish stings can cause muscle weakness, pain and kidney failure in some extreme cases. A man was hospitalized after being stung wh... |
12001 | "An Ohio ballot issue would address the fact that ""we’ve gone from paying about $100 for Epipens to over $600 ... We don’t have a choice but to pay it and the drug companies know it." | "A pro-Issue 2 ad in Ohio claimed, ""We’ve gone from paying about $100 for Epipens to over $600. And they only hold about one dollar’s worth of medicine. We don’t have a choice but to pay it and the drug companies know it."" There is a key difference in the ""we"" paying $600 -- a relatively small fraction of the priva... | false | Ohio, Health Care, Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices, | "Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices claims its ballot initiative could lower the price tag for the EpiPen, a popular auto-injector for serious allergic reactions. ""We’ve gone from paying about $100 for EpiPens to over $600. And they only hold about one dollar’s worth of medicine,"" the Aug. 29, 2017, video says. ""W... |
11537 | Training children’s bodies to overcome food allergies? Study says it’s possible | "Allergies to common food stuffs, that elicit severe reaction can be life threatening and are a serious problem. This story presented some very preliminary results that suggest a means of making these situations more manageable for the affected individual. The story, while generally fairly complete in its description o... | true | "There was no estimate for the costs of such treatment. The benefits of the treatment were defined as increasing the number of peanuts, for example, that a treated individual might be able to consume without difficulty. The more difficult to quantify benefit of enabling a child, allergic to common foods, to withstand e... | |
9733 | Vaccine offers new hope for removing precancerous cervical lesions | Correction: Since posting this review, we’ve learned that this story wasn’t an original piece of journalism but rather a verbatim reprint of a news release from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. There was no warning or disclaimer as to the origin of the text. Accordingly, we’ve downgraded the score from 4 stars t... | false | HPV,vaccines | The story did not discuss the potential costs of the experimental vaccine. Since similar vaccines are commercially available, it should have been possible to provide at least a ballpark estimate of what the new vaccine might cost. The potential savings in terms of treatment costs for prevented cancers could also have b... |
9094 | Arthrokinex Announces IRAPjoint Product, a Non-Drug, Non-Surgical Joint Pain Management Solution Made From Your Own Blood. | This news release heralds the creation of a new treatment for osteoarthritis (OA) patients and those with joint pain. The therapy, called IRAPjoint, consists of withdrawing a patient’s blood, heating it, and then re-injecting it into the painful joint. The theory behind this practice, which has been done for several ye... | false | Arthrokinex,joint pain,osteoarthritis | This news release highlights the cost of the treatment — $2,000, compared to the price of $10,000 for an unnamed foreign competitor. The New York Times wrote a piece on a company in Germany supplying a similar treatment in 2012 when the cost of the procedure was about $7,500 out of pocket, so the news release seems to ... |
10924 | Study: Stomach banding beats drugs in curing diabetes | This was an interesting story reporting on the diabetes improvement that may follow gastric banding surgery. But the story erred in referring to ‘curing’ type II diabetes. The evidence from the paper never mentions cure; it discusses remission, which is not the same thing as cure. It has different meaning for patients ... | true | "The story did not provide information about the costs associated with gastric banding or the intensive follow-up that the people in this study received. It also failed to mention that this procedure is not always covered by medical insurance. The story informed readers that most of the people undergoing gastric bandin... | |
11642 | NFL lawyer, who claimed Super Bowl is ‘rigged’, found dead. | "In the world of real news, PolitiFact has fact-checked many claims related to past Super Bowls related to weather, records and spending as well as human trafficking and domestic violence and economic impact. But in this case, the claim that an ""NFL lawyer, who claimed Super Bowl is ‘rigged’, found dead"" is fake news... | false | Fake news, Sports, PunditFact, Eco News, | "Days before the Super Bowl, fake news articles circulating on Facebook claimed that a National Football League lawyer named Dan Goodes was shot dead in a ""gangland-style execution"" hours after blowing the whistle on the ""rigged Super Bowl."" ""NFL lawyer, who claimed Super Bowl is ‘rigged,’ found dead,"" stated the... |
36542 | "Portraits depict Agnes Sorel in the 1400s, exposing her favorite breast and myths about ""modesty." | Do Portraits Depict Agnès Sorel in the 1400s Exposing Her ‘Favorite Boob’? | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In January 2019, screenshots of the following Twitter claim about Agnès Sorel, lover to King Charles VII of France, began circulating on Facebook:The tweet said:“Women in the past were modest and had more respect for themselves.”Here’s Agnes Sorel, who had her gowns tailored to expose her favorite boob in the 1440s.The... |
26341 | Blogger Says Mike Pence was caught on a hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE to a nursing home and pretended they were heavy. | A video clip of Vice President Mike Pence featured in an episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was deceptively edited. Pence delivered boxes of personal protective equipment to a Virginia nursing home, but Kimmel falsely suggests he pretended the boxes were heavy when they were empty. The clip cuts off before showing that Pen... | false | Fake news, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Bloggers, | "A clip of Vice President Mike Pence helping deliver personal protective equipment to a Virginia nursing home started circulating on social media after late night host Jimmy Kimmel featured it in his show. A 40-second clip of the ""Jimmy Kimmel Live!"" episode shared on Twitter shows Kimmel mocking Pence, saying he was... |
10015 | Drug a New Treatment Option for Diabetic Eye Disease | Just doesn’t stack up to the other two stories (by WebMD and the New York Times) we reviewed on this same study. But it’s tough to stack up when all you’ve done is rewritten a news release. When you report from a news release, you’re not going to get into the meat of the real story as the New York Times did on the que... | false | "Cost isn’t mentioned and in that oversight is perhaps the biggest flaw of the story – that it did not explain – as the New York Times story did – that there are questions about Lucentis vs. a cheaper alternative. From the NYT: Never defines what ""substantial improvement in vision"" means. None discussed. The NYT repo... | |
7463 | AP-NORC poll: Majority disapprove of coronavirus protests. | A majority of Americans disapprove of protests against restrictions aimed at preventing the spread the coronavirus, according to a new poll that also finds the still-expansive support for such limits — including restaurant closures and stay-at-home orders — has dipped in recent weeks. | true | AP Top News, General News, Politics, Lifestyle, Virus Outbreak, Public health, U.S. News | The new survey from the University of Chicago Divinity School and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 55% of Americans disapprove of the protests that have popped up in some states as some Americans begin chafing at public health measures that have decimated the global economy. Thirty-one... |
11920 | "Charles Francis ""vows to slash funding for parks and open space." | "McFarlane’s mailer says Francis ""vows to slash funding for parks and open space."" Francis has certainly been critical of the city’s enthusiasm for Dix Park and bike lanes. But, as far as we can tell, he’s made no promises to cut the parks budget." | false | City Budget, City Government, Recreation, North Carolina, Nancy McFarlane, | "Charles Francis has campaigned on the idea that Raleigh leaders aren’t paying enough attention to the city’s neediest. He’s said that Mayor Nancy McFarlane and other council members seem more enthusiastic about big projects, like building a new City Hall or planning Dix Park, than they are about providing more afforda... |
2342 | China's hunger for sea cucumbers reaches islands of Sierra Leone. | As evening falls over Sierra Leone’s Banana Island archipelago, bats stream from their beachside roosts to circle in their thousands over the jungle village of Dublin. | true | Environment | Below them a struggle is playing out over an unexpected commodity - the lowly sea cucumber, a fleshy, sausage-shaped creature that scavenges for food on the seabed. It is a struggle that is familiar to many in the West African country. Sierra Leone’s resources - diamonds, gold, fish and more recently iron ore - have be... |
15135 | We had a three-hour debate, no discussion about the national debt, very little about the economy. | "Rubio said, ""We had a three-hour debate, no discussion about the national debt, very little about the economy."" He’s right there was very little mention of the economy, but the national debt was brought up by some of the 11 candidates, usually while addressing an opponent. We should note that even then, no one gave ... | true | National, Debates, Elections, Marco Rubio, | "The high polling numbers for the GOP presidential field’s ""outsider"" candidates are in part the result of the media refusing to discuss substantive issues, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. Rubio said on the Sept. 20, 2015, episode of This Week that political newcomers like Donald Trump, Car... |
28986 | Keurig coffee maker users are at risk because the machines are prone to growth of mold, algae, and bacteria. | What's true: Keurig machines (and similar products) can become moldy if not regularly cleaned. What's false: The issue is not limited to Keurig, and cleaning the machine will generally resolve the problem. | mixture | Food, coffee makers, keurig, Toxin Du Jour | On 1 October 2014, an article (later aggregated to several other sources) titled “Why I Kicked My Keurig to the Curb” was published to the alternative health site Underground Health. In it, the author made a case against the use of Keurig coffee makers and their proprietary “K-cup” grounds packets for a number of reaso... |
9873 | ‘Miracle Patient’ Finds New Hope with Breast Cancer Vaccine | This news release highlights the “miracle” response of a single patient with triple-negative breast cancer to a drug combination that included an experimental cancer vaccine and a biosimilar of the drug pembrolizumab (marketed as Keytruda). Far from objective, the release relies on strong emotional language such as “re... | false | Breast cancer,industry/commercial news releases | The release referred to a combination of a new vaccine targeting the p53 gene and a pembrolizumab biosimilar. Pembrolizumab is currently used as a chemotherapy drug but no mention of costs were given for this drug or the combination treatment of the vaccine with pembrolizumab. According to GoodRX, four vials of 50 mg K... |
36092 | "U.S. President Donald Trump called Italy President Sergio Mattarella ""Mozzarella,"" then lauded an American alliance dating back to ancient Rome." | Volunteers in the New Zealand city of Rotorua are preparing two dozen white-lined coffins to be transported to Samoa at the end of the week as the measles-ravaged Pacific island nation languishes under a growing death toll that has now hit 70. | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | The smallest of the coffins, designed for the bodies of babies, are decorated with felt butterflies, daisies, stars and hearts. Volunteers have placed a teddy bear in each of the infant-sized caskets. “It’s not easy. No-one is prepared to lose that many children,” said Tagaloa Tusani, a New Zealand-based volunteer who ... |
6869 | Immune system therapy shows wider promise against cancer. | A treatment that helps the immune system fight deadly blood cancers is showing early signs of promise against some solid tumors, giving hope that this approach might be extended to more common cancers in the future. | true | Health, Atlanta, Tumors, Cancer | The treatment, called CAR-T therapy, involves genetically modifying some of a patient’s own cells to help them recognize and attack cancer. Richard Carlstrand of Long Key, Florida, had it more than a year ago for mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs. “We were going into unknown territories” to ... |
3992 | Aurora, a beloved polar bear, dies at upstate New York zoo. | A beloved polar bear has died at the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, New York. | true | Polar bears, Rochester, Bears, Animal health, North America, Health, Pamela Reed, New York, Animals, U.S. News | Director Larry Sorel says the loss of 28-year-old Aurora is “difficult for the entire zoo family.” Zoo Society President Pamela Reed Sanchez says Aurora was “an extraordinary ambassador” for her “vulnerable species.” Aurora was born at Utah’s Hogle Zoo in 1989 and arrived at Seneca Park Zoo in 1991. She had severe live... |
9662 | Vericel stem cell heart failure therapy cuts deaths: study | This investor-minded story looks at a Vericel-funded study on the potential benefits of a new stem cell therapy for advanced heart failure patients. Even though its audience was financial folks, the story included a lot of key details that a general story should have, such as the quantified benefits of both primary (i.... | true | heart failure,stem cell research,stem cell therapy,stem cells | Stem cell therapy is assumed to be quite expensive, yet there is no mention of potential cost to the patient or health care system. If the new approach is comparable to other approaches then the cost of the alternative methods could be cited. Our rule of thumb: If it’s not too early to talk about how well something mig... |
13707 | "I haven't switched my position"" on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal." | "Kaine said, ""I haven’t switched my position"" on TPP. Though Kaine voted to give Obama fast-track authority to negotiate trade deals, a piece of legislation that paved the groundwork for TPP, he never took an official position on the deal itself. Throughout 2015, he reiterated he would oppose the deal if it didn’t ha... | mixture | National, Candidate Biography, Trade, Tim Kaine, | "Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine defended Hillary Clinton from public skepticism over her trustworthiness and addressed his own pro-trade baggage Aug. 7 on NBC’s Meet the Press. Clinton has ""learned from"" her email controversy and will be ""real transparent"" moving forward, Kaine said. While Clinton’s trust issue lies predo... |
9083 | Text messaging program may help pregnant women kick the smoking habit | Editor’s note: On the day this review was published, the news release it’s based on was removed from the EurekAlert! site. We have saved the original news release as a pdf. Using mobile devices to inform, persuade and ultimately change health behaviors is all the rage. A recent meta-analysis suggests that these effort... | mixture | George Washington University,pregnancy,smoking | It is not made clear what costs would accompany this kind of mobile health message strategy, and whether the costs would be absorbed by health plans and health care providers that use the service, or by individual patients. Wide use presumes thousands of app downloads and significant infrastructure costs on the part of... |
22451 | "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s ""budget okays disposing of unclaimed pound dogs to university research facilities." | Bloggers claim Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s budget OKs disposing of unclaimed stray dogs to university research facilities | false | State Budget, Wisconsin, Bloggers, | "In critiques that zipped from blog to blog and bounced around on Facebook and Twitter, critics of Gov. Scott Walker are jumping on a dog-related change in the governor’s new two-year budget. Walker’s budget plan for 2011-’13 amends a state statute (174.13) that allows dog pounds to sell -- for $1 -- unclaimed stray ca... |
29914 | A photograph shows the mouth of an adult suffering from hyperdontia. | Hyperdontia is a genuine medical condition, but take a close look at these images. | false | Fauxtography, Medical | A photograph supposedly showing the mouth of an adult suffering from hyperdontia (i.e., an excessive number of teeth) has been circulating online for several years. In February 2019, the Facebook page “Pictures From History” renewed interest in this image when they shared it on social media with the caption “Inside the... |
8125 | Astronauts quarantined ahead of journey to International Space Station. | Two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut were spending their final weeks on Earth in quarantine before they are scheduled to blast off on April 9 for the International Space Station for six months as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps Earth. | true | Science News | Launching from a pad in Kazakhstan, the Expedition 63 crew will depart Earth without much of the usual fanfare at the Baikonur cosmodrome and ceremonies in Moscow, as the world attempts to curb the spread of the COVID-19 disease through social distancing and citywide lockdowns. “We are ready to go, we are healthy, we’v... |
7616 | Family of opioid-addicted suspect sues police over her death. | Relatives of a Vermont woman whose obituary drew national attention for its discussion of her opioid addiction filed a lawsuit Thursday in which they accuse police and jail staff of denying her proper medical care and causing her death. | true | Police, Opioids, Health, Lawsuits, Massachusetts, U.S. News, General News, Springfield | The family of Madelyn Linsenmeir alleges in the federal lawsuit filed in western Massachusetts that law enforcement ignored the 30-year-old mother’s repeated pleas for medical help before her October 2018 death caused by an infected heart valve. “Madelyn’s illness was treatable. Her life could have been saved; her suff... |
11619 | STUDY: NEW DOCS' SUICIDAL THOUGHTS EASED WITH ONLINE THERAPY | This is a somewhat uneven account of a study of the use of a web-based therapy program in the reduction of suicidal thoughts in medical interns. While some elements of the story are solid, it is incomplete in some important aspects. The reader is provided with insufficient information on key components of the study des... | mixture | Associated Press,mental health | The story says the study involved a free online program developed in Australia. Knowing that it is free may be incentive enough for some individual doctors or their hospitals to look into it — so this is useful information. The story has some useful information on the benefits of the online therapy. We are told that, “... |
16981 | "Since 2000, Texas has reduced ""harmful pollutants in the air like nitrogen oxide by 62.5 percent, and ozone by 23 percent--a reduction that is 12 percent greater than the national average." | "Perry said that since 2000, Texas has reduced ""harmful pollutants in the air like nitrogen oxide by 62.5 percent, and ozone by 23 percent — a reduction that is 12 percent greater than the national average."" Those figures are accurate, but the claim (like Perry’s 2010 statement) takes into account only one NOx source... | mixture | Environment, Texas, Rick Perry, | "Gov. Rick Perry visited a familiar boast about the clearing skies of Texas in a May 19, 2014, letter to President Barack Obama that may have tested possible themes of another gubernatorial run for president. Saying Texas employs an ""all-of-the-above energy strategy"" tapping fossil fuels plus solar, biofuel and wind ... |
16272 | U.S. troops are getting only 4 hours of Ebola training before deployment to Liberia. | West said the United States is sending military personnel to confront Ebola after just four hours of training. While the average service member sent to West Africa will receive that amount of training specific to Ebola, the Army said that is a small part of the total training to attune them to medical hazards and to pr... | false | Ebola, Foreign Policy, Military, Public Health, PunditFact, Allen West, | "American personnel have just begun to arrive in West Africa in significant numbers and already, critics of President Barack Obama have raised questions about how the administration is handling the operation. A month ago, Obama announced plans to send up to 4,000 service members to help contain the deadly outbreak of E... |
7207 | Calls for universal health care renewed in Rhode Island. | Supporters of universal health care are renewing their push for publicly-subsidized health insurance for all Rhode Island residents. | true | Rhode Island, Providence, Legislation, Universal health care | State Rep. Aaron Regunberg, a Providence Democrat running for lieutenant governor, is a sponsor of this year’s legislation. He said at a Wednesday news conference that health care is a “fundamental human right.” The proposal calls for a 10 percent payroll tax to cover the costs of the single-payer system, which would o... |
12864 | On using the Common Core standards for English and math instruction | Holtz definitely was for Common Core before he was against it. The change is stark. This major reversal of position merits a Full Flop. | false | Education, Wisconsin, Lowell Holtz, | "Two candidates in the Feb. 21, 2017 primary election for state superintendent of public instruction are in a race to replace. Replace the Common Core academic standards, that is. Their stances have earned Lowell Holtz and John Humphries the label of ""flip floppers"" from the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now. ... |
15175 | "Unions did not create"" the eight-hour work day and the 40-hour work week. ""Henry Ford did." | A viral image said that Henry Ford, not unions, created the eight-hour work day and the five-day work week. Ford does deserve credit for adopting shorter working shifts, but he was hardly the first employer to do this, and the now-standard working schedule did not become federal law -- and thus a right for all workers ... | false | National, History, Jobs, Labor, Viral image, | "On Labor Day weekend, it’s not unusual to see claims about unions circulating on social media -- both favorable and unfavorable. A shareable graphic critical of organized labor caught the eye of a PolitiFact reader, who decided to forward it to us for a fact-check. The viral image said: Unions did not create: --Weeken... |
8739 | White House touts coronavirus testing capacity in face of criticism. | The White House on Friday rejected criticism that the country has not ramped up its testing capacity enough to begin safely reopening state economies shuttered to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus. | true | Health News | The remarks came a day after President Donald Trump unveiled new guidelines for U.S. states to emerge from the shutdown in a staggered, three-phase approach that relies on robust testing capabilities. “We believe today that we have the capacity in the United States to do a sufficient amount of testing for states to mov... |
32792 | A woman ate her grandchild after smoking bath salts. | The Now 8 News site mimics the appearance of a local television news web site, but it does not include a readily available disclaimer and is a well-known purveyor of fake news. The site has previously published hoax stories about a man having sex with a pig in a Wal-Mart, an obese woman starving her kids, and a woman w... | false | Junk News, bath salts, fake news | In April 2016, several web sites such as Now 8 News and Top Rated Viral published articles reporting that a grandmother had eaten her grandchild after smoking bath salts. While these articles were practically verbatim copies of each other, one claimed that the incident took place in New Jersey while the other reported ... |
17280 | "Ted Cruz Says President Barack Obama ""is the first president we've ever had who thinks he can choose which laws to enforce and which laws to ignore." | "We found that at least seven presidents -- including some of the nation’s most admired occupants of the White House -- acted, at least on occasion, in ways that ignored specific laws or constitutional protections. It is not accurate to say, as Cruz does, that Obama would be ""the first president we've ever had who thi... | false | National, Corrections and Updates, History, Legal Issues, Supreme Court, Ted Cruz, | "Critics of President Barack Obama have charged that he has regularly exceeded the powers of his office in selectively enforcing the law. Their examples include making recess appointments, issuing executive orders, delaying provisions of his health care law, refusing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court and d... |
8734 | Trump administration seeks $2.5 billion in funds to fight coronavirus. | The Trump administration is asking Congress for $2.5 billion to fight the fast-spreading coronavirus, including more than $1 billion for vaccines, the White House said on Monday. | true | Health News | With financial markets falling on concerns that the virus will have a significant impact on the global economy, the Trump administration is eager to show it is prepared to combat the virus despite the limited number of cases so far in the United States. The virus has spread to some 29 countries and territories beyond m... |
4510 | Bill targets vaccine misinformation amid measles outbreak. | Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas is partnering with two Midwestern Democrats to fight the spread of misinformation about vaccines in the face of measles outbreaks across the nation. | true | Gary Peters, Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kansas, Pat Roberts, Legislation, Measles, Public health, Tammy Duckworth | The Kansas City Star reports Roberts introduced legislation Thursday to instruct Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award competitive grants for public information campaigns aimed at combating the anti-vaccine movement. The bill does not specify a dollar figure, but would enable the CDC to steer money toward... |
14579 | "Hillary Clinton Says Dontre Hamilton, who was killed during a confrontation with a Milwaukee police officer, was ""unarmed." | "Clinton said Hamilton, who was killed during a confrontation with Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney, was ""unarmed."" Hamilton had no weapon when he was confronted by Manney. After Manney rousted Hamilton and began patting him down, a struggle ensued and Manney used his baton to strike Hamilton. Only then di... | true | Criminal Justice, Crime, Public Health, Public Safety, Urban, Wisconsin, Hillary Clinton, | "The disproportionate incarceration of black males was posed by a Facebook user during the Feb. 11, 2016 Democratic presidential debate, which was hosted by PBS in Milwaukee. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders responded to the question first. When former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed, she made a claim about the 201... |
12354 | Texas mothers are dying during childbirth at the highest rates in the nation. | "Thierry said Texas mothers ""are dying during childbirth at the highest rates in the nation."" In 2011 and 2012, according to a 2016 study, Texas had by far the nation’s highest maternal mortality rate. A clarification missing from Thierry’s statement: That national analysis took into account deaths not just at childb... | true | Health Care, Women, Texas, Shawn Thierry, | "A Democrat credited the Republican governor for highlighting maternal mortality and then made a claim about Texas leading nationally in a disturbing way. Houston Rep. Shawn Thierry noted in a press release circulated the day after Gov. Greg Abbott set the agenda for the special legislative session starting July 18, 20... |
5837 | CDC report: STD rates on rise in South Carolina. | The number of sexually transmitted diseases is on the rise in South Carolina. | true | Sexually transmitted diseases, Chlamydia, Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Greenville, South Carolina, Gonorrhea, Syphilis | That’s according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WSPA-TV reports the study shows the number of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis cases in South Carolina are the third highest in the country. The state ranks 5th for chlamydia cases and 4th for gonorrhea. The study found both infection... |
11418 | Statin Drugs May Cut Risk of Colorectal Cancer | "Maybe the disconnect between journalist and reader is best (worst) seen in this line from the story: ""The group of statins that showed the greatest effect in reducing risk are classified as lipophilic."" All statins are lipophilic. And the story gave readers no definition, no explanation of what lipophilic even mean... | false | "Even though both brand name and generic versions of statin medication are available, there was no information about costs in this story. Why this is so – in a story that suggests a possible future expanded market for these already widely-used drugs, is a puzzle. The story reported the more impressive-sounding relative... | |
5856 | State health commissioner says emergency funding needed. | Minnesota’s health commissioner is asking state legislators to provide $5 million for an emergency fund to deal with an outbreak of measles and other infectious diseases. | true | Health, Measles, Minnesota, Infectious diseases, Syphilis, Mark Dayton, Public health | Dr. Ed Ehlinger says public health officials are dealing with the largest measles outbreak in Minnesota in nearly 30 years and in recent months have responded to drug-resistant tuberculosis and hundreds of new cases of syphilis. The commissioner says current state funding doesn’t give health officials the flexibility n... |
8956 | Milk protein shown to alleviate chemotherapy side effects | The very preliminary study mentioned in this news release relies on only 12 cancer patients filling out an unvalidated questionnaire about whether taking lactoferrin supplements improved their sense of taste and smell. This is a weak news release about a weak observational study because it provides no supporting data,... | false | chemotherapy,milk protein,Virginia Tech | The cost of lactoferrin supplements is not mentioned. The 250 mg capsules used in this study were supplied by Jarrrow Formulas who list the capsule price as 50 cents. Therefore, three-a-day dosing — as tested in the study — would cost $1.50. A study author is quoted as speculating that lactoferrin … “elicits changes in... |
34445 | Rep. Jason Chaffetz is investigating a PBS show instead of President Donald Trump's alleged Russian connections | Additionally, Chaffetz contacted Attorney General Jeff Sessions seeking criminal charges against Bryan Pagliano, a former State Department employee who helped Hillary Clinton set up a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State. | unproven | Uncategorized, Centers for Disease Control, donald trump, Jim Henson Company | On 13 February 2017, Washington Post opinion writer Dana Milbank accused House Oversight Committee chair Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) of begging off on investigating President Donald Trump in favor of probing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over a childrens’ show. According to Milbank’s editorial: The chairman ... |
32725 | Donald Trump suggested he'd use nuclear weapons against Mexico if they refused to build and pay for a wall. | In the case of this article, there is already a wall that stretches nearly 2,000 miles between the United States and Mexico, making Trump’s statements (whether or not they were real) moot: | false | Junk News, border wall, donald trump, mexico | On 10 March 2016, Politicalo published an article reporting that Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2016 election, said he would use nuclear weapons on Mexico if they refused to build and pay for a border wall: In a Donald Trump administration, the U.S. military will be so strong that Mexico won’t... |
7890 | Germany's Merkel goes into quarantine after contact with infected doctor. | German chancellor Angela Merkel went into quarantine on Sunday after coming into contact with a coronavirus-infected doctor shortly after announcing more curbs on social interaction to slow the spread of the disease. | true | Health News | Merkel, 65, will continue her work from home and will submit to repeated tests over the next few days, her spokesman said in a statement, adding it was too soon for a conclusive test yet. Merkel had on Friday afternoon received a vaccine shot against pneumococcus, a pneumonia-causing bacteria, from a doctor who later t... |
36014 | A Facebook post accurately depicts a $60 women's self-defense kit, available for sale and sold by a black-owned business. | ‘$60 Women’s Self-Defense Kit Sold by a Black-Owned Business’ Facebook Post | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | A popular November 17 2019 Facebook post purportedly shows a women’s self-defense kit in the style of a makeup bag, and the collection of stylish items was described as being sold by a black-owned business:Its image showed iridescent brass knuckles, what appeared to be pepper spray in a studded or jeweled keychain atom... |
33648 | "Lemons have been proved to ""kill cancer cells"" and are ""10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy."" " | "Claims that lemons ""kill cancer cells"" and are ""10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy"" are unsupported by credible medical evidence." | false | Medical, Disease | Although an item about the supposed cancer-curing properties of lemons was originally circulated with a tag line suggesting that it had been issued by Baltimore’s Health Sciences Institute (a subsidiary of Newmarket Health, which is located at 819 N. Charles Street in Baltimore), that agency has denied any connection t... |
2904 | Roche's Tamiflu for children temporarily in short supply in U.S. | In what is shaping up to be a tough and widespread flu season in the United States, one of the leading medicines used to treat children with the sometimes deadly virus is in short supply. | true | Health News | “There has been strong and early demand for Tamiflu Oral Suspension (OS) and we are experiencing a temporary delay in the packaging of Tamiflu OS,” said Tara Iannuccillo, a spokeswoman for Roche Holding AG’s Genentech unit which manufactures the drug and uses distributors to supply retail pharmacies with the product. “... |
5794 | Abbvie to donate $100M for health, housing in Puerto Rico. | Drug maker Abbvie says it will donate $100 million to improve access to health care and housing in a Puerto Rico struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria. | true | Access to health care, Habitat for Humanity, Health, San Juan, Latin America, Puerto Rico | The biopharmaceutical company said Tuesday that half the amount will go to Direct Relief and the other to Habitat for Humanity International. Direct Relief would provide health centers with solar power, battery storage and generators, and fund mobile health units. Meanwhile, Habitat for Humanity would help repair and b... |
23408 | I don’t understand what Republicans are doing against this. It was their idea. John McCain introduced cap and trade legislation three times. | Democratic Rep. John Boccieri invokes GOP Sen. John McCain to back his cap-and-trade stance | true | Ohio, Cap and Trade, Climate Change, John Boccieri, | "Democratic Rep. John Boccieri has taken heat from Republicans ever since his 2009 vote for a House energy bill that would establish a ""cap and trade"" system designed to reduce emission of the greenhouse gasses thought to cause global warming. The system would impose a government cap on allowable emissions of carbon ... |
38617 | Claims that Milk-Bone brand dog treats contain BPH, a preservative allegedly known to cause cancer, have gone viral. | BHA in Milk-Bone Dog Treats Causes Cancer | unproven | Animals | Claims that Milk-Bone and other dog treats contain cancer-causing BHA aren’t new — and they are haven’t been proven true, either. Panic that Milk-Bone and Beggin Strips, the two most popular dog treat brands in the nation, cause cancer have been floating around the web since at least 2010. Back then, a WordPress site c... |
26546 | “Joe Exotic tests positive for coronavirus in prison. It’s been confirmed.” | Joe Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic, is on quarantine after transferring from a prison where other inmates tested positive for COVID-19. There has been no official confirmation that he has the disease. A post on his Facebook page says he does not have COVID-19. | false | Pop Culture, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Bloggers, | "New routines have emerged for Americans living under quarantine. Some have started making their own sourdough. Many others have settled into their couches and binge-watched ""Tiger King,"" the Netflix documentary about a former big cat breeder, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic. In January, Maldonado-Passage wa... |
4305 | Science Says: Tiny ‘water bears’ can teach us about survival. | Earth’s ultimate survivors can weather extreme heat, cold, radiation and even the vacuum of space. Now the U.S. military hopes these tiny critters called tardigrades can teach us about true toughness. | true | Biology, AP Top News, Animals, Bears, Science Says, North America, Health, Science | These animals are pipsqueaks, only about the size of a period. Under a microscope they look like some combination of chubby bear and single-eyed alien. And they are the closest life gets to indestructible. No water? No worries. Tardigrades survive. Antarctic cold, 300-degree heat (150 degrees Celsius), a lack of oxygen... |
11437 | Resveratrol impacts Alzheimer's disease biomarker | Resveratrol is an antioxidant compound found in grapes and red wine.This news release from Georgetown University Medical Center does a thorough job laying out the main points of a resveratrol phase II clinical trial. It reasonably talks about the study’s findings and design, while cautioning readers on how researchers ... | true | Academic medical center news release,Alzheimer's disease | Although resveratrol is found in some foods, it was tested here as an investigational new drug. This means that it is not available commercially in 1-gram pills. The news release points out this fact. The news release does a good job explaining how Abeta40 levels were stabilized in patients taking resveratrol in its pu... |
17466 | "Marijuana today is ""genetically modified,"" with THC levels that ""far surpass the marijuana"" of the 1970s." | "Kennedy said that marijuana today is ""genetically modified,"" with THC levels that ""far surpass the marijuana"" of the 1970s. Generally speaking, the potency of marijuana has been on the rise since Obama’s youth, though experts disagree about what impact that rise could have on marijuana’s negative health effects, i... | true | National, Drugs, Public Health, Marijuana, Patrick Kennedy, | "Apparently, back when President Barack Obama would get high with the Choom Gang, he was tokin’ on some weak product by today’s standards. At least, that’s what one former congressman says. After Obama told The New Yorker that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol — which opened the door to a broader conversation... |
21614 | On applying prosecutorial discretion to immigration cases. | Lamar Smith seeks to suspend discretion that he once urged government to apply | false | Immigration, Texas, Lamar Smith, | "Two U.S. House members whose districts take in parts of Travis County are on opposite sides of a proposal to suspend the Obama administration’s ability to permit selected illegal immigrants to stay in the country. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, further says the measure offered by Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, runs c... |
28525 | A meme contains accurate information about the founders of Papa John's (John Schnatter) and Little Caesar's (Mike Ilitch) respectively. | Aside from its literal veracity (or lack thereof), this meme also cherry-picks its “facts” to reflect poorly on Schnatter (whose political positions are well-known) and elides charitable contributions Papa John’s has made to causes such as the Red Cross, children affected by domestic violence, and general philanthropic... | mixture | Politics, john schnatter, little caesars, mike ilitch | On 2 November 2017, the Facebook page “The Other 98%” shared a meme comparing purported facts about the founder of the Papa John’s (John Schnatter) and Little Caesar’s (the late Mike Ilitch) pizza chains: Purported facts about Schnatter were accompanied by a red “X” (indicating dispproval) and those about Ilitch with ... |
8166 | EU opens probe into fake coronavirus-related products. | European Union regulators have opened an investigation into imports of fake coronavirus-related products that are ineffective or even harmful to health, the European anti-fraud office OLAF said on Friday. | true | Health News | Products seized include masks, medical devices, disinfectants, sanitisers and test kits. Counterfeit masks, including fake ones for children, have been offered online in European Union countries for between five euros ($5.35) and 10 euros each, around three times their normal price. “On top of being ineffective against... |
9318 | High hopes & hype for experimental depression drug ketamine | This story explained how the drug ketamine is coming into vogue as a treatment for depression and suicidal behavior. It’s not focused on one new study but rather the topic in general, describing how “desperate patients are shelling out thousands of dollars for treatment often not covered by health insurance, with scant... | true | ketamine | The story said one woman paid $3,000 “so far” for her treatments and “scrambles to find a way to pay for another one” as the effects wear off. It also reported that a “typical” treatment at one clinic “involves six 45-minute sessions over about two weeks, costing $550 each. Some insurers will pay about half of that….” ... |
5422 | Delaware researchers examine cancer’s effect on siblings. | Every now and then, Ali McDonough wakes from a nightmare about her brother. | true | Delaware, Cancer, Health, Wilmington, Leukemia, Siblings, United States | There’s the one where she relives the last moments of Andrew’s life. He died in July 2007 in his hospital bed while Ali was holding him. Or the one where Andrew dies from cancer, but in a different way. Or the one where she has to tell Andrew his leukemia has come back, a moment that never actually happened. “I’m not o... |
9014 | New drug combo improves survival of women with rare uterine cancer | The release focuses on a small, phase 2 study which evaluated the use of the drug trastuzumab in conjunction with conventional chemotherapy to treat women who have been diagnosed with a form of cancer called uterine serous carcinoma (USC). The release does a good job of describing the study and articulating the limited... | false | Johns Hopkins Medicine,trastuzumab,uterine cancer | Cost is not discussed, which is unusual given that trastuzumab is already on the market (under various trade names) for use in breast cancer treatment. And the cost associated with those treatments is significant. For example, the cost of a trastuzumab treatment called Herceptin can cost $4,500 per month. The release d... |
30675 | Eating alligator in New Orleans will help save the wetlands of Louisiana. | We reached out to the writer of this piece for comment, but have not yet heard back. | false | Science | On 12 January 2018, Mic.com published an article under the headline “Eating Alligator in New Orleans Could Help Save the Wetlands of Louisiana.” The story presented the testimony of Nathan Richard, a Louisiana alligator chef and hunter, who argued that — because alligators are allegedly overpopulated and destroying the... |
7720 | Swine fever outbreak may bury China's small pig farmers. | For farmers Zhang Shiping and Bai Fuqin in northeast China, there is little to celebrate this Lunar New Year. | true | Environment | Since African swine fever struck a farm in nearby Shenyang city last August, the couple has racked up about 300,000 yuan ($44,712.72) in debt, 10 times what they make in a good year raising pigs. The incurable disease has since traveled thousands of kilometers, striking mainly small farms in the world’s biggest pork-pr... |
4620 | Congo officials say 2nd Ebola case confirmed in city of Goma. | Officials in Congo on Tuesday said a second Ebola case had been confirmed in Goma, the city of more than 2 million people whose first confirmed case in this yearlong outbreak was reported earlier this month. | true | AP Top News, International News, General News, Africa, Health, Rwanda, Ebola virus | There appeared to be no link between the man’s case and the previous one in Goma, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, a local Ebola response coordinator, told reporters. He arrived on July 13 from a mining area in northeastern Congo’s Ituri province and started showing symptoms on July 22. He is now isolated at an Ebola treatment ce... |
10361 | No Good Evidence That Folk Remedies Ease Colic | HealthDay breaks down the evidence in a clear, concise way for readers, emphasizing high in the story that there still is not much evidence that any form of therapy works to quell colic. We wish it had spent a little more time quantifying the benefits that were found in this review for different alternative therapies, ... | true | HealthDay | The story did not discuss costs. Some of the products described could end up being quite costly, and chiropractic treatment would definitely be an expensive option. At a minimum, we would have liked to have seen some description of the range of costs, from the minimal cost of a few cents a day using a sugar-water mixtu... |
9814 | New implant addresses hearing loss caused by inner-ear damage | No discussion of costs, or of outcomes data (benefits or harms). Only one positive patient anecdote with no explanation of whether her result was representative of what’s been seen in any other patients. There was no independent perspective provided. The story illustrates the difficulty in reporting on a new device and... | false | hearing | No discussion of costs. Cost of any new device is important as is insurance coverage. Neither are addressed in the story, an oversight we find difficult to understand. According to the manufacturers website the cost of the surgery and the device in $33,000. Insurance does not cover the device at the moment. The battery... |
11377 | Low-Salt Diet Ineffective, Study Finds. Disagreement Abounds. | Two stories we reviewed on this study about salt intake showed how two well meaning journalists could come to very different conclusions about how to present this information. The New York Times story took the most cautious approach, weighing the preponderance of evidence linking salt to heart disease against this sing... | true | Diet studies,New York Times | The focus of this story was avoiding harm by eating too much (or too little) salt. “The investigators found that the less salt people ate, the more likely they were to die of heart disease — 50 people in the lowest third of salt consumption (2.5 grams of sodium per day) died during the study as compared with 24 in the ... |
37380 | "Image shows a ""letter from HR"" (human resources), essentially threatening a company employee to purchase a new vehicle or face workplace discipline." | ‘We Have Noticed the Condition of Your Vehicle’ Viral Human Resources Letter | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On January 21 2020, the Facebook page “Inhumans of late capitalism” posted the following screenshot of a purported letter from a human resources department at an unidentified company that appeared to be haranguing an employee for the condition of his older vehicle:An attached status update said, “Corporations tell empl... |
5515 | Nobel laureate Tutu celebrates 85th birthday, giving thanks. | Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu shed tears of gratitude on his 85th birthday Friday as he presided over a cathedral Mass despite his poor health. And in a newspaper column, the former archbishop said he would like to have the option of a “dignified assisted death” when the time comes. | true | Race and ethnicity, AP International News, Cape Town, Africa, Africa, South Africa, Health, Desmond Tutu | Tutu was brought into St. George’s Cathedral in a wheelchair but was later helped to his feet in church robes, a crucifix around his neck, for the Anglican ceremony. He wiped away tears and gave thanks at the sight of friends and well-wishers in the congregation. “I am just trying to draw attention to myself,” an emoti... |
9029 | Nut consumption may aid colon cancer survival | A new observational study, partially funded by the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation, claims that eating two or more servings of nuts each day may increase the likelihood of survival for patients with colon cancer. Tree nuts specifically, rather than peanuts, were found to be bene... | false | colon cancer,tree nuts,Yale Cancer Center | Neither the news release nor the actual study discuss the cost of nuts. The news release did list numbers to back up its claim, but relied on relative, not the preferred absolute risk figures. “Those who regularly consumed at least two, one-ounce servings of nuts each week demonstrated a 42% improvement in disease-free... |
9539 | Simple mineral could be cure for complex disease | The story focuses on the potential for zinc supplements to reduce acid reflux, a related condition known as Barrett’s esophagus, and esophageal cancer. The story addresses the uncertainty surrounding research into this subject, and even goes so far as to note that “studies don’t prove conclusively that zinc will have t... | mixture | supplements,zinc | The story does not tell readers how expensive the new zinc products will be, which is unfortunate. However, it does note that zinc supplements already on the market cost “pennies a day.” That’s an accurate description of the cost for existing zinc supplements, so this earns a satisfactory rating. This area is problemat... |
9107 | Historic Discovery Promises to Prevent Miscarriages and Birth Defects Globally | This release describes a “double discovery” made by researchers at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Australia that, theoretically, will greatly reduce the number of birth defects and miscarriages worldwide. The premise rests on the discovery that genetic mutations causing a deficiency in one type of molec... | false | miscarraige,Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute,vitamin B3 | The cost of the supplement (vitamin B3, also known as niacin) is not mentioned. A quick Google search shows that you can buy it online for less than $10. The news release made no mention of any numbers or figures from the study that put the benefits in context. The release was also misleading since it implied that vita... |
35262 | Microwaving fabric masks is a good way to sanitize them for reuse. | 2. If your mask has metal in it, refer to issue number 1, as well as, possibly killing your microwave. | false | Medical, COVID-19 | On April 3, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a new recommendation to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus disease: People should wear cloth or fabric face masks when they go grocery shopping, visit pharmacies, or do other essential errands. Made from T-shirts or bandanas, the... |
15949 | The No. 1 cause of childhood deaths is preventable accidents. | "In a Super Bowl ad, Nationwide claimed, ""The No. 1 cause of childhood deaths is preventable accidents."" The claim is based on hard numbers from the CDC, and the general trend has been consistent for the last decade and a half. However, there are different ways to slice the numbers, and if infants are counted as chil... | true | National, Children, Public Health, Public Safety, Nationwide, | "Super Bowl XLIX had everything a fan could hope for (unless you’re from Seattle). A hectic, nail-biting finish. Amazing plays. Dancing sharks. But despite the genuine on-field fireworks, it was once again a commercial — not the game itself — that had many people talking. And not necessarily for good reasons. A 45-seco... |
11487 | Scans don’t prevent lung cancer deaths | Venice’s historic Saint Mark’s Basilica will need millions of euros of restoration work after it was flooded this week for just the sixth time in 1,200 years, leaving its delicate marble mosaics exposed to destructive salt water, its curator said. | true | Saint Mark’s, the personal chapel of the Doge of Venice during the medieval and Renaissance periods, is the most famous of a host of monuments endangered by the worst week of flooding seen in Venice since 1872. Experts fear corrosive salt crystals, left encrusted on the Basilica’s marble floor and mosaics when the floo... | |
379 | Pfizer unit Meridian under civil investigation by U.S. Attorney. | Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it received a request for documents as part of a U.S. investigation related to quality issues involving the manufacture of auto-injectors at its Meridian Medical Technologies site. | true | Health News | Pfizer, in a regulatory filing, said it would be producing records in response to the civil investigative demand from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. Meridian, a unit of Pfizer that manufactures EpiPen injectors used to deliver an emergency allergy antidote, has been hit by a series of... |
41791 | "El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime,"" but ""immediately"" after a wall was built it became ""one of the safest cities in our country." | The president strayed from the facts, mainly on immigration and the economy. | false | abortion, crime rates, energy, food stamps, human trafficking, Illegal immigration, jobs, Unemployment rate, Veterans Affairs, | President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address included many claims that were familiar to fact-checkers. He has repeated most of these assertions before:The president’s address on Feb. 5 had been delayed by a week in the aftermath of a partial government shutdown. His remarks, and the false and misleading claims w... |
22440 | Our average private sector employee pays 23 percent for their health care. Our average city worker in Ohio pays 9 percent. | Gov. John Kasich cites disparity between what private sector workers and city employees pay toward health benefits | true | Ohio, Jobs, Labor, State Budget, John Kasich, | "Republicans in Ohio have offered a variety of arguments to justify their controversial effort to overhaul the state’s collective bargaining law, which for nearly 30 years has set the ground rules for public workers and their employers to reach labor agreements. A new collective bargaining law, known as Senate Bill 5, ... |
8427 | Coronavirus could cause upheaval across Middle East - Red Cross. | Coronavirus outbreaks across the Middle East threaten to shatter the lives of millions of already destitute people in conflict zones, and could fuel socio-economic upheaval, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday. | true | Health News | Curfews and lockdowns imposed as public health measures to stem spread of the virus are already making it difficult or impossible for many to provide for their families, it said. The Geneva-based agency called for authorities in the volatile region to prepare for a “potentially devastating aftermath” and a “socio-econo... |
2353 | Many Canadian aboriginals see no compromise on oil sands pipeline. | Just a few miles from the spot where Enbridge Inc plans to build a massive marine terminal for its Northern Gateway oil pipeline, Gerald Amos checks crab traps and explains why no concession from the company could win his support for the project. | true | Environment | Amos, the former chief of the Haisla Nation on the northern coast of British Columbia and a community leader, has argued for years that the risk - no matter how small - of an oil spill in these waters outweighs any reward the controversial project might offer. That resolve is shared by many in the aboriginal communitie... |
6160 | UK nerve agent survivor fears poison will soon kill him. | A British man who was exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok said he is struggling with his eyesight and mobility, and fears the poison will kill him within a decade. | true | International News, Sergei Skripal, Health, Europe, Russia | Charlie Rowley, 45, fell ill in June near Salisbury, England, after coming into contact with the Soviet-developed nerve agent that was used months earlier to attack former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. Rowley, Skripal and his daughter survived, but Rowley’s partner Dawn Sturgess, who was also exposed, di... |
34646 | Chipotle's 2015 outbreaks of foodborne illness were the work of pro-GMO bioterrorists. | Had the article provided any details whatsoever about how such “Chipotle sabotage” might have been planned and carried out, it would be easier to determine the veracity of a such a claim. However, the sole point of evidence offered was that pro-GMO activists were supposedly once mean to Dr. Oz (who is himself a purveyo... | unproven | Politics, chipotle, gmos, health ranger | In late 2015, Chipotle outlets in multiple states were affected by an outbreak of foodborne illness, and as a result, the chain closed stores in several states while the issue was investigated. (The incidents also reinvigorated fake news rumors about Chipotle’s using dog or cat meat in their food.) On 24 December 2015,... |
4076 | Vaping-related illness confirmed in Seattle’s King County. | Seattle and King County Public Health says a teenager has received medical treatment for severe lung disease linked to vaping. | true | Health, General News, Lung disease, Seattle, Public health | County health officials said Wednesday that the teen was hospitalized in August with a fever, cough and shortness of breath. Officials say he was treated in the intensive care unit, released from the hospital five days later and is now recovering. The patient reported using e-cigarette products over the past three year... |
11215 | Palliative care can help cancer patients live longer | "An imprecise description of what the investigators did in this study could lead readers to badly misinterpret the conclusions and implications of the research. In addition, the story focused excessively on the survival benefit reported, when there were actually other — arguably just as important — effects on on patien... | true | "No discussion of costs here. Coverage and reimbursement of treatment is one important aspect of this issue as noted above. Another is whether palliative care actually saves money for the health care system as a whole. As other news organizations noted, the results suggest that palliative care patients use fewer aggres... | |
11583 | Prostate patients protest FDA | "The story reports on an experimental treatment for advanced prostate cancer that early research has shown may prolong life by an average of 4 months. While the story does a good job of describing the availability and novelty of the new treatment and does provide benefits in absolute terms (even though this could have ... | false | "Costs are not mentioned. Some projection of costs is possible, and it is likely to be expensive given the individualized, targeted nature of the approach. The story does provide benefits in absolute terms–on average men lived 4 months longer and that some lived 2-3 years longer. The story could have been improved by a... | |
6489 | After Ebola, Liberians slowly embrace mental health care. | Drawn-out deaths. Communities torn apart. Survivor’s guilt. Patrick Fallah says his memories of the days when the Ebola virus swept through Liberia are so awful that he sometimes has trouble focusing on the present. | true | Liberia, AP Top News, Mental health, International News, Ebola virus, Sierra Leone, Africa, Health, AP Weekend Reads | “Sometimes when I have a flashback of the death of my son and others who died in the Ebola treatment unit, I don’t want to speak to people. I grieve so much that my mind is not really on what I am doing,” said Fallah, 30, who lost his 8-month-old son and stepmother and is president of the National Ebola Survivors Netwo... |
39791 | Measles vaccines are less effective than previously believed and the patient zero measles carrier in the Disneyland measles outbreak may have been immunized against measles. | Claims About the Disneyland Measles Outbreak | mixture | 9/11 Attack on America | "Claims in this email are mostly true, but they are presented in potentially misleading ways to argue the case for the anti-vaccination movement. The eRumor first appeared in a blog post at GreenMedInfo.com. The mission of the website is to “provide free and convenient access to biomedical research available t... |
5100 | US debuts childhood-lead plan that critics say falls short. | The Trump administration released an “action plan” Wednesday against devastating childhood exposure to lead, but critics said it held little new to protect millions of American children living with high levels of the metal. | true | Health, Environment, Ben Carson, Politics, North America | Children in at least 4 million American households are exposed to high levels of lead, including through old, chipped lead-based paint, or contaminated dust and soil, water and air, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A half-million children ages 5 or younger have blood-borne lead at le... |
6875 | Cross talk: Federal agencies clash on cellphone cancer risk. | Two U.S. government agencies are giving conflicting interpretations of a safety study on cellphone radiation: One says it causes cancer in rats. The other says there’s no reason for people to worry. | true | Cancer, Health, Tumors, Otis Brawley, North America, Business, Science, U.S. News, Brain cancer | No new research was issued Thursday. Instead, the National Toxicology Program dialed up its concerns about a link to heart and brain cancer from a study of male rats that was made public last winter. The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees cellphone safety, disagreed with the upgraded warning. And “these findi... |
12974 | "Thirteen Democratic senators ""voted against cheaper medicines"" and took millions from ""big pharma since 2011." | "The viral image says that 13 Democratic senators ""voted against cheaper medicines"" and took millions from ""big pharma since 2011."" The 13 Democrats did vote against one amendment that was intended to lower drug prices through reimportation of medicines from Canada, and they have each taken money from drugmakers. H... | false | National, Campaign Finance, Health Care, The Other 98%, | "A viral post circulating recently in some of the more liberal corners of social media accuses 13 Democratic senators of allegedly voting against lower drug prices because they were recipients of big money from drugmakers. The post included the names and photographs of 13 Democratic senators — Cory Booker and Bob Menen... |
8013 | Poland expects sharp rise in coronavirus cases. | Poland expects rapid growth in coronavirus infections, Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski said on Monday, as the country braces for new restrictions aimed at curbing the pandemic. | true | Health News | As of Monday, 1,984 people had tested positive for coronavirus in the country of 38 million, while 26 people had died, according to the health ministry. “We are entering a new phase of the epidemic ... We are expecting a very rapid growth in the number of infections in the coming weeks. This number will be rising at an... |
40830 | 4,300 more staff employed in mental health trusts since 2013. | This is not how many mental health specialist staff there are. It is the increase in all staff in English trusts with over half their outpatient activity in mental health specialities. Some of the staff were effectively re-categorised into the mental health category during this time, rather than being newly hired. | false | mental-health | 4,300 more staff employed in mental health trusts since 2013. This is not how many mental health specialist staff there are. It is the increase in all staff in English trusts with over half their outpatient activity in mental health specialities. Some of the staff were effectively re-categorised into the mental health ... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.