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14643 | "Gene Green is the NRA’s favorite Democrat in Congress. ... ""It’s no wonder the congressman has a lifetime A rating from the NRA." | "Adrian Garcia said that his competitor in the Democratic race for Texas’ 29th district, Rep. Gene Green, has a ""lifetime A rating"" from the NRA and is the NRA’s ""favorite Democrat in Congress."" Green has certainly been a strong supporter of gun rights over his 23 years in the House. The gun control measures Green’... | false | Texas, Guns, Adrian Garcia, | "The Democratic race for Texas’ 29th Congressional district is turning to a hot-button issue: gun control. Gene Green, a Democrat, has represented Texas’ 29th District, which covers the eastern portion of Greater Houston, since 1993. In that time, he has been endorsed by the gun-owner rights group National Rifle Associ... |
1954 | Insight: Arab Spring raises hopes of rebirth for Mideast science. | Egyptian chemist Ahmed Zewail first proposed building a $2 billion science and technology institute in Cairo 12 years ago, just after he won a Nobel Prize. Then-President Hosni Mubarak promptly approved the plan and awarded Zewail the Order of the Nile, Egypt’s highest honor. Within months, the cornerstone was laid in ... | true | Science News | But while Zewail, who has taught at Caltech in California since 1976, went on to collect more awards and honorary doctorates abroad, his pet project got mired in a jungle of bureaucracy and corruption. His growing popularity in Egypt, where he was touted as a possible presidential candidate after mass protests brought ... |
1430 | Britain and Bill Gates pledge 3 billion pounds to fight malaria. | Britain will spend 500 million pounds ($700 million) per year for the next five years to try and end deaths caused by malaria, the government said on Monday, announcing a partnership with Microsoft founder Bill Gates worth a total of 3 billion pounds. | true | Health News | Finance minister George Osborne announced the spending, which will be funded from the country’s overseas aid budget, at an event with billionaire Gates, whose Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will also contribute around $200 million per year to the package. “Across the globe over a billion people are infected with malar... |
36365 | "A 1989 Associated Press article predicted disaster if ""global warming"" went unchecked." | Is a 1989 ‘U.N. Predicts Disaster if Global Warming Not Checked’ Article Authentic? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On May 14 2019, a Facebook user shared the following screenshot (archived here), purportedly showing a 1989 Associated Press item prognosticating “disaster” by the year 2000 if “global warming” remained unchecked:In the screenshot, text from an unlinked Associated Press article’s headline and first sentence was visible... |
2780 | Antioxidants including vitamin E can promote lung cancer: study. | A decades-old medical mystery - why antioxidants such as vitamin E and beta carotene seemed to accelerate the growth of early lung tumors in high-risk populations such as smokers, rather than protect them from cancer, as theory suggests - may have been solved, according to research published on Wednesday. | true | Health News | In essence, “antioxidants allow cancer cells to escape cells’ own defense system” against tumors, biologist Per Lindahl of Sweden’s University of Gothenburg and a co-author of the study told reporters. That lets existing tumors, even those too small to be detected, proliferate uncontrollably. The findings imply that “t... |
26163 | “Research illustrates a clear correlation between vitamin D deficiencies and (higher) COVID-19 mortality rates.” | U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman touted a correlation between vitamin D deficiencies and COVID-19 deaths, suggesting the supplement may help combat the virus. Early research verifies that correlation, but more work needs to be done. Grothman emphasized that point and didn’t imply vitamin D is a cure for COVID-19. | true | Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Glenn Grothman, | "People across the globe continue to seek answers on how to defeat the coronavirus that has sickened millions. One proposed solution has gained attention in recent weeks: Vitamin D. A link between vitamin D and COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, caught the eye of U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah. In... |
10764 | Some cocoa may improve brain blood flow | This story reports on a possible relationship between consumption of flavonoids, a compound found in cocoa and many other foods, and improved brain and cardiovascular health. Several lines of evidence are cited, but readers are given little information to determine whether this research is relevant to them. In addition... | true | "The article does not mention costs of flavanol-rich cocoa or chocolate, nor does it compare their costs to other lifestyle or medical strategies for improving brain function and cardiovascular health. However, most people must recognize the generally-low cost of these products. The article is short on details about qu... | |
7411 | Drug shows promise against vision-robbing disease in seniors. | An experimental drug is showing promise against an untreatable eye disease that blinds older adults — and intriguingly, it seems to work in patients who carry a particular gene flaw that fuels the damage to their vision. | true | Seniors, Health, Macular degeneration, Genetic Frontiers, North America, Politics | Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is the leading cause of vision loss among seniors, gradually eroding crucial central vision. There are different forms but more than 5 million people worldwide, and a million in the U.S., have an advanced type of so-called “dry” macular degeneration that has no treatment. First... |
10706 | Limits of New Screen for Heart Disease | This story reported on a study which found that using coronary CT angiography to screen for heart disease did not result in improved outcomes for patients during the 18 months in which they were studied. It could have emphasized that neither this CT test – nor traditional cardiac catheterization – is recommended for th... | true | heart disease,Screening,Wall Street Journal | The story provided information about the costs for the test. The story indicated that 215 individuals who were screened were identified as having heart disease and received additional testing and treatment. Nonetheless, there was no statistical benefit between the groups of healthy individuals who did and did not under... |
139 | Cracks in Purdue's proposed opioid settlement as Arizona backs out. | The U.S. state of Arizona withdrew its support for a proposed nationwide opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma LP, saying the maker of OxyContin sought to “undermine material terms of the deal,” according to a court filing on Monday. | true | Health News | Since Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection in September, Arizona is the first state to switch sides in the looming showdown over the privately-held company’s proposed settlement, which it has estimated is worth more than $10 billion. Purdue reached the deal last month with 24 states and the local governments that hav... |
29869 | Jared Michelle sold his testicles to raise money in support of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. | While we’ve encountered a number of legends about people selling their organs (including testicles) to medical schools for profit, these stories are generally false as the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 prohibits the sale of human organs in the U.S. | false | Junk News | In March 2019, the NPC Daily website published an article reporting that a 28-year-old man named Jared Michelle had sold his testicles in order to raise money in support of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign: Bernie Sanders is breaking records left and right. When it comes to the rate at raising money for his campai... |
30832 | "The photographer of the infamous Al Franken image said that the moment was staged, that Leeann Tweeden ""was playing dead,"" and that ""she wanted him to ‘revive’ her." | The person who took the picture of Al Franken and Leeann Tweeden has not been identified, nor have they issued a statement regarding the incident. Which means there is no credible claim the image was staged, that Tweeden was “playing dead,” or that “she wanted him to ‘revive’ her” in the picture. This quote was made up... | false | Fauxtography, aiden benjamin, al franken, fake quote | How do you defend the indefensible? One way, apparently, is to make up a fake quote. In an apparent effort to discredit Leaann Tweeden, the woman who accused Senator Al Franken of groping her during her 2006 USO tour, a quote ostensibly uttered by the photographer who snapped the infamous image was circulated on social... |
5562 | After baby death, mother calls for changes at Salem Hospital. | An Oregon mother who watched her 7-week-old baby die of meningitis is calling for changes at a hospital from which the child was initially discharged. | true | Meningitis, Health, Salem, Oregon | Ginger McCall said her daughter was discharged from Salem Hospital’s emergency room with what staff said was a routine infection, the Salem Statesman Journal reported . Hours later, the girl’s vital signs crashed. She died two days later. “My hope is that something good can come out of this,” McCall said. “What I want ... |
28574 | List describes the duties and obligations of honor guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. | Although serving as President of the United States qualifies one to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, only two former Presidents are interred there: William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy. | mixture | Military, arlington, tomb of the unknown soldier | As a society, we have long observed traditional, solemn funereal ceremonies as a means of remembering, honoring, and mourning those who have passed on from this life to whatever lies beyond. As a nation, we observe some very formalized rituals as a means of affording our very highest honors to members of the armed forc... |
256 | Godzilla: from radioactive colossus to unlikely climate hero. | Ever since Godzilla first rampaged across cinema screens 65 years ago, film critics have seen the reptilian anti-hero as a symbol of the fears gnawing away in the deepest recesses of movie-goers’ minds. | true | Environment | With the giant lizard’s return in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, launched in cinemas at the weekend, reviewers are parsing the blockbuster for insights into the world’s paralysis in the face of climate breakdown. “It would be a mistake to dismiss Godzilla: King of the Monsters as mindless pap or escapist fantasy,” wro... |
2109 | Nurses as good as doctors in AIDS care monitoring. | Nurses are as good as doctors at monitoring treatment for AIDS patients, and shifting this role to them could help ease a critical shortage of health workers, experts said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | A study into so-called “task-shifting” in HIV care in South Africa found virtually no difference in outcomes for patients taking AIDS drugs under the care of a nurse or a doctor. South Africa, where HIV/AIDS kills an estimated 1,000 people a day, has the world’s largest national program of treatment with antiretroviral... |
18515 | "Under Obamacare, Virginia taxpayers would have been ""forced to pay for abortions"" if the General Assembly had not recently intervened." | Swiss drugmaker Novartis on Friday stepped up its challenge to Roche’s multiple sclerosis franchise, highlighting study results for its MS hopeful ofatumumab that could compete with its cross-town rival’s drug Ocrevus. | false | Abortion, Health Care, Taxes, Virginia, Virginia Society for Human Life, | Novartis said ofatumumab, already approved as Arzerra to treat leukemia, reduced annual relapses better than Sanofi’s Aubagio in two head-to-head late-stage studies against relapsing forms of MS (RMS). Detailed study results are due at an MS conference in Sweden next month. Novartis said it plans to start asking health... |
26738 | Starting in March if you travel outside of the United States you won’t be allowed back in the country “due to high risk of the coronavirus.” | International travel has been suspended or reduced to and from certain “high-risk” countries and there are new screening procedures. There is currently no mandate that states Americans are barred from returning to the U.S. from anywhere overseas. | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Concerns about the novel coronavirus run aplenty on Facebook, leading in some cases to bulletins on U.S. travel restrictions. One post on Facebook claims that, starting in March 2020, if you travel outside of the United States you won’t be allowed back in the country ""due to the high risk"" of COVID-19. The post, sh... |
11562 | Drug shows promise treating breast cancer | Recently completed clinical trials have shown that zolendric acid, marketed as Zometa, may help prevent recurrence of early stage breast cancer and may reduce the risk of metastasis to the bone when given in addition to conventional therapies. This drug also prevents bone loss that is associated with cancer treatment. ... | mixture | "Cost of the drug, approximately $1,200 per treatment (including physician fees), is not mentioned in this article. Information from Zometa’s manufacturer, Novartis, indicates that the drug is given by infusion every three to four weeks. Cost-effectiveness has not been widely researched. Some studies suggests that zole... | |
28329 | Singer Olivia Newton-John hovers close to death due to a recurring bout of cancer and has only weeks to live. | "What's true: Olivia Newton-John has suffered recurring bouts of cancer since 1992 and she is still undergoing treatment after the most recent diagnosis of stage 4 cancer in 2017, which included the discovery of a tumor on her spine. What's false: The singer's representatives and family members have denied rumors that ... | mixture | Entertainment, radar online | Fans of 70-year-old pop singer Olivia Newton-John, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 and survived two recurrences of the disease (the latest in 2017), were shocked and dismayed to read in late December 2018 that she was “clinging to life,” with only days or weeks to live. The report was published on the tabl... |
35317 | A photograph shows a customer shopping at a grocery store during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic wearing a Ku Klux Klan-like hood over his head. | “Management should be doing something, but I didn’t see anyone talking to him,” she said. “He was just standing in line.” | true | Fauxtography | In May 2020, social media users shared photographs of a man shopping at a grocery store during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic wearing not a standard face mask, but a white head covering that appeared to be a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hood: Don’t know which angers me more – the person wearing this or the fact that ... |
37703 | "The United States issued a travel warning for New Zealand on August 6 2020, due to the country's ""23 active cases"" in managed quarantine." | A viral New Zealand Herald tweet claimed the United States government “warned its citizens to be very cautious about travelling to New Zealand because of our ’23 active cases’ of Covid-19,” which could be considered “technically true” but is misleading nevertheless. On August 6 2020, the Department of State rescinded a... | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | "An August 7 2020 tweet by the New Zealand Herald claimed that the United States issued a travel warning to its citizens about New Zealand due to the country’s purported 23 active cases of COVID-19:The US Government has warned its citizens to be very cautious about travelling to New Zealand because of our ""23 active c... |
5858 | Syphilis far more common in gay men in US South. | A new U.S. report shows the spread of syphilis is far worse in gay men in Southern states. | true | Health, Syphilis | North Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana have the highest rates. In North Carolina, as many as 1 in 134 gay and bisexual men were diagnosed with the most contagious forms of syphilis in 2015. The South has long had higher rates of diseases spread through sex. Thursday’s report is the first breakdown for syphilis by se... |
25946 | A Joe Biden-Bernie Sanders “unity” policy document shows “they want to abolish our police departments. They want to abolish our prisons, I guess.” | The Joe Biden-Bernie Sanders “unity document” does not say anything about abolishing police departments or getting rid of all prisons. In fact, the document includes several passages that clearly indicate that police and prisons will exist in the future, but under proposed reforms. Criminologists say Biden’s policies a... | false | Criminal Justice, Crime, Donald Trump, | "In a break from tradition, President Donald Trump used the White House’s Rose Garden as the venue for a lengthy rhetorical shot at his 2020 campaign rival, Joe Biden. Trump particularly targeted a policy document recently agreed to by representatives of the Biden campaign as well as allies of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt... |
21407 | "Mary Taylor Says that even if you have no children, ""under Obamacare, you would still have to carry insurance that covers pediatric, maternity and newborn care even though you do not need it." | Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor says 'Obamacare' would require purchase of unnecessary insurance | false | Ohio, Health Care, Mary Taylor, | "Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor also heads the state Department of Insurance. She makes no secret of her dislike for what she derisively calls ""Obamacare,"" the law formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In June, Taylor wrote a guest column for newspapers in which she said, ""I will do everything... |
2707 | Italy drugmaker Zambon ready to splash out in U.S., China push. | Italian drugmaker Zambon is looking to China and the U.S. to grow its respiratory and nervous system portfolio and could spend more than 100 million euros ($114 million) on the right acquisition, its chief executive said. | true | Health News | The family-owned pharma group, famous for its mucolytic agent Fluimucil, used to treat respiratory problems, has cash enough to fund expansion plans but could contemplate a stock market listing if a big opportunity arose. “It’s not on the table at the moment, but we could consider it if a large-scale project comes alon... |
2922 | PepsiCo's workplace wellness program fails the bottom line -study. | A long-running and well-respected workplace wellness program at PepsiCo that encourages employees to adopt healthier habits has not reduced healthcare costs, according to the most comprehensive evaluation of a such a program ever published. | true | Health News | Released on Monday in the journal Health Affairs and based on data for thousands of PepsiCo employees over seven years, the findings “cast doubt on the widely held belief” that workplace wellness programs save employers significantly more than they cost, conclude Soeren Mattke of the RAND Corporation and his co-authors... |
37864 | May 6, 1993: A Simpsons episode plot has the town of Springfield getting sick with a flu that originates in Asia. While the town begs for a vaccine, murder bees show up. | Did a May 6 1993 ‘Simpsons’ Episode Feature an ‘Asian Flu’ and ‘Murder Bees’? | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | Almost every major global event has a purported Simpsons episode predicting it, and COVID-19 was no different — but a variation of the 2020 claim that The Simpsons predicted COVID-19 snapped back with a second claim the same episode also predicted “murder bees”:“The Simpsons doesn’t predict the future…there’s just so ... |
13750 | "Barack Obama ""ended up getting re-elected by the largest gender gap in the history of American elections." | "Richards said that Obama in 2012 ""ended up getting re-elected by the largest gender gap in the history of American elections."" Such data doesn’t appear to be available for all presidential elections. Otherwise, Gallup’s unusual approach to calculating the gender gap for Democratic presidential nominees places Obama... | mixture | Elections, Polls and Public Opinion, Texas, Cecile Richards, | "Texas-born Cecile Richards enjoyed sitting next to President Bill Clinton in the crowd on the scene watching the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. ""How awesome is that,"" Richards said to Texas delegates at a hotel breakfast the next morning. The eldest daughter of the late Gov. Ann R... |
26394 | “Some states, like Montana and Nebraska, are getting more than $300,000 in federal stimulus money per reported COVID-19 case. New York is the hardest-hit state and yet we are getting only about $12,000 per case.” | In the first round of federal funding for health care providers, New York state has received far less money than less-affected states, according to an analysis by Kaiser Health News. Cuomo addressed only one segment of the stimulus aid, and glossed over the distinction between states and the health care providers withi... | true | Federal Budget, Health Care, Medicare, Public Health, State Budget, States, New York, Coronavirus, Andrew Cuomo, | "New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose daily press briefings on the state’s battle against the coronavirus have drawn wide coverage, has extended his rhetorical reach through social media. On April 12, Cuomo took to Twitter to spotlight what he saw as a disparity in federal funding between New York and states that had fewe... |
34188 | "Young people are growing ""horns"" in the base of their skulls from looking down at cellphone screens." | The Times also quoted Dr. David J. Langer, chairman of neurosurgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Common ailments among surgeons, whose professions require them to spend a lot of time looking down, include degenerative disc disease and neck misalignment, not protruding horn growths. “Head horns?” Langer asked. “C... | unproven | Medical | In June 2019, a wide variety of news publications reported that researchers had identified a rather startling development in human physiology due to the use of technology: horns or “spikes” were growing out of the base of young people’s skulls as a result of their constantly looking down at cellphone screens. The probl... |
1870 | No rise in heart deaths after 2008 market crash in LA. | The 2008 stock market crash generated a lot of stress, but it did not trigger a spike in heart attack deaths — at least, not in Los Angeles, according to a study. | true | Health News | A heart-shaped balloon floats upward during the Seventh Anniversary September 11 Commemoration Ceremony held at Zuccotti Park in New York City, September 11, 2008. REUTERS/Patti Sapone/Pool Past studies have found upswings in heart-related deaths after a stressful mass event, anything from natural disasters such as ear... |
30200 | "A ""large-scale killing"" of white farmers is taking place in South Africa." | Conspiracy theories about “white genocide” are harmful because the people that believe them become convinced that non-white people, particularly black people and immigrants from majority-Muslim countries, are to be seen as enemies on the sole basis of their race. We have also seen “white genocide” conspiracy theories i... | false | Politics, david duke, donald trump, south africa | On 22 August 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted criticism of the South African government for their plans to redistribute land to black South Africans who were institutionally disenfranchised under that country’s apartheid system: I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land ... |
30475 | A new study published in the Lancet has officially declared that fluoride is a neurotoxin. | These preliminary findings aside, the 2014 study referenced in viral posts did not “officially declare” anything about fluoride, as it and the authors that created it have no authority to do so. It instead made a controversial argument for a more proactive approach to chemical regulation using old and potentially flawe... | false | Medical, brain, children, developmental disorders | Since at least December 2015, several effectively identical stories about the neurotoxicity of fluoride have been published on a wide variety of websites with domain names like AltHealthworks.com, Energytherapy.biz, Organic and Healthy.org, and most recently in a 5 April 2018 post from AwarenessAct.com: Evidence of how... |
2641 | Spanish forced to pay for drugs as cuts take toll. | Patients in Spain will have to pay the full price for some prescription medicines under a new measure to cut healthcare costs approved on Wednesday, Health Minister Ana Mato confirmed at a press conference. | true | Health News | The new measure, which will come into effect in August, will apply to 425 drugs for “minor ailments”, including migraines. Patients will have to pay 100 percent of the cost for codeine, some anti-inflammatories and laxatives, among other drugs. “We’re revising the financing of a series of drugs with little therapeutic ... |
1696 | Eclipse thrills on remote Arctic islands, clouds mar for some. | A solar eclipse thrilled thousands of sky gazers on remote Arctic islands on Friday but clouds disappointed some viewers of a rare celestial show that was also partly visible for millions in Europe, Africa and Asia. | true | Environment | People cheered and clapped as the moon blocked the sun for about 2.5 minutes under clear skies on the icy Norwegian islands of Svalbard, where tourists had been warned of risks of frostbite and polar bears after an attack on Thursday. But clouds masked the sky over Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands further sou... |
9120 | ADHD medication tied to lower risk for alcohol, drug abuse in teens and adults | This news release from Indiana University reports on an observational study that suggests the use of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication is tied to a lower risk of substance use disorders. While the news release puts a positive spin on the use of stimulants for ADHD, it doesn’t mention that some ... | false | ADHD medications,Indiana University | There was no discussion of costs. It would have been helpful to include the average cost of ADHD drugs with and without insurance. A 30-day supply of generic Adderall averages $25, according to GoodRx. The release notes that, “The risk of substance use problems during periods of medication use was 35 percent lower in m... |
36417 | Samples of seafood in supermarkets and sushi restaurants are widely mislabeled. | ‘Sequencing Fish Samples’ Viral Twitter Thread | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | "On April 6 2019, a screenshots (archived here) of a Twitter thread originally published by @AwesomeBioTA one day prior went viral on social media:In the original thread, the poster (@AwesomeBioTA) recounted the purported results of her class’s attempt to sequence samples of seafood gathered at places like supermarkets... |
21368 | Stimulus money funded a government board that made recommendations that would cost 378,000 jobs and $28.3 billion in sales. | Broun: Stimulus money funded effort that will kill jobs | false | Georgia, Children, Health Care, Paul Broun, | "Hey, Chester the Cheetah. You think it ain’t easy bein’ cheesy? Well, U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens says that the federal government wants to hang your hide on its wall. And it could take down hundreds of thousands of jobs with you. Republican Broun tweeted his concern for the Cheetos snack food mascot during Preside... |
11608 | Dementia patients live longer when families delay putting them in a nursing home | This is an article about strategy to maximize lifespan for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. It reports on the results of a recent study which found that the longer the person with Alzheimer’s disease stays at home, the lower the risk of death associated with transfer. But there was a missed opportunity to explain ... | mixture | There was no information about costs for caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease at home or in an appropriate institution, or what resources might be available to help defray some of the costs associated with either. There was also no information about the toll on the person providing home care, such as the physica... | |
1107 | China seizes record ivory tusks, busts smuggling gang. | Chinese authorities seized 7.48 tonnes of smuggled ivory tusks last month, the biggest haul in recent years, as Beijing steps up a campaign against illegal wildlife trafficking. | true | Environment | The seizures came during an operation against an international criminal gang “that has long been specializing in smuggling ivory,” the customs administration said on Monday. China, the world’s largest importer and end user of elephant tusks, banned ivory sales in the country in 2017. Demand for ivory from Asian countri... |
3720 | Science Says: Diet plays big role in how huge whales can get. | Whales are big, but why aren’t they bigger? A new study says it’s basically about how many calories they can take in. | true | AP Top News, Animals, Whales, General News, Science Says, Science | That’s the conclusion of researchers who used small boats to chase down 300 whales of various species around the world. They reached out with a long pole to attach sensors to the creatures with suction cups, allowing them to record what the animals were doing on their dives for food. The results suggest body size is co... |
4612 | UAB stroke study receives $20 million grant. | The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s stroke study received a $20 million grant to help look into strokes in the South and among African-Americans. | true | Race and ethnicity, African-Americans, Health, University of Alabama, Stroke, Birmingham, Alabama | UAB’s Regions for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke will receive funds through 2023, Al.com reported. The study has gotten almost $100 million in grant funding in the past 15 years. More than 30,000 people have participated in the REGARDS study. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is f... |
40888 | There were 70 deaths from alcohol in Ireland in August. | We could find no source for this figure. A 2013 average of 88 alcohol-related deaths a month in Ireland includes a number of different factors, such as the coroner mentioning alcohol dependency, certain alcohol-related diseases, and if they were an alcoholic. | false | online | There were 700 deaths from cancer in Ireland in August. We don’t know these figures yet as it is too soon after the fact. The figure for cancer seems realistic from past trends, as there were around 830 deaths caused by cancer in Ireland per month in Q1 of 2020. There were 70 deaths from alcohol in Ireland in August. W... |
27793 | A 23-year-old Florida university student was arrested for marijuana possession and coerced into acting as an informant; she was subsequently murdered by drug dealers who discovered she was wearing a wire. | Ultimately, the basic facts of the meme were correct. Rachel Hoffman was caught at a traffic stop in possession of a small amount of marijuana; a raid conducted while she was under subsequent drug court supervision turned up a handful of pills and a few ounces of marijuana. Under threat of prosecution, Hoffman agreed t... | true | Crime, crime, memes, rachel hoffman | "In December 2015, a meme titled “Meet Rachel Hoffman” became popular on social media: Meet Rachel Hoffman She was arrested for marijuana and was facing 4 years in prison. Police told her the only way out of the prison time was to become a confidential informant. Her first undercover drug buy was to be one of the bigge... |
8721 | Ventilator rush: UK says new ones will be approved next week. | Britain said on Friday that engineering companies had come up with an emergency ventilator prototype to treat coronavirus patients that could be approved next week, though one industry source told Reuters full production was several weeks away. | true | Health News | Britain, where 145 people with COVID-19 have died so far, has a shortage of ventilators which can save the lives of those who develop complications after contracting the virus. The UK’s existing stock of around 5,000-8,000 ventilators is inadequate. Given such an acute shortage in a country with a population of 67 mill... |
19018 | "Dennis Kucinich Says the tax code is effectively subsidizing ""the marketing efforts of fast food and junk food companies by as much as $19 billion over 10 years." | Dennis Kucinich says the tax code effectively subsidizes fast food and junk food marketing that targets children | true | Ohio, Children, Health Care, Public Health, Taxes, Dennis Kucinich, | "Dennis Kucinich became a lame-duck member of Congress after the 10th District he has represented since 1997 was redrawn out of existence and he lost a primary contest to another sitting Democrat, Marcy Kaptur, in the new Ohio 9th District. But Kucinich has not stopped working on the issues that have engaged him. He is... |
10005 | Prostate Hormone Therapy May Up Heart Risks | Overall, this was a well-done story about a study categorizing the harms associated with the use of androgen deprivation therapy in the treatment of earlier stage prostate cancer. We are especially pleased to see a story that points out some of the potential limitations of an observational study. We wish we’d see this ... | true | This story did not discuss costs, yet it could have raised questions about the lucrative reimbursement for hormone therapy as one factor driving its use in situations where it has no proven benefit. While describing that androgen deprivation therapy was initially developed as a means of treating symptoms of advanced pr... | |
27397 | Sen. Jeff Klein (D-New York) is part of negotiations regarding anti-sexual harassment laws — after he was accused of the same offense. | We contacted Cuomo’s office as well as the New York State Democratic Committee seeking comment. | true | Politics, democrats, jeff klein, new york | As state lawmakers in New York focus on changing sexual misconduct laws, a Democrat who has aligned himself with Republicans drew scrutiny for being involved despite being accused of harmful behavior by a former campaign volunteer. The allegations against state Sen. Jeff Klein (D-New York) by Erica Vladimer were first ... |
7462 | Western governors ask Congress for $1T in aid to states . | Governors and legislative leaders from five western states that are coordinating their response to the coronavirus outbreak asked Congress on Monday to send $1 trillion to state and local governments across the U.S. in the next federal aid package. | true | U.S. News, Health, General News, Local governments, Nevada, Virus Outbreak, Public health | Officials from California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington said in a letter to leaders of both parties in the U.S. House and Senate that they will have to make deep budgets cuts without more federal aid. That could include to services such as health programs and job training designed to help those hit hard by t... |
9052 | Researchers find potential path to repair MS-damaged nerves | A small UCLA study in an animal model of multiple sclerosis showed some improvement in the mice’s walking ability after the researchers gave them a drug that changed gene expression of cells in the brain and spinal cord called astrocytes. The study is interesting from a basic science perspective and from the perspecti... | false | multiple sclerosis,University of California - Los Angeles | The news release does not discuss potential costs. The release doesn’t delve into benefits. This sentence came closest to addressing a benefit: “For multiple sclerosis, specifically, increasing cholesterol synthesis gene expression in astrocytes of the spinal cord can be a pathway to repair nerves that affect walking.”... |
9265 | Acetaminophen does not aggravate children's asthma | This news release by Boston Children’s Hospital is based on a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on the first randomized, double-blind, controlled trial comparing acetaminophen to ibuprofen to treat pain and fever in children with asthma. No statistically significant differences were found between t... | true | acetaminophen,asthma,Boston Children's Hospital | Costs are not addressed in the Boston Children’s Hospital news release. The acetaminophen medication used in the study, Little Remedies, costs about 50 percent more than Children’s Advil – $8.86 versus $4.96, respectively – at Walmart. It would have been helpful to readers to include the less costly generic versions of... |
11700 | "Jeff Flake Says Donald Trump's use of the term ""fake news"" to undermine journalism ""seems (to have) inspired dictators and authoritarians." | "Flake said that Trump's use of the term ""fake news"" to undermine journalism seems to have ""inspired dictators and authoritarians."" Trump popularized the phrase ""fake news"" over the past two years as a way to dismiss news coverage that is unsympathetic to him and his administration, even when the reporting is acc... | true | National, Fake news, Transparency, Jeff Flake, | "Hours before President Donald Trump revealed the recipients of his ""fake news awards,"" one Republican lawmaker took to the Senate floor to deliver a stern warning about the perils of undermining journalism. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., cautioned that Trump’s anti-press rhetoric, such as calling the New York Times, CNN ... |
27064 | A photograph shows U.S. President Bill Clinton with billionaire/financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. | Clinton, of course, isn’t the only high-profile politician connected to Epstein. U.S. President Donald Trump has also been photographed with Epstein. | true | Fauxtography | On July 10, 2019, we examined a claim holding that Google was “scrubbing” its search results of any pictures showing President Bill Clinton together with convicted sex offender and billionaire/financier Jeffrey Epstein. While this rumor was false (Google’s search results were not notably different than those of Yahoo, ... |
10627 | New study shows aged garlic extract can reduce dangerous plaque buildup in arteries | This release reports on a study looking at the effects of taking daily doses of a readily available garlic supplement on the buildup of so-called soft plaque in coronary arteries. After one year of supplementation the rate of accumulation of this plaque had been reduced by 80%, according to the release. Our greatest co... | false | cardiovascular disease,Independent research center news release | This release makes no mention of the cost of this supplement in its discussion, although the supplement and its cost are easily available via the web. It would be nice to know what a year’s worth at the prescribed dose would cost. The closing paragraph of the release claims that the supplement “had slowed total plaque ... |
10766 | Study finds rise in choice of double mastectomies | This article reports findings from a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that demonstrate a rise in double mastectomies among women diagnosed with cancer in one breast. This may be overtreatment for many women. The story may have been more balanced by interviewing a patient who chose less treatment and ... | true | The story does not list the additional cost of surgical treatment and reconstruction for the prophylactic mastectomy. While the focus of the story was to report the increase in these procedures, the story could list the average cost and the time spent recovering from bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction. The focus o... | |
10962 | Doctor Has New Method To Break Up Kidney Stones | This story allows a single physician to make claims about his method of removing kidney stones. The work is to be published in an upcoming journal article. It is not at all clear how available this approach to kidney stone treatment is. The story says “After Dr. Portis presents results of his study, he thinks doctors e... | false | The only mention of cost is this: “Who doesn’t want a far more effective procedure that costs one-third as much?” Cost isn’t specified. Costs of alternatives are not given. The story lets the physician-researcher say that “his approach has a 95 percent success rate with a single treatment and quicker recovery time. ” B... | |
6313 | Washington medical school receives $50M for brain institute. | The University of Washington medical school has received a $50 million donation to create an institute focused on developing treatments for brain disorders. | true | General News, Seattle, Washington, Science, Medical schools | The Seattle Times reports Lynn and Mike Garvey made the donation to establish the Garvey Institute for Brain Health Solutions in Seattle. University officials say the institute’s focus is expected to include addiction, depression and Alzheimer’s disease. An official says the institute will build on work being done at t... |
9740 | Consumer Blood Test to Detect Cancer Hits Market Amid Skepticism | The bottom-line message from this story is a good one, and the fact that “skepticism” is mentioned prominently in the headline makes up for the lack of some important details in the body text. While the story overall is strong and it did a decent job of breaking down the costs of this new test, a competing story from R... | true | liquid biopsy,Pathway Genomics | The story broke down the costs of the test to provide a fuller picture than a competing Reuters story. It shows how costs can range from $299 to $699 to $999. As detailed as it was, we think the story could have gone even further here. The story did not mention insurance coverage, for example, nor did it mention how lo... |
9328 | Doctors Use Bacteria as Weapon Against Cancer | This story reports about a safety trial involving 24 cancer patients in which a weakened form of the bacterium clostridium novyi was injected into tumors. The results were presented at the International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference. The story provides appropriately cautions about potential harms. But it explained th... | false | cancer | There was no discussion of the potential cost of this therapy. Although it is probably too early in the process to discuss precise numbers, it would have been helpful if the story had discussed the big picture. While bacterial therapies may be cheap to develop, the cost of clinical trials and bringing a new product to ... |
15334 | "I deployed the Texas National Guard"" to the Texas-Mexico border. ""And the policy worked; apprehensions at the border declined 74 percent." | "Perry said: ""I deployed the Texas National Guard"" to the Texas-Mexico border. ""And the policy worked; apprehensions at the border declined 74 percent."" His statistic holds up, but Perry didn’t provide nor did we find proof the decrease resulted from the Texas surge. To be specific, Border Patrol apprehensions in t... | false | Immigration, Criminal Justice, Crime, Texas, Rick Perry, | "While declaring for president, Republican Rick Perry criticized President Barack Obama’s attitude toward securing the U.S.-Mexico border and suggested that in contrast, he’d shown he could slow illegal crossings of the Rio Grande. The former Texas governor, standing next to a plane like the one he flew as a young Air ... |
28766 | Ann Scott, the wife of Florida's governor, owns a Zika mosquito spraying business. | "What's true: Ann Scott, wife of Florida governor Rick Scott, has a major financial stake in a mosquito spraying company based in Louisiana which services all of the Gulf Coast. What's false: The Scotts do not outright own a ""Zika mosquito spraying"" company." | mixture | Politics Conspiracy Theories, ann scott, Disease, florida | In August 2016, multiple reports emerged that Ann Scott, the wife of Florida governor Rick Scott, either owned a mosquito spraying company outright, or owned a major stake in one. The rumor has added fuel to emerging conspiracy theories that Zika is either a hoax, or that it was purposely introduced into the United Sta... |
3396 | Watchdog faults rushed EPA rulemaking on glider trucks. | The Trump administration rushed to exempt a type of super-polluting cargo truck from clean air rules without conducting a federally mandated study on how it would impact public health, the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector-general said Thursday. | true | Health, Politics, Scott Pruitt, Environment, U.S. News, Public health | Agency officials at the time of the effort, done under former EPA chief Scott Pruitt, told the watchdog office’s investigators of “fast and loose” rulemaking and a “wild West” atmosphere, the report from acting EPA Inspector General Charles J. Sheehan said. “Such actions call into question the quality of EPA rulemaking... |
5458 | Michigan health chief wants judge to drop charges. | A lawyer for Michigan’s health director urged a judge Wednesday to “resist public pressures” and dismiss criminal charges arising from the Flint water scandal, arguing that the head of a sprawling state agency shouldn’t be held responsible for the deaths of two people during a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. | true | Health, Michigan, Legionnaires disease, North America, Flint, Disease outbreaks, U.S. News | It was standing room only as spectators without seats were allowed to jam the main aisle to listen to final arguments. Judge David Goggins must decide whether there’s enough evidence to send Nick Lyon to trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, a low legal threshold in Michigan. State prosecutors said a timely warnin... |
7487 | Noem: No stay-at-home order, state to test anti-malaria drug. | Gov. Kristi Noem on Monday continued to resist calls for a stay-at-home order for Sioux Falls amid the coronavirus outbreak, while announcing that the state will run a comprehensive trial for an anti-malarial drug pushed by President Donald Trump as a potential way to treat and prevent COVID-19. | true | Sioux Falls, Malaria, Health, General News, Kristi Noem, Virus Outbreak, Donald Trump | The Republican governor said her push to test the drug hydroxychloroquine is a way to “go on offense” against the coronavirus. The drug has been championed by Trump but drawn skepticism from doctors who say it could have severe side effects. Shortly before Noem’s announcement, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken called on ... |
9182 | Exact Sciences and Mayo Clinic study shows promise of new blood-based lung cancer test | This release describes very preliminary work on a lung cancer screening test that examines blood plasma from lung cancer patients and healthy controls. The work focused on isolating specific methylated DNA (cells that influence gene expression) markers in the blood that existed in cancer patients but which were absent... | mixture | Exact Sciences Corp.,lung cancer | There is no mention of the possible costs of a diagnostic test suggested by this release. Such DNA analyses carry costs that are not trivial and since the sponsor of the research mentions it already offers a diagnostic test for colorectal cancer that uses similar technology, it should be easy to include at least a reas... |
26590 | “China is to blame because the culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that, these viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people and that's why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the Swine Flu and now the coronavirus.” | SARS and the new coronavirus were first identified in China, but MERS started in Saudi Arabia and Swine Flu started in the United States. Experts said Cornyn's assertion that Chinese culture is at fault is inaccurate, as the threat of viral transmission from animal to human is not unique to China, and the risk of this ... | false | China, Texas, Coronavirus, John Cornyn, | "In separate interviews with reporters on March 18, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said China has been the source of multiple recent contagions breaking out because of what he called a culture of eating some animals such as bats, snakes and dogs. In remarks captured by The Hill, Cornyn said this applies to the new cor... |
22507 | "Under a proposed Georgia law, ""women who miscarry could become felons." | Liberal blogger says abortion bill could affect women who miscarrry | true | Abortion, Georgia, Liberal Blogger, | "Republican state Rep. Bobby Franklin has made a hobby out of triggering liberal ire. And yes, he’s done it again. The Marietta legislator’s House Bill 1 rejects the authority of landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade. It bans abortion and labels it ""prenatal murder,"" a crime punishable by life in prison or d... |
3662 | Study: Drug-caused suicides in Utah underestimated by 33%. | Utah’s number of drug overdose suicides has potentially been underreported by 33%, according to a new study. | true | General News, Utah, Mental health, Opioids, Provo | The study published in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior came to the conclusion after looking at 2,665 overdose deaths that occurred from 2012 to 2015 in Utah, the Provo Daily Herald reports. Paul Nestadt, one of the paper’s authors, says the nation’s opioid epidemic has clouded suicide classification a... |
2657 | Scientists say ancient human bedding used for pest control. | Almost 80,000 years before humans began using chemical sprays to control insect pests, Africans were using mattresses made from bug-repelling plants to ensure a good night’s sleep. | true | Science News | The finding, published in the journal Science Friday, derives from 77,000-year-old plant bedding found in a cave in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province. The find is 50,000 years older than any previous prehistoric beds discovered. The bed’s insect-repelling capabilities suggest ancient humans were well aware of the c... |
580 | Measles and mistrust in Ukraine weaken world's defences. | Many of the people coming to Anna Kukharuk’s private medical clinic don’t have a disease. What plagues them is doubt. But its effects are a health emergency that the doctor and hundreds of others are struggling to remedy. | true | Health News | Deep mistrust of vaccines in Ukraine has allowed measles, a virus which according to United Nations data kills 367 children a day worldwide, to grow into an epidemic infecting more than 58,000 people in the country of 42 million this year alone. That has brought one of the world’s most contagious diseases to Europe - t... |
2635 | In the Age of Anxiety, are we all mentally ill?. | When Cynthia Craig was diagnosed with postpartum depression eight years ago, she told her family doctor she felt anxious about motherhood. She wondered whether she had made a catastrophic mistake by quitting her job, whether she could cope with the long, lonely hours stay-at-home mothers face - and even whether she sho... | true | Health News | “Anxiety is something I have always had, especially during times of change,” said Craig, 40, who lives in Scotland, Ontario. “But I was never worried about the level of anxiety, and it never prevented me from leaving the house, driving, socializing or even speaking in front of people.” Her doctor referred her to an a... |
8783 | FDA warns of reactions to alcohol dependence drug. | Nearly 200 patients given Alkermes Inc’s drug Vivitrol for alcohol dependence reported complications from the injection, including abscesses requiring surgical drainage, U.S. health regulators said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | Vivitrol, an extended-release version of the generic drug naltrexone marketed by Cephalon Inc, was approved in 2006 to treat alcohol dependence in patients who show they can abstain from drinking prior to receiving the drug therapy. Since then, the Food and Drug Administration said it received 196 reports of patients w... |
7229 | Judge blocks Ohio ban on abortions due to Down syndrome. | A state law that prohibits doctors from performing abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome was placed on hold by a federal judge on Wednesday. | true | American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, Health, Abortion, Ohio, North America, Down syndrome | Judge Timothy Black said the law’s opponents are “highly likely” to succeed in arguing the law is unconstitutional because “federal law is crystal clear” that a state can’t limit a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy before viability. His ruling means the law won’t take effect next week, as scheduled, while the liti... |
11239 | Pill Treats Painful Fibroids | Fibroids are common and can cause bothersome symptoms such as pain, bleeding, and pressure in some women. However, they are also benign and deciding about how or whether to treatment them depends on how much a woman is bothered by her symptoms, feels about the pros and cons of different treatments, and whether she wish... | false | The story does not describe costs of the drug. The story states that 80 to 95% of women have no bleeding after taking the drug. However, that leaves a lot of open questions about the effectiveness of the drug. For example, how long does this benefit last? What about other symptoms of fibroids like abdominal pain and pr... | |
10146 | More cancer patients removing 2nd, healthy breast | This article reports findings from a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that demonstrate a recent rise in double mastectomies among women diagnosed with cancer in one breast. It generally does a good job of explaining that the benefits of the treatment are unknown. It explores the question of what may ... | true | "While cost is very unlikely to drive a decision about breast cancer treatment, it’s increasingly important for the media to educate readers about the true underlying costs of medical treatments. In this case, the reporter cites ""higher costs"" as one disadvantage of double mastectomy. This obligates the reporter to s... | |
24470 | Husbands rarely beat up their wives. Single women get beaten up more. | Coulter says husbands rarely beat up their wives | mixture | National, Crime, Pundits, Ann Coulter, | "On his Fox News show, commentator Sean Hannity defended Rush Limbaugh, who was dumped by business partners bidding to buy the St. Louis Rams due to controversy about racial comments Limbaugh has made. Hannity brought on conservative pundit Ann Coulter, who argued the NFL has long been ""easily very spooked by crazy le... |
10017 | Study: Rapidly rising PSA signals more aggressive prostate cancer | "The story describes a new study that uses PSA velocity – how rapidly a prostate specific antigen level rises – to predict which men will have aggressive prostate cancers that may benefit from earlier treatment. The article does a nice job of recognizing some of the controversy surrounding prostate cancer screening. Th... | mixture | "The story does not mention any costs of PSA testing (or the number of tests over what period of time are needed to determine PSA velocity). The story provides survival rates for men with high PSA velocities and low PSA velocities (although the time period for the estimates is not so clear). Because this is an observat... | |
10803 | Device Keeps Donor Kidneys Healthy Outside the Body Until Transplant | The news release focuses on a successful kidney transplant in which the donor organ was kept viable using a technique known as “ex vivo organ perfusion.” The release provides a lot of information on what the surgery entails, and why. However, the release left out some key details. Are there risks associated with this t... | false | Academic medical center news release | Cost is not addressed. Does the technology used to keep the kidney viable in ex vivo organ perfusion increase costs? Is this something that would be passed on to patients? The economics of improving the viability of kidneys for transplant is an important consideration that isn’t mentioned, either. The estimated first-y... |
32284 | Leaked medical records, combined with viral images and videos, prove that Hillary Clinton is suffering from subcortical vascular dementia and has only one year to live. | Unfortunately, we’ve found no clues as to whom this narrator might actually be, although we grew suspicious while perusing other videos on the same YouTube channel — videos with titles such as “POPE FRANCIS to PROCLAIM LUCIFER as God of One World” and “Strange Details Behind PRINCE Blood Sacrifice to Baal!! THEY KILLED... | false | Politics Conspiracy Theories, election 2016, hillary clinton | On 7 September 2016, a video was uploaded to a YouTube channel that specializes in apocalyptic prophecies and conspiracy theories claiming that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was diagnosed with a form of vascular dementia and only had one year to live. It was just one of umpteen Clinton health rumors... |
15749 | "The Affordable Care Act is ""a major reason why we’ve seen 50,000 fewer preventable patient deaths in hospitals." | "Obama said the Affordable Care Act is ""a major reason why we’ve seen 50,000 fewer preventable patient deaths in hospitals."" Independent experts said the report Obama was using as evidence represents a credible attempt to quantify recent improvements in preventing hospital-patient deaths, even if the numbers are esti... | true | National, Health Care, Public Health, Barack Obama, | "In a recent speech marking the fifth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama touted a number of accomplishments he credited to the law. ""The work that we’ve been able to do is already spurring the kinds of changes that we had hoped for,"" Obama said. ""It’s helped reduce hospital readmission ra... |
5453 | Family: Alabama prison was ‘indifferent’ as inmate was dying. | Relatives of a man who died in an overcrowded Alabama prison said officials provided inadequate medical care before his death last month in a facility where the state health agency has confirmed a disease outbreak. | true | Meningitis, Prisons, Health, Montgomery, Alabama, Disease outbreaks | The Montgomery Advertiser reported Wednesday that the family of inmate Michael Eddings, 45, said workers at Ventress prison in southeast Alabama were “deliberately indifferent” to his condition. Eddings, who was serving a life sentence for murder in Jefferson County, died Sept. 24 after a bacterial infection developed ... |
156 | India faces first court challenges to e-cigarette ban. | India’s ban on electronic cigarettes has been challenged in a court in the eastern city of Kolkata, marking the start of the first legal battle against the anti-vaping decision. | true | Health News | The Indian government banned the sale, import and manufacture of e-cigarettes this month and warned of an “epidemic” among young people. The move could dash the expansion plans of companies such as Juul Labs Inc and Philip Morris International (PM.N) in the country. Two separate challenges have been filed to the high c... |
39627 | This eRumor is mostly circulated in the form of a video. It is a recording of a report from WKYC-TV 3 in Cleveland, Ohio. It tells of television broadcast engineer John Kanzius’ discovery that he could use radio waves to make salt water burn. Is this a new source of energy? | "Inventor ""burns"" salt water with radio waves?" | true | Medical, Miscellaneous | The television report is true. Whether John Kanzius’ discovery is revolutionary or not remains to be seen. Kanzius is a former television station owner and broadcast engineer from Pennsylvania who now lives in Florida. According to the report, Kanzius came up with an idea for using radio waves to kill cancer cells. It ... |
9948 | Barrow neurosurgeon helps pave way for deep brain stimulation and Alzheimer's | Illustration: Deep brain stimulation electrode placement. WikipediaThis news release summarizes the results of a phase 2 safety trial of a deep brain stimulation device on patients with potential mild Alzheimer’s disease. This is an off-label trial of a device currently used to treat Parkinson’s disease and essential t... | mixture | Alzheimer's disease | There is no discussion of the cost of this procedure or the maintenance costs of the device. These numbers should be well-known as the device is currently used in Parkinson’s patients and others. An article published in WebMD in 2011 estimated the surgery runs between $30,000 and $50,000. This release summarizes a stag... |
4924 | Utah court rejects challenge to medical marijuana law. | The Utah Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to a state law that replaced the voter-approved law legalizing medical marijuana. | true | Legislature, Medical marijuana, General News, Utah, Marijuana, Courts, State legislature, Gary Herbert, Laws | The court on Tuesday dismissed the petition by The People’s Right group that argued the governor and the state Legislature acted unconstitutionally when they replaced the medical marijuana ballot initiative with a more restrictive law in December. The group had argued that Republican Gov. Gary Herbert had effectively v... |
29084 | By law, a driver must surrender his vehicle to a policeman who requests its use in order to chase a fleeing suspect. | Sightings: In the 1993 film So I Married an Axe Murderer, Charles Grodin refuses to surrender his car to a San Francisco cop (Anthony LaPaglia) who really wishes his job were more like “in the movies.” | mixture | Crime, I Fought The Law | This familiar scene has been played out in hundreds of television programs and movies: A police detective in foot pursuit of a suspect sees his quarry about to elude him by hopping into a taxi, bus, or some other type of vehicle. Desperate, the cop flags down the next car to pass, flashes a badge, shouts “Police busine... |
834 | Live turtles, snakes, crocs seized in bust of fashion crime ring. | Police in 22 countries have rescued thousands of live reptiles including turtles and crocodiles that traffickers intended to kill for use in fashion accessories such as wallets and handbags, Europol said on Monday. | true | Environment | Europe’s police agency said the arrests of six people in Italy and six in Spain for illegal trafficking in live animals capped a month-long global sting dubbed Operation Blizzard that targeted smugglers, commercial cargo and pet shops. “Wildlife trafficking has increased significantly in recent years to the point where... |
24180 | Health insurance companies' costs are only 4 percent of all health care spending. | Health insurers get a small percentage of overall health care spending | true | National, Health Care, America's Health Insurance Plans, | "As the battle over health care reform approaches a climax, America's Health Insurance Plans -- the trade group for the private health insurance industry -- began airing a new ad highlighting statistics on what actually goes into the nation's health care spending.Here's the full text of AHIP's ad:""What's inside the he... |
11304 | Deep Brain Stimulation for Stubborn Hypertension | In describing why researchers think deep brain stimulation (DBS) might one day be a treatment option for patients with difficult-to-treat high blood pressure, the story didn’t adequately caution that the excitement is based on a case report from a single patient. The story also failed to provide readers with informatio... | mixture | WebMD | The story does not mention costs – a major omission. According to one estimate our reviewer accessed within minutes, costs for the device and procedure may be upward of $150,000 per patient. Any discussion of costs should also include the costs required to monitor the device over time. The story does a better job than ... |
20825 | "Mitt Romney is ""tearing down his 3,000-square-foot house to build an 11,000-square-foot house." | "The video used a reasonable figure for dimensions of the ""teardown"" project -- even though the Romney campaign calls it a doubling of living space, the official application uses numbers that would amount to a quadrupling. But the video implied that the project is under way when in fact it’s not imminent." | true | National, Candidate Biography, Message Machine 2012, Winning Our Future, | "The 28-minute video ""When Mitt Romney Came to Town"" -- an attack on the Republican presidential candidate’s experiences with the private-equity firm Bain Capital -- claims that Romney is ""tearing down his 3,000-square-foot house to build an 11,000-square-foot house."" When the news came out last summer, it became s... |
23763 | "As a senator, Barack Obama supported ""an amendment that basically gutted the legal temporary worker program." | John McCain said that Barack Obama voted against part of immigration reform | true | Immigration, National, This Week - ABC News, Workers, John McCain, | "Back in 2007, Congress came close to hammering out legislation to overhaul laws about immigration, but the deal collapsed in the Senate. Three years later, that failure is still being discussed and dissected. It came up again on ABC News' This Week, in a question for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.Host Jake Tapper first sho... |
24581 | As many as 22,000 Americans die each year because they don’t have health insurance. | Pascrell says up to 22,000 Americans die yearly because they don’t have health insurance | mixture | National, Health Care, Bill Pascrell, | "On July 30, 2009, PolitiFact rated as True a statement by Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey that ""as many as 22,000 Americans die each year because they don’t have health insurance."" We based that ruling on the same study that Pascrell did. Subsequently, a reader pointed out a paper published last spring i... |
4493 | Nations at UN climate talks back universal emissions rules. | After two weeks of bruising negotiations, officials from almost 200 countries agreed Saturday on universal, transparent rules that will govern efforts to cut emissions and curb global warming. | true | Climate, AP Top News, International News, Poland, Environment, Business, Katowice, Science, Europe | The deal agreed upon at U.N. climate talks in Poland enables countries to put into action the principles in the 2015 Paris climate accord. But to the frustration of environmental activists and some countries who were urging more ambitious climate goals, negotiators delayed decisions on two key issues until next year in... |
11345 | Saving your life: modern medical miracles: Katie’s pillcam | In this story we learn of of a new “Magic Pillcam” that “scans your insides.” This non-invasive procedure is meant to replace endoscopy, which requires some sedation and time off work. However, the new approach would need to be shown to be equally effective, safe and at least comparable to the cost of endoscopy. In the... | false | Mentions that the pillcam costs $450 plus the physician’s fee, but we don’t know what that means relative to endoscopy. Plus, those costs are going to be largely out-of-pocket since insurance doesn’t cover it. Sidesteps around insurance coverage issue by saying that insurers are beginning to cover it, but provides no b... | |
26565 | "Blogger Says President Donald Trump will announce that a scientist ""finally found vaccine to cure corona virus." | Trump has not announced a vaccine to prevent COVID-19. As of now, there is no specific treatment for the coronavirus. The false claim was spread on spam news websites registered in Ghana and Nigeria. Similar hoaxes have circulated widely abroad. Federal agencies are accelerating clinical trials of potential COVID-19 va... | false | Fake news, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Bloggers, | "President Donald Trump has touted how quickly the government is developing potential COVID-19 vaccines. An article circulating on Facebook gives him even more credit. The story, which was published March 24 on several spam news websites, claims that Trump is getting ready to announce the name and launch date of a vacc... |
36980 | A 14-year-old Texas girl became pregnant due to a flu shot. | Was a Texas Girl Impregnated by a Flu Shot? | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | A story about a terrifying way a teenager got pregnant — from a flu shot, of all things — is completely untrue. A satire site is behind this hoax, which was quickly decoupled from its original source and passed around as factual.The well-known satire site WorldNewsDailyReport.com started that rumor with a story headlin... |
35613 | Samuel Pepys wrote about taverns being full of gadabouts during a plague in 1665. | There’s been a parody Samuel Pepys twitter account running for a while at @Pepys_Diaries. It’s a modern-day take on Pepys, imagining him writing in the modern world. Unfortunately one of the account’s recent tweets, drawing parallels between the Plague and 2020’s coronavirus, has been quoted out of context and spread a... | false | Questionable Quotes | In July 2020, a quote ostensibly written in 1665 by Samuel Pepys, dubbed the world’s greatest diarist by some, started to circulate on social media. The passage lamented how “gadabouts” (defined by Cambridge Dictionary as “a person who goes out a lot and does not worry about other things they should be doing”) were sti... |
33506 | Sesame Street's Cookie Monster is being replaced by Veggie Monster. | Cooler heads might have dismissed the rumor under the premise that it would not make sense for Sesame Street to replace a beloved and extremely marketable character. Besides, the concept of a Veggie Monster who so lusted for his favorite foodstuffs that he would go on legume-pillaging rampages is seriously flawed: unli... | false | Entertainment, Radio & TV, sesame street, Television | One of the most endearing and memorable of Sesame Street‘s Muppet characters has experienced a bit of an epiphany regarding his eating habits in recent years as the lovable, blue-furred Cookie Monster has been mastering the fine art of moderation with regard to his favorite food. Yet he has not given up cookies entirel... |
2790 | Production snag forces worldwide hold on GSK chickenpox vaccines. | GlaxoSmithKline has stopped worldwide deliveries of two chickenpox vaccines for children after discovering that some batches produced at its factory in Wavre, Belgium, were not up to standard. | true | Health News | Britain’s biggest drugmaker, which is also one of the world’s leading vaccine manufacturers, said on Tuesday it expected shipments to begin again at the end of the first quarter. The quality issue affects two vaccines containing a varicella (chickenpox) component - Priorix-Tetra, a combined vaccine for measles, mumps, ... |
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