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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
35250 | People started to ignore social distancing rules during the 1918 pandemic, leading to a second wave of infections that killed more people than all of World War I. | What's true: More people died during the 1918 flu pandemic than in all of WWI, with the majority of deaths occurring during the deadly second wave of the influenza outbreak. In general, places that disregarded social distancing rules saw more influenza cases. What's false: The second wave of the influenza outbreak star... | mixture | History, COVID-19 | In mid-April 2020, as some U.S. cities saw crowds of people protesting against shelter-in place or stay-home orders implemented to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, a meme started circulating that claimed the majority of deaths during the 1918-19 pandemic occurred after people started to ignore socia... |
4023 | Officials: Teen at dance competition in Arizona had measles. | Public health officials say a teenager competing in the World Hip Hop Championship in Phoenix has measles and may have exposed others at the dance competition. | true | Arizona, Phoenix, Dance, Measles, General News, Health, Public health, United States | The Maricopa County Public Health Department said Friday the teen was infectious with measles from Aug. 9 to Aug. 11 at the Arizona Grand Resort, where the competition was held. She also traveled through Terminal 2 at Sky Harbor Airport on the evening of Aug. 11. The terminal is used by United, Alaska, Spirit and a han... |
1677 | Largest U.S. needle exchange tries free meth pipes in Seattle. | Occasional crystal meth smoker Richard Russell ambles up to a church storage garage in a Seattle alley and a recovering drug addict hands him two brand new meth pipes, no questions asked. | true | Health News | One of about two dozen methamphetamine users who received free bubble-ended pipes on a recent afternoon, Russell is a participant in a pioneering but illegal program launched in March that aims to indirectly curb infectious diseases. “Dude’s got something to smoke but he doesn’t have a pipe, what’s he going to do?” Ru... |
5830 | Increased number of STDs in Hawaii linked to online dating. | An increase in sexually transmitted diseases in Hawaii to the highest numbers reported in decades can be linked to the prevalence of online dating, officials said. | true | Sexually transmitted diseases, U.S. News, Chlamydia, Health, General News, Online dating, Hawaii, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Dating, Honolulu | Cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have increased significantly in the state, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Sunday. All three infections were at or near their highest rates in about 30 years, according to the state Department of Health’s Harm Reduction Services Branch. Hawaii health officials recorded 7... |
9121 | Fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin identified as new biomarkers for weight loss | Findings from a trio of clinical trials suggest that fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin levels — two types of “biomarkers” — can be used to customize weight loss diets for people with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, according to a news release from the University of Copenhagen. The release doesn’t say how effect... | false | biomarkers,Faculty of Science - University of Copenhagen,weight loss | The release gives no indication of how expensive it would be for the average person to use these markers for customizing their weight loss program. There is no mention of how much the testing would cost, (and of importance to US audiences, whether insurance would cover the expense), how often patients would need to be ... |
9699 | C-Sections Are Best With a Little Labor, a Study Says | In this story, we hear about a long-term comparison of three kinds of birth in Scotland: planned C-section, unplanned C-section and vaginal delivery. This enormous observational study included more than 320,000 children, and followed their health for many years. There was a slight increase in risk of Type 1 diabetes be... | true | birth,c-section,labor,obesity,public health | The article does not include any discussion of costs. We believe that information could have added a further dimension to the topic. Cesarean delivery is estimated to cost 50% more than vaginal delivery, in an analysis from 2013 of US births. [http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/803426_2] At a time when health-care cos... |
41733 | "The Iran nuclear deal ""pushed back a nuclear breakout 10, 20 years." | We found some factual distortions in the first debate round of the two-night affair. | mixture | Guns, Iran nuclear deal, LGBT, medicare, opioids, real wages, | The debate season for the 2020 presidential election kicked off with 10 Democratic candidates taking the stage in Miami and exaggerating or garbling the facts on Iran, wages, Medicare, the opioid crisis and guns.The first debate was hosted by NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo on June 26, with another 10 candidates set to debate... |
8616 | Indonesia announces biggest daily rise in coronavirus cases, 24 doctors now dead. | Indonesia announced its biggest daily increase in novel coronavirus cases on Monday and a medical association said 24 doctors had now died after contracting the virus. | true | Health News | The rise in the death toll among doctors, which has doubled since last week, followed criticism of a lack of protective equipment in Indonesia. The 218 new coronavirus cases took the number overall in Indonesia to 2,491. The 209 confirmed deaths among people who have contracted the virus is the highest number of fatali... |
35690 | Clark Gable killed a pedestrian while driving drunk, but MGM covered up the accident and sent another man to jail in his place. | Gable was out for another month before finally returning to the studio in September; meanwhile, the producer considered replacing him, production on Dancing Lady was shut down, the film ran $150,000 over budget, and Mayer docked Gable over two months’ pay. (Actors under studio contract were not paid per film; they were... | false | Entertainment | We rarely offer our audience a glimpse behind the scenes into how we go about researching a rumor. It’s usually a boring process most of our readers wouldn’t find at all interesting, primarily because the most time-consuming part of investigating the origins and truth (or falsity) of rumors is often not the legwork of ... |
11476 | New scan can speed Parkinson’s diagnosis | The DaTscan is intended to help doctors rule out Parkinson’s disease when the underlying cause of their symptoms is difficult to determine, but the patient example and overall tone of the story convey that the test is meant to uncover Parkinson’s cases that other tests and exams have missed. The story does not address ... | false | Chicago Tribune,Screening | Yes, the story reports that a DaTscan costs about $1500. Oddly, instead of reporting what the hospitals featured in the story charge for a scan, the story attributes the price estimate to a quote taken from an article by Medscape Medical News. But there is a much higher price listed on the web site of the Michael J. Fo... |
26464 | “Africans living in China now being forced to sleep outside in the cold” as “Chinese nationals blame them for the rising number of new coronavirus cases in the country.” | Africans in one Chinese city are being evicted amid fear of a second wave of COVID-19 in China and a focus on foreigners. The evictions are blamed on racism, which the Chinese government denies. | true | China, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Some Africans living in China are being evicted from their homes amid fears of a second wave of the coronavirus in the country where it originated. Social media posts about about the matter caught our attention, including this video shared on Facebook: ""Africans living in China now being forced to sleep outside in th... |
33938 | "Oklahoma State Rep. Justin Humphrey said he viewed a pregnant woman as a ""host"" for the fetus she carried. " | It’s true that Humphrey did say he viewed a woman as a “host” for a fetus once she has become pregnant, but he did not reduce the entire status of women in society to that of a host, even stipulating that beyond the context of pregnancy, “your body is your body.” It is a matter of subjective opinion whether or not one ... | true | Politics, abortion | In early 2019, an Oklahoma lawmaker’s two-year-old comments about abortion re-emerged online and prompted skeptical inquiries from our readers. On 15 February, the Gaily Grind web site posted an article with the headline “GOP Lawmaker Who Called Pregnant Women ‘Hosts’ Pushing Bill Requiring Men to Approve All Abortions... |
35878 | "U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris met with Jacob Blake — who, a meme claimed, ""raped a woman” — and told him that she was “proud of him” in September 2020." | What's true: According to a statement from Blake’s lawyer, Harris met with Blake's family and told Blake on the phone that she is “proud of him and how he is working through his pain.” In July 2020, Blake was charged with third-degree sexual assault of his ex-girlfriend. What's false: Blake has not been tried or convic... | mixture | Politics | In September 2020, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., visited the family of Jacob Blake, a Black man shot in the back by police on Aug. 23 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Harris, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, also spoke to Blake himself over the phone as he recovered in hospital from his injuries. Details about th... |
34265 | A photograph shows a newborn child who weighed 8.6 kg (18.96 lbs.) at birth. | But again, we haven’t yet found anything definitively linking the viral photograph at the head of this article to that Indonesian birth, or to any of the other reported births of unusually large babies in recent years. | unproven | Fauxtography | In August 2018, Facebook users encountered multiple postings of a photograph of what looked to be a very large newborn child, accompanied by text suggesting the baby weighed in at a whopping 8.6 kilograms (18.96 pounds) — said to be a Guinness World Record for “the biggest baby born by natural birth”: This photograph ... |
26512 | “Conservative Supreme Court Justices vote remotely to deny Wisconsin voters their right to vote remotely.” | The U.S. Supreme Court did indeed meet and vote remotely to rule on the Wisconsin election. But it’s a stretch to say they denied a “right to vote remotely” The traditional remote voting right is to cast an absentee ballot by Election Day, and that was still allowed under this ruling. The court struck down a lower co... | mixture | Elections, Supreme Court, Wisconsin, Facebook posts, | "A pair of high court rulings set the stage for Wisconsin’s April 7, 2020 pandemic election. The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down an order from Gov. Tony Evers that would have moved the election back to June, which kept in-person voting in place. And the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all absentee ballots had to be p... |
8500 | Brazil likely has 12 times more coronavirus cases than official count, study finds. | Brazil likely has 12 times more cases of the new coronavirus than are being officially reported by the government, with too little testing and long waits to confirm the results, according to a study released on Monday. | true | Health News | Researchers at a consortium of Brazilian universities and institutes examined the ratio of cases resulting in deaths through April 10 and compared it with data on the expected death rate from the World Health Organization. The much higher-than-expected death rate in Brazil indicates there are many more cases of the vir... |
7064 | Zika travel advisory issued for 11 Southeast Asia countries. | U.S. health officials are advising pregnant women to postpone travel to 11 countries in Southeast Asia because of Zika outbreaks in the region. | true | Brunei, Maldives, AP Health, Travel, Asia, Health, Thailand, Southeast Asia | The advisory issued Thursday targets travel to Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Zika has been in some areas of Southeast Asia for years, and some residents may be immune. But a numbe... |
7892 | Virgin companies to invest $250 million to save jobs after virus outbreak: Branson. | British entrepreneur Richard Branson said on Sunday companies in his Virgin empire will be investing $250 million in coming weeks and months to save jobs from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. | true | Health News | “Because many of our businesses are in industries like travel, leisure and wellness, they are in a massive battle to survive and save jobs”, Branson wrote in a blog. He didn’t say if the $250 million just represented salaries of furloughed staff. “Our airlines have had to ground almost all their planes; our cruise line... |
41649 | 60 ambulance stations have closed since 2010. | We don’t know how many ambulance stations have closed since 2010 as national figures on this aren’t regularly published. | unproven | health | There are 16,481 fewer beds in hospitals since 2010. This is in the right ballpark, but it doesn’t seem to be the best comparison. It seems to compare the number of beds at different times of the year, but the number available fluctuates seasonally. Comparing July-September in 2010 and 2017, the decrease in beds availa... |
24202 | President Obama's bill won't bring down the costs (of health care) for average Americans -- or really for very few Americans, if any. | Bachmann says Democratic health care bill won't lower costs for average Americans | false | National, Health Care, Michele Bachmann, | "Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has a reputation for using political rhetoric that pushes the envelope. On March 3, 2010, she appeared on CNN's Larry King Live along with Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, a Floridian who's also known for his outspokenness from the opposite ideological perspective.We thought we'd look into... |
7406 | The big question: Will cancer immune therapy work for me?. | Dennis Lyon was a genetic train wreck. Cancer was ravaging his liver, lungs, bones and brain, and tests showed so many tumor mutations that drugs targeting one or two wouldn’t do much good. It seemed like very bad news, yet his doctors were encouraged. | true | AP Top News, Genetics, Cancer, San Diego, Health, Tumors, Genetic Frontiers, North America, Business, California, Science, U.S. News | The reason: People with the most messed-up genes often are the ones who do best on treatments that enlist the immune system. “These are the patients we used to be very depressed about,” thinking they couldn’t be helped, said Dr. Razelle Kurzrock at the University of California, San Diego. “Now when we see those types o... |
10853 | Artificial pancreas would dial up diabetes control | "This story describes the development of ""artificial pancreas"" technology. Despite a lack of data on safety or efficacy, the story unwisely presumes eventual clinical use and its potential to significantly improve the lives of kids with Type 1 diabetes. The report would have been stronger if it had followed a few bes... | mixture | "While the artificial pancreas technology is still in prototype, two elements of it–the insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor–are currently used. As a matter of course, the costs of this technology should be cited. We are not given a clear sense of how many people have been tested on this technology, but if the s... | |
4290 | International aid helps Mozambique fight cholera in Beira. | As Mozambique battles to control a fast-spreading cholera outbreak in the cyclone-hit central city of Beira, international assistance is arriving. | true | Health, Cholera, Africa, International News, Mozambique, Malawi | The number of cholera cases jumped to 271 over the weekend although no deaths from the disease had been reported. More than 500 people have died in Mozambique from Cyclone Idai , which slammed into Beira more than two weeks ago, according to government officials. Another 259 people died in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi, br... |
8253 | London hospital briefly issues critical alert as cases surge. | A hospital in London briefly declared a “critical incident” on Friday due to shortage of intensive care beds caused by a rise in the number of patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. | true | Health News | Northwick Park Hospital in northwest London told staff it did not have enough space for patients needing critical care, several newspapers and broadcasters reported. “We can confirm that our critical incident status has been stood down,” the hospital said in a statement. “Critical care capacity for patients with corona... |
3486 | Japan revises Fukushima cleanup plan, delays key steps. | Japan on Friday revised a roadmap for the cleanup of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, further delaying the removal of thousands of spent fuel units that remain in cooling pools since the 2011 disaster. It’s a key step in the decadeslong process, complicated by high radiation and other risks. The government ... | true | AP Top News, Tsunamis, Tokyo, General News, Business, Science, Asia Pacific, Japan | A look at some of the challenges: ___ MORE THAN 4,700 UNITS OF FUEL IN POOLS More than 4,700 units of fuel rods remain at the three melted reactors and two others that survived the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They pose a high risk because their storage pools are uncovered and a loss of water in case of another major d... |
7802 | International campaigners urge UK to allow 'three-parent' IVF babies. | Campaigners urged British lawmakers on Sunday to seize a chance to become the first in the world to allow three-way fertility treatments to families who want to avoid passing on incurable diseases to their children. | true | Health News | In an open letter ahead of a parliamentary vote scheduled for Tuesday, charities and advocacy groups said the opportunity “offers families the first glimmer of hope that they might be able to have a baby that will live without pain and suffering.” The technique under debate is known as mitochondrial donation and is of... |
1734 | Stricter controls needed after surge in marijuana ills: U.S. anti-pot group. | The number of children treated annually for accidental pot consumption in Colorado has reached double-digits and a drug treatment chain has seen a surge of teens treated for cannabis abuse, a leading U.S. anti-marijuana group said on Monday. | true | Health News | In a report, marijuana legalization foe Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) also pointed to higher-than-average use in the first states to sanction recreational cannabis, Colorado and Washington state, and an increase in burns from butane hash oil production. “We need a pumping-of-the-brakes on the marijuana industry,”... |
26579 | “COVID literally stands for Chinese Originated Viral Infectious Disease.” | COVID-19 is an abbreviation of “coronavirus disease 2019.” “CO” stands for “corona,” “VI” stands for “virus” and “D” stands for “disease.” The number 19 reflects the year the disease was identified — 2019. | false | China, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Viral image, | "President Donald Trump has been criticized for calling the new coronavirus as the ""Chinese Virus,"" a term some fear will encourage xenophobia and abuse against Asian Americans. But a recent Facebook post would have you believe the president’s word choice is closer to the truth than news reports say. ""Hate to break ... |
3965 | Tennessee names new state veterinarian. | The Tennessee Department of Agriculture has appointed a Samantha Beaty as state veterinarian and assistant commissioner for animal health. | true | Health, General News, Animal health, Tennessee, Veterinary medicine, Agriculture | Agency Commissioner Charlie Hatcher announced Wednesday that Beaty, who lives in Robertson County on a beef cattle farm, has 18 years of veterinary medicine experience. She will be responsible for protecting and monitoring animal health throughout the state. Beaty was previously the interim director the department’s C.... |
11112 | Switching to public transport or cycling/walking to get to work might help shed the pounds: Strengthens case for incentivising walking or cycling to boost population health, say researchers | This release reported on a study that tracked changes in participants’ weight as they used different modes of transportation to get to work. The study found that participants tended to lose weight when they switched from taking a car to walking, bicycling, or using public transport (and vice versa). The release did a g... | false | Journal news release,Observational studies,Weight loss | The release failed to mention any costs or savings associated with the different commuting approaches discussed in the study. A mention of any of the following costs such as public transportation fees, gasoline/fuel costs, vehicle maintenance, etc., would have earned the release a satisfactory rating. This release did ... |
1787 | No place to hide for Africa's pangolins amid China buying spree. | Alongside dirt roads twisting through the dense tropical forests of Gabon, the scaly bodies of lifeless long-snouted pangolins dangle from sticks stuck in the ground by hunters. | true | Environment | The pangolin, a mammal that looks like an anteater but has the tough scales of a crocodile, has long been prized in central Africa as a bushmeat delicacy. But growing demand for it from Asia, where pangolin scales are used in Chinese medicine to help women lactate and to cure skin disorders, now threatens to hasten its... |
37579 | Twitter user @into_the_brush provided an accurate account of attempting to be tested for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Seattle. | ‘Seattle Coronavirus Testing’ Twitter Thread | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On March 2 2020, as six patients in Washington state were reported to have died of a novel coronavirus, a Twitter user going by @into_the_brush shared a thread about their purported attempts to be tested for the virus in Seattle.In the first tweet, the person posting said: They were a resident of Seattle, had “a histor... |
26392 | COVID-19 is “here to stay” and “we need to accept that and be prepared to deal with COVID long term.” | Arguing for relaxing restrictions, the speaker was making the point that staying indoors for another month or two won’t get rid of the virus. Experts say it’s too early to say for sure, but it’s eradicating COVID-19 will be a difficult undertaking — even after a vaccine Many expect it to remain in the environment an... | true | Health Care, Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "The debate over when to re-open Wisconsin has escalated quickly. Frustration with the extended quarantine is mounting on social media, and residents around the state have defied social distancing orders to attend rallies demanding Gov. Tony Evers ease restrictions. Protesters say the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed enoug... |
8653 | Singapore's coronavirus struggle shows colossal task of global containment. | Held up as a role model for its battle against coronavirus, city-state Singapore is struggling with an infection spread that disease experts say bodes ill for global containment efforts. | true | Health News | The tiny Southeast Asian nation was one of the worst hit countries when the virus first spread from China in January, but a strict surveillance and quarantine regime helped stem the tide, with methods that drew praise from the World Health Organisation. As the virus later formed new hotspots in Europe and the United St... |
24515 | "House Republicans pledged to introduce a bill to reform America’s health care system,"" but ""the 'party of no' has . . . failed to produce legislation." | Hoyer claims Republicans have no health care alternative | mixture | National, Health Care, Steny Hoyer, | "No matter which party controls Congress, its leaders usually refer to the opposition as ""the party of no."" The Republicans did it when they were in control, and now it's Democrats' turn. The latest complaint from House Democratic leaders is that Republicans have failed to produce an alternative to the five major hea... |
7514 | UN agency: China virus ‘too early’ for emergency declaration. | A viral illness in China that has sickened hundreds of people and prompted Chinese authorities to effectively shut down at least three cities is not yet a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said Thursday. | true | Beijing, AP Top News, Travel, Geneva, International News, General News, Public health, Epidemics, China, United Nations, Asia Pacific, Health, Ebola virus | The U.N. health agency issued its evaluation after Chinese authorities moved to lock down three cities indefinitely earlier in the day and canceled major public celebrations and gatherings in Beijing during the Lunar New Year holiday period to try to contain the evolving outbreak. During a news conference in Geneva, WH... |
2833 | Biocon to start selling breast cancer drug in India in February. | Biocon Ltd said its generic version of Roche’s Herceptin breast cancer treatment would be available to patients in India from the first week of February. | true | Health News | Bangalore-based Biocon jointly developed biosimilar trastuzumab, which received the Indian drug regulator’s marketing approval in November, with U.S.-based Mylan Inc. About 150,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in India, of which 25 percent are eligible for treatment with trastuzumab, Biocon said.... |
3064 | Doctor’s report says Elizabeth Warren ‘in excellent health’. | Elizabeth Warren “is in excellent health,” according to a doctor’s report released by the Massachusetts senator on Friday, becoming the first in a trio of top Democratic presidential candidates over 70 to make their medical records public. | true | Health, General News, Politics, Election 2020, Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts | Warren’s last physical was in January and was conducted by Dr. Beverly Woo, who said she has served as the candidate’s primary care physician since 1999. Woo, from Boston, wrote in a one-page letter dated this week that Warren’s “only medical condition” is an underactive thyroid gland, which is easily treated by medica... |
14674 | Texas is growing twice as fast as the rest of the country. | "Straus said: ""Texas is growing twice as fast as the rest of the country."" Census Bureau statistics show that Texas, indeed, is growing faster than the United States as a whole. Experts explain that the rate of population growth is due to its birth rate, foreign immigration and migration from other states. Although T... | true | Population, Texas, Joe Straus, | "A campaign video put out by House Speaker Joe Straus, the San Antonio Republican, shows him talking up his re-election hopes and throwing out a claim about huge Texas growth. The video, posted Dec. 17, 2015, opens with Straus signing papers to run for re-election, where he’ll face off in the March 2016 Republican prim... |
9723 | Why Double Knee Replacement Might Be Best | Sweeping new fuel rules aiming to cut pollution belching from ships and save lives are now just a couple of weeks away but with no central policing agency and several countries still not signed up to them, compliance is a major concern. | true | knee replacement | From January 2020, ships must use fuel with a sulfur content of 0.5%, down from 3.5%, or install devices that strip out the toxic pollutant - known as scrubbers. As a result, refiners and shipping companies will spend billions of dollars in the years ahead on ensuring fuel and engines comply. But enforcement of the Uni... |
1566 | Double joy as mother of only giant panda twins in U.S. pregnant again. | The mother of the only giant panda twins in the United States may soon deliver a second set of twins, Zoo Atlanta said on Tuesday, capping off an eventful month for lovers of the fluffy black and white bears across the globe. | true | Environment | Three years ago, mother bear Lun Lun gave birth to female cubs Mei Lun and Mei Huan, who are still at the Georgia zoo but could be returned this fall to China, which owns them, zoo spokeswoman Rachel Davis said. An ultrasound on Monday confirmed that Lun Lun, who turns 19 years old on Thursday, is once again pregnant w... |
457 | Ram Dass, psychedelic drug pioneer, dies at home aged 88. | Ram Dass, who in the 1960s joined Timothy Leary in promoting psychedelic drugs as the path to inner enlightenment before undergoing a spiritual rebirth he spelled out in the influential book “Be Here Now,” died at home on Sunday. He was 88 years old. | true | Health News | “With tender hearts we share that Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) died peacefully at home in Maui on December 22, 2019 surrounded by loved ones,” according to his official Instagram account. “He was a guide for thousands seeking to discover or reclaim their spiritual identity beyond or within institutional religion.” T... |
22860 | "Sixteen [federal] programs exist to fight homelessness"" and some of them are duplicative." | Congressman asks how many federal programs does it take to help homeless? | true | Georgia, Federal Budget, Jack Kingston, | "Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston wanted to be the guy to watch your tax dollars in Washington. The Savannah Republican recently made an unsuccessful bid to chair the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees the distribution of federal funds. It's considered one of the most powerful positions in Washington. Repu... |
36530 | "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke against abortion in a comment alluding to his ""I Have a Dream"" speech." | Did Martin Luther King, Jr. Say ‘the Dream’ Cannot Survive if Women Have Abortions? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | In January 2019, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the passage of a new abortion law in New York state occurred in close proximity, facilitating the circulation of the following quote meme:The above-reproduced quote meme included a photograph of King and the following quote:“HOW CAN THE ‘DREAM’ SURVIVE IF WE MURDER THE C... |
37941 | A grand jury indicted Netflix on charges related to the release of Cuties, a controversial French film about a girls' dance troupe. | A number of news organizations (including USA Today and Reuters) reported that a Texas grand jury had indicted Netflix over its distribution of Cuties (originally titled Mignonnes). Coverage of the press release and indictment was typically suspiciously vague or suspiciously partisan, and legal analysts commenting sepa... | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | "On October 7 2020, posts claiming that a Texas grand jury had “indicted Netflix” over its distribution of the film Cuties began circulating on social media:Netflix’s Indictment in the NewsReaders searching to validate the story might be led to believe the claim was validated by a “fact-check,” thanks to Facebook’s lab... |
28444 | A recent international investigation resulted in the shutting down of an online pedophilia forum with some 70,000 members worldwide. | What's true: A joint operation between Europol and local law enforcement in multiple countries took down an online pedophile forum with some 70,000 members worldwide. What's false: These events are not recent, as the operation began in 2007 and ended in 2011. | mixture | Junk News, neon nettle | On 8 June 2018, the disreputable Neon Nettle web site published an article reporting the culmination of a multi-year international investigation into a pedophile ring, one which resulted in the taking down of an Amsterdam-based online forum called boylover.net — described as “probably the largest online pedophile netwo... |
10610 | Grumpy Old Men: Maybe It’s A Question of Testosterone | "This story failed to provide good information about testosterone treatment. It didn’t discuss costs. We believe that it committed disease-mongering (see criterion above.) It talked about ""accumulating evidence"" without quantifying what that evidence was, but only giving anecdotes. It gave an incomplete description o... | false | The story supplied no information about the costs of treatment. The story did not provide any quantification of the benefits of treatment. The story mentioned the ongoing discussion about the association between levels of testosterone and prostate cancer. It should have distinguished between what is known about testost... | |
23891 | "Once the U.S. government signs a U.N. treaty on conventional arms, ""all U.S. citizens will be subject to those gun laws created by foreign governments." | Chain e-mail says U.N. treaty would force U.S. to ban, confiscate guns | false | National, Legal Issues, Foreign Policy, Guns, Chain email, | "A chain e-mail making the rounds warns that President Barack Obama's administration is pursuing a United Nations treaty that would be the ""first major step in a plan to ban all firearms in the United States."" Given the controversial nature of both gun-rights policy and United States sovereignty, we decided to do a f... |
12419 | "For 22 percent of N.H. Meals on Wheels recipients, the delivery driver is ""the only human contact in their life from week to week." | "Kuster said for 22 percent of Meals on Wheels home recipients, the driver ""is the only human contact in their life from week to week, the only person they see."" The depressing statistic is backed up by the data collected by a coalition of Meals on Wheels providers in New Hampshire." | true | New Hampshire, Federal Budget, Food, Population, Ann McLane Kuster, | "New Hampshire could be considered one of the main exhibits of the ""silver tsunami,"" a term used to refer to the aging population in the United States. Tied for second in the nation for the oldest population in terms of median age, the state is bracing for the effects of a declining workforce, strained medical servic... |
28048 | "A photograph shows an African child on display in a ""human zoo"" at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels, Belgium." | "What's true: A photograph shows white tourists interacting with an African child who was part of a zoo-like ""Congo village"" exhibition at the Expo '58 world's fair in Brussels, Belgium. What's false: The exhibition wasn't billed or advertised as a ""human zoo"" (the term is mostly used by critics to point out the in... | true | Fauxtography | The history of the subjugation of darker-skinned peoples by Western Europeans is exemplified not only in the transatlantic slave trade that thrived from the 16th through the 19th centuries, but also in the phenomenon of global colonialism, which lasted even longer. The colonies of Africa were among the last to gain ind... |
9423 | Drinking hot tea linked to lowered glaucoma risk | Getty Images This Reuters story reports on an observational study showing a possible association between drinking caffeinated hot tea and lowering the risk of glaucoma. The story does a good job describing the study design and the lack of treatment options for glaucoma. It also included comments from two independent so... | true | glaucoma | Tea is widely available and relatively affordable compared to other prepared drinks. The story mentions that study participants who drank one cup or more of hot caffeinated tea daily “had 74 percent lower odds of having glaucoma” compared to those who don’t drink hot tea. Our standard response to a statement like this ... |
1600 | Finnish 'pulled oats' maker wants a bite of the meat substitutes market. | Nordic oats and broad beans are the main ingredients for a new plant-based product that looks like pulled pork and tastes a bit like chicken which a Finnish start-up company hopes will soon be tempting consumers’ growing appetite for meat substitutes. | true | Health News | Maija Itkonen and Reetta Kivela, founders of the Finnish food technology start-up Gold & Green Foods, call the product “pulled oats”. “The oats are sheared and heated under the right conditions and combined with the beans. The amino acids that are lacking in oats are in the beans, so they are a good combination,” said ... |
22505 | Most federal employees do not have collective bargaining for benefits, nor for pay. | Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says most federal employees do not have collective bargaining for benefits or pay | true | National, Labor, State Budget, Scott Walker, | "In an interview with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, NBC's Meet the Press host David Gregory zeroed in on the issue at the heart of the union showdown. ""What's so wrong with...collective bargaining?"" Gregory asked. Walker began with a comparison to federal employees. ""Well, our proposal is less restrictive than the fe... |
3492 | Man blamed for green I-696 ooze left barrels on Thumb land. | Environmental regulators found barrels scattered across land in Michigan’s Thumb region that’s owned by the now-imprisoned owner of a shuttered electroplating business that leaked a green substance containing a known cancer-causing contaminant onto the shoulder of a suburban Detroit freeway last month. | true | Environment, General News, Michigan, Detroit | Employees with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy found on Tuesday 55-gallon (208-liter) barrels, including one labeled for the toxic chemical trichloroethylene, at property owned by Gary Sayers in Sanilac County’s Marion Township. Results of soil and water samples the agency collected at th... |
9843 | Eating Fish May Be Good for Brain Health | The story allows the researcher to say, “More fish, more brain, less Alzheimer’s.” Pithy. Quotable. But simplistic and not proven by this study. At least the competing HealthDay story interviewed an independent source who wondered about other possible confounding factors in the research and stated, “For now, the conn... | true | Alzheimer's,health food claims,WebMD | The cost of fish is not in question. Even more than the competing story by HealthDay, this story focused only on the surrogate marker of what brain scans showed. Did that make any difference in anyone’s actual cognitive abilities? The story never said. At least HealthDay mentioned – although inadequate in its brevity –... |
7714 | California battles its biggest ever wildfire, Trump vows support. | U.S. President Donald Trump struck a more conciliatory tone over California’s raging wildfires on Tuesday, saying he was in constant contact with officials there, a day after blaming the state’s environmental policies for exacerbating the fires. | true | Environment | One of the 17 major fires in California, dubbed the Mendocino Complex, became the biggest in state history on Tuesday, eclipsing a previous record set only eight months ago, as hot, windy conditions fanned the blazes in what Governor Jerry Brown has called a “new normal.” The Mendocino Complex, made up of two fires... |
11863 | "Kayla Moore Says Doug Jones ""is for full-term abortion." | "Kayla Moore said Jones is for full-term abortion. The language of the abortion debate is imprecise, but the phrase ""full-term abortion"" had virtually no track-record before Moore said it. Jones said he supports laws that allow abortions after 20 weeks or so of gestation, commonly known as late-term abortions, to pro... | false | Abortion, National, Elections, Women, Kayla Moore, | "As Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore wrestles with accounts of sexual encounters with underaged teens, his Democratic opponent faces political attacks about abortion. Doug Jones is unabashedly pro-abortion rights, and Moore’s wife Kayla spoke at a rally in Montgomery, Ala., about his position. Reading from a... |
1506 | Forest rangers, fire crews brace for eclipse watchers to descend on U.S. West. | Forest rangers and fire managers across the U.S. West will be on high alert as motorists flock to Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming for next week’s total solar eclipse, clogging roads and straining scarce resources at the height of summer wildfire season. | true | Environment | The rare spectacle of the moon passing directly in front the sun, combined with the appeal of the West’s great outdoors, is expected to draw tens of thousands of eclipse enthusiasts to rugged, remote national forests and rangelands from the Cascades to the Northern Rockies. Authorities face an unprecedented challenge f... |
39886 | Various warnings have been circulating on the Internet that the sugar substitute, Splenda, may do more harm than good. | The Potential Dangers of Splenda / Sucralose – Disputed! | false | Food / Drink | According to a June 12, 2013 article by Fox News, a nonprofit public watchdog group called “The Center for Science in the Public Interest” issued a downgrade in “its safety rating of sucralose from ‘safe’ to ‘caution,’ meaning that the additive ‘may pose a risk and needs to be better tested. '” The article said that ... |
34702 | Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow was born when his mother declined to undergo an abortion after experiencing a life-threatening illness during her pregnancy. | Ultimately, the issue was a private matter between Pamela Tebow and her doctors which (absent additional information) doesn’t lend itself to independent verification, so we can’t make any definitive statement about what she might or not not have been advised. | unproven | Glurge Gallery | Rumor has it that former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow was born after his mother experienced a life-threatening illness during her pregnancy. Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2012] In a recent email, I read about a woman named Pam, who knows the pain of considering abortion. More than 24 years ago, she and her husb... |
15558 | "Sarah Silverman Says Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has stated that supporting the ""right to health care ... means you believe in slavery." | "Silverman forwarded a social media meme that said Paul has stated that supporting the ""right to health care … means you believe in slavery."" The meme has been abridged from the full quote, but we see no significant change in his meaning. We also found no evidence that Paul had backtracked on the views he expressed." | true | Health Care, PunditFact, Sarah Silverman, | "Comedian Sarah Silverman’s liberal leanings are almost as well-known as her raunchy style. Her 2008 pro-Barack Obama video ""The Great Schlep"" attracted 2.2 million views on YouTube; a follow-up from 2012 attracted another 1.1 million views. Recently, a reader forwarded us this shareable meme from Silverman’s feed at... |
9235 | Study puts Weight Watchers to the test for type 2 diabetes | This news release issued by the Medical University of South Carolina describes results of a multi-center study funded by the Weight Watchers corporation to assess the value of its dietary and communal approach to weight loss in adults with type 2 diabetes. Over a year’s time, half of the 563 patients with diabetes and ... | false | Medical University of South Carolina,Type 2 diabetes,Weight Watchers | The release notes that there are more than 20 million Americans with type 2 diabetes, but inexplicably says it “can lead to about $85,000 in medical costs,” without noting if that is an average, lifetime, annual or other measure of diabetic — presumably per-person — health care costs. We appreciate the nod to costs but... |
4300 | 2 scientists share $500,000 prize for work on cancer biology. | Two scientists will share a $500,000 medical prize for work that has spurred advances in cancer research, immunology and regenerative medicine. | true | Albany, Biology, Cancer, New York, General News, Medical research | Dr. Irving Weissman, of Stanford University, and Dr. Bert Vogelstein, of Johns Hopkins University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, will receive the 2019 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, the medical center announced Tuesday. They’ll be awarded the prize on Sept. 25 in Albany, New York... |
9278 | New rapid diagnostic test for Ebola could be game changer in the fight against the disease | This release from the The Lancet plays up a first-of-its-kind rapid diagnostic test for Ebola virus disease (EVD). We’re told the ReEBOV Antigen Rapid Test (made by Corgenix) could be a powerful future tool in detecting, monitoring, and controlling outbreaks of EVD. The excitement stems from a recent field study conduc... | true | Ebola,The Lancet | We don’t see any dollar signs in this release, either for the new test or RT-PCR. According to a New York Times blog post, they cost $60-$200 each. The release dedicates two paragraphs to describing the results, including comparing them to standard tests made by two different companies. We were particularly pleased to ... |
5961 | NY officials: No major public health threat from steam blast. | An aging steam pipe containing cancer-causing asbestos exploded beneath Fifth Avenue in Manhattan early Thursday, spewing a geyser of white vapor 10 stories high and forcing an evacuation of 49 buildings, but city officials said there was no major public health threat. | true | Aging, U.S. News, New York, Manhattan, North America, Health, Manhattan Explosion, Evacuations, Bill de Blasio, Public health, Explosions | Five people, including three civilians, suffered minor injuries from the 6:40 a.m. blast on 21st Street, and officials warned people who may have gotten material on them to bag their clothes and shower immediately as a precaution. On a street near the blast site, firefighters stripped off their heavy outerwear, bagged ... |
15466 | This type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency. | "Obama said after the church shootings in Charleston that ""this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency."" The data shows that it clearly happens in other countries, and in at least three of them, there’s evidence that the rate of... | false | National, Corrections and Updates, Criminal Justice, Crime, Guns, Barack Obama, | "After a gunman shot and killed nine worshippers in a historic African-American church in Charleston, S.C., President Barack Obama took to the White House podium the next day to ""express our deep sorrow over the senseless murders."" In his June 18, 2015, remarks from the White House, Obama said, ""Now is the time for ... |
35976 | U.S. border agencies have refused donations of flu shot vaccines for immigrant detainees, despite in-custody deaths due to influenza. | On the hairpin bend of a Swiss mountain pass, a Victorian-era hotel built for tourists to admire the Rhone Glacier has been abandoned now that the ice has retreated nearly 2 km (1.2 miles) uphill. | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | Where mighty glaciers once spilled into Swiss valleys like frozen rivers of ice, a residue of gray scree and boulders remains, spliced through with raging streams. A Reuters montage of images - showing photos of modern-day mountain landscapes next to archive shots of the same scenes decades earlier - reveals the dramat... |
8578 | China snake village scales down as coronavirus prompts wildlife trade ban. | Since China began frantic efforts to curb a coronavirus epidemic in late January, residents in the tiny snake breeding village of Zisiqiao have had to come to terms with a ban on wildlife trading, its lifeline for decades. | true | Environment | Zisiqiao employed hundreds of people to breed three million snakes a year. Now, the rows of wooden slats that housed the captive reptiles stand empty, and abandoned. The Chinese character for “snake” has even been removed from the sign on the front wall of a specialty snake meat restaurant on the village’s edge. “In th... |
10144 | Ankle replacement gives D.M. woman ‘full day’ | This news brief tells the story of a single patient who has a happy outcome after ankle replacement. It accurately describes the cost, availability, novelty, and some of the potential harms of the operation. But the story runs out of steam when it comes to assessing the evidence. Armed only with the testimony of one po... | mixture | The article says that the full charge for the operation is about $45,000, which insurance companies may negotiate down to about $25,000. The news article chronicles one patient’s experience before and after ankle replacement surgery. Though the patient reports that she now walks “100 percent better,” the story makes no... | |
10074 | Sleep apnea gives way to air mask | The introduction of the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines represented an important development for the treatment of sleep apnea. Today, CPAP machines are standard therapy for those who are suffering from the condition. This story does a good job of explaining CPAP machines and some of the drawbacks of... | true | "The story does not mention costs of CPAP or the alternatives. The story does not adequately quantify the benefits of treatment. Although the story does state how many patients are able to comply with the treatment and presents the success rate of surgery, it does not quantify the benefits of CPAP. Furthermore, the sle... | |
34280 | Under Armour garments are more flammable than other garments of their type. | Thank you for your concern. [Under Armour garments are] not flame-retardant, unless specifically labeled that way. In fact, other than certain children’s pajamas labeled as such, very little clothing is flame-retardant. Accordingly, due to the unpredictable nature of fire, especially open flames, always exercise cautio... | unproven | Business, consumer protection, cpsc, flammable | In June 2018, a Facebook user shared a screenshot of another user’s post about a purported incident involving flammable Under Armour brand children’s garments: The original poster also shared an abbreviated version of the story to a public Facebook group: The post questioned whether the brand’s clothing was “fireproo... |
9457 | Study: Whooping cough vaccination during pregnancy protects newborns | A Philadelphia Inquirer story covers the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that asked how much pregnant mothers’ vaccines for pertussis — more commonly called whooping cough — helped their babies in the first 2 months of life. As the story notes, this is a compelling research question because a mo... | true | vaccines | The cost of a Tdap vaccine for mothers isn’t noted, and it should be: It’s free under any insurance plan, per the Affordable Care Act (sometimes called “Obamacare”). For anyone paying out of pocket, though, it’s about $64 per dose. The story notes that a mother getting a Tdap vaccine in her third trimester cuts the ris... |
2153 | "Roger Ebert calls himself ""happy"" despite surgeries." | Film critic Roger Ebert has opened a window on his life since losing his ability to speak four years ago, telling Esquire magazine he communicates through Post-it notes but there is “no need to pity” him. | true | Health News | Actor, director and Sundance Film Festival founder Robert Redford (R) smiles next to film critic Roger Ebert following a news conference on the first day of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah January 21, 2010. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson The magazine also shows a new photo of Ebert revealing the effects of dr... |
3256 | 4 flu deaths reported so far in Maryland. | State health officials say at least four adults in Maryland have died from the flu this season. | true | Immunizations, Health, Frederick, General News, Flu, Maryland | The state has now seen widespread, high influenza activity for the past few weeks, and visits to the emergency department due to flu-like symptoms have been rising since November, the Frederick News-Post reported. The Maryland Department of Health’s most recent weekly flu index report shows the majority of cases have b... |
10773 | Magnetic stimulation of the brain may help patients with cocaine addiction | This release reports the findings from a small pilot study asking whether rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) to certain parts of the brain in cocaine users can limit their use and affect their cravings for the drug. The results showed a decrease in both use and cravings for cocaine among the experiment... | true | Association/Society news release,Journal news release | While the release clearly labels this work as preliminary, the overall inference of the news is that this is a potential successful treatment for cocaine addiction. But there is no mention at all of the potential cost of using this new approach.The FDA approved rTMS for major depression in December 2008. A 2013 article... |
7378 | Despite slow start, Ricketts confident in TestNebraska. | Nebraska may not make its goal of conducting 3,000 coronavirus tests per day by the end of May through the state’s TestNebraska program, but Gov. Pete Ricketts expressed confidence Thursday that testers will reach that pace “at some point” if residents continue to sign up. | true | Pete Ricketts, Omaha, Health, General News, Nebraska, Virus Outbreak | His comments came after state officials reported that the program produced 2,358 results last week — well short of the 3,000 per day that was expected by the end of the month, when the ramp-up period is supposed to end. Ricketts announced the $27 million coronavirus testing contract with Utah-based Nomi Health and thre... |
494 | Six bodies retrieved from New Zealand volcanic island, two still missing. | A New Zealand military team in gas masks and hazmat suits recovered six bodies on Friday from the volcanic island that fatally erupted earlier this week, as doctors worked to save badly burned survivors. | true | Environment | An eight-person bomb disposal squad set off before dawn and spent four hours on White Island, which experts said could erupt again. Six of the eight bodies on the island were successfully retrieved and taken to a naval patrol vessel for transfer to the mainland for disaster victim identification. “Today was all about r... |
32145 | A diet rich in vitamin D can reverse tooth decay and regrow portions of teeth lost to cavities. | Finally, to actually generate anything close to a natural dentin “filling”, you would have to generate new dental pulp cells, the living tissue that leads to the creation of dentin. Food — vitamin D notwithstanding — doesn’t spontaneously turn into living dental pulp cells, nor does it facilitate the spontaneous genera... | false | Fauxtography, david avocado wolfe, Doctor Doctor, Medical | David Avocado Wolfe, an alternative health guru/meme generator who believes, among other things, that chocolate is an octave of masculine solar energy, authored a widely shared post titled “Reverse Cavities and Heal Tooth Decay with THESE 5 Steps!” While the meat of his post was a list of five dietary suggestions of va... |
9984 | Study: Avid’s Imaging Dye Can Detect Alzheimer’s From Scan | The story provides little information about the benefits or harms of the compound, only that the company making the compound intends to submit it for approval to the FDA in the next 6 months. Even if the WSJ reported on scanning research back in April, readers needed a little more meat in this updated story. Although t... | mixture | "Although the test is still under study, the costs of a diagnostic test is an important consideration even in reporting on a drug under study. PET scans are extraordinarily expensive, so much so that the business implications are noted but the costs are not. Noting the expected size of the market for this test without ... | |
34803 | Two British teens who killed a child when they were ten years old were granted anonymity for life by the courts and released from custody in June 2001. | Image caption: Denise Fergus, the mother of murdered two-year-old James Bulger, attends a press conference to launch an appeal to raise funds for bullied children on March 14, 2008 in Liverpool, England. The Red Balloon learner Centre bearing James Bulger’s name will be a sanctuary for bullied children. | mixture | Crime | On 12 February 1993 two-year-old James Bulger was brutally murdered by Jonathan (Jon) Venables (10) and Robert (Bobbie) Thompson (10) in Liverpool, England. Example: On February 12, 1993 a small boy who was to turn three in March was taken from a shopping mall in Liverpool by two 10 year old boys. Jamie Bolger walked ... |
32338 | Mike Pence called for a condom ban because he said their use leads to abortions. | Newslo, Politicalo, and Religionlo articles are almost always comprised of a paragraph containing true information and a balance of embellishments about that grain of truth. Previously, those sites advanced claims Chris Christie said a female version of Viagra would lead to an uptick “lesbianism” and voted down a gende... | false | Junk News, abortion, condoms, mike pence | On 16 August 2016 the Newslo web site reported that Indiana governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Mike Pence had once called for a ban on condoms, maintaining their use “leads to abortions”: The Patheos blog recently published an item titled “Mike Pence: Condoms Are Too Modern” reporting that the Indiana governo... |
2893 | Utah University probing possible sperm swap at fertility clinic. | The University of Utah is investigating what it calls “credible information” that a woman at a Salt Lake City area fertility clinic was artificially inseminated with sperm, not from her husband, but from a part-time lab employee. | true | Health News | The school released a statement saying no records remained at the now-closed lab, Reproductive Medical Technologies Inc, to prove the woman’s claim, and that the part-time employee died in 1999. A University of Utah spokeswoman declined on Friday to comment beyond the statement, which said the university did not own or... |
17629 | "Obamacare is a ""massive, massive income redistribution"" with ""$250 billion a year in Medicaid expansion (and) in the subsidy structure that's basically being paid for by people on Medicare, through Medicare cuts, and a lot of tax increases." | Capretta said Obamacare represents a massive redistribution of income, with the expansion of Medicaid and premium subsidies paid for by people on Medicare and through a host of other taxes. He is correct that money is being redistributed to fund the expansion of public and private health insurance. It it also true that... | mixture | Health Care, Taxes, PunditFact, James Capretta, | "Conservatives have many reasons to dislike Obamacare but one of the most fundamental is, as with any government program, it interferes with private-sector decisions by collecting money from some people and spending it in ways that might not benefit them directly. This point came up on Fox News Sunday when host Chris W... |
2601 | Beauty treatment kills Hong Kong woman, three ill. | A 46-year-old woman has died in Hong Kong and three others are fighting for their lives following a beauty parlor treatment that involves blood transfusion, highlighting a lack of regulation in the city’s cosmetic industry. | true | Health News | The cases have prompted an investigation by police and medical authorities, and renewed calls by health experts for tighter regulation of Hong Kong’s beauty industry. “Yes, the woman aged 46 died (Wednesday morning) of septic shock,” a government spokeswoman said. Three others, aged 56, 59 and 60, were in hospital with... |
40951 | People with Covid-19 should take aspirin 100mg and Apronax or paracetamol. | Trials into both of these drugs’ effectiveness in treating Covid-19 are ongoing, but haven’t concluded yet. Paracetamol can ease symptoms but isn’t a specific treatment. | false | online | Italy has concluded Covid-19 is not a virus, and people are actually dying of amplified global 5G electromagnetic radiation poisoning. Italy disobeyed world health law from the WHO saying not to carry out autopsies on Covid-19 patients. The WHO never said autopsies couldn’t take place. Italy has found that Covid-19 is ... |
11068 | No-Scalpel Treatment for Enlarged Prostate | This story puts the cart ahead of the horse in touting the benefits and resulting outcomes before good data is available about its effectiveness or safety in the target population. Although there were cautionary notes about the data discussed, because these seemingly conflicted with the more detailed information about ... | false | WebMD | There was no discussion of costs. The story reported on the technical success of the procedure but more importantly reported on the percentage of men who reported experiencing ‘excellent’, ‘slight’ or ‘no’ improvement. Although the starting score of the patients was reported, it would have been valuable to translate th... |
12971 | [The Foundation for Individual Rights] is the recipient of donations from [DeVos] totaling about 25,000 bucks over four years. | "U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, during a confirmation hearing for Secretary of Education pick Betsy DeVos, said ""[The Foundation for Individual Rights] is the recipient of donations from you (DeVos) totaling about 25,000 bucks over four years."" IRS filings show those numbers check out. While the checks weren’t ... | true | Education, Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, | "President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education is facing questions about her connections to an organization that has lobbied for more rights for college students accused of sexual assault. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat who co-introduced the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act... |
204 | Novartis takes aim at Roche's star MS drug. | 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. | true | Health News | 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... |
11491 | Radiation tests are questioned | A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine describes the frequency of utilization of imaging tests in the United States and the associated radiation exposure. Researchers found that a staggering nearly 70% of adults in the study population got an imaging test over the two years of the study. These results... | true | "It would not be neccessary for the story to describe the costs of individual radiology tests since they are so varied. But the story does a good job of describing the overall toll of imaging costs and raises important points about the perverse financial incentives in the US healthcare economy which favors the ordering... | |
8289 | Gilead increases enrollment target for remdesivir trial in COVID-19 patients. | Gilead Sciences Inc on Friday increased enrollment target by 3,600 for a trial testing its experimental drug, remdesivir, in severe COVID-19 patients, a day after a media report said the drug was showing promise. | true | Health News | Shares of the company rose 8% after medical news website STAT detailed rapid recovery in fever and respiratory symptoms in COVID-19 patients at the University of Chicago Medicine hospital. The enrollment estimate in the trial run by Gilead was increased to 6,000 patients from 2,400 previously, according here to clinica... |
1869 | Ad campaign shows smoking's scary side. | Health officials launched a $54 million advertising campaign on Thursday depicting the health risks of smoking in gruesome detail, offering the latest salvo in the government’s campaign to deglamorize cigarette smoking. | true | Health News | An ash try with cigarette butts is pictured in Hinzenbach, in the Austrian province of Upper Austria, February 5, 2012. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The 12-week advertising blitz, called “Tips From Former Smokers,” is an effort to counteract the estimated $10.5 billion a year spent by tobacco companies to market and promote ci... |
11096 | Breakthrough Study Stops Fat-Eating Prostate Cancer Cells | This news release on a study of a drug’s potential to help inhibit tumor growth in certain types of metastatic prostate cancer never informed readers that the study was done in mice and not men. Maybe the best way to summarize this release is by parsing what the headline does and does not say: “Breakthrough Study Stops... | false | Prostate cancer,University news release | The drug in question, enzalutamide, is advertised and sold as Xtandi. The cost of the drug could easily have been included in the news release. According to GoodRx, the out-of-pocket cost for 120 capsules of 40 mg Xtandi is roughly $11,000. Ranolazine (marketed as Ranexa), the other drug discussed, is priced at about $... |
30806 | "A former CIA agent named ""Bill Oxley"" confessed on his death bed to killing Bob Marley." | Whether or not there was anything more to Bob Marley’s death than natural causes — and there is no solid evidence to the contrary — we can say with certainty that a CIA agent named “Bill Oxley” did not confess while on his death bed in Maine to assassinating the singer. | false | Junk News, bob marley, CIA, conspiracy theories | Bob Marley died of brain cancer in May 1981, but a conspiracy theory has emerged in the ensuing three decades that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency infected the reggae singer with cancer five years earlier. In November 2017, the disreputable web site Your News Wire, which has a history of publishing fake articles a... |
3194 | Alabama AG opposed expected medical marijuana bill. | The Alabama attorney general is opposing medical marijuana legislation expected to be introduced in the upcoming legislative session. | true | Legislature, Opioids, Medical marijuana, Legislation, Marijuana, State legislature, Alabama | In a Jan. 6 letter to lawmakers, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called marijuana an addictive substance and drew parallels with the ongoing opioid addiction crisis. He also noted federal law continues to ban marijuana. A state study commission has recommended a medical marijuana proposal for the session that b... |
6949 | Program shows promise of removing pythons from Everglades. | Charlie 5 had no plans to move that hot June morning. The 9-foot-long Burmese python was comfortably nestled in a muddy hollow, well-hidden in a thicket of saw grass and alligator flag in Big Cypress National Preserve. | true | General News, Florida, Fort Pierce, Science, Invasive species | His tracking device gave him away. He didn’t like it, but he had visitors. “There he is,” said Austin Fitzgerald, a biological science technician with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), bending down within 18 inches of the steamy muck. “I can just barely see his head.” Using two snake hooks, Fitzgerald and Jillian Josi... |
28235 | A collection of anecdotes about honesty comprises real quotes from President Harry S. Truman. | And yes, it is appropriate to render Truman’s full name with a period after the ‘S’. | true | Politics, harry truman | Few figures in American political history have been as reviled as President Harry S. Truman was when he left office in January 1953. After the end of the Great Depression and World War II, public dissatisfaction with 20 years of Democratic rule, the New Deal reforms enacted by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and numerous labor... |
7415 | Lawyers: Investigators recommend whistleblower is reinstated. | Federal investigators have found “reasonable grounds” that a government whistleblower was punished for speaking out against widespread use of an unproven drug that President Donald Trump touted as a remedy for COVID-19, his lawyers said. | true | AP Top News, Health, General News, Politics, Infectious diseases, Banks, Virus Outbreak, Donald Trump | Dr. Rick Bright headed the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a unit of Department of Health and Human Services that focuses on countermeasures to infectious diseases and bioterrorism. He had received a job performance review of outstanding before he was summarily transferred last month, with his a... |
21645 | The (State Board of Administration) transparency issue got a great airing the last legislative session. | Florida state investment chief says transparency was a big issue for lawmakers in 2011 | false | Financial Regulation, Transparency, Florida, Ash Williams, | "Facing questions about the handling of the state's $130 billion investment portfolio, the executive director and chief investment officer of the State Board of Administration tried to reassure Florida Gov. Rick Scott that everything is fine. SBA executive director Ash Williams defended SBA procedures and policies to S... |
5282 | In West Africa, cancer patients forced abroad for treatment. | Christine’s doctor felt a small lump in her left breast at a checkup in 2015, though she was flooded with relief when the technicians assured her they had detected nothing amiss. | true | Cancer, Health, Africa, Radiation therapy, Senegal, West Africa, Dakar, International News | Still in pain more than a year later, she pushed for another mammogram. The 44-year-old mother of four was then diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. “It was the descent into hell,” she said. “You ask, ‘Why, why, why?’ ... I was so angry. Because why in 2015 did they not see this, and why was it left for so long?” The... |
28630 | Mike Pence once said that smoking doesn't kill people. | "What's true: In 2000, Mike Pence publicly downplayed the risks of smoking cigarettes and stated ""smoking doesn't kill."" What's false: Pence's point was that not everyone who smokes dies from smoking-related illnesses, and he acknowledged the health risks of smoking after referencing fairly accurate statistics about ... | mixture | Politics, mike pence, smoking | On 10 November 2016, the IFLScience blog published an article reporting that Vice President-Elect Mike Pence “doesn’t believe that smoking kills.” The headline traversed Facebook quickly and widely: Mike Pence, the vice president-elect of the US, has said he doesn’t believe smoking kills people. He made that case in an... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.