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7499 | Straight-talking Fauci explains outbreak to a worried nation. | If Dr. Anthony Fauci says it, you’d be smart to listen. As the coronavirus has upended daily life across the globe, Fauci has become the trusted voice in separating fact and fiction. | true | Ronald Reagan, AP Top News, Health, Anthony Fauci, General News, MERS, Politics, Infectious diseases, Virus Outbreak, Ebola virus, Donald Trump | The fear and confusion of outbreaks aren’t new to Fauci, who in more than 30 years has handled HIV, SARS, MERS, Ebola and even the nation’s 2001 experience with bioterrorism — the anthrax attacks. Fauci’s political bosses — from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump — have let him do the explaining because he’s frank and under... |
8317 | GM begins production of ventilators for U.S. government. | General Motors Co said on Tuesday it had started producing ventilators in the volume needed to treat severely ill coronavirus patients and would deliver the first batch of the medical equipment to the U.S. government this month. | true | Health News | The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded nine contracts totaling nearly $2.6 billion to produce 137,000 ventilators by the end of 2020 for the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile, including a contract to GM worth $489.4 million for 30,000 ventilators by the end of August after President Donald T... |
26447 | Facebook post Says Wisconsin’s in-person election has caused a “surge” in new coronavirus cases | The claimed surge in cases was based on poor data work. The upward “trend” treated a dip in new cases due to lower testing as a baseline, rather than the outlier it was. State health officials say they haven’t yet seen evidence the election changed the trajectory of coronavirus in Wisconsin. Hospitalizations due to COV... | false | Health Care, Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Wisconsin’s mid-pandemic election was a unique spectacle. The courtroom drama preceding the vote — and Wisconsin’s status as the only state with a primary election around this time that didn’t delay or cancel in-person voting — drew national attention and criticism. The fundamental question was simple: What would this... |
9172 | Researchers warn of hazards of smoking and need for wider use of varenicline to quit | This news release from Florida Atlantic University amplifies a bold claim made in a medical journal commentary that the FDA’s “black box” warnings on varenicline (Chantix) medication labels encouraged many people to avoid the drug — and that failure to use the drug caused thousands of people to die prematurely from hea... | false | Florida Atlantic University,smoking cessation,varenicline | While the release explicitly urges the widespread use of Chantix, it does not discuss cost — and cost can be a considerable obstacle. Online estimates of cost related to Chantix vary widely, but all of them indicate that a prescription would cost well over $100 per month. The benefits here would presumably be the reduc... |
2309 | "Pope Francis warns on the ""evil"" of legalizing drugs." | Pope Francis on Friday called recreational drug use an “evil”, a day before he is due to visit Italy’s Calabria, home of the powerful ‘Ndrangheta mafia, which controls a significant share of the global trade in illegal narcotics. | true | Health News | Francis, who has spoken out against drug use several times, said that to ensure young people did not fall prey to drugs, society had to say “‘yes’ to life, ‘yes’ to love, ‘yes’ to others, ‘yes’ to education, ‘yes’ to greater job opportunities”. “If we say ‘yes’ to all these things, there will be no room for illicit dru... |
8162 | Japan's coronavirus infections cross 1,000: NHK. | Japan has recorded 1,016 cases of domestically transmitted cases of coronavirus as of Saturday, according to public broadcaster NHK, hitting a new milestone as the nation grapples with pressure to avoid a health crisis ahead of Tokyo Olympics. | true | Health News | The tally rises to 1,728 if 712 cases of infections from a cruise ship moored near Tokyo last month are included, according to NHK. Although the number of cases is still on the rise, Japan has started scaling back some measures to fight the spread of the virus. On Friday, Japan said it would not extend its request to c... |
9983 | Gastric bypass surgery cuts cancer risk, researchers say | This was a story reporting on presentation of data suggesting that an additional benefit that may be gleaned from having weight loss surgery is a reduced cancer risk. It failed to mention that the results reported on were part of an oral presentation and have therefore not been through adequate peer review and should b... | mixture | The story provided cost comparisons for two of the procedures for weight loss. In addition, there was some discussion at the end of the piece about insurance coverage not being certain in some areas/circumstances. The story did not do an adequate job detailing the benefits of the treatment (weight loss surgery). While ... | |
8342 | GSK to partner with Vir for potential COVID-19 treatments, invest $250 million. | British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline will invest $250 million in Vir Biotechnology Inc and collaborate to develop potential antibody treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, the companies said on Monday. | true | Health News | Vir’s shares rose as much as 34% following the news of GSK’s investment, priced at $37.73 per Vir share, a 30% premium to the stock’s Friday close. GSK was up about 2%. Vir’s shares, trading at $35.60 on Monday, have more than doubled in the year up to Friday’s close. Drugmakers across the globe are rushing to develop ... |
6764 | Michigan center accused of honoring patients’ racist demands. | A health care center in western Michigan is accused of agreeing to requests by patients for white-only caregivers. | true | Race and ethnicity, Health, Discrimination, Michigan, Assisted living, Lawsuits | Six black certified nursing assistants filed a lawsuit April 11 against Providence Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, where they all work or formerly worked. The Zeeland facility offers memory care, rehabilitation, retirement and assisted living to mostly senior patients. The CNAs are accusing the center of race dis... |
7956 | Coronavirus brings no-contact food delivery to United States. | Leaving bags of food on doorsteps or texting your delivery driver a picture of where you want your meal dropped off - these are new methods for U.S. consumers to get their orders as the coronavirus spreads. | true | Health News | The virus led McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N), Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) and other companies in China, where the outbreak originated, to broaden their use of contactless delivery last month as consumers were stuck at home, often in locked-off apartment complexes. Now, that concept is growing in other parts of the globe along wit... |
4462 | Year in space put US astronaut’s disease defenses on alert. | Nearly a year in space put astronaut Scott Kelly’s immune system on high alert and changed the activity of some of his genes compared to his Earth-bound identical twin, researchers said Friday. | true | Biology, AP Top News, Genetics, Health, North America, Science, Mars, U.S. News | Scientists don’t know if the changes were good or bad but results from a unique NASA twins study are raising new questions for doctors as the space agency aims to send people to Mars. Tests of the genetic doubles gave scientists a never-before opportunity to track details of human biology, such as how an astronaut’s ge... |
11566 | Animal study suggests treatment that may improve heart function in heart failure | This release focuses on a recently-published study in rats with high blood pressure that are at risk of heart failure, a condition in which the heart does not pump blood as efficiently as it should. The study’s findings suggest treating the animals with a low dose of the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3) improved c... | true | Academic medical center news release,Animal research | This release is reporting on work done in an animal model, far removed from clinical use in humans. As such, it would be virtually impossible to tell readers precisely how much potential treatment might cost consumers. And so we won’t ding the story for not including a discussion of costs — we’ll rate this Not Applicab... |
4002 | American Samoa declares measles outbreak, closes schools. | The government of American Samoa declared that the U.S. territory has an outbreak of measles, a move that will lead to the closure of public schools starting Monday and a ban on gatherings in parks. | true | Health, Measles, General News, Hawaii, Asia Pacific, American Samoa | In its announcement Friday of the measles outbreak, the government says the territory has nine cases of the disease. Five of those infected had been traveling outside the territory. As for the other four people who tested positive for measles, “we’re suspecting that is local transmission — meaning that it’s most likely... |
5247 | Bismarck addiction center to use telemedicine, expand reach. | A Bismarck addiction treatment center is using telemedicine to extend its reach to western North Dakota, a rural region where such services are limited. | true | U.S. Department of Agriculture, Addiction treatment, Bismarck, Health, North Dakota | The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that Heartview Foundation in Bismarck received a nearly $155,000 grant to purchase telemedicine equipment, the Bismarck Tribune reported. The grant money comes from the federal agency’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program, which aims to encourage rural ... |
27730 | Dallas Police Chief David Brown lost a son, brother, and work partner to gun violence. | All three claims about Dallas’s police chief were true. In 1988, Brown’s former partner Walter Williams was shot to death. In 1991, his brother Kelvin was killed by drug dealers in Phoenix. And in 2010, his son David Brown killed an officer and was shot and killed at the scene, just seven weeks after the elder Brown be... | true | Politics, chief david brown, dallas, dallas shooting | On 12 July 2016, the Facebook page “Heroes In Blue” published the status update depicted above, describing the life of Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown, who lost his son, his brother, and his police partner in separate incidents of crime and gun violence: Almost exactly six years before the Dallas police sh... |
34276 | Justice Anthony Kennedy suddenly resigned from the Supreme Court as part of a deal to shield his son from ongoing Russian investigations. | It may be true, as outlined above, that members of the Trump administration undertook efforts to “assure Kennedy that his judicial legacy would be in good hands should he step down at the end of the court’s [current] term.” But no substantive evidence yet suggests anything more than that President Trump and other membe... | unproven | Politics | Any occasion on which a member of the U.S. Supreme Court leaves the bench through retirement (or death) is a significant political event, providing the incumbent president with the opportunity to nominate a successor who is ideologically congruent with the party in power and (in most cases) will remain on the bench for... |
29849 | An ad for Winston brand cigarettes featured a pregnant woman touting low birth weight as a benefit of smoking. | Of all the dubious health claims made about the benefits of cigarette smoking, this one seemingly took the cake. | false | Fauxtography, Advertisements | Ubiquitous cigarette advertisements of the mid-20th century often touted to consumers that smoking particular brands of cigarettes actually provided health benefits — or at least caused less damage than rival brands. Cigarettes were frequently endorsed by doctors and dentists, and they were promoted with an array of me... |
2647 | Italy scientists say they have found oldest human blood. | Scientists examining the remains of “Otzi,” Italy’s prehistoric iceman who roamed the Alps some 5,300 years ago, said on Wednesday they have isolated what are believed to be the oldest traces of human blood ever found. | true | Science News | "An undated handout file photo shows ""Otzi"", Italy's prehistoric iceman. Scientists examining the remains of ""Otzi,"" Italy's prehistoric iceman who roamed the Alps some 5,300 years ago, said on May 2, 2012 they have isolated what are believed to be the oldest traces of human blood ever found. REUTERS/Handout/Files.... |
32508 | France deliberately suppressed information about torture and mutilation at the Bataclan in November 2015 to avoid upsetting Muslims. | Even if the French government hadn’t made public their findings about torture and evisceration at the Bataclan prior to the attacks in Nice, the post-Bastille Day attack rumor operated on the assumption such a coverup was even possible. By all accounts, 89 people died at the Bataclan on 13 November 2015, while another ... | false | Politics, bastille day, bataclan torture, nice | On 14 July 2016, scores of people were killed in Nice, France, when a large truck plowed through a Bastille Day crowd. This terror attack took place just eight months after a series of coordinated terrorist attacks hit Paris and claimed the lives of 130 people, 89 of whom were killed at the Bataclan nightclub. As the w... |
2196 | Indonesia's 'Good Palm' drive enflames anger as smoke clouds skies. | Indonesia is facing a backlash over an online campaign backing palm oil at a time when forest fires, often linked to slash-and-burn land clearance, have spread choking smoke across the region, raising growing concern about damage to health. | true | Environment | The Southeast Asian country is the world’s biggest producer of the edible oil and is often vilified abroad for the destruction of forests to make way for plantations, and for the fires that are often started to clear the land. While Indonesia’s neighbors complain about the impact of the smoke drifting in, the criticism... |
26970 | The president of the United States already has the legal authority to reduce the price of many commonly used prescription drugs. | "Warren said, """"The president of the United States already has the legal authority to reduce the price of many commonly used prescription drugs."" Multiple presidential candidates have talked about ways to bring down drug prices without new legislation. We focused on Warren’s argument: that the president already has ... | true | Health Care, Health Check, Elizabeth Warren, | "On the presidential primary campaign trail in Iowa, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., brought out a favorite talking point: ways the president can bring down drug prices without waiting for Congress. It’s not the first time Warren and other candidates have referenced this alleged power. In this case, she pointed to insu... |
10920 | Brain stimulation limits calories consumed in adults with obesity | Sometimes a short news release is too short. This one, at 267 words in the main body, describes a study of direct brain stimulation to control eating behavior in only nine human patients, over two 8-day periods of time. The patients were divided into two groups. A control group received sham treatment and an experiment... | mixture | Government agency news release,Weight loss | The news release does not provide any information on what the experimental therapy, known as transcranial direct current stimulation, might cost if and when it is available to the public. We’ll rate this Not Applicable because it’s too early to know what it might cost and the release doesn’t make it sound like the tech... |
22135 | I'm well aware that medical marijuana is a recognized, medical, viable treatment for this sort of [pancreas] pain condition. | Former House Minority Leader says marijuana is recognized as a treatment for his pancreas pain. | false | Rhode Island, Candidate Biography, Drugs, Health Care, Legal Issues, Crime, Public Health, Marijuana, Robert Watson, | "On the night of April 22, 2011, Rep. Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich, was stopped at a Connecticut sobriety checkpoint and ultimately charged with both driving under the influence and marijuana possession. In a floor speech the following Tuesday, the then-House minority leader said he was not under the influence. He s... |
10095 | Research shows benefits of cranberries | At Thanksgiving time it is not unusual for news organizations to roll out stories about health benefits of turkey or cranberries. This story reports on health claims without providing the reader with any data about the claims made. The article did not include information about the magnitude of benefit that one might re... | false | This story contained no estimates about cost, but again, we consider the price of cranberries and their juice as common knowledge. The story provides no quantitative assessment of the benefits presented. How big is the observed benefit? The story provides no information about potential harms associated with cranberry c... | |
4444 | Time ticks away at wild bison genetic diversity. | Evidence is mounting that wild North American bison are gradually shedding their genetic diversity across many of the isolated herds overseen by the U.S. government, weakening future resilience against disease and climate events in the shadow of human encroachment. | true | North America, Genetics, General News, Parks, National parks, Bison, Science, U.S. News | The extent of the creeping threat to herds overseen by the Department of Interior — the backbone of wild bison conservation efforts for North America — is coming into sharper focus amid advances in genetic studies. Preliminary results of a genetic population analysis commissioned by the National Park Service show three... |
35144 | Taking a few sips of water every 15 mins will prevent the new coronavirus from entering your windpipe and lungs. | The “serious excellent advice by Japanese doctors” text is often combined with other viral coronavirus claims including a paragraph about a “self-check” attributed to “Taiwan experts,” and a set of recommendations that begins with a claim about differentiating between a cold and COVID-19. Snopes addressed the “Taiwan e... | false | Medical, COVID-19 | Inaccurate messages about the new coronavirus are spreading and mutating online. One frequently copied and pasted bit of text that has gone viral on Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp purports to impart “serious excellent advice” from “Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases.” That “advice” asserts regular sips of water ... |
4351 | Evacuation order lifted after ‘inadvertent’ TB release. | Baltimore firefighters on Thursday cleared people out of two medical research buildings due to tuberculosis contamination, but authorities later said there was no risk of infection to anyone and the evacuation order was lifted. | true | U.S. News, Evacuations, Medical research, Tuberculosis, U.S. News, Baltimore | Kim Hoppe, a spokeswoman with Johns Hopkins Medicine, said a small sample of frozen tuberculosis was “inadvertently released” in an internal bridge between two cancer research buildings that don’t connect to the hospital. The release prompted the evacuation of both Hopkins research buildings in the early afternoon. Emp... |
31863 | "A Navy officer was arrested for ""abuse of public animal"" and ""drunken or reckless driving"" after he used a raccoon to bypass an ignition interlock system." | The Court of Appeal of Quebec upheld on Friday the bulk of a 2015 decision that awarded around C$15 billion ($11.29 billion)to smokers in the Canadian province, dealing a blow to Big Tobacco. | false | Viral Phenomena | The judgment involves class action suits that were consolidated against the Canadian subsidiaries of British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International, known respectively as Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc (RBH) and JTI-Macdonald Corp. The companies were ap... |
7469 | Mass testing to begin in Wuhan amid fears of virus comeback. | At least one community in the Chinese city of Wuhan was to begin testing residents for the new coronavirus Thursday after officials were given 10 days to test everyone in the city where the pandemic began, Chinese media reports said. | true | Beijing, Understanding the Outbreak, Health, General News, Wuhan, China, Asia Pacific, Virus Outbreak | About 1,000 residents of a compound in Qiaokou district were to be tested in groups, according to a website of Hubei TV, the official provincial broadcaster. No official announcement has been made, but district officials have confirmed receiving mass testing orders from the city’s coronavirus task force, the reports sa... |
2557 | Reality TV beauty show viewers more likely to tan: study. | College students who watch reality television beauty shows are at least twice as likely as non-viewers to use tanning lamps or tan outdoors for hours at a time, according to a U.S. study. | true | Health News | "The findings, which appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, doesn’t prove that simply watching shows such as America’s Next Top Model and Toddlers & Tiaras drives people to the tanning booths, researchers said. But it does suggest the shows aren’t promoting the healthiest views on tanning, whic... |
10038 | The Beep of the Sensor, the Thrill of Control | The article describes one man’s experience using a new combination glucose sensor and insulin pump for diabetes. The article explained some of the expenses (although it never gave the cost of the device itself), described the device and how this compared to the rest of the options, and described harms or disadvantages,... | mixture | The story does describe monthly testing supply costs for the new device ($350). However, the article could be improved by telling readers how much the actual device costs and/or comparing this to typical blood glucose testing monitors and supplies. There is no discussion about clinical outcomes, such as by how much it ... | |
5873 | University of California to dump fossil fuel investments. | The University of California is dumping fossil fuel investments from its nearly $84 billion pension and endowment funds because they are a financial risk, its top financial officers announced Tuesday. | true | General News, California, Endowments, Science | “Our job is to make money for the University of California, and we’re betting we can do that without fossil fuels investments,” said an opinion article in the Los Angeles Times written by Jagdeep Singh Bachher, UC’s chief investment officer and treasurer, and Richard Sherman, chair of the Board of Regents Investments C... |
31005 | "The makers of a television commercial for a car company were so ""freaked out"" by an apparent ""ghostly"" apparition in the raw footage that the ad was never released." | An actual television ad that pranked European viewers with a shock ending in 2005 has since been revived on the internet with a fabricated backstory. | false | Fauxtography Does a Never-Aired ‘Ghost Car’ Commercial Depict an Unexplained Supernatural Event?, Commercials, ghosts, k-fee | In late summer 2017, several unreliable web sites published identical reports alleging that the makers of a car commercial reluctantly decided never to air the ad because of a “ghostly” apparition the crew accidentally captured on film: Advertising companies can come up with a lot of brilliant ways to sell their produc... |
2718 | U.S. judge limits evidence in trial over Roundup cancer claims. | A federal judge overseeing lawsuits alleging Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based weed killer causes cancer has issued a ruling that could severely restrict evidence that the plaintiffs consider crucial to their cases. | true | Health News | U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco in an order on Thursday granted Bayer unit Monsanto’s request to split an upcoming trial into two phases. The order initially bars lawyers for plaintiff Edwin Hardeman from introducing evidence that the company allegedly attempted to influence regulators and manipulat... |
35934 | "American tycoon and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller wrote a ""masonic creed"" that started with the sentence: ""We will keep their lives short and their minds weak while pretending to do the opposite." | The above-displayed text has been online for nearly two decades. One hint that it was not penned by Rockefeller is that it mentions a number of modern inventions that were not widespread or didn’t exist during Rockefeller’s life, which ended in 1937. For example, this text mentions “video games,” but the first video ga... | false | Politics Quotes | A lengthy piece of text touching on a wide range of Illuminati-related conspiracy theories is frequently circulated on social media as if it were taken from a “Masonic Creed” written by John D. Rockefeller, a businessman who founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870 and who is widely regarded as the richest American in ... |
8338 | EU weighs new requirements for firms against biodiversity, pandemic risks. | The European Commission is considering whether to impose new reporting requirements on firms to shield them from growing risks of biodiversity loss and pandemics, a draft document shows, as the EU grapples with the COVID-19 outbreak. | true | Environment | The document is meant to attract comments from experts and the wider public on next possible legislative steps to strengthen financial sustainability. Among the issues on which Commission officials are seeking advice is linking managers’ bonuses with carbon reduction results and green capital requirements. The draft pu... |
37270 | Various stories and questions about Barack Obama. | Senator Barack Obama is a Moslem | false | Obama, Politics | Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in February, 2007. As with other high profile politicians there are stories and questions that began circulating on the Internet about him. There are several emails circulating that, in different ways, say that Obama is Muslim. In December 2009 a n... |
32873 | A recall was issued for Bumble Bee Tuna after human remains were found in the product. | In early 2017, an iteration of the “remains in tuna” fake news item (copied and reposted by a scraper “tips” site in late 2016) circulated. However, its details remained false and the appended image was identical to the one used in the original Racket Report fabrication. | false | Uncategorized, bumblebee tuna, health and diy tips, the racket report | In March 2016, Bumble Bee Foods announced a pre-emptive recall of some of their canned tuna products due to an issue with the sterilization process at a co-pack facility, even though no problems had been reported in association with the products: Bumble Bee Foods, LLC announced that it is voluntarily recalling 3 specif... |
3952 | Six deaths related to flu outbreak in Minnesota . | Minnesota health officials say an outbreak of early flu strains has contributed to the deaths of six people. | true | Health, Infectious diseases, General News, Flu, Minnesota | There were 60 cases of flu-like illness reported to the state last week, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. That’s a five-fold increase from the week before. The Department of Health says the flu continues to spread statewide, with cases reported in every region . It has hit children particularly hard, th... |
6433 | Southern Illinois Healthcare seeks trauma center status. | Southern Illinois Healthcare is taking steps to expand access to trauma care in the southern part of the state where the lack of trauma centers can add stress, cost and risk for those needing immediate attention. | true | Health, Illinois, Trauma, Carbondale, Indiana, Evansville | SIH Memorial Hospital has applied to the Illinois Department of Public Health for Level II Trauma Center designation, The Southern Illinoisan reported. The designation is important because the hospital doesn’t have a trauma center and the closest are in St. Louis and Evansville, Indiana, said Dr. Eduardo Smith Singares... |
26837 | “Breaking: UK Prepares For Full Lockdown After Hundreds Of New Cases — Wuhan Super Virus Updates.” | Only about a dozen coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the United Kingdom. British officials are monitoring the situation but have not taken steps toward any lockdown. | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "A split-screen video with a chyron broadcasting ""Breaking News"" exacerbates fears about the 2019 novel coronavirus, circulating mistruths about the state of the virus’ spread through the United Kingdom. The 22-minute video post being shared on Facebook starts by simultaneously rolling three videos under this headlin... |
29248 | The latest social media craze entails teens making videos of themselves snorting condoms into their nostrils and pulling them out through their mouths. | "What's true: YouTube videos, mostly dating from 2013, capture young people inhaling condoms into their nostrils as part of a so-called ""condom snorting challenge."" What's false: Despite an uptick in media hand-wringing over the alleged ""craze"" in 2018, few people appeared to have attempted it since the challenge f... | false | Viral Phenomena, condom snorting challenge, dares, viral challenges | Once you’ve watched someone inhale a condom through their nostril and pull it out of their mouth, it’s a hard thing to unsee. Where would one see such a thing, you might ask? On YouTube, of course, where people began uploading videos of themselves taking part in the so-called “condom snorting challenge” in 2013 (not to... |
2017 | Don't worry, be happy and live longer: scientific studies. | Today’s lesson: be happy, live longer. Now science seems to back the glass half-full approach. | true | Science News | A model laughs while talking to other models backstage before the Varanasi 2011 Fall/Winter collection show during Buenos Aires Fashion Week, February 22, 2011. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci A review of more than 160 studies on the connection between a positive state of mind and overall health and longevity has found “clear... |
11045 | Vaginal gel reduces preterm births in some women | Both stories hit many of our marks, but this one provided much needed independent commentary, provided a better explanation of the evidence and gave readers cost information and information about possible clinical applications that were either missing or confusing in the Times story. Preterm births can lead to serious ... | true | Associated Press | The story addresses costs in a much more straight forward way than the LA Times blog piece. It says, “Although the company didn’t address price, vaginal progesterone already is sold to treat different conditions, for roughly $20 for a day’s dose.” The story stated, “The women experienced no significant side effects” – ... |
1295 | Play predicts chilling future for Britain's prized health service. | A desperate mechanic driven to operate on his sick wife is the subject of a disturbing play which looks at the future of Britain’s prized public health service, shown at the Edinburgh Fringe. | true | Health News | “After the Cuts” is the dystopian story of Jim, a retired mechanic, and his wife Agnes who cannot afford medical treatment when she is diagnosed with cancer. Years into the future, healthcare in Britain is no longer free. The performance coincides with the celebration of the seventieth anniversary of Britain’s National... |
1588 | A rural retirement in Chernobyl's radioactive shadow. | Ninety-year-old Ivan Shamyanok says the secret to a long life is not leaving your birthplace, even when it is a Belarusian village poisoned with radioactive fallout from a nuclear disaster. | true | Environment | On April 26, 1986, a botched test at a nuclear plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, then a Soviet republic, sent clouds of smouldering nuclear material across swathes of Europe and forced more than 100,000 people to leave a permanently contaminated ‘exclusion zone’ stretching across the Ukraine-Belarus border. Shamyanok’s vill... |
38681 | Toe tourniquet syndrome happens when a piece of hair or string becomes wrapped so tightly around a baby’s toes that it cuts off circulation and sometimes leads to amputation. | The Dangers of String or Hair on Baby Toes | true | Health / Medical | Toe tourniquet syndrome is a real threat to babies, but it doesn’t happen very often. Warnings about the dangers of string or hair becoming tightly wrapped around a baby’s toe and cutting off circulation gained widespread attention in 2012. That’s the year author Pam Belluck’s book “Island Practice: Cobblestone Rash, U... |
12443 | Texas leads the country in animal deaths by sodium cyanide M-44s. | "Hudspeth wrote: ""Texas leads the country in animal deaths by sodium cyanide M-44s."" Texas would have ranked lower if each state’s tally were adjusted for population or land area, but Hudspeth’s claim was only that Texas had more animal deaths than any other." | true | Animals, Texas, Ann Hudspeth, | "A toxic bomb that kills wild animals and sometimes even pets should be banned, an Austin resident urged in a letter to the editor of the Austin American-Statesman. Ann Hudspeth stirred our curiosity by writing: ""Fourteen states are using cyanide bombs to kill wildlife — and Texas leads the country in animal deaths by... |
9620 | Breast cancer treatment shows benefit to extended treatment with aromotase inhibitors | This is a story about a new study on whether extending the use of letrozole (brand name Femara), a type of drug known as an aromatase inhibitor, reduces recurrence in breast cancer survivors. Women who have undergone treatment for hormone-receptor positive breast cancer typically take aromatase inhibitors for the subse... | true | aromatase inhibitors,breast cancer | The story mentions costs. Letrozole, the aromatase inhibitor used in the trial, is available as a generic for less than $100 a month. The benefit of continuing aromatase inhibitors for five additional years is presented clearly. The study shows that among hormone-receptor positive breast cancer survivors, the risk of r... |
25820 | “CDC reports, but media silent on truth about April 7 Wisc election” not causing a spike in COVID-19 cases. | The two-page CDC report didn’t exactly break any new ground - media outlets in Wisconsin and elsewhere had reported for months that the April 7 election didn’t generate any spike in COVID-19 cases. At the time of this tweet, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had already posted a story on the CDC finding. Other state news ... | false | Elections, Wisconsin, Dean Knudson, | "A member of the Wisconsin Election Commission unhappy with perceived lack of proper COVID-19 media coverage took to Twitter to voice his frustrations. Dean Knudson, one of six commissioners who oversee the state election system, focused on a July 31, 2020, report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventio... |
40948 | Italy has found that Covid-19 is actually disseminated intravascular coagulation (thrombosis). | This disease has been observed in Covid-19 patients but it’s not correct that patients have that and not Covid-19. | 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 ... |
1249 | Drug and medical suppliers say Brexit freight plans needed urgently. | Makers and suppliers of life-saving drugs and medical devices say they have still not been told by British authorities how their goods will be handled if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal at the end of October. | true | Health News | Some larger pharmaceutical companies have opted to make their own plans to replenish supplies of critical medicines in the event of a “no deal” Brexit, industry groups said on Friday, while others are aiming to book slots in the government’s air and ferry freight plan. Despite repeated and urgent requests to the govern... |
9040 | Direct-to-implant breast reconstruction provides good results in older women | The motivation for this study, in the words of the authors, seems to be: “half of all breast cancers occur in women over 65, yet only four to 14 percent of these women undergo reconstruction.” Most existing studies on breast reconstruction in older women focus on a technique involving gradual tissue expansion, followed... | mixture | breast cancer,breast reconstruction,Wolters Kluwer Health | This news release doesn’t mention the cost of either the new approach being studied (direct-to-implant, or DTI, breast reconstruction) or the widely used tissue expander/subsequent implant approach to which it’s compared. It also made no mention on whether Medicare would cover either procedure. Multiple follow-up benef... |
30119 | "Taylor Swift was photographed in the company of former NFL quarterback and ""take a knee"" protester Colin Kaepernick at a San Francisco nightclub." | Two other websites that reposted the same spurious article verbatim (astepaheadofeveryone.live and phoenixnews5.site) bore no such disclaimer. | false | Junk News, america's last line of defense, colin kaepernick, taylor swift | Pop songstress Taylor Swift made waves in early October 2018 by announcing she would vote for a Democratic senatorial candidate in Tennessee’s upcoming midterm election, breaking her longstanding silence on political issues, according to multiple press reports. The move earned Swift both kudos and jeers from the public... |
28180 | Colorado has offered free birth control for five years, leading to: a 40 percent drop in unintended pregnancy, a 42 percent drop in abortions, and millions of dollars in healthcare savings. | What's true: The state of Colorado's long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) funding initiative appeared to lead to a large drop in abortion, unintended pregnancy, and millions of dollars saved in prevented costs associated with childbirth. What's false: The statistics only reflected LARCs, not all birth control. | true | Politics, birth control, colorado | As early as August 2015, this meme circulated on social media, claiming that during a five-year period in Colorado, the availability of free birth control led to many positive outcomes: COLORADO HAS OFFERED FREE BIRTH CONTROL FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS AND HAS SEEN: * UNINTENDED PREGNANCIES DROP BY 40% * ABORTION FALL BY 42%... |
11308 | A daily aspirin to prevent cancer? Maybe. | This story about aspirin’s potential benefits in cancer prevention does a better job than some others we reviewed, yet this story still left a lot of gaps in the picture. The overall tone couched the potential benefits in cautious statements about the potential risks of aspirin and scitific uncertainties that this stud... | true | Cancer,NPR | This story does not discuss the cost of daily aspirin intake. Because the cost to individuals is low and well-known, we won’t insist on this point. Nevertheless, were a recommendation made for everyone to begin taking aspirin daily starting at age 45 the national price tag would be substantial. Readers would also benef... |
822 | Ebola spreads to remote, militia-run Congo territory. | Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed a new case of Ebola in the remote, militia-controlled territory of Walikale, hundreds of kilometers away from where previous cases near the border with Uganda and Rwanda occurred, the Health Ministry said overnight. | true | Health News | Pinga, the village where the case was reported, lies about 150 km (95 miles) northwest of Goma, one of the towns affected by the Ebola epidemic, and much further away from the epicenter of the epidemic in Butembo and Beni. The ministry data also showed a third case confirmed in South Kivu region, which on Friday report... |
1113 | Singapore makes second huge seizure of pangolin scales in days. | Singapore intercepted a second shipping container packed full of pangolin scales destined for Vietnam in less than a week, authorities said on Wednesday, a combined haul that set a new record for the global transit hub. | true | Environment | The seizure of 12.7 tonnes of scales, worth an estimated $38 million, follows last week’s haul of 12.9 tonnes. The scales in that seizure, the biggest of its kind worldwide in five years, were said to have come from about 17,000 pangolins. “The container was declared to have contained cassia seeds,” Singapore’s Nationa... |
22975 | "We’ve been able to create about 60,000 net new jobs"" in Virginia since February." | Bob McDonnell says Virginia has gained 60,000 jobs since he became governor | true | Jobs, Virginia, Bob McDonnell, | "It’s all about jobs, Gov. Bob McDonnell says. During an Election Day interview, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough hailed McDonnell as the ""Elvis"" of the job creation message that moved voters this fall. ""You started this in 2009 before anyone got this,"" Scarborough told the governor, referring to McDonnell’s pledge to c... |
21484 | Mayor Fung wants to punish our children's education by removing 12 million dollars from current funding to pay for his private charter school. Your taxes would increase by between 6 and 8 percent per year. | Robocall says Cranston mayoral academy would increase taxes 6 percent to 8 percent | false | Rhode Island, Children, City Budget, Deficit, Education, State Budget, Taxes, Richard Tomlins, | "Last month, many residents of Cranston received an anonymous recorded call with a message delivered by an authoritative-sounding male voice warning: ""Parents, teachers, students and taxpayers. On Wednesday, Aug. 24, at 5 p.m. in front of the Cranston City Hall there will be a rally to save Cranston's award-winning s... |
7955 | Battle against coronavirus turns to Italy; Wall Street falls on pandemic fears. | The coronavirus death toll climbed to seven in Italy on Monday and several Middle East countries were dealing with their first infections, sending markets into a tailspin over fears of a global pandemic even as China eased curbs with no new cases reported in Beijing and other cities. | true | Health News | While health experts have expected limited outbreaks beyond China, the rapid acceleration of cases in Italy going from three on Friday to 220 on Monday is concerning, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement. Just as China put cities on lockdown, Italian authorities sealed off the worst-affected towns, c... |
8796 | Hormone therapy safe in early menopause: researchers. | Women entering menopause should not worry about hormone replacement therapy — despite a highly publicized study that put off many woman from the drugs, an international panel of experts said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | Researchers told a global menopause summit in Madrid that a 2002 study which discouraged many women from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was flawed, as the subject group was relatively old and suffered from other conditions that all boosted risk. Amos Pines, chairman of the International Menopause Society, said ... |
3674 | Rural Kansas struggles to attract psychiatrists. | Psychiatrists are so hard to come by in some rural parts of Kansas that out-of-state doctors now commonly treat patients through video conference. | true | Health, General News, Kansas, Topeka, Mental health | Kansas, like the rest of the U.S., is seeing an increase in patients seeking mental health treatment. The state can’t find enough doctors, nurses and therapists to treat them, and providers say the problem is worse in the state’s least-populated rural areas. The Kansas News Service reported that the High Plains Mental ... |
11389 | Moderate drinking may help men with high blood pressure | "This ""brief"" reports on the results of a study looking at alcohol consumption and risk for heart disease among men who have high blood pressure. That moderate alcohol consumption reduces heart disease risk is not a new idea, however recommending it in individuals with high blood pressure is controversial given that ... | mixture | The story does not mention the cost of having one or two drinks a day, but most people know what the tab can be. So we consider this criterion not applicable for this story. The story does not quantify the benefits of moderate drinking. The story only provided qualitative descriptions of the benefits. Readers deserve t... | |
26218 | "Priorities USA Action Says President Donald Trump is trying to make $451 billion in Medicare cuts ""in the middle of a deadly pandemic." | The timeline of events doesn’t support this statement. The $451 billion figure is accurate, but presented in a misleading way. It is not a direct program cut to beneficiaries. Instead, it is the result of lowering payments to providers. It also reflects a 10-year budget window. | false | Medicare, Health Check, Coronavirus, Priorities USA Action, | "Priorities USA Action, a Democratic super PAC, announced a new digital and TV ad series criticizing President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Among the ads is a 15-second spot, titled ""Pause,"" that alleges Trump is trying to cut Medicare during the global health emergency. ""Our lives are on pau... |
6174 | Minnesota poultry farmers warily watch bird flu outbreaks. | Poultry farmers in Minnesota are cautiously watching the spread of bird flu in Europe and Asia. | true | Health, Flu, Minnesota, Bird flu, Infectious diseases | The World Health Organization is on “high alert” because the virus has been found in 40 countries around the world since last fall and is spreading quickly, Minnesota Public Radio (http://bit.ly/2kAR42I ) reported. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and P... |
37530 | In 2013's The Purge, a surveillance feed of near-future societal breakdown in Celina, Ohio and Warren, Rhode Island was dated March 21 and 22 2020. | Was ‘The Purge’ Feed Set on March 22 2020? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | One in five Americans were on official coronavirus lockdown on March 21 2020, and many of those Americans watched movies to pass the time — leading to a rumor that those viewing 2013’s The Purge spotted surveillance feed video in the film dated March 21 and 22 2020:While watching the purge (2013) in quarantine i see t... |
4938 | Pollution fears: Swollen rivers swamp ash dumps, hog farms. | Flooded rivers from Florence’s drenching rains have swamped coal ash dumps and low-lying hog farms, raising pollution concerns as the swollen waterways approach their crests Monday. | true | Floods, North Carolina, Wilmington, North America, Environment, AP Top News, Hurricanes, U.S. News, Pollution | North Carolina environmental regulators say several open-air manure pits at hog farms have failed, spilling pollution. State officials also were monitoring the breach of a Duke Energy coal ash landfill near Wilmington. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan said Monday that the earthen dam at one h... |
29316 | A photograph shows two men standing on a road in front of a tornado in Oklahoma in 1898. | A centuries-old photograph purportedly showing a tornado in Oklahoma is actually an early example of composite photography. | false | Fauxtography, fake photos, fauxtography, oklahoma | In May 1898, a tornado touched down in Waynoka, Oklahoma. At the time, a photograph purportedly showing two men on a road watching the twister was published in contemporary newspapers such as Philadelphia Press. Many years later, the image reappeared and made the usual viral rounds on social media, now bearing claims t... |
8496 | World's biggest water fight cancelled as Thailand combats coronavirus. | Thais will have to find another way to cool off this year after the government called off the annual water festival that celebrates the Buddhist New Year to curb the outbreak of the new coronavirus. | true | Health News | Thailand usually celebrates its traditional new year or Songkran from April 13 to 15, when crowds pack the streets in a boisterous festival, spraying water guns and hurling water off pick-up trucks in a free-for-all water fight. Thailand has reported 2,579 confirmed cases and 40 fatalities since the outbreak began in J... |
3966 | Elanco becomes 2nd largest animal health co after $7.6B deal. | Elanco Animal Health will spend $7.6 billion to acquire Bayer AG’s veterinary medicines business, which would make it the second-largest animal health company. | true | Indianapolis, Health, General News, Animal health, Business, Indiana | Elanco said Tuesday that it will pay $5.3 billion, or about 70% of the total price, in cash and the rest in stock. The deal would mean that half of Elanco’s overall business would be in the lucrative pet products market. The other half would be generated by livestock related sales. Company shares fell nearly 4% in earl... |
10619 | ‘Breakthrough’ melanoma drug shrinks tumors, may prolong life* | "Clearly, in the big picture, we liked this story. It addressed most of our criteria. Our negative comments are about structure not the reporting. We found the story online. We didn’t see the print version. The sidebar could have been easily missed. (In fact, we’ve been criticized by various USA Today staffers in the p... | true | "This was the only one of the three competing stories we reviewed which mentioned costs. While an accurate estimate of the new drug’s costs can’t be provided at this early stage of development, the story tells us that other new cancer therapies cost $5,000 to $7,000 a month. If more stories even attempted this kind of ... | |
3533 | Second Illinois residents dies of vaping-related lung damage. | The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting a second state resident has died after being hospitalized for a vaping-related lung injury. | true | Patient privacy, Health, Injuries, Vaping, Illinois, Public health | The department on Thursday refused to give the patient’s identity, age or where they died, citing patient privacy concerns. Illinois’ health department in August reported the nation’s first death related to vaping. According to the department, 153 people in Illinois, ranging in age from 13 to 66 years old, with a media... |
8971 | Preliminary Data from Study Demonstrates 94% Accuracy in Detecting Aggressive Prostate Cancer | This news release is about a blood test intended to more specifically define a man’s likelihood of having a high-grade prostate cancer tumor. It alerts readers several times to the preliminary nature of the small “proof of concept” study. However, highlighting a “94% accuracy” in the headline and lead paragraph is unju... | false | cancer screening,prostate cancer,VolitionRx | Although this blood test is still experimental, the company must have some idea about how much it thinks it will charge if it ever gets into clinical use. Another way the release could have addressed cost, absent an estimated cost for this test, would be to comment on the cost of a PSA, other similar blood tests this c... |
10192 | Eylea outperforms Avastin for diabetic macular edema with moderate or worse vision loss | Results from a two-year comparative effectiveness randomized clinical trial are summarized in this news release from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The trial compared aflibercept (marketed as Eylea), bevacizumab (Avastin) and ranibizumab (Lucentis) in the treatment of 660 people with vision loss caused by dia... | true | diabetes,Government agency news release,Health care costs | The release states that based on Medicare allowable charges, each injection of Eylea costs $1,850, Lucentis is $1,200 per injection and Avastin is $60 per injection. Patients received nine monthly injections, on average. This is good detail, although total costs of all treatments (medication plus laser) would have been... |
8486 | Singapore about-turns on masks, making them compulsory in virus fight. | Singapore made it mandatory to wear masks in public from Tuesday to prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus, a turnaround from authorities’ initial advice as evidence grows that undetected cases may be more prevalent than thought. | true | Health News | When the virus broke out in the city-state nearly three months ago, officials told locals to wear masks only if they were sick, to avoid transmitting the infection. But in the last few days, authorities have started advising the use of masks and made them compulsory in certain places like public transport. “The minute ... |
8423 | Explainer: Why are some South Koreans who recovered from the coronavirus testing positive again?. | South Korean health officials are investigating several possible explanations for a small but growing number of recovered coronavirus patients who later test positive for the virus again. | true | Health News | Among the main possibilities are re-infection, a relapse, or inconsistent tests, experts say. South Korea had reported 141 such cases as of Thursday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). RE-INFECTION OR RELAPSE? Although re-infection would be the most concerning scenario because of ... |
7881 | Ford, GE to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days. | Ford Motor Co said on Monday it will produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days at a plant in Michigan in cooperation with General Electric’s healthcare unit, and can then build 30,000 per month as needed to treat patients afflicted with the coronavirus. | true | Health News | Ford said the simplified ventilator design, which is licensed by GE Healthcare from Florida-based Airon Corp and has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, can meet the needs of most COVID-19 patients and relies on air pressure without the need for electricity. Officials in states hard hit by the pandemic ha... |
23865 | "Of hospitals in Rick Scott’s Columbia/HCA health care company, ""A top executive said they even turned away a poor man and left him to die outside their door." | Group's ad attacks Rick Scott over history as Columbia/HCA CEO | false | Health Care, Message Machine 2010, Florida, Florida First Initiative, | "With his multi-millions and meteoric rise to frontrunner status in the Republican gubernatorial primary, former Columbia/HCA hospital CEO Rick Scott has become a formidable figure in Florida politics.Look no further than a new attack ad by Florida First Initiative that paints Scott as a ruthless moneyman whose success... |
11398 | Kidney cancer drug gets FDA approval | This story discusses FDA approval of a new drug, Nexavar, for the treatment of advanced kidney cancer. There is a claim that it is a “major advance” in the treatment of this type of cancer, but it does not cure cancer and there is no mention if overall survival is improved in patients who took this drug. Nexavar only s... | false | No mention of cost and no cost comparison with existing treatments. The story allows an FDA scientist to call this a “major advance” in the treatment of this type of cancer, but the story doesn’t even mention if overall survival is improved in patients who took this drug. The quantitative results that are given are mea... | |
9302 | Study: Civic engagement may stave off brain atrophy, improve memory | This news release describes a small study that appears to show an increase in brain volume and improved memory among some low-income seniors who participated in a civic engagement program. We say “appears” because it’s debatable whether the study did, in fact, show any such benefits. In the results section of this stud... | mixture | Baltimore Experience Corps,Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health | The program under study welcomes study participants as volunteers, so there is no “cost” to them. It is not a drug or device, but we still might encourage the next release to quantify the costs a bit better. Bare minimum Satisfactory for this mention: “Experience Corps is a national program, however it can be costly an... |
8633 | French coronavirus death toll hits new high as nursing home tally swells. | The total number of deaths from the coronavirus in France reached a new high on Saturday as the government included more previously unreported deaths in nursing homes. | true | Health News | The health ministry reported 441 new deaths from COVID-19 in the country’s hospitals on Saturday - less than the high of 588 reported on Friday - for a total hospital death tally of 5,532. For the third day in a row, the ministry also reported the cumulative tally of deaths in nursing homes since the start of the epide... |
3972 | Judge orders Australian animal health firm to repay $33K. | An Australian animal health company has been ordered to repay some of the incentives it received from the Kansas city of Lawrence and Douglas County after abandoning its offices in the area. | true | Lawrence, Health, Kansas, Animal health, Local governments | Douglas County District Court Judge Amy Hanley recently ruled that Integrated Animal Health breached its incentives contract with the local governments and must pay back more than $33,300, the Lawrence Journal-World reported . But Lawrence officials said it’s unlikely they’ll be able to recoup the money because the Aus... |
2428 | High-tech lives spur back-to-basic fitness workouts. | While people are becoming more dependent on high-tech gadgets in many areas of life, fitness experts say they are turning back to basics for their workout routines. | true | Health News | They see more exercisers shedding prop-heavy fitness classes for short-burst, equipment-free workouts. “It’s my theory that we’ve hit a critical mass in group fitness,” said Donna Cyrus, senior vice president of programming Crunch Fitness. “Mats, Bosu (stability) balls, body bars: by the time you put all this stuff on ... |
1891 | Double agricultural research to help world's poorest: Bill Gates. | The world needs at least to double its spending on agricultural research if it is to produce reliable crops and improve the lives of the one billion people who battle starvation every day, Bill Gates said in an interview on Tuesday. | true | Environment | A Kashmiri woman carrying fodder for her cattle on her head walks on a cold day in Srinagar January 4, 2012. REUTERS/Fayaz Kabli A day before flying to Davos to meet political and business leaders, Gates said he was concerned the austerity drive in Europe could lead to a fall in foreign aid spending, setting back the f... |
7990 | Dubai to support Emirates airline, halts tourist market to fight coronavirus. | Dubai said on Tuesday it would help its state-run Emirates airline mitigate the financial blow from the coronavirus outbreak as authorities enforced a full lockdown on a district famous for gold and spice markets. | true | Health News | The United Arab Emirates, the Gulf region’s tourism and business hub which includes Dubai, has taken measures including temporarily halting passenger flights and launching a nationwide disinfection drive as the disease spreads. Total infections in the six Gulf Arab states surpassed 4,000 on Tuesday, with 22 deaths, aft... |
8729 | In dramatic step, Trump restricts travel from Europe to US to fight coronavirus. | President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed sweeping restrictions to prevent people from 26 European countries from traveling to the United States for a month as he responded to mounting pressure to take action against the spread of the coronavirus. | true | Health News | The president took the dramatic step in a somber Oval Office speech as he battled to address the health and economic shocks to Americans from the sometimes fatal virus and responded to criticism he has not taken the threat seriously enough. The travel order does not apply to the United Kingdom and Ireland, and does not... |
9350 | Experimental blood test could detect melanoma skin cancer early, study finds | The story provides a review of early research examining an experimental blood test for the detection of melanoma. The addition of the comments from an unaffiliated expert place the research into context and provide important caveats to the study. But early on the story makes a bold claim that the test could save thousa... | true | melanoma | This test, since it involves ten separate autoantibody antigens is likely to be expensive. A test to determine breast cancer recurrence risk, Oncotype DX cost approximately $3,000. It is unclear how often a blood test for melanoma would need to be repeated, so the cost will be an important consideration, and should hav... |
10177 | Although criticized as highly expensive additions to an already costly health care system, robotic surgery systems begin to earn their keep. | This newspaper article describes increasing adoption of the daVinci surgical robot in the state of Minnesota. It provides useful specifics to demonstrate the increased use. It also discusses two incidents in which the device appears to have been used successfully and appropriately. But the article suffers from several ... | mixture | "The article says the daVinci devices have ""a million dollar price tag."" But it does not say whether any of this cost is passed along to insurers and patients in the form of higher costs. The story also mentions the possibility that hospital costs will be reduced but does not provide any data to back it up. Nonethele... | |
2550 | Science cafes offer a sip of learning. | Americans may be turning away from the hard sciences at universities, but they are increasingly showing up at “science cafes” in local bars and restaurants to listen to scientific talks over a drink or a meal. | true | Science News | Want a beer with that biology? Or perhaps a burger with the works to complement the theory of everything? Science cafes have sprouted in almost every state including a tapas restaurant near downtown Orlando where Sean Walsh, 27, a graphic designer, describes himself and his friends as some of the laymen in the crowd. “... |
141 | Australia to fund research on medicinal cannabis as demand grows. | Australia will provide A$3 million ($2.03 million) for research on the use of cannabis to help cancer patients, its health minister said on Sunday, as the demand for medicinal cannabis products grows rapidly. | true | Health News | While legal in most of Australia, such products are allowed only to patients on the prescription of a doctor, and a license is required to grow and make medicinal cannabis. On Sunday, Health Minister Greg Hunt said access had been permitted to more than 11,000 patients, with most approvals this year. “There have only b... |
4991 | Volunteers battle health crisis of asylum seekers in Mexico . | When the Honduran boy complained of a toothache, Dr. Psyche Calderon asked the obvious question: “When did the pain start?” | true | Mexico, Health, General News, Immigration, Asylum seekers, Central America, United States | The answer broke her heart. “When La Mara broke all my teeth and killed all my family,” the 14-year-old said. He said little else about the attack by the infamous Central American gang, La Mara Salvatrucha. Just: “I was the only one that survived.” Calderon is not a therapist, nor a lawyer or a dentist. She is a genera... |
28827 | After the Orlando shooting, President Obama recruited Laila Alawa to serve on an anti-violent extremism Department of Homeland Security task force. | "What's true: In 2015, Laila Alawa participated in a panel discussion for the ""Homeland Security Advisory Council Countering Violent Extremism Subcommittee."" What's false: Alawa wasn't employed by the DHS, her appointment to an advisory council was not made by President Obama, she isn't a Syrian refugee, and she didn... | mixture | Politics Conspiracy Theories, daily caller, department of homeland security, laila alawa | One day after the Pulse Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, the web site Daily Caller published an article reporting that a sitting member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council is a Syrian immigrant who said that 9/11 “changed the world for good” and has “consistently disparaged America” on social media: Laila... |
34260 | In August 2018, President Donald Trump colored a stripe blue on a U.S. flag template. | We sent the White House several questions about this episode but did not receive a response in time for publication. | unproven | Politics, donald trump | President Donald Trump has fought a symbolic battle during his tenure in the White House against National Football League players and staff who have protested racial injustice by kneeling or refusing to stand on the field during the playing of the U.S. national anthem. Trump has consistently emphasized the importance o... |
3021 | Infected Douglas County deer traced to Pine County farm. | Investigators have traced a deer on a Douglas County farm that was infected with chronic wasting disease to a farm in Pine County that supplied the animal, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health said Friday. | true | Animals, Health, Deer, Minnesota, Animal health | A doe on the Pine County farm that tested positive has been put down and the eight other deer still alive there will be destroyed, board spokesman Michael Crusan said. The herd owner is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on compensation. Both deer that were living on the Douglas County farm were killed ear... |
17587 | By using a little-known loophole ... Obama minions are allowing Nestle Company to export precious fresh water out of Lake Michigan. | "Bloggers have said that ""by using a little-known loophole ... Obama minions are allowing Nestle Co. to export precious fresh water out of Lake Michigan."" There is an ongoing debate over whether Great Lakes water should be sold commercially out of the region, but Obama’s role in creating, approving and enforcing the ... | false | Environment, National, Corporations, Legal Issues, Regulation, States, Bloggers, | "These days, President Barack Obama gets blamed for a lot of things -- the glitchy rollout of the healthcare.gov website, an unusually slow economic recovery, an out-of-control electronic surveillance network. But is he also at fault for selling off Lake Michigan’s water to the highest bidder? Several readers recently ... |
40146 | Warnings on Facebook have gone viral alleging that using Huggies Snug and Dry diapers on babies could result in second degree chemical burns. | Second Degree Chemical Burns from Huggies Diapers | unproven | Household, Warnings | TruthOrFiction.Com was contacted a spokesperson at Kimberly-Clark who gave us an official statement saying that “there is no indication that this complaint is part of any larger product issues.” The statement also said that such customer complaints are rare but when Kimberly-Clark hears about them they follow up to en... |
9533 | SWEAT IT OUT! SKIN PATCH AIMS TO TEST SWEAT FOR HEALTH | This story covers a study on the accuracy and durability of a microfluidic skin patch that collects sweat and analyzes it with the help of a smartphone. Researchers found the device detected lactate, glucose, and chloride ion concentrations as well as sweat pH while sticking to the skin of 21 athletes during a controll... | false | medical devices | The cost of this patch or of a comparison approach involving sending absorbent pads to a lab aren’t addressed. The story doesn’t give quantified benefits because there aren’t any–and it should have made that point much stronger versus expanding on speculative uses for the device. We’re told a study “found it worked on ... |
26544 | "The government is closing businesses to stop the spread of coronavirus even though ""the numbers are nothing compared to H1N1 or Ebola. Everyone needs to realize our government is up to something ...”" | A few days after President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus a national emergency and cautioned against gathering in groups, a Facebook post accusing the government of being “up to something” went viral in Pennsylvania. Any suggestion that the coronavirus isn’t real or that it’s part of a government conspiracy is a... | false | National, Coronavirus, Pennsylvania, Facebook posts, | "A few days after President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus a national emergency and cautioned against gathering in groups, a Facebook post accusing the government of being ""up to something"" went viral in Pennsylvania. Here’s the full post: ""Is anyone paying attention to the bigger picture? And not what the me... |
665 | Moo-ving to the future? Cows try 'Floating Farm' in Rotterdam. | Dutch businesswoman Minke van Wingerden looks on proudly as one of her 32 brown-and-white cows makes a pit stop at an automated milking station on an unusual farm: a platform located on one of the waterways in Rotterdam port. | true | Environment | Van Wingerden is one of the developers of the “Floating Farm”, testing whether small-scale, sustainable dairy farming is feasible in the heart of one of the world’s most urban, industrial areas - far away from rolling green fields of a traditional agribusiness. “This idea started in 2012, my partner Peter he was involv... |
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