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27923 | A rise in automobile accidents occurs in the aftermath of the Super Bowl. | Even those fans who don’t drink during or after the game pose a risk to themselves and others once they hit the road because of the distraction factor. “If you’re replaying things in your head, you’re not paying attention” to your driving, said Stephanie Faul, spokeswoman for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. | true | Automobiles, football, super bowl, Traffic Accidents | In 2003, a study of U.S. accident data performed by University of Toronto researchers uncovered a 41% increase in motor vehicle collisions in the hours following the Super Bowl. The study compared crash data from 27 Super Bowl Sundays with that of the Sundays preceding and following the big game from 1975 to 2001. The ... |
7935 | Not a square to spare: Australian shops ration toilet paper amid coronavirus panic. | Australia’s major grocers put strict limits on purchases of toilet paper on Wednesday, after shoppers stripped shelves in a rush of panic buying spurred by fears over a coronavirus, while the country recorded its fourth case of local transmission. | true | Health News | One of the first nations to take a hard line in tackling the epidemic, Australia imposed border controls a month ago on visitors from the epicenter of the outbreak in China. However, Australia now has 44 cases, four of them involving people who caught the disease despite not having left the country. Despite the few suf... |
30633 | The FDA has ruled that homeopathic drugs are now illegal. | Because the FDA document cited by Mercola represents no change in law, however, we rank the claim that the FDA has recently deemed all of them illegal as false. | false | Medical, alternative health, big pharma, FDA | On 30 January 2018, Joseph Mercola — the doctor behind the pseudoscientific alternative health and supplement empire Mercola.com — published a story with a factually incorrect claim characteristic of the site’s dubious commitment to accuracy: FDA Declares Homeopathic Drugs Illegal, Plans to Ramp Up Enforcement Actions ... |
8874 | Group to Test Merck AIDS Drug in Gel. | A group working to develop a gel or cream women could use to protect themselves against the AIDS virus said on Tuesday they have permission to use an experimental drug from Merck and Co (MRK.N). | true | Science News | It is the sixth HIV drug to be tested by the International Partnership for Microbicides, said the group’s chief executive officer, Dr. Zeda Rosenberg. The drug is known only by its experimental name L’644. It is a member of a class of drugs known as gp41 fusion inhibitors. They stop the AIDS virus from attaching to the... |
9523 | Melanoma survivors' friends can help spot new moles | This is a bite-size but informative story from Reuters Health reporting new research that assessed the confidence levels and feelings of embarrassment in people helping melanoma survivors to look for suspicious moles in hard-to-see body parts. One downside to this story is the lack of independent sources. Without a thi... | true | melanoma | Although presumably there is a cost associated with training people to recognize melanomas, having a partner help check for suspicious moles can be assumed to be cost-free. The research letter in JAMA Dermatology used survey questions to assess the confidence and embarrassment that partners felt when helping to search ... |
33980 | In September 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that provides $1.8 billion in funding for autism research and services. | In the past, President Trump has repeatedly promoted the long-debunked theory that vaccinations cause autism, but his position may have shifted somewhat. Earlier in 2019, he urged parents to vaccinate their children against measles, in the midst of an outbreak of the disease. | true | Politics | We received multiple inquiries from readers in October 2019 about the accuracy of news reports that claimed U.S. President Donald Trump had signed legislation that would provide $1.8 billion in funding for autism-related programs and research. For example, on Oct. 2, ABC News published an article with the headline, “Tr... |
11386 | Deaths Halt Part of Diabetes Study | This story covered a randomized clinical trial which was stopped because of excess deaths seen in a group of high risk diabetics receiving more intensive blood sugar management as compared to a group of high risk diabetics whose blood sugar was not as tightly managed. Several experts interviewed for the story commented... | true | There was no cost information provided; it is both relevant and available. The medications used to more tightly control sugar levels are expensive. The story differentiated the two groups as having been treated to have blood sugar levels like ‘the average person with diabetes’ and ‘closer to those of someone without di... | |
8857 | Roche's Xenical helps lower blood pressure: study. | Roche Holding AG’s fat blocker Xenical helped people with high blood pressure to lower it, while Abbott Laboratories’ appetite suppressant Meridia did not, European researchers reported on Monday. | true | Health News | The findings came in research led by Dr. Karl Horvath of the Medical University of Graz in Austria analyzing dozens of previously published studies on weight-loss interventions for people with high blood pressure, also called hypertension. This type of research is called meta-analysis. The findings were published i... |
4793 | Mets GM Sandy Alderson steps down after cancer returns. | His voice quavering at an unexpected news conference, Sandy Alderson revealed what he had just told his team moments before. | true | Baseball, Jeff Wilpon, Health, New York Mets, North America, MLB baseball, Sports, New York, Sandy Alderson | His cancer has returned, he’s taking a leave of absence — and his up-and-down tenure as New York Mets general manager is essentially over. With the team in a massive tailspin, chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon and the 70-year-old Alderson made the announcement before Tuesday night’s game against Pittsburgh. “With res... |
11382 | Study: Kidney angioplasty brings risks, no benefit | "This is another study – of which there have been several notable ones recently – that shows that newer isn’t always better in health care. As Yale’s Harlan Krumholz said in a key quote in this story, ""What’s remarkable is that this procedure got so popular and adopted into widespread use before a study like this was ... | true | "The story refers to kidney angioplasty as a ""pricey procedure"" but offers no ballpark estimates of what that means. While the story included the important statement from one researcher that ""There really was no benefit,"" the story nonethless never gave any data on how ""benefit"" was measured. Or what the absolute... | |
9047 | Cancer targeted with reusable 'stinging nettle' treatment | Getty Images The news release focuses on a study published in Nature Chemistry Jan. 8, which found that a compound called JPC11, found in stinging nettle plants and ants, is effective at attacking some kinds of cancer cells. However, while the release explains how JPC11 can attack cancer cells, it does not tell readers... | false | sodium formate,stinging nettle,University of Warwick | Given how early this research is in the development process, it would be impossible to place a specific cost on the potential treatment — or even a range of costs. However, the release could tell readers whether the process used to make JPC11 is expensive, time-consuming, relies on novel technologies, or has the potent... |
35092 | The 2020 U.S. presidential election could be postponed if the coronavirus pandemic threatens to keep people from voting. | What's true: The date of a U.S. presidential election could theoretically be postponed with the approval of Congress and the president. What's false: However, such a postponement would be extremely difficult to achieve in time for the 2020 presidential election and would not provide much temporal leeway for voters. | mixture | Politics, COVID-19 | In March 2020, the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic resulted in the curtailment of social gatherings; severely impacted businesses such as restaurants, entertainment venues, and airlines; and brought rumors of government-mandated curfews and “national lockdowns” throughout the U.S. The pandemic also prompted the p... |
31316 | Three Florida men were arrested for eating human flesh, a practice they claimed cures depression and diabetes. | Reports of the arrest of three cannibalistic Floridians who feasted on human remains for medical reasons are fake news. | false | Junk News, miami herald | On 30 May 2017, the Miami Herald web site published an article positing that three Florida men were arrested for eating human flesh, a practice the suspects claimed cures depression and diabetes: Police in Vernal Heights, Florida, arrested 3-practicing cannibals who claim eating human flesh cures both type-1 and type-... |
10241 | Choir singing boosts immune system activity in cancer patients and carers, study shows | We wish we could sing the praises of a study about how choir participation may strengthen the immune systems of cancer patients, but we find this news release missing its fundamental notes. This study of 193 singers includes both cancer patients and caregivers in choirs organized by the nonprofit Tenovus Cancer Care in... | mixture | Cancer,Exercise,Foundation/nonprofit news release,mental health | The release does not mention any costs. While the non-profit Tenovus makes choir singing available to people for free that doesn’t mean such an activity would be free to people everywhere if they wished to access it. If a cancer treatment center needed to establish a new choir program, with a director, that would requi... |
10454 | New Colon Cancer Screening Test in the Works | Framing – and placement of components within a story – can make such a difference. There was good balance and independent perspective in this story – such as this quote: “The (test’s) performance may decrease considerably when the test is used in a large population of healthy individuals.” But it came late, long after... | mixture | Cancer,Screening,WebMD | No mention of possible or projected costs. Other stories estimated in the $300 per test ballpark. The story gave the same basic benefits data that the other stories gave, but it, too, didn’t compare this data with any of the existing colon cancer screening methods, leaving readers with no good sense of the potential sc... |
35271 | News reports used photographs taken in a different time or place to illustrate articles about the opening of Jacksonville beaches in April 2020. | Jacksonville-area journalists were accused of lying to the public about photographs of the Jacksonville Beach partial re-opening during the COVID-19 pandemic. | false | Fauxtography | The post-Easter weekend of April 17-19, 2020, fell in the midst of both the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and a public controversy over whether social-distancing rules should be relaxed and some public facilities (such as beaches) reopened to public use, if only on a limited basis: As a divide appeared to deepen betwee... |
11319 | Can lasers help you stop smoking? Check the data | This story does something that few stories accomplish. It takes on a flashy topic – lasers to stop people from smoking – and deconstructs the science, or lack thereof, being used to sell it. Often stories about buzzworthy treatments focus on the weird factor and not on the evidence. This story, through great use of ind... | true | "The story explains that the company profiled ""charges $350 for a one-time treatment that takes less than an hour, and offers free extra treatments to patients who are still struggling with quitting in the following 6 months. Other companies do a few shorter therapy sessions as part of their regular treatment plan."" ... | |
34266 | 'Clubbed' or curved fingernails are indicators of a serious underlying health issue. | Despite its seemingly clear association with disease, the combination of a lack of data and a lack of consensus about clubbing’s underlying mechanisms make its clinical relevance somewhat unclear. Clubbed fingers could be a sign of illnesses of varying degrees of severity, but they could also be a phenomenon that occur... | unproven | Medical, fingernails | Curved fingernails, referred to in scientific literature as digital clubbing, are associated with myriad health conditions and have been a part of medical lore since Hippocrates first described them as an indicator of health in 400 B.C. Clubbed nails are clinically defined, generally, based on the angle of the nail rel... |
16289 | "Blocking travel from countries with Ebola should be possible because President Barack Obama ""has sealed off Israel in the past." | "Murphy said that blocking travel from countries with Ebola should be feasible because Obama ""has sealed off Israel in the past."" However, the two-day air-travel ban imposed by the FAA earlier this year affected U.S.-owned carriers without halting travel into and out of Israel by foreign-owned carriers, who may have ... | false | National, Ebola, Israel, Foreign Policy, Public Health, Transportation, Tim Murphy, | "Ebola was once again Topic A on the Sunday news shows. On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace had an exchange with Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., over one of the most contentious Ebola-related issues -- whether to enact a travel ban from countries where Ebola is spreading, such as the west African nations of Liberia and Sier... |
29794 | A form of tuberculosis dubbed “Mexican blood flu” is being brought into the U.S. by immigrants crossing the Southern border. | All told, there is no basis for the claim that an XDR-TB outbreak is present at the Southern border. Belief in such a claim would require taking the word of a company that once sold a $74 eBook created to teach readers how to find an “incredible cure for cancer hidden in the Book of Matthew,” over the reports of health... | false | Politics | In mid-May 2019, viral claims began to emerge on Facebook warning about XDR-TB, or “extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis,” wreaking havoc at the Southern border. For example, a representative Facebook post asserted: As it turns out, these rumors are not driven by reality but by a company with a history of political... |
23257 | "Erik Wallin Says Peter Kilmartin voted ""in favor of expanding the 'good behavior' statute to sex offenders." | Wallin says Kilmartin voted to expand 'good behavior' law to jailed sex offenders | false | Rhode Island, Crime, Voting Record, Erik Wallin, | "There are few things that scare the public more than the possibility of sex offenders running loose on the streets. So when Republican candidate for attorney general Erik Wallin issued a news release warning voters that his opponent, Democrat Peter Kilmartin, voted to allow sex offenders to shave time off their prison... |
38428 | A viral report alleges that Summer Zervos, an “Apprentice” contestant who came forward with sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump, was paid $500,000 by Gloria Allred to fake the story. | Trump Accuser Summer Zervos Was Paid $500,000 | unproven | 9/11 Attack on America | These unfounded allegations are based on anonymous sources that can’t be verified. The story first appeared at GotNews under the headline, “Breaking: Ex-Apprentice #SummerZervos Paid $500,000 by @GloriaAllred to Accuse Trump, Deal Went to Others Too,” accused Zervos of being a “fake rape.” The story beings: The Apprent... |
10589 | “Mind-body” therapy shows promise for fibromyalgia | "The story gets high marks for its evaluation of the evidence and especially for pointing out the limitations of psychotherapy studies that use a waiting list as a control group. The story would have been improved by the inclusion of some truly independent expert sources to comment on the research. Such experts may hav... | true | "Chronic pain takes a huge financial toll in terms of direct medical costs and lost productivity, but the story didn’t cover this angle. It would have been interesting to hear how costs of this psychotherapy compare with those of drug therapy. Also, no word on whether the costs would be covered by insurance or borne o... | |
9499 | Here's What You Need To Know About The Female Condom | Credit: Anka Grzywacz This is a well-rounded “explainer” story looking at female condoms, a less frequently used form of contraception compared to male condoms. The story is not directly tied to a specific research study, but does include numbers for efficacy which are nearly equal to those for male condoms. The story ... | true | contraceptives | Hooray for details on cost, including nuances about “free” but only with prescription. We also believe the details on availability and position on shelves is very important. Here’s what story says: “Up until the past few months, the female condom lived on store shelves, usually right next to the male condoms. But it wa... |
16644 | What (the Obama administration is) going to come out with in the next several months is you're not even going to be able to burn coal very limitedly in the existing plants. | "Capito said ""What (Obama is) going to come out with in the next several months is you're not even going to be able to burn coal very limitedly in the existing plants."" The proposal Capito is referring to is an EPA plan to cut carbon emissions in existing power plants. Those rules do not prohibit current facilities f... | false | Environment, National, Climate Change, Energy, Government Regulation, Shelley Moore Capito, | "Is President Barack Obama poised to stop any more coal from burning in the United States? That’s the message from U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican running for Senate in West Virginia against Democrat Natalie Tennant. In a campaign ad released July 29, Capito, surrounded by blue-collar workers, warns agains... |
9315 | Reuters: Merck drug Keytruda succeeds in late-stage esophageal cancer trial | This story was reported entirely from a Merck news announcement that immunotherapy drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab) did better than chemotherapy at extending the lives of certain patients with esophageal cancer. On the plus side, the story conveyed some information about the drug’s availability. However, it didn’t didn’t ... | false | Keytruda | Costs were not mentioned and that’s a big omission when you’re discussing Keytruda. Drugs in this class of checkpoint inhibitors are estimated to cost about $150,000 a year. Passing along the drug company’s announcement that a drug “met the main goal of a late-stage trial” doesn’t come anywhere close to explaining what... |
2455 | U.S. scientist operates colleague's brain from across campus. | Scientists said Tuesday they have achieved the first human-to-human mind meld, with one researcher sending a brain signal via the Internet to control the hand motion of a colleague sitting across the Seattle campus of the University of Washington. | true | Science News | "The feat is less a conceptual advance than another step in the years-long progress that researchers have made toward brain-computer interfaces, in which electrical signals generated from one brain are translated by a computer into commands that can move a mechanical arm or a computer cursor - or, in more and more stud... |
7946 | Doctors, and insurers too, urge patients to get medicine on hand. | As Americans stay home to try to help stop the spread of a new coronavirus, many patients with conditions that require prescription drugs are being urged to refill their medications for a longer period. | true | Health News | Doctors, patient advocates and insurers themselves are telling Americans with chronic conditions such as diabetes that require life saving medications to make sure they have more than enough medicine on hand. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says people should have extra medicine available. “Typ... |
16529 | "Ending Spending Action Fund Says Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s ""wealth has surged while in public office." | "The Ending Spending Action Fund ad claims ""Shaheen’s wealth has surged while in public office."" By one measure, Shaheen’s net worth has actually gone down since she took office. Though she and her husband have listed more assets, investments and financial ventures than in 2008, they also have considerably more debt ... | false | National, Congress, Income, Message Machine 2014, Negative Campaigning, Ending Spending Action Fund, | "Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., insists an ad running against her is so blatantly false that her campaign asked a station to take it down. Meanwhile, the makers of the ad, the conservative group Ending Spending Action Fund, told us the ad is ""100 percent accurate."" Sounds like a job for PolitiFact. The ad, a 60-second ... |
1321 | Breast cancer screening failure may have shortened 270 lives in England. | As many as 270 women in England may have died prematurely of breast cancer because of an IT failure that led to 450,000 patients missing out on routine screening appointments. | true | Health News | Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt apologized in parliament for the “serious failure,” which he said was the result of a mistake in a computer system’s algorithm dating back to 2009 but identified only in January this year. He ordered an independent review. “Our current best estimate, which comes with caveats ... is that the... |
28870 | As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton artificially depressed Haiti's minimum wage; that action was part of a larger plan by the Clinton Foundation to profit from the country. | What's true: The U.S. State Department, among others, pushed to cut Haiti's minimum wage in 2009. What's false: Hillary Clinton was not the sole architect of the move to reduce Haiti's minimum wage. | mixture | Politics, Haiti, minimum wage, state department | Haiti’s relationship with the United States and Europe can most charitably be described as complicated. Haiti’s earliest days were characterized by oppression and opposition: the country (once the French colony of St. Domingue) was born from a successful slave insurgency and declared its independence in 1804. This begi... |
26435 | “Until this week, they [OSHA] weren’t even enforcing these guidelines [for coronavirus]. Still today, OSHA is not specifying which rules employees must follow or how to keep their workers safe and healthy.” | OSHA released coronavirus guidelines in early March, but they function as suggestions or recommendations and are not enforceable. OSHA then released enforcement instructions in mid-April with a focus on enforcing general, existing safety standards and has not told inspectors how to apply those standards to the current ... | true | Corrections and Updates, Workers, Health Check, Coronavirus, Joe Biden, | "During an April 15 virtual town hall meeting with front-line workers, former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for the White House, was asked by a meat processing worker what he would do to protect workers like her from COVID-19. ""We lost a co-worker at my plant because there is no regulati... |
26661 | Instagram posts Says Donald Trump “cut funding to the CDC,” “fired the Pandemic Response Team,” “refused WHO tests” and “wasted two weeks calling this outbreak a ‘Democrat hoax.’” | Trump did attempt to cut the CDC’s funding, but Congress prevented it from happening. While officials in charge of the U.S. response to pandemics did leave in 2018, it’s unclear if they were “fired.” The U.S. was not on a list of countries receiving COVID-19 tests from the WHO. But the U.S. doesn’t usually rely o... | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Instagram posts, | "Democrats have criticized President Donald Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as disorganized and short-sighted. On Instagram, the critics include some celebrities. On March 15, actor and comedian D.L. Hughley posted a screenshot of a tweet that makes several claims about the Trump administration’s actions agai... |
16774 | Mark Sickles Says 70 percent of Virginia’s Medicaid cost is for seniors in nursing homes. | Sickles said that 70 percent of the state’s Medicaid spending goes to seniors in nursing homes. He’s way off; only 9.7 percent of the money goes to that cause. | false | Medicaid, Virginia, Mark Sickles, | "Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, says increased demand for nursing home care is a major reason why the Virginia’s Medicaid costs have soared. ""We’re living longer than ever and you have to spend down until you get to $2,000 of assets before you qualify for (Medicaid funded) nursing home care in our state,"" Sickles said... |
9110 | Resistance training may slow down the progression of multiple sclerosis | This news release from Aarhus University in Denmark claims that resistance training twice a week could protect the nervous system by minimizing brain shrinkage in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, but offers no numbers backing the claims. The release summarizes a study published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal on the... | mixture | Aarhus University,multiple sclerosis | Patients in the intervention group underwent resistance training twice a week for 6 months. The news release does not specify what types of exercises were included. It’s unclear whether the exercise program would require supervision by a physical therapist or whether it could be adapted to be done at home, perhaps with... |
10280 | Health Buzz: Common Painkiller Fights Cancer; Diclofenac could be the next cancer treatment. | A very short story explains how an old drug for pain, dicloflenac, might have some new uses in cancer patients. But we found the story lacked a basic explanation of how the researchers measured the benefits of the drug. It also did not include any original reporting and appeared mostly to be a rewrite of the original n... | false | Cancer,U.S. News & World Report | The story calls the drug, which has already been on the market for other uses, “affordable.” We wish the story had provided an actual price, and also some acknowledgment that if this drug is found to have anti-cancer properties, the price will likely go up. The story does not quantify at all. It barely describes the “c... |
7610 | Opioid overdose deaths surge in Tennessee’s largest county. | Health officials in Tennessee’s largest county say the number of overdoses related to opioids and other drugs has surged in the past month, reaching 58 deaths in a 30-day period. | true | Opioids, Health, General News, Tennessee, Virus Outbreak, Memphis | Shelby County, which includes Memphis, reported 391 suspected overdoses from April 7 to May 7, according to a news release from the county health department. The 58 deaths is the highest county total for a 30-day period since record keeping began in January 2019 using a database of incidents reported by first reponders... |
36829 | Hillary Clinton is quoted as saying “I will get the NRA shut down for good if I become president. If we can ban handguns we will do it” in an interview with the Des Moines Register in August 2015. | Hillary Clinton Vows to Get the NRA Shut Down for Good | false | Politics | There’s no record of Hillary Clinton vowing to “get the NRA shut down for good,” and the Des Moines Register has debunked claims that it reported she made the statement. The rumor started with a meme that went viral on an anti-Clinton Tumblr page called “Shocking Hillary Clinton Quotes.” The meme links to an interview ... |
16689 | I'm not a conspiracy theorist and I never allow conspiracy theorists on my program. | """Never"" is a strong word, yet Lavelle claimed he is a not a conspiracy theorist and has ""never allowed a conspiracy theorist on his show."" We’ll agree there is a somewhat subjective definition of what constitutes a conspiracy theory. But we think of the four we quickly found -- Ukraine downed MH 17 to drum up symp... | false | Pundits, PunditFact, Peter Lavelle, | "Peter Lavelle hosts CrossTalk on RT, an English language cable news network funded by the Russian government. Lavelle opens each edition of CrossTalk by saying it’s a place ""where all things are considered."" Everything except, he says, conspiracy theories. Lavelle’s commentary on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 thrust h... |
10425 | Heart failure drug eases symptoms | "This story reports on the results of a randomized trial published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association on a novel approach to treating severe, acute heart failure. The trial evaluated the performance of tolvaptan, the first drug in its class, in combination with diuretics (the standard therapy) c... | true | "The story does not mention costs, which could be very high, especially compared to the very inexpensive diuretics which are the standard therapy. The story does not adequately quantify the benefits of treatment. The story does mention that the drug was not associated with any differences in death or rehospitalization.... | |
22774 | "Following the 2009 session,"" Texas House Speaker Joe Straus ""was acknowledged and ‘thanked’ for his ‘tireless efforts’ by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s premier abortion provider." | Activists say Planned Parenthood, nation's premier abortion provider, thanked Speaker Joe Straus after 2009 session | true | Abortion, Texas, Heidi Group, | "A letter distributed by a conservative group Jan. 4 ticks off reasons it says Texas House Speaker Joe Straus is not ""pro-life,"" ranging from his past authorship of legislation authorizing stem-cell research to his past designation of a former Democratic legislator as chief of staff. The letter urges Republican legis... |
27582 | The United States is deporting military veterans. | Honorably-discharged veterans of the U.S. military have, under certain circumstances, either received deportation orders or been deported. | true | Politics Immigration, deported veteran, immigration, mexico | Immigration is a sensitive and touchy issue, and never more so than in the United States during an election year. Thus, when stories started to emerge in 2016 about a group of veterans of the U.S. military living in Mexico after they had been deported from the United States (a story we previously reported on) it seemed... |
28983 | The FDA admitted in 2015 that 70% of chickens sold for food in the U.S. contain cancer-causing arsenic. | What's true: The FDA announced in 2011 that Pfizer would discontinue sales of an arsenic-containing feed additive. What's false: The FDA did not announce in 2015 that '70% of chickens contain cancer-causing arsenic.' | mixture | Politics, Odd Ingredients | On 15 January 2015, MSN republished a Parent Society article entitled “Finally! The FDA Admits That Nearly Over 70% of U.S. Chickens Contain Cancer-Causing Arsenic.” This article circulated widely following its republication on a well-trafficked, popular website and caused widespread concern on social media sites about... |
30875 | "The Department of Defense has planned communications drills to coincide with ""antifa protests"" on 4 November 2017." | Both MARS and English explicitly stated no blackout would occur in relation to the exercise, a quarterly training which began in 2013 and antedated Antifa. The claim is not the first to raise alarms over basic disaster drills. For example, the Jade Helm conspiracy theory appeared in 2016; the next year, a rumor appeare... | false | Politics Conspiracy Theories, antifa, department of defense, electronic magnetic pulse | In October 2017, rumors about violent anti-fascism protests intensified alongside October 2017 announcements that the Department of Defense, alongside amateur ham radio association the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), had scheduled a “communications interoperability” exercise: Elements of the US Department of Defen... |
28284 | "Washington state Sen. Maureen Walsh said nurses ""play cards for a considerable amount of the day."" " | "What's true: On 16 April, Washington state Sen. Maureen Walsh said nurses in Critical Access Hospitals with relatively few patients ""probably do get breaks"" and ""probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day."" What's false: Walsh was speaking specifically about nurses at small, rural Critical Access Hos... | mixture | Politics | In April 2019, Washington state Sen. Maureen Walsh attracted local and national attention — and criticism — for remarks she made during a debate about legislation intended to improve nurses’ working conditions. On 19 April, the website Nurse.org posted a widely shared article whose headline read: “Senator Remarks Go Vi... |
41038 | Drinking warm water is effective for all viruses. Try not to drink liquids with ice. | There’s no evidence that the temperature of liquids consumed can protect you from viruses. | unproven | online | If you have a runny nose and sputum, you have a common cold. These are the symptoms for the common cold, but they don’t rule out Covid-19. Coronavirus pneumonia is a dry cough with no runny nose. Some Covid-19 patients do get pneumonia, and one of the symptoms is a dry cough. A runny nose doesn’t rule out Covid-19. The... |
11211 | The importance of folic acid | This piece was a story about the importance of adequate folic acid intake to reduce the risk of certain birth defects. While it did mention the amount of folic acid that is the goal, it could have done a better job of providing specific information that viewers could use to insure that they attained their folic acid in... | mixture | There was no mention of costs in this piece. It would have been very easy to note that it is CHEAP! That adequate folic acid intake reduced risk (a 28% reduction in neural tube defects; 40% reduced risk of cleft lip or palate) was presented as relative risk only. Especially as these are both rare birth defects, the cha... | |
3888 | Program to bring mental health resources to Detroit schools. | The Detroit Public Schools Community District announced it’s teaming up with a University of Michigan program aimed at helping students effectively manage symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. | true | Anxiety, Mental health, Health, General News, Detroit, Education, Michigan, Depression | TRAILS — Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students — will make mental health resources available to 50,000 students and 4,000 staff members throughout the district. The program has trained more than 400 school mental health professionals in 64 counties. District officials in Detroit said they e... |
10182 | Key health websites blindfold consumers on tobacco product risks | This news release raises important and fair questions about how forthcoming agencies purporting to serve the public health should be in detailing relative risk when comparing one perceived societal ill against another. In this case, we are talking about smoking versus smokeless tobacco products including snus, smokeles... | false | Academic medical center news release | No mention is made of the costs of either cigarettes (whose cost has skyrocketed in recent years in some areas) or of smokeless tobacco products. One can argue that that is immaterial when comparing lives saved versus lives lost, but that argument may not carry weight with people who are addicted to nicotine, and tryin... |
13633 | On the Trans-Pacific Partnership. | Pat Toomey wrote in an op-ed this week that he’s against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, though he voted in favor of a bill in 2015 that fast-tracked its passage. While experts say voting in favor of the Trade Promotion Authority legislation wasn’t necessarily a symbolic vote of confidence in the TPP, the final outcome ... | false | Trade, Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey, | "Sen. Pat Toomey has historically been one of the most pro-trade lawmakers in the Senate. The Pennsylvania Republican -- now in the political fight of his life in an attempt to keep his seat -- even wrote a book in 2009 called The Road to Prosperity, which touted the benefits of free trade. But last week, Toomey penned... |
33167 | The Rumblr mobile app enables users to find locals with whom they may arrange street fights. | As is often the case, the media hoaxers behind Rumblr claimed they intended to create a career-launching viral phenomenon while simultaneously maintaining an altruistic motive (in this case, the oft-present goal of “raising awareness”). And so long as media outlets eagerly heap free publicity on exposure-seeking grifte... | false | Viral Phenomena | In early November 2015, online rumors reported that a new app called Rumblr enabled users to arrange real-time organization of street fights. Inevitably, Rumblr was compared to “hookup app” Tinder (which users can employ to swipe through concise profiles of local individuals seeking dating and sex) as a “Tinder for Fig... |
30447 | Maine's House Democrats voted to allow female genital mutilation. | Nonetheless, the claim that Maine Democrats voted to “allow” female genital mutilation is false, as both Democrats and Republicans in Maine advanced legislation specifying criminal penalties for the practice. The two sides voted along party lines on the different bills, with the version favored by Democrats being passe... | false | Politics Sexuality, female genital mutilation, fgm, jihadwatch | On 23 April 2018, the JihadWatch.org blog published an article reporting that Maine’s House Democrats had voted to allow female genital mutilation (FGM) in that state. The article linked to blog post from a shaky source, and even that item diverged from the claim that politicians in Maine had opted to “allow” female ge... |
41010 | Scientists in Israel are likely to announce the development of a coronavirus vaccine. | Scientists in Israel and elsewhere are working on developing a vaccination to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, but it won’t be ready for the public for over a year. | true | online | Doctors in India have been successful in treating coronavirus with a combination of drugs (Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine) and are going to suggest the same medicine globally. India’s ministry of health has advised that the anti-HIV drugs, Lopinavir and Retonovir, are used in some groups of... |
9028 | Why the latest shingles vaccine is more than 90 percent effective | This news release describes the results of a published study that examined how well a new shingles vaccine, Shingrix, provoked immune responses during clinical trials led by researchers in Australia. The news release does a good job of describing why Shingrix offers stronger protection compared with other vaccines. How... | mixture | shingles vaccine | No cost information is provided. According to GoodRx, Shingrix costs about $300 out-of-pocket for a course of two injections. The primary benefit being reported here is that “90% of recipients had an increased immune response sustained across the 3-year duration of the study.” It would have been more helpful if the re... |
16656 | There has never been an alderman who has defeated an incumbent mayor in the history of this great city. | No Milwaukee alderman has defeated an incumbent to become mayor, according to Donovan. It’s relatively rare for aldermen or former aldermen to run for mayor. It’s even more rare for them to win. And none has ever bested a sitting mayor, experts agree. | true | Elections, Wisconsin, Bob Donovan, | "Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan harbors no illusions of a cakewalk to the mayor’s office in 2016. The well-funded and entrenched incumbent, Tom Barrett, appears poised to seek a fourth four-year term. And history’s not on Donovan’s side, the alderman told supporters July 29, 2014, when he announced his bid. ""What we are p... |
26259 | “If you have had a flu shot in the last 3-5 years, you will probably test positive” for COVID-19. | Medical experts say the flu vaccine isn’t causing false positives for people who take COVID-19 tests. | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Viral image, | "A recent Facebook post is fanning the flames of a conspiracy theory that officials are overstating the number of COVID-19 cases. ""I had a phone appointment with my Dr this afternoon, and I asked the question about testing,"" it says. ""He said, ‘If you have had a flu shot in the last 3-5 years, you will probably test... |
33083 | A study proved you're thousands of times more likely to be killed by a doctor than a gun in the United States. | In any case, the e-mail forward reproduced above was never intended to be taken seriously as a legitimate comparison of deaths caused by doctors versus deaths caused by guns. The sheer number of variables makes such a comparison completely meaningless though any imaginable manipulation of the underlying statistics, and... | false | Politics Guns, doctors vs. guns, guns, inquisitr | On 5 January 2016, President Obama announced novel executive measures intended to reduce gun violence. Predictably, his remarks met with a mixed reception, and a number of old gun control rumors began recirculating online. Among those rumors were an ancient e-mail forward commonly titled “Doctors vs. Guns” or “Fun with... |
9330 | Antidepressants, psychotherapy may help ease irritable bowel syndrome | The story focuses on a recently published journal article that evaluates the available research on whether antidepressants or psychotherapy may reduce the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The article does a good job of addressing the limitations of the research and incorporating input from independent expert... | mixture | Irritable bowel syndrome | Costs are not addressed. Antidepressants and psychotherapy can be expensive, and are not always covered even for those patients with health insurance. The story attempts to quantify the benefits. We’re told that “rates of ‘no relief’ were highest with placebo treatments. People were 34 percent less likely to have no re... |
13516 | My opponent has no child care plan. | "Trump said that ""my opponent has no child care plan."" Even under the campaign’s unusual, age-related definition of policies for children aged 0 to 4, Clinton has several policies to offer on her website." | false | National, Children, Corrections and Updates, Donald Trump, | "In a Sept. 13 campaign event in Aston, Pa., Donald Trump unveiled a new, multi-pronged child care agenda. Trump’s plan would exclude child care costs up to age 13 from the federal income tax, including costs for both stay-at-home family members and paid caregivers. Those who don’t pay income taxes would be eligible to... |
11334 | Newer lung-cancer scans may save lives, a study suggests | (First, please note that this is a version of an original Chicago Tribune story as published by the Houston Chronicle. We were reviewing the Houston paper on this particular day, not the Chicago paper. The original version ran 1,244 words; the Houston version less than half that, at 572 words. This happens often, as we... | mixture | "The article does not mention costs of lung cancer screening with CT scans. According to various estimates, these can range from less than $200 to as much as $1000. The article attempts to quantify survival rates with and without screening, but seems to trip up along the way. It states that the NEJM study estimated tha... | |
31057 | A 25-year-old woman was drugged and nearly abducted by sex traffickers in the bathroom of a Shelby Township Meijer in August 2017. | As a survivor of legitimate human trafficking once wrote in a Los Angeles Times editorial, experts agree that stories such as these never align with legitimate tactics, which almost invariably target at-risk populations. | false | Crime, facebook trafficking rumors, human trafficking, sex trafficking | In late August 2017, Facebook user Jennifer Sondey claimed that a “friend of a friend” was drugged and nearly abducted at a Meijer in Shelby Township, Michigan. Although the original post was quickly deleted, various versions of it remained in circulation on Facebook: Urgent … please, share!!!!!!!!! Shelby TWP … My cli... |
10538 | Study links MRI breast cancer detection to rise in mastectomies | "The story focuses on a preliminary report of an upward trend of mastectomy at one institution, possibly related to greater use of pre-operative MRI screening. However, it is not clear other than mastectomy rates falling then rising that there has really been much of a finding here. The story mentions that pre-operati... | false | "The story does not mention the cost of pre-operative screening via MRI, or if changes to healthcare reimbursement policy have affected the decision to have a mastectomy v. lumpectomy w. radiation. On this point, federal law requires that health insurance cover the cost of breast reconstruction following mastectomy. Ti... | |
8032 | Ireland may ease coronavirus restrictions from mid-April. | Ireland hopes to be in a position in two weeks to tweak or remove some of its new highly restrictive coronavirus-related measures if it can slow down the rate of admissions to intensive care units, Health Minister Simon Harris said. | true | Health News | Ireland’s prime minister ordered citizens on Friday to stay home until April 12 to help slow the spread, telling them they can only leave to shop for groceries, for brief individual physical exercise or to make absolutely essential family visits. Ireland reported 14 deaths on Saturday, the most on a single day so far a... |
9236 | Prostate drug offers new relief for kidney stone suffers | This release discusses the results of a clinical trial that tested tamsulosin (marketed in the US as Flomax), a drug used to treat enlarged prostate, as an aid in easing the passage of kidney stones in Australian patients, thus avoiding emergency treatment and surgery. The study enrolled 403 patients of whom 316 comple... | mixture | Emergency Medicine Foundation,kidney stones | The release gives a brief nod to costs when it quotes the lead author stating “this has potential to improve care and reduce costs,” but it goes no further. There is no mention of the cost of tamsulosin, nor the length of time patients might need to take it to relieve kidney stones. In the release, the clinical trial l... |
36590 | "The word ""bar"" is an acronym for ""beer and alcohol room." | Is ‘Bar’ an Acronym for ‘Beer and Alcohol Room’? | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | A meme with the claim that the word “bar” is an acronym for “beer and alcohol room” suddenly appeared in late December 2018:The meme was virtually identical in both presentation and format to a similar post claiming the word “hospital” had a similar etymology; this version also utilized the “today years old” theme. It ... |
6399 | Heavy smog, worsened by weather, raises alarm across Asia. | Unusually high levels of smog worsened by weather patterns are raising alarm across Asia, with authorities in Thailand’s hazy capital Bangkok handing out face masks and preparing to seed clouds for rain to clear the air. | true | Weather patterns, Health, Asia, Bangkok, International News, Weather, Asia Pacific, Thailand, Smog, Air quality, Pollution | A combination of construction dust, auto exhaust and other pollutants, lingering over Bangkok due to prevailing weather patterns, has taken air quality to unhealthy levels in recent days. “I admit these are temporary solutions but we have to do it. Other long term measures will also be implemented, Police Gen. Aswin Kw... |
2144 | For women, battle of bulge just got tougher. | Women need to get at least an hour a day of moderate exercise if they hope to ward off the creep of extra pounds that comes with aging, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | The weekly total of 420 minutes is nearly triple the 150 minutes of moderate daily exercise currently recommended by U.S. health officials and illustrates the challenge American women face in maintaining a healthy weight. Winning that war will require individuals to make changes in their daily routines — like walking o... |
33814 | Ordinary use of canola oil is dangerous to consumers. | Rapeseed oil has been used for cooking for centuries in Europe, India, China, and Japan. | false | Medical | A persistent chain e-mail still makes the rounds years after it first appeared, about the origin of canola oil. What it offered was a bit of truth about a product’s family history worked into a screed against the product itself: Before you buy your next bottle of cooking oil . . .I think it’s important that as many peo... |
9262 | Novel Test Distinguishes Atypical Moles From Melanoma | This news release from a large dermatology practice plugs a study asserting that imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) — a procedure that involves ionizing a tumor sample in order to identify its protein content — does a better job at determining whether a certain type of atypical mole is benign or a potentially fatal melano... | mixture | California Skin Institute,Melanoma,skin cancer | The news release does not say how much IMS costs or how it compares with using a microscope. According to an article posted by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, most mass spectrometry methods “require labor-intensive—and hence costly—sample preparation. Other factors include limited sample counts over wh... |
3739 | Wyoming health agency reviews Park County pneumonia cases. | Wyoming health officials are investigating more than 30 pneumonia cases in a single county this year. | true | Health, Wyoming, Pneumonia | The Cody Enterprise reports that the earliest cases occurred in February but health officials found a spike in late April. The Wyoming Department of Health is handling the investigation into the 31 cases. Officials say most of the people infected are elementary-aged children. Pneumonia is a lung infection that can be c... |
1690 | India builds first 'smart' city as urban population swells. | India’s push to accommodate a booming urban population and attract investment rests in large part with dozens of “smart” cities like the one being built on the dusty banks of the Sabarmati river in western India. | true | Environment | So far, it boasts modern underground infrastructure, two office blocks and not much else. The plan, however, is for a meticulously planned metropolis complete with gleaming towers, drinking water on tap, automated waste collection and a dedicated power supply - luxuries to many Indians. With an urban population set to ... |
40468 | Various warnings about the USA, Canada and Mexico losing their sovereignty, merging into a North American Union and switching to a single currency known as the Amero. A video by Hal Turner claims that these are already in use in trade agreements with China. | Canadian-American cosmologist James Peebles and Swiss scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physics on Tuesday for revealing the wonder of the evolution of the universe and discovering planets orbiting distant suns. | false | Warnings | Peebles, of Princeton University in the United States, was awarded half of the 9-million-Swedish-crown ($910,000) prize while Mayor and Queloz, from Switzerland’s University of Geneva and Britain’s Cambridge University, shared the rest. “This year’s Nobel laureates have painted a picture of our universe far stranger an... |
5888 | Indiana to get more baby boxes for abandoned newborns. | Indiana is adding more baby boxes that allow people to anonymously leave newborns in hospitals and firehouses, various officials said. Crown Point added one box last week at a firehouse after an anonymous donation, the Post-Tribune reported. | true | Health, Indiana, General News, Michigan City | Now there are six boxes in Northwest Indiana, including one at a Michigan City fire station and another at Franciscan Health. Baby boxes are padded, climate-controlled boxes where people can leave newborns safely and anonymously at hospitals or firehouse. The boxes cost between $10,000 and $15,000, hospital officials s... |
27847 | German and British front-line soldiers sang carols, exchanged gifts, and played soccer during a World War I Christmas truce. | Although the Christmas Truce of 1914 may seem like a distant myth to those now at arms in parts of the world where vast cultural differences between combatants make such an occurrence impossible, it remains a symbol of hope to those who believe that a recognition of our common humanity may someday reverse the maxim tha... | true | History, christmas, world war I | Of the British and German soldiers who faced each other across the muddy fields of Flanders on Christmas Eve in 1914, even those who no longer believed the optimistic predictions of a short war would have been shocked to learn that it would drag on for another four years — and that it would ultimately see the staggerin... |
33710 | The word 'fuck' derives from an acronymic phrase, either 'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge' or 'Fornication Under Consent of the King.' | Sightings: The rock group Van Halen put out an album entitled “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.” | false | Language, acronyms, etymology, fuck | Though a few common English words have grown out of acronyms (words created by taking the first letter(s) of major words in a phrase), ‘fuck’ isn’t one of them. With precious few exceptions, words of acronymic origin date from the 20th century and no earlier. It’s almost guaranteed, therefore, any word from before the ... |
11333 | In Early Test, New Hepatitis C Drug Shows Promise | "This story about an experimental hepatitis C treatment known as BMS-790052 wants to have it both ways. It leads off by telling us the drug is in very early clinical testing; we don’t know if the drug works; and that it will be years before it could ever be dispensed to patients. But then it proceeds to speculate irres... | false | "Since BMS-790052 is still in early testing, we don’t know what it will cost, so the criterion is not applicable. However, given the huge costs of the existing treatment regimen of an interferon and ribavirin, a comment on the potential economic impact of a third drug would have been helpful. Current treatments cost se... | |
3702 | Health program offers free HIV prevention drug to uninsured. | The government launched a new program on Tuesday to provide an HIV prevention drug for free to people who need the protection but have no insurance to pay for it. | true | Alex Azar, Epidemics, General News, Politics, Health, Business | Taking certain anti-HIV drugs every day dramatically reduces the chances that someone who is still healthy becomes infected through sex or injection drug use. But only about 18% of the 1.2 million Americans who might benefit got a prescription last year, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said. And for those... |
35157 | "U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said, ""President Trump probably knows more about medicine and specifically viruses than any of the so-called scientists at the NIH and CDC." | Trump was criticized for his handling of the new coronavirus outbreak, with some saying that he downplayed the threat it posed to the United States. Trump, in turn, accused Democrats of “politicizing” the virus. While Graham did not say that Trump knew more about viruses than the CDC, he did defend the president’s hand... | false | Politics, COVID-19 | On Feb. 26, 2020, a quote ostensibly uttered by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham defending President Donald Trump’s handling of an outbreak of new coronavirus was circulated on social media. Graham supposedly said: “President Trump probably knows more about medicine and specifically viruses than any of the so-called scientists... |
9770 | Organ-On-Chip Could Revolutionize Drug Testing | Will new technology reduce the need for animal testing? This Newsweek story addresses an important topic with plenty of research and reporting. It tells how new chip-based technology that models human organs could potentially replace animal studies as a means of testing new drug candidates — possibly leading to cheaper... | mixture | organ-on-a-chip | The Newsweek report generally addresses the costs to put a new drug on the market, and it states that “Incorporating the chips into drug testing could save millions of dollars and years of time on research.” We’ll reward the story’s impulse to address cost with a Satisfactory rating, but we’d note that the issue is mor... |
31237 | A nude sunbather was injured when a predatory bird ripped away one of his testicles. | Harrowing stories about hapless male sunbathers attacked by predatory sea birds. | false | Junk News Did a Seagull Rip Offa Man’s Testicle as He Sunbathed Naked?, foreign journal, suffolk gazette | In June 2017, articles published on various web sites reported that a nude tourist’s beach vacation was ruined when he was painfully attacked by a predatory bird who thought it was making off with a pair of turtle’s eggs: A male tourist who chose to sunbathe in the nude on a popular beach near Townsville on the north-e... |
1861 | "Ammonia used in many foods, not just ""pink slime""." | Surprise rippled across America last month as a new wave of consumers discovered that hamburgers often contained ammonia-treated beef, or what critics dub “pink slime”. | true | Science News | "Packs of ground beef are seen in a crate at the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market meat processing facility in Riverside, California, March 29, 2012. U.S. meat packers' losses on beef sales have doubled since a controversy over ammonia-treated scraps dubbed ""pink slime"" exploded some weeks ago, with margins nearing th... |
3721 | Failing ice cellars signal changes in Alaska whaling towns. | For generations, people in Alaska’s far-north villages have relied on hand-built ice cellars dug deep into the permafrost to age their whale and walrus meat to perfection and keep it cold throughout the year. | true | Climate, AP Top News, Climate change, Whales, General News, Alaska, Lifestyle, Science, U.S. News, Weekend Reads | Scores of the naturally refrigerated food caches lie beneath these largely Inupiat communities, where many rely on hunting and fishing to feed their families. The ice cellars range from small arctic root cellars to spacious, wood-lined chambers, some topped with sheds. Now, a growing number of these underground cellars... |
34360 | Bill Clinton was expelled from Oxford University for raping a British classmate named Eileen Wellstone. | All in all, the rumors about Bill Clinton’s having been expelled from Oxford over a rape allegation appear to have stemmed from a single uncorroborated, anonymous second-hand report published on a web site of dubious repute in 1999, combined with mere speculation about Clinton’s having departed Oxford prior to the comp... | unproven | Crime, bill clinton, crime, eileen wellstone | As the 2016 presidential campaign closed in on the finish line, the Washington Post published an eleven-year-old tape of Republican nominee Donald Trump’s making controversial remarks about women. The inevitable partisan rancor that ensued largely targeted the behavior Bill Clinton, husband of Democratic candidate Hill... |
10702 | In melanoma patients, immune therapy may boost survival | "In just 310 words, this story covered key points of study results clearly, concisely and without hyperbole. It used terms like ""may boost survival…may provide a new way…modest success"" instead of overstating. It is a difficult balance reporting on promising study results for a terrible disease and doing so without s... | true | "Not applicable. Costs not discussed but we understand that at this point in the research. Nonetheless, we wish the story had used even one short line, as the Wall Street Journal did, to say the drugmaker said it was too soon to discuss pricing. Good job on this, especially putting results in context in calm, measured ... | |
30276 | "A photograph shows a ""cow crusher,"" a device designed to literally crush cows." | Photographs and videos of farming equipment are often met with incredulity by those unfamiliar with farm life. In April 2016, for instance, a video of a Fistulated Cow caused consternation as it was shared along with the largely inaccurate accusation that it showed a form of animal abuse. | false | Fauxtography, cattle crush, cow crush, cows | An image showing a cow inside of a strange metal device was shared online in July 2018 along with a caption saying it depicts a “cow crusher” — a device designed to crush cows: Cow crushers designed to crush cows to death is one horrid thing but this is a whole new level or cow torture! This device gives farmers a kic... |
16935 | Jim Rubens Says when armed civilians stop mass shootings with guns, an average of 2.5 people die; otherwise, an average of 18 people die. | For Jessica Lescault there is no question that her 6-year old English bulldog “Moose” deserves cutting-edge biotechnology cancer treatment as much as any human patient. | false | New Hampshire, Guns, Jim Rubens, | “Pets are your loved ones, pets should be your family, pets are not something you keep on a chain in the backyard,” the intensive-care nurse from Somers, Connecticut, said. Lescault, 43, who enrolled Moose in a clinical trial of an experimental drug designed to help his immune system fight his cancer, represents the t... |
16912 | "FIFA ""pressured Brazil into passing a so-called Budweiser bill, allowing beer sales in soccer stadiums." | "Oliver called out FIFA for having ""pressured Brazil into passing a so-called Budweiser bill, allowing beer sales in soccer stadiums."" There is no doubt that FIFA demanded beer be allowed to be sold at this summer’s World Cup, and that it was part of an agreement to host the World Cup in the first place. That fits a ... | true | Sports, PunditFact, John Oliver, | "Brazilians are famous for their passion for soccer, though the fervor sometimes is so intense that people die. The country’s lawmakers banned alcohol at stadiums 11 years ago in effort to curb game-related violence. One problem: Budweiser, famous for its beer, is a major sponsor of the 2014 FIFA World Cup being held i... |
3450 | Notre Dame: Lead fears prompt new cleanup rules, equipment. | Cleanup work at fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral will resume later this month but under stricter lead-protection rules, amid growing public concern about toxic pollution. | true | Health, General News, Notre Dame Cathedral, International News, Paris, Europe, Pollution | Under pressure from labor inspectors concerned about lead risks, the Paris region administration suspended cleanup work at the cathedral last week, and ordered new checks of schools and nurseries in the neighborhood. The administration announced in a statement Friday that workers will be allowed back starting Aug. 12, ... |
28304 | Jacob Walter Anderson repeatedly raped a young woman but received only a $400 fine and deferred probation as punishment. | "What's true: Anderson received a $400 fine, in addition to three years' probation, for the offense of ""unlawful restraint."" What's false: Anderson's punishment was not limited to a $400 fine, and he was not tried or convicted of rape. What's undetermined: Anderson was accused of raping a young woman, but the veracit... | mixture | Politics | Social media is often where activists, politicians, non-profit groups, or simply members of the public share their concerns and outrage over what they perceive as miscarriages of justice. Excessive punishments, racial disparities in sentencing, and an apparently permissive attitude towards sexual assault among some jud... |
9065 | Devenish Announces World's First Naturally Enriched Omega-3 Chicken and Eggs With Proven Health Claims - Likely to Reduce Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke, Dementia and Depression | This news release touts the results of an unpublished clinical trial aimed at evaluating the increase in levels of omega-3 fatty acids in people who consume chicken and eggs enriched with an omega-3 poultry feed. It uses vague terms to describe the result of the trial and suggests a clinical advantage without giving an... | false | chicken and eggs,Devenish,omega-3 | There is no mention of the costs that might be incurred by consumers interested in choosing chicken and eggs that ate this new feed. Will the new feed cost more than conventional feed, which is likely to be passed along to customers? The only mentions of cost are a vague assertion that chicken and eggs are “very afford... |
10172 | Antibodies seen stopping Alzheimer’s | The story accurately reports that while intravenous immunoglobin therapy (IVIg) has been used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, it is not yet FDA approved for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The story appropriately cites researchers not affiliated with the clinical trials who express caution about off-label us... | true | The story provides the estimated cost of treatment for IVIg therapy for Alzheimer’s patients: $300 for a single dose. We are not told if more than one dose is required. The story provides no quantitative evidence from the pilot trial of IVIg therapy in 8 Alzeimer’s patients. There is no mention of the safety of IVIg in... | |
26575 | “We inherited a broken test” for COVID-19. | China reported a totally new viral disease, now called COVID-19, on Dec. 31, 2019. The U.S. government began sending test kits out on Feb. 5, 2020. There was no inherited test because a test couldn’t be created until the new virus had emerged. | false | National, Coronavirus, Donald Trump, | "President Donald Trump deflected blame for the slow start of testing for the new coronavirus in the United States. ""We inherited a broken test,"" he said on Fox News’ ""Fox and Friends"" March 30. Trump said much the same the day before during a Rose Garden press conference. ""We took over a dead, barren system,"" Tr... |
14027 | There are tens of thousands of homes right here in California where you turn on the faucet but you can't drink the water. | "Sanders said, ""There are tens of thousands of homes right here in California where you turn on the faucet, but you can't drink the water."" But surprisingly, neither the federal nor state governments has a reliable tally for public water supplies, never mind private wells that are not regulated. Clearly California ha... | mixture | Environment, Agriculture, National, Consumer Safety, Public Health, Water, Bernie Sanders, | "The wisdom of using hydraulic fracking, the controversial process of squeezing oil and gas out of rock using pressured fluid, has been one of the issues that separates Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, with Sanders advocating an outright ban on the technique. Sanders repeated his opposition during a news c... |
9044 | Prebiotics in infant formula could improve learning and memory and alter brain chemistry. | Using piglets to test hypotheses related to infant brain development and the consumption of prebiotics seems to be important research, but at this point, it is hard to tell how relevant this research is to humans. A better discussion of the benefits and harms found in the study, as well as the human relevance of the ov... | false | infant nutrition,prebiotics,University of Illinois | There is no discussion of the associated costs of both formula and prebiotic-enhanced formula which could be considerable considering the amount and length of time an infant would consume it. The description of benefits lacks any mention that trials in piglets may have little bearing on how human infants would respond ... |
7593 | Illinois students creating video games for social good. | Students at DePaul University in Chicago are creating video games that raise awareness for mental illnesses and other afflictions. | true | Anxiety, Chicago, Health, Illinois, Games, DePaul University, Video games | Students at Deep Games Laboratory in DePaul’s College of Computing and Digital Media are working on projects that address bullying, help those with anxiety overcome their fears and teach sickle cell anemia patients ways to stay healthy, The Chicago Tribune reported . All of the projects involve “the human experience an... |
39966 | This is a forwarded email about onions. It says that during a 1919 influenza scare farmers would cut onions and place them on plates to ward off infection. It also warns about leftover onions and how they can be poisonous to dogs. | Onions Prevent Influenza Infection | unproven | Food / Drink, Medical | There is no medical evidence that onions attracts viruses. Onions have been mythically thought to ward off diseases since the days of the bubonic plague in the middle ages. The Vetinfo.com web site does warn that onions are unsafe for dogs and included the tasty vegetable on their list of toxins for dogs. Lef... |
16854 | NASA scientists fudged the numbers to make 1998 the hottest year to overstate the extent of global warming. | Doocy with Fox News said NASA scientists fudged the numbers to overstate the extent of global warming. This exaggerated the thrust in the underlying blog post. It accused government scientists of altering the U.S. temperature record, not the record for the entire earth. As for what the blog said, we found that experts ... | false | Environment, Climate Change, PunditFact, Steve Doocy, | "On climate change, Gallup pollsters say Americans divide into three groups -- the ""Concerned Believers,"" the ""Mixed Middle,"" and the ""Cool Skeptics."" Believers have a slender plurality at 39 percent but skeptics make up a solid 25 percent. They think there’s little to worry about and that media reports on the to... |
8004 | Romania places eastern city of Suceava under quarantine. | Romania’s government has placed the eastern town of Suceava and eight surrounding villages under quarantine to limit the spread of the coronavirus, with more than a quarter of all cases in the country located in the area, Interior Minister Marcel Vela said late on Monday. | true | Health News | The European Union state, which has recorded 2,109 coronavirus infections and 65 deaths, declared a state of emergency on March 16. With a population of around 100,000, Suceava has 593 cases and a third of all deaths. More than half of the country’s 285 infected doctors, nurses and other medical staff were in Suceava, ... |
21527 | The United States death rate is two-and-a-half times higher for those who do not have a high school education. | U.S. Surgeon General says less education means higher mortality rates | true | Georgia, Education, Health Care, Regina Benjamin, | "School is back in session. Having trouble persuading Junior to go to class? Tell him that if he doesn’t graduate high school, he’s more likely to die. U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said as much during an interview on WABE-FM (90.1), as she talked about what she said was the close link between education and heal... |
32665 | Hillary Clinton's campaign created a #ManEnough4Hillary ad featuring a male model also associated with a syphilis PSA. | Whether the image was used for a standalone joke or specifically arranged to fit in with the “syphilis” quips, the #ManEnough4Hillary ad was not an authentic Clinton campaign effort, which was confirmed by a spokesperson from the Hillary Clinton campaign. | false | Fauxtography, fake campaign ads, hillary clinton, politics | On 26 May 2016, the image reproduced above was shared on Twitter by National Review writer Charles C.W. Cooke. The purported Hillary Clinton campaign ad showed a male model and the hashtag #ManEnough4Hillary: #ManEnoughforJohnson pic.twitter.com/3uskgF0Azg — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 26, 2016 The image ... |
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