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30468 | "An ""extreme snuff film"" in which Hillary Clinton and aide Huma Abedin are seen raping and mutilating a prepubescent girl is circulating on the dark web under the code name ""Frazzledrip." | "Conspiracy theory web sites reported that Clinton can be seen mutilating a child during a Satanic ritual in an online video code-named ""Frazzledrip.""" | false | Politics Conspiracy Theories, #QAnon, fake news, hillary clinton | Somewhere on the dark web there exists a video of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and longtime aide Huma Abedin raping and mutilating a young child — at least, according to web sites devoted to promulgating outrageous “deep state” conspiracy theories. A YourNewsWire.com article published on 15 April 2018 repo... |
21951 | "Randi Shade Says opponent Kathie Tovo ""believes that Austin invests too much in the cops, firefighters and paramedics that protect our families and neighborhoods." | Randi Shade says Kathie Tovo believes Austin invests too much in cops, firefighters and paramedics | true | City Budget, City Government, Public Safety, Texas, Randi Shade, | "Randi Shade, the Austin City Council member in a June 18 runoff, says in a mailer sent voters after the May general election that her challenger, Kathie Tovo, ""believes that Austin invests too much in the cops, firefighters and paramedics that protect our families and neighborhoods."" In the mailer, Shade traces her ... |
35078 | A list documents U.S. President Donald Trump's various statements about the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus disease. | What's true: The statements on this list are all correctly attributed to President Trump. What's false: However, this is not an exhaustive list of every comment Trump made about the coronavirus, nor does it represent all the actions his administration took during the COVID-19 pandemic. | true | Politics, COVID-19 | "On March 17, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that he had known the new coronavirus would result in a pandemic “long before it was called a pandemic.” But this statement rung hollow for some listeners, who noted that Trump had been downplaying the COVID-19 coronavirus disease since it first started spr... |
29212 | Pope Francis granted diplomatic immunity to a Vatican diplomat suspected of child pornography offenses in the United States. | What's true: The Vatican City, led by its head of state Pope Francis, refused an American request to waive Monsignor Carlo Alberto Capella's diplomatic immunity, closing off the possibility of Capella's being prosecuted in the U.S. on child pornography charges. What's false: Pope Francis did not grant diplomatic immuni... | false | Politics | In June 2018, a court in the Vatican City convicted and sentenced Monsignor Carlo Alberto Capella, a former diplomat, after he admitted to possessing and distributing child pornography while commissioned in the United States. In response, YourNewsWire.com — which has a long history of publishing misleading and inaccura... |
9728 | Some with early-stage breast cancer can skip chemo, study says | A study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) looked into the most common type of breast cancer – early stage, without spread to lymph nodes and hormone positive, meaning the tumor’s growth is promoted by estrogen and/or progesterone. According to the Associated Press article on the study, more than 100,000 wom... | true | genetic testing | The story states the Oncotype gene test costs $4,175 and adds that many insurers, as well as Medicare, cover it. In the low risk population, women who had foregone chemotherapy had less than a 1 percent chance of cancer occurrence at another faraway spot, the story says. It also mentions that 16 percent of the 10,253 s... |
35352 | Tanzania President John Magufuli secretly sent specimens from a fruit, quail, and goat to a lab testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus disease in humans — and the results came back positive. | The following day, the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news network published a new story with the headline, “Tanzania COVID-19 lab head suspended as president questions data,” including the president’s claim regarding the fruit and animals. | unproven | Politics, COVID-19 | In early May 2020, as the reported number of people infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus disease worldwide exceeded 1.2 million, people suspicious of the news media and politicians’ portrayal of the pandemic began widely sharing social media posts that claimed Tanzania President John Magufuli sent non-human samples to ... |
22669 | Despite claims that you can 'keep the health care plan you like,' the Obama Administration has predicted that as many as 7 out of 10 Americans with employer-provided health coverage could lose their current health plan. | Rep. Blake Farenthold says health care law will force 70 percent of workers to lose their current plan | false | National, Health Care, Workers, Blake Farenthold, | "On Jan. 23, 2011, Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas -- a freshman lawmaker who ousted a Democratic incumbent in 2010 -- wrote an op-ed in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times explaining his decision to vote to repeal the Democratic-backed health care law. One of the reasons he cited was this: ""Despite claims that you can 'k... |
10957 | Study backs dual therapy for brain cancer: Method parallels Kennedy regimen | This is a solid, concise report on the benefits of adding chemotherapy to radiation treatment for brain cancer. It does a good job reporting the key findings of benefit responsibly and clearly, using both absolute and relative terms. It also describes the methodology and caveats. The reader comes away understanding tha... | true | "The story fails to report the costs of the treatments alone and together. As a matter of course, costs should be reported, even when not central to the story’s theme. The story does a solid job of presenting the benefits in absolute terms with the most relevant clinical endpoint–10 percent of people who got the combin... | |
2016 | Study underlines cannabis link to psychosis. | People who use cannabis in their youth dramatically increase their risk of psychotic symptoms, and continued use of the drug can raise the risk of developing a psychotic disorder in later life, scientists said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | In a 10-year study of links between cannabis use and psychosis, Dutch researchers found that cannabis use almost doubled the risk of later psychotic symptoms. Experts commenting on the results said the major challenge for health authorities was to deter enough young people from using cannabis so that rates of psychosis... |
4098 | South Alabama researchers to aid in study of West Nile virus. | Researchers from the University of South Alabama are working on a study to learn more about deadly West Nile virus. | true | Health, General News, Infectious diseases, Alabama, West Nile virus, United States | Genetic material from infected mosquitoes will be sent to Yale University, according to a statement from South Alabama. Workers at Yale’s public health school will sequence DNA to help understand how the virus and spread over the last two decades in the United States. “They are looking at how the virus has evolved over... |
28132 | Since 1968, more Americans have been killed by guns than have been killed in all wars in U.S. history. | What's true: The number of gun deaths in the U.S. since 1968 exceeds even relatively high estimates of the number of deaths in all wars in American history and among U.S. military personnel in conflicts abroad. What's false: The gap between the two totals may be significantly smaller than stated in some versions of thi... | true | Politics | In the aftermath of the 1 October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, the American public attempted to come to grips with the scale of gun violence in the United States. One oft-cited statistic posted in social media by “The Other 98%” maintained that 1.3 million Americans had been killed in all the wars in U.S. history, ... |
27420 | Essential oils can be poisonous to pets. | In 2014, another Facebook user, Julie Muzynoski Miklaszewicz, also shared her story about her cat being affected by a diffuser, though in her case the animal lived, although it suffered chemical burns after knocking the device over. | true | Medical, ASPCA, birds, cats | A Michigan woman’s online account of her family cat’s brush with eucalyptus oil used in a diffuser spurred concern among fellow pet lovers on social media — and experts say those worries have some truth to them. Sue Murray said in her 7 January 2018 post that she had unwittingly poisoned the cat, Ernie, by using a diff... |
8636 | Exclusive: Pressed by Trump, U.S. pushed unproven coronavirus treatment guidance. | In mid-March, President Donald Trump personally pressed federal health officials to make malaria drugs available to treat the novel coronavirus, though they had been untested for COVID-19, two sources told Reuters. | true | Health News | Shortly afterward, the federal government published highly unusual guidance informing doctors they had the option to prescribe the drugs, with key dosing information based on unattributed anecdotes rather than peer-reviewed science. While Trump, in a series of tweets and press comments, had made his opinions on the dru... |
17499 | "On foreign policy, Joe Biden was against aid for Vietnam, said the fall of the Shah was ""a step forward"" for human rights in Iran, opposed Reagan's defense build-up and voted against the first Gulf War." | Gates’ assessments of Biden’s positions on South Vietnamese aid, the Reagan defense build-up and the first Gulf War are accurate, according to our research. However, we found no solid evidence that Biden actually said the fall of the Shah was a step forward for human rights in Iran. Experts will continue to debate whet... | true | National, Bush Administration, Foreign Policy, History, Homeland Security, Iraq, Military, Robert Gates, | "A new memoir from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates hit the book shelves this month, drawing both praise and criticism for its candid insights into the two most recent presidents Gates worked for, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and their administrations. Washington reporters immediately latched on to Gates’ port... |
4937 | NC woman charged after taking in animals during hurricane. | A woman who took in more than two dozen dogs and cats during Hurricane Florence has been charged with practicing veterinary medicine without a license. | true | Goldsboro, Veterinary medicine | Tammie Hedges, founder of Crazy’s Claws N Paws animal rescue, was arrested Friday after 27 dogs and cats were confiscated from a temporary shelter. Hedges told the News-Argus of Goldsboro she felt she had to help the animals brought to her during the storm. Hedges said she gave amoxicillin to some sick animals and also... |
21648 | Social Security doesn’t contribute a penny to the deficit. | UPDATED: Retiree group says Social Security doesn't contribute a penny to U.S. deficit | false | Deficit, Federal Budget, Social Security, Texas, Alliance for Retired Americans, | "CORRECTION, Sept. 29, 2011: This fact check originally said that without changes in law, the Social Security trust fund is projected to be exhausted in 2036. That is incorrect, a reader pointed out, though 2036 is the year Social Security is expected to no longer cover full benefits--again, barring changes in law. Thi... |
40831 | There are fewer doctors and nurses employed in mental health. | There are around 5,000 fewer nurses specialising mental health between August 2010 and 2017. The number of fully trained doctors specialising in psychiatry and psychotherapy has also gone down by 105 over the same time, but if you count junior doctors the number has increased. | true | mental-health | 4,300 more staff employed in mental health trusts since 2013. This is not how many mental health specialist staff there are. It is the increase in all staff in English trusts with over half their outpatient activity in mental health specialities. Some of the staff were effectively re-categorised into the mental health ... |
26291 | Hospitals get paid $750 for patients who die from the flu, $17,500 for COVID-19. | Amounts paid to hospitals can vary based on the payer; private insurers typically pay much more than Medicare. Medicare pays hospitals based primarily on the diagnosis, and the amount is not affected by whether a patient dies. The $17,500 corresponds to an average of what Medicare might pay for one type of COVID-19 pat... | false | Medicare, Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Medicare is adding 20% to its regular reimbursements to hospitals for the treatment of COVID-19 victims. That’s a result of a federal stimulus law that was passed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But do hospitals get paid 23 times as much for a patient who dies from COVID-19 as for a patient who dies from the ... |
22973 | Nobody has played clips over and over ... of President Obama (saying), 'If they bring a knife to the fight, we'll bring a gun.' | Radio host Joyce Kaufman claims candidate Obama said he'd tote a gun | true | Candidate Biography, Pundits, Florida, Joyce Kaufman, | "All that talk about complicated matters such as Social Security and deficits and tax brackets can get a little wonky in the midst of campaigns and the post-election season. So it's not that unusual for a candidate, a politician -- or a talk show host -- to hammer home a point with a touch of violent rhetoric. And when... |
26320 | Facebook post Says gloves shouldn’t be worn in public because “if you are wearing the same set of gloves all over town you are only spreading germs everywhere you go.” | Health experts say the general public should not wear gloves. Frequent hand-washing is all that’s needed to protect against the flu and COVID-19. Wearing gloves doesn’t really protect the wearer since the coronavirus doesn’t seep in through skin, and they don’t inhibit disease spread since they pass the virus between s... | true | Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Face masks have become a go-to accessory in America’s grocery stores and remaining public areas, with some prominent retailers even requiring them for entry. But many shoppers have taken it on themselves to go a step further — donning gloves as well. This pseudo-surgical garb may feel safer, but is it? One business th... |
11494 | New Doubts About Popular Joint Surgery | This story takes a skeptical look at the heavily marketed procedures known as minimally invasive total joint replacements. It does a nice job of pointing out the problems patients are experiencing, the surgeons’ relatively steep learning curve with the new techniques and tools, and the absence of long-term data compari... | true | The story cites a cost of ~$40,000 exclusive of hospital costs, and says this is roughly the same as traditional total joint replacement. The story’s focus is on harms of treatment, but readers are left wondering about its purported benefits. (e.g. cutting less tissue and muscle, shorter scar, quicker recovery, less po... | |
24587 | Republicans Chuck Grassley, John Boehner and John Mica flip-flopped on providing end-of-life counseling for the elderly. | Rachel Maddow says Republicans Chuck Grassley, John Boehner and John Mica flip-flopped on end-of-life counseling | mixture | National, Health Care, Pundits, Rachel Maddow, | "We've had to set the Truth-O-Meter on fire in the past several weeks because of the ridiculously false claims about end-of-life counseling in the health care reform bill. So it looked like a real gotcha when bloggers dug up what appeared to be hypocrisy – that a number of Republicans who have recently harrumphed about... |
7639 | Hitting cancer early: AstraZeneca's bid to outmaneuver rivals. | AstraZeneca (AZN.L) suffered its biggest daily share price drop a year ago after a key cancer drug trial failed amid feverish speculation the chief executive might quit. | true | Health News | Yet today two-thirds of analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters recommend the stock, making it one of the sector’s biggest consensus buys, and CEO Pascal Soriot says he is “absolutely” happy to carry on into the 2020s as he chases early use of modern cancer drugs. “I don’t have any plans to retire anytime soon,” he told Re... |
18325 | The UK has an unarmed police force and a firearm fatality rate that is 40 times lower per capita than in the U.S. | "Peter Nightingale, a University of Rhode Island professor, wrote that ""the UK has an unarmed police force and a firearm fatality rate that is 40 times lower per capita than in the U.S."" It’s true that some police officers in the United Kingdom are armed, but it’s a very small percentage. The vast majority are unarme... | true | Rhode Island, Criminal Justice, Education, Crime, Public Safety, Guns, Peter Nightingale, | "The Rhode Island Board of Education voted on May 23, 2013, to authorize its two colleges and the University of Rhode Island to arm their campus police if they so chose. Prior to the vote, as the board and the General Assembly were considering the issue, URI Prof. Peter Nightingale expressed his opposition. In a commen... |
11504 | Mother’s blood test reveals baby’s sex | Reuters reports on a new survey, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which reinforces the accuracy of a certain blood test for determining the sex of a fetus as early as seven weeks along in pregnancy. We like how the Reuters story clearly discusses the numbers from the JAMA study, and points ... | true | Reuters Health | The story mentions the estimated cost of test, but does not note that consumers can get the test without a doctor’s involvement in the US. Reuters examines how parents may benefit from earlier results in pregnancy if their unborn child is at risk of a serious genetic defect that is sex-linked. However, the story also p... |
4264 | Wolf says $4.5B plan could help schools clean up lead paint. | Gov. Tom Wolf is pitching his plan to finance a multibillion-dollar capital plan by taxing Marcellus Shale natural gas production as a way to help Pennsylvania schools clean up environmental health hazards. | true | Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Health, Tom Wolf, Environmental health | The Democrat on Thursday toured Taggart Elementary School in Philadelphia as he works to raise support for his plan. That school like others in Philadelphia is in the midst of removing lead paint. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last year that 80 of the city’s 148 elementary schools had at least 50 reports of enviro... |
2899 | U.S. compounding pharmacies start to register with FDA. | A small number of U.S. compounding pharmacies have begun registering with the Food and Drug Administration under new legislation designed to tighten control of the custom medication makers following a deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to a pharmacy in Massachusetts. | true | Health News | So far, 11 compounding pharmacies have taken up the option under the Drug Quality and Security Act of registering with the FDA, a move they hope will give them a marketing edge. The law signed in November aims to clarify the FDA’s authority to regulate compounding pharmacies after federal regulators were blamed for not... |
5575 | Pharmacist in meningitis outbreak gets 8 years in prison. | A Massachusetts pharmacist convicted for his role in a deadly 2012 meningitis outbreak fought through sobs as he apologized to victims and their families Wednesday before being sentenced to eight years in prison. | true | Meningitis, Health, Boston, North America, Massachusetts, Business, AP Top News, Science, Courts, Sentencing, Public health, U.S. News | Nearly 80 people died and almost 800 were sickened in what’s considered the worst public health crisis in recent U.S. history. The fungal meningitis outbreak was caused by mold-tainted steroid injections produced by the New England Compounding Center. Glen Chinn, who ran the so-called clean rooms where the drugs were m... |
9069 | No significant difference in pain relief for opioids vs. non-opioid analgesics for treating arm or leg pain | The release focuses on a recent study, published in JAMA, that evaluated the effectiveness of four painkillers in addressing acute arm or leg pain in emergency room patients. One of the painkillers was a combination of the over-the-counter medications acetaminophen and ibuprofen; the other three painkillers were combin... | mixture | JAMA,pain relief | Costs are not discussed. The costs of ibuprofen and acetaminophen are fairly low — but the relevant opioids are also relatively inexpensive. For the relevant dosages, the costs would be more or less comparable, with the hydrocodone/acetaminophen combination likely being the most expensive. This is a tough one, since th... |
3186 | Notre Dame fire wakes the world up to dangers of lead dust. | It took a blaze that nearly destroyed Paris’ most famous cathedral to reveal a gap in global safety regulations for lead, a toxic building material found across many historic cities. | true | AP Top News, Travel, Paris, General News, Fires, France, Environment, International News, Business, United Nations, Health, Europe, Pollution | After the Notre Dame fire in April spewed dozens of tons of toxic lead-dust into the atmosphere in just a few hours, Paris authorities discovered a problem with the city’s public safety regulations: There was no threshold for them to gauge how dangerous the potentially-deadly pollution was from the dust that settled o... |
23683 | The Department of Health and Human Services is providing $160 million to the state of Pennsylvania to set up a new high-risk insurance pool program that would cover any abortion legal in the state. | John Boehner, GOP claims that federal taxpayers will fund Pennsylvania abortions simply untrue | false | Abortion, Ohio, Health Care, John Boehner, | "As Congress struggled to pass health reforms earlier this year, anti-abortion groups and members of Congress fretted the legislation would permit taxpayer dollars to be used for the controversial procedure, overturning years of precedent that banned use of federal money for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, o... |
20260 | "Kathleen Falk Says Gov. Scott Walker signed abortion, sex education and discrimination bills ""in secret." | Kathleen Falk says Gov. Scott Walker signed bills affecting women in secret | false | Transparency, Women, Wisconsin, Kathleen Falk, | "In the world of politics, it’s known as ""the Friday dump"" -- the tradition of officials delivering bad news (usually as it relates to themselves) at week’s end or before a holiday. The idea is to ensure light media coverage. Democrats and liberal interest groups accused Republican Gov. Scott Walker of an all-time cl... |
17322 | I've been a cop in Lake County, Michigan, since 1982 thereabout. I conduct federal raids with the DEA and ATF and U.S. Marshals and the FBI and Texas Rangers. | "Nugent said he is and has been a cop in Michigan and that he conducts raids with several federal and state law enforcement agencies. He said ""we are re-arresting fugitive felons"" and painted a vivid picture of being with agents immediately afterward. ""When we are done with these kinds of raids, we get together and ... | false | Candidate Biography, PunditFact, Guns, Ted Nugent, | "Until last week, Ted Nugent was best known as a rock musician, a bow hunter, and an ardent supporter of gun rights. But his recent description of President Barack Obama as a ""subhuman mongrel"" eclipsed all of that, especially at a time when he has campaigned on behalf of a Texas Republican candidate for governor. Th... |
18932 | "The so-called doc fix in the fiscal cliff deal will cut payments ""for treating illnesses disproportionately impacting minorities, including end stage renal disease and diabetes." | Marcia Fudge claims the fiscal cliff deal included cuts in payments for illness that disproportionately impact minorities | true | Ohio, Federal Budget, Health Care, Medicaid, Medicare, Marcia Fudge, | "If you read about the fiscal-cliff deal Congress made on New Year’s Day, one fact above others stood out. Through compromises -- more unsavory or unprincipled to some than to others -- America’s economy did not topple over. Neither side got everything it wanted, noted U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Warrensville Heights De... |
3090 | Justin Bieber says he’s battling Lyme disease. | Justin Bieber says that he has been battling Lyme disease. | true | Justin Bieber, Entertainment, New York, General News, Ticks, Lyme disease, Health, Celebrities, Music | In an Instagram post on Wednesday, the pop star wrote that “it’s been a rough couple years but (I’m) getting the right treatment that will help treat this so far incurable disease and I will be back and better than ever.” Lyme disease is transmitted by Ixodes ticks, also known as deer ticks. Lyme can cause flu-like con... |
10793 | IU doctors say screening could save lives, money | This story reports on a study that analyzed the cost-effectiveness of testing newborns for a set of eight metabolic conditions. The fact that there is no uniform set of screening tests and each state varies in its screening requirements is a problem that should be addressed. However, there are some flaws with this stor... | false | The story mentions the cost of the screening tests (between $1.90 and $25 for each). However, these are very different from the cost-effectiveness results reported in the study, which were as high as $94,000 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). This figure represents the actual societal costs of the screening test. B... | |
29781 | In 2017, 2018 or 2019, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned the public about a shipment of Zika-contaminated bananas. | Breaking13News.com routinely produces junk news and has a particular proclivity for sensationalist, shocking headlines and celebrity death hoaxes, some of which we have debunked in the past. | false | Junk News | In May 2019, a nearly two-year-old hoax re-emerged online claiming that federal health authorities in the United States had warned the public about the dangers of imported bananas that were supposedly contaminated with the Zika virus: In August 2017, the website Breaking13News.com published an article with the headlin... |
6610 | Pea-sized pill delivers insulin shot from inside the stomach. | Scientists figured out how to hide a shot inside a pea-sized pill — creating a swallowable gadget, inspired by a tortoise shell, that can inject medicines like insulin from inside the stomach. | true | Technology, North America, Science, U.S. News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts | Patients usually prefer oral treatment, and comply with it better, but many compounds, including insulin for diabetes, can’t survive the harsh trip through the digestive system. The new invention, reported Thursday by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-led research team, has been tested only in animals so far. But... |
9862 | New tests screen for gum disease, oral cancer | This is a story based on one true-believer-dentist’s use of oral DNA tests on 24 patients so far. Although we’re not even told what the experience is with those 24. Feels like an ad for the dentist and for the company marketing the tests. The problem of oral cancer in younger adults was dramatically overstated. It is n... | false | Cancer,Des Moines Register,Screening | the story says the tests cost $150 each. Of course, it also states that the manufacturer of the periodontal tests recommends re-testing in 6 weeks. So these costs are adding up. We wish the story addressed whether insurers cover these. No discussion of the sensitivity or specificity of the tests. The ultimate benefit f... |
17060 | "Sarah Palin Says Attorney General Eric Holder recently revealed ""this idea to have government have gun owners wear special bracelets that would identify you as a gun owner." | "According to Palin, Holder recently revealed ""this idea to have government have gun owners wear bracelets, special bracelets, that would identify you as a gun owner."" That’s far from the truth. Holder said he wants the federal government to explore gun safety measures, including smart-gun technology that would preve... | false | Government Regulation, PunditFact, Guns, Sarah Palin, | """Waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists"" was not the only questionable thing Sarah Palin said during her recent speech to National Rifle Association enthusiasts. In stirring up concerns about gun rights, the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee turned conservative rabble-rouser misrepresente... |
8304 | China tightens Russia border checks, approves coronavirus vaccine trials. | China has approved early-stage human tests of two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus as the country where the disease was first detected battles to contain imported cases, especially from Russia. | true | Health News | China says that Russia has become its largest source of imported cases, with a total of 409 infections originating in its northern neighbour. Chinese there should stay put and not return home, the state-owned Global Times said on Tuesday. “Chinese people have watched Russia become a severely affected country ... This s... |
16654 | "President Barack Obama’s latest executive order ""mandates the apprehension and detention of Americans who merely show signs of ‘respiratory illness.’ " | "Infowars.com said Obama’s latest executive order ""mandates the apprehension and detention of Americans who merely show signs of ‘respiratory illness.’"" That’s a fundamental misreading of the executive order Obama signed and the power the federal government has. The updates Obama made to a 2003 executive order do not... | false | Ebola, Public Health, PunditFact, Bloggers, | "The arrival of two Americans infected with the Ebola virus at an Atlanta hospital has ginned up the fear mill and the conspiracy website Infowars.com has fused fear of infection with fear of Big Brother. When the first American was admitted to Emory University Hospital’s special infectious disease treatment center, In... |
28618 | President Trump opened National Parks and wildlife refugees to coal mining. | What's true: President Trump signed an executive order in March 2017 that lifted a moratorium on leasing federal lands for coal mining. What's false: The overturned moratorium was temporary, and federal lands were still being used for coal mining in the meanwhile. | mixture | Politics Environment, donald trump, executive orders | In March 2017, multiple web sites published articles under headlines, such as “Trump Opens National Parks and Wildlife Refuges for Coal Mining,” which were true in a literal sense, but didn’t convey that public lands had not been fully and permanently closed to such activity in the first place. On 28 March 2017, Presid... |
10921 | Trigger happy? A new spray aims to delay amorous men | "The Wall Street Journal story raised questions about the validity of estimates that 20-30% of men had premature ejaculation. The MSNBC story, on the other hand, took that estimate at face value (the higher end of the range, in fact) and called it ""a real problem."" Then it termed the study results ""a big improvement... | false | "No discussion of cost. If this was based on info given at a company briefing, you had the folks right there who could have answered this. What are they projecting? Too simplistic. It just lumped the findings into one statement: ""…the men extended that time to a mean of 3.3 minutes."" The story frames this as ""a big... | |
40331 | There are several versions of this eRumor but all of them say that commonly sold cocoa mulch contains theobromine which can be lethal to cats and dogs. One version tells the story of a pet owner who lost a dog because of cocoa mulch. | Cocoa Mulch Contains an Ingredient Harmful to Pets | true | Animals, Warnings | It’s fairly well known that some animals should not eat chocolate and according to the experts we checked with that warning applies to cocoa mulch as well, although the number of reported animal deaths is very low. The villain is theobromine, a chemical that is similar to caffeine. It ca... |
10340 | A Guiding Hand: Robots are showing up in ever more surgical suites. | The article describes a newer surgical technique for prostate cancer that involves using robotic devices controlled by a surgeon. Unfortunately, this is just another article on how to “slice and dice” the prostate when it’s not even clear that surgery is needed for early prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is often slow-g... | mixture | The article’s main focus is about robotic surgery for prostate cancer, although other applications are mentioned. Comparitive costs are given for a robotic radical prostatectomy, laparoscopic prostatectomy, and open prostatectomy. The article does not quantify benefits. It reports puported benefits (less blood loss, av... | |
28158 | Department of Health and Human Services appointee Charmaine Yoest repeated the false claim abortion causes breast cancer. | What's true: Charmaine Yoest said in a 2012 New York Times profile that she believed abortion led to breast cancer, at a time when the belief had been long disproved by myriad studies. What's undetermined: Whether Yoest maintained that belief in 2017. | true | Politics Quotes, abortion, breast cancer, charmaine yoest | On 28 April 2017 President Donald Trump named Charmaine Yoest, former head of an anti-abortion group, as assistant secretary of public affairs for the United States Department of Health and Human Services. On 1 May 2017, claims appeared that Yoest’s position on abortion encompass the discredited belief that terminating... |
11600 | Stool test good for catching colon cancer: study | Maybe somebody is paying attention to our criteria checklist. As you read this story, one by one, they are addressed (except for one). It is important to remind consumers that there is good evidence for what stool tests – especially the newer versions – can accomplish. From a public health perspective – looking at popu... | true | Cancer,Reuters Health | Costs of FOBT and of colonoscopy were included. Sensitivity and specifity of the test were explained very well. Unlike many stories on screening tests, this one included information on false positive findings and the need for further testing. Story was careful to include the fact that in the study 10% of all participan... |
32245 | "Hillary Clinton cancelled a campaign event because of ""bizarre eye movements." | We found no evidence that Clinton suddenly cancelled her North Carolina campaign event over strange eye movements, nor did we find any evidence of anything wrong with her eyes in September 2016. While Clinton suffered a concussion in 2012, there is no evidence that she has been diagnosed with strabismus or any long-ter... | false | Junk News, 2016 election, election 2016, health | On 20 September 2016, a YouTube user uploaded a video comparing the eye movements of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with those of a lizard, claiming that she “began to exhibit bizarre eye movement and strabismus (crossed eyes) during her speech in Philadelphia yesterday before unexpectedly canceling ... |
28006 | A wealthy Toronto lawyer bequeathed his estate to whichever woman gave birth to the most babies in the ten-year period following his death. | When Charlie Millar raced up a set of stairs that October afternoon and keeled over a few minutes later from a fatal heart attack, he had no idea that one of his many blue sky investments was going to substantially enrich his estate years after his death. He likewise had no notion that the affluent 1920s would soon yie... | true | Legal Affairs, pregnancy legends | Charles Vance Millar was a prominent lawyer who practiced in Toronto from 1881 until his death in 1926. He went to his grave a bachelor, and due to some interesting investments (Charlie liked the longshots), this irascible 73-year-old left a considerable estate. Millar was both a student of human nature and possessed o... |
29001 | Expired boxes of cake and pancake mix are dangerously toxic. | "What's true: Pancake and cake mixes that contain mold can cause life-threatening allergic reactions. What's false: Pancake and cake mixes that have passed their expiration dates are not inherently dangerous to ordinarily healthy people, and the yeast in packaged baking products does not ""over time develops spores.""" | mixture | Food, allergies, baking, cake | In April 2006, the experience of a 14-year-old who had eaten pancakes made from a mix that had gone moldy was described in the popular newspaper column Dear Abby. The account has since been circulated widely on the Internet as scores of concerned homemakers ponder the safety of the pancake and other baking mixes lurkin... |
4511 | NH adult positive for mosquito-borne Jamestown Canyon virus. | New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services says an adult from Laconia has tested positive for a mosquito-borne virus. | true | Health, Canyons, General News, Laconia, New Hampshire | The department said Wednesday the adult tested positive for the Jamestown Canyon virus, transmitted by infected mosquitoes. It’s the second time a case has been identified in the state this year; it was identified in a Kingston resident in August. Reports of Jamestown Canyon virus in humans are rare, but have increased... |
1118 | In New York, confusion reigns in the emerging CBD edibles business. | New York state officials told food growers and processors in mid-December that they had the state’s blessing to produce and sell tea and chocolates laced with CBD, the cannabis derivative reputed to ease anxiety and other ills without marijuana’s high. | true | Health News | But since then, New York City health inspectors have seized thousands of dollars worth of CBD-infused food and drinks at the Fat Cat Kitchen and other local cafes and restaurants, and warned owners to stop selling them or face penalties. The crackdown came just weeks after federal law explicitly made CBD legal across t... |
36825 | Bill Clinton was expelled from Oxford in 1969 after he was accused of raping a woman named Eileen Wellstone. | Bill Clinton Was Expelled from Oxford for Rape-Unproven | unproven | Politics | President Bill Clinton didn’t finish his degree program at Oxford, but there’s no proof that he was expelled or asked to leave the school because of rape allegations. And it’s true that a woman named Eileen Wellstone came forward in 1999 with allegations that Clinton sexually assaulted her after the two met in a pub, b... |
40377 | This is a forwarded plea for a 5 year old boy named Noah Biorkman who is said to be in the last stages of cancer. The email says his family is requesting that people all around the country mail Christmas cards to their son early, as he is not expected to live to see Christmas, 2009. | Send Christmas Cards to a young cancer patient named Noah Biorkman | true | Pleas | This was a grass roots effort started in 2009 by the family of Noah Biorkman of South Lyon, Michigan. Biorkman was in hospice and and passed away at home on November 23, 2009 after a long battle with Stage IV neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that occurs in infants and young children. According to Detroit ABC affiliate ... |
9333 | GLIOBLASTOMA: ZIKA VIRUS COULD DESTROY BRAIN CANCER THAT KILLED JOHN MCCAIN | This story reports results from a study in which researchers deployed a Zika virus vaccine to target and kill human glioblastoma brain cancer stem cells, which had been transplanted into mice. Glioblastoma is the most common and malignant form of primary brain tumor, and has most recently been in the news as the diseas... | true | vaccines,Zika virus | This is a report of the results of a clinical trial in mice. It’s too early to estimate costs for human treatment. However, some discussion of the steep, sometimes bankrupting, costs of cancer treatment is always a good idea. We learn from this story that mice with the attenuated Zika virus lived 50 days, in comparison... |
7370 | Historically black colleges work to help students amid virus. | Ja’nayla Johnson worked hard in high school with the dream of being the first in her family to graduate from college, but she started to doubt herself as several colleges rejected her. Then Bennett, a small historically black women’s college in North Carolina, saw Johnson’s potential and offered her a full scholarship. | true | AP Top News, Race and ethnicity, Health, General News, Nashville, Lifestyle, Virus Outbreak, U.S. News | “Bennett means everything to me,” Johnson said. When the campus announced it was shutting down because of the coronavirus, “I was scared out of my mind.” The sophomore said she has suffered from depression that forced her to withdraw for a semester last year and didn’t think returning home to California would be good f... |
35356 | Born Basic Anti-Bac hand sanitizer was recalled in the U.S. after being found to contain methanol, a poisonous chemical. | Real Clean Distribuciones SA de CV, the Mexico City-based company that makes the product, announced the recall on July 23, 2020. Other products included in the recall were Scent Theory KEEP CLEAN Moisturizing Hand Sanitizer, Scent Theory KEEP IT CLEAN Moisturizing Hand Sanitizer, and Lux Eoi Hand Sanitizing Gel to the ... | true | Medical, COVID-19 | In a viral video posted to the social media platform TikTok in August 2020, user Christian Grech stated that the brand of hand sanitizer he held in the video had been recalled because it contained the dangerous chemical methanol. The video racked up hundreds of thousands of views not long after the Food and Drug Admini... |
4948 | E-cigarette giant Juul’s campaign donations favor Democrats. | E-cigarette giant Juul Labs gave nearly $100,000 to members of Congress during the first half of 2019 as the company faced the bulk of the blame for a surge of underage vaping and calls for tighter government regulation of the industry. | true | AP Top News, Government regulations, Health, General News, Political action committees, Politics, Elections, Campaigns, Business | The donations from Juul’s political action committee represent a sharp increase over last year’s total, according to a Federal Election Commission report released Thursday that shows most of the money went to Democrats. The boost in contributions is the latest sign of the company’s expanding influence operation in Wash... |
10407 | First-ever prostate cancer treatment uses gold nanoparticles to destroy tumorous cells | In a University of Texas news release remarkably light on evidence, but heavy with superlatives, a novel technique to treat prostate cancer using gold nanoparticles is presented to the world. Two testimonials, one from the lead researcher testing this new approach and a single patient who underwent the procedure, canno... | false | Academic medical center news release | No discussion of cost, but one could imagine that a treatment made from gold is not likely to be inexpensive. There are no data to speak of in this news release so no reliable discussion of benefits either. The only harms discussed are those in relation to competing treatments. Other than learning that this is a “small... |
11428 | New treatment seen for back-pain relief | This story reports on the experience of one physician, the owner of a spine center, in performing spinal decompression therapy for herniated disc. The claims of very high recovery rates at reduced cost allowing patients to avoid invasive surgery are very appealing. However, this story is flawed in many ways. The story ... | false | The story does mention the cost of the treatment, which is not covered by insurance. The story should have compared the cost to other available treatments. Nonetheless we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and score it satisfactory. The story quantifies the benefits of treatment in relative terms only. The story says,... | |
37989 | "Image of a car fire shows what looks to be a ""fire elemental,"" ""fire demon,"" or ifrit/efreet/afrit." | What Do You See in This Image of a Vehicle on Fire? | unproven | Reporting, Social Media | On December 10 2019, a Facebook user shared the following photographs of a vehicle on fire — one of which includes an apparent image of a figure in the flames:Alongside the two photographs, the user wrote:Caught a picture of this vehicle on fire this morning can you guys see what I see?? Let me know what you seeThousan... |
33778 | Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak began when Yankee first baseman Wally Pipp sat out a game with a headache. | In the case of Wally Pipp there was no inopportune headache, no “delightful and romantic story” — just a case of a slumping player who lost his job to an up-and-comer and never got it back. But his replacement was the stuff of legend (the indestructible ballplayer finally felled by a fatal disease), and so he became pa... | false | Sports, baseball | Few people who lived through events such as the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 or the terrorist attacks against America on 11 September 2001 would deny that they immediately recognized those events to be momentous ones — points at which history took a sudden left turn and unexpectedly headed off d... |
23251 | "Dan Webster ""would force victims of rape and incest to bear their attacker's child." | "Alan Grayson says Dan Webster would ""force"" rape and incest victims ""to bear their attacker's child""" | true | Abortion, Message Machine 2010, Women, Florida, Alan Grayson, | "In his new toned-down version of the ""Taliban Dan"" attack ad, Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., one of the most outspoken Democrats in the House, narrows his focus to three points. The first ad, released Sept. 25, 2010, garnered mostly negative attention for labeling his Republican challenger, former state House Speaker Da... |
9416 | New approach to abdominal aortic aneurysm saves lives | This story reports on the use of customized stents and 3-D mapping to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms, which are enlargements of the lower part of the aorta, the major blood vessel that supplies blood to the body. The story provides no data to back up the claim that this procedure reduces complications, saves more liv... | false | aneurysm,medical devices | There’s no discussion of how much this procedure costs or whether it’s covered by insurance, and no comparison with stent procedures that don’t include the 3D printing and customized fit. Actual data is nowhere to be found to back up the assertion that this technique saves lives and results in quicker recoveries than o... |
3149 | Outdated, dangerous childbirth practices persist in Europe. | When Clara Massons was in labor with her son, a midwife climbed onto her bed and pushed down on Massons’ belly, explaining that she was helping to deliver her baby. For the next few hours, the midwife and a doctor took turns pressing down during contractions, using an old, now controversial technique for troubled del... | true | AP Top News, International News, General News, Barcelona, Health, United Nations, Europe, Weekend Reads | Masson said her pleas to stop were ignored at the Barcelona hospital where she delivered two years ago, and she later complained to authorities. The hospital said doctors took “appropriate measures” during her delivery. “I thought I was going to die,” she said. “For one month after, my belly was blue and purple.” Th... |
9924 | Fan use linked to lower risk of sudden baby death | This is a story reporting on a first examination of fans to try to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). While the story framed the new observation in terms like “seemed to lower the risk” and “seems to suggest,” this new finding could have been put more clearly in the context of the hierarchy of fact... | true | The story didn’t need to comment on the cost of fans or the electricity to power them. The story reported that 3% of babies who died of SIDS had fans on in their rooms, while 12% of babies who did not die of SIDS has fans on in their rooms. This is actually a very confusing way of reporting this sort of information but... | |
29744 | "Stormy Daniels wrote a ""suicide note"" admitting she lied about having an affair with Donald Trump before she committed suicide." | The AmericanNewsNow story ended with a threatening note: “Apparently, the only honest Democrat is a dead Democrat.” The site appears to no longer be live. | false | Junk News | If you are experiencing distress, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit online here. On 16 January 2019, the junk news site AmericanNewsNow.us posted a disturbing story falsely reporting that adult film actress Stormy Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford) had committed suic... |
10852 | Next big thing? Big cholesterol drop with new drug | This AP story reports on a new study presented at a cardiology meeting and published online via the New England Journal of Medicine. The research is particularly newsworthy because of the dramatic effects on both LDL (“bad”) and HDL (“good”) cholesterol. The story was better in a number of ways than the competing USA T... | true | Associated Press | As with the competing USA Today coverage, this story didn’t mention costs. We feel that some discussion of this issue was warranted. The story did a better job than the competing USA Today coverage of focusing on what was actually shown in the study. Importantly, it told us the average good and bad cholesterol levels f... |
22840 | George W. Bush Says that in his first 17 months as president, the United States doubled its world-leading $500 million a year commitment to fighting global AIDS. | President Bush says the United States doubled its commitment to fighting AIDS abroad in his first 17 months in office | true | Federal Budget, Health Care, Foreign Policy, Texas, George W. Bush, | "President George W. Bush devotes a chapter of his memoir, Decision Points, to his interest in stopping AIDS abroad. ""When I took office, the United States was spending a little over $500 million a year to fight global AIDS,"" Bush writes. ""That was more than any other country. Yet it was paltry compared with the sco... |
486 | Malaysia to work with UNICEF on polio vaccination in Sabah state. | Malaysia’s health authorities on Sunday said they are working with UNICEF to bring polio vaccines to the state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, where the country’s first polio case in nearly three decades was detected last week. | true | Health News | A three-month-old infant was diagnosed with polio on Dec. 6 after being admitted to hospital with a fever and muscle weakness, the first such case since 1992. It comes after the Philippines, north of Borneo, reported its first cases of polio since 1993 in September. Malaysia’s health ministry had said the child was inf... |
9126 | With health care cuts looming, low-cost magnesium a welcome option for treating depression | If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This news release from the University of Vermont reports on a study showing an association between taking magnesium supplements and a decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms in people with mild-to-moderate depression. The release simplifies and overstates the... | false | depression,Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont,magnesium | Despite claiming the low cost of magnesium supplements as a benefit, the release doesn’t include the cost. A quick google search shows that magnesium tablets can be bought online or in stores for less than $15 per bottle. According to the news release, consuming magnesium chloride “resulted in a clinically significant ... |
23549 | "Said he won the Democratic primary ""without one ... negative TV spot." | Barnes said he ran positive TV campaign in primary | true | Georgia, Message Machine 2010, Negative Campaigning, Roy Barnes, | "The day after last week's nasty primary runoff for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, the Democratic contender, former Gov. Roy Barnes, emerged unbruised. It had been a rancorous couple of weeks for the GOP. Candidate Nathan Deal accused opponent Karen Handel of running an entirely negative campaign, a claim Pol... |
9982 | The Pill Protects Against Cancer | This article reports on a significant study that quanitifies the link between taking oral contraceptives and a reduced risk of ovarian cancer. The news report has several key strengths: It describes the methodology of the meta-analysis in considerable detail It presents the size of the risk reduction in several ways–... | true | "Oral contraceptives are inexpensive and often available discounted or free at health clinics. The article does not compare various methods of birth control (or preventing ovarian cancer) so cost is not an issue in this report. The article does an excellent job explaining the benefits various ways: The article briefly... | |
4043 | Minnesota health official warns of more Lyme-carrying ticks. | Minnesota residents may believe this past winter was rough, but state health officials say it wasn’t bad enough to kill off the deer ticks that carry Lyme disease. | true | Health, Ticks, Minnesota, Lyme disease, Insects | Dave Neitzel, an epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health, told Minneapolis Public Radio that the cold kills ticks only if the insects are exposed to the air, and that the insects mostly survived the harsh cold this winter by staying insulated under a thick blanket of snow . The health department has been... |
15005 | In 40 years, 23,000 chemicals came on the market and only four were regulated. | "Whitehouse’s spokesman said the senator used the wrong verb at Hasbro. He asked us to test a different statement that uses a different verb and refers to different facts. We did. In both cases, we found evidence that the number of regulated or restricted chemicals was far greater than the tiny number that Whitehouse a... | false | Environment, Rhode Island, Public Health, Sheldon Whitehouse, | "U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse recently joined Hasbro executives at their downtown headquarters to push a bill to regulate thousands of chemicals, including hazardous substances that pose a risk to children. From behind a blue podium that was as brightly colored and as plastic as a child’s toy, Whitehouse made this clai... |
4530 | Boxed in? Warren confronts tough politics of health care. | For Elizabeth Warren, it was supposed to be one more big idea in a campaign built around them: a promise that everyone could get government-funded health care, following the lead of her friend and fellow White House hopeful Bernie Sanders. Instead, “Medicare for All” is posing one of the biggest challenges to the Massa... | true | Health care reform, General News, Politics, Campaigns, Election 2020, Elizabeth Warren, AP Top News, Medicare, Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders, Health | Persistent questions about whether she would raise taxes on the middle class to pay for universal health coverage have dominated her campaign in recent weeks. Warren has refused to answer, arguing that it’s more important to note that overall costs would fall for nearly everyone but large corporations and the wealthy. ... |
4070 | Judge hears arguments over ban on flavored vaping products. | A judge is hearing arguments over Gov. Steve Bullock’s temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products over increased teen use and a nationwide outbreak of lung injury and deaths. | true | Health, General News, Lung disease, Montana, Vaping, Steve Bullock | An anti-tobacco advocate said Wednesday the ban fails to address the apparent cause of the lung disease, vaping THC, while a pediatrician said it’s needed to prevent another generation from becoming addicted to nicotine. The hearing before District Judge Jennifer Lint continues Friday in Hamilton with testimony from tw... |
13504 | "Senate Majority PAC Says ""Marco Rubio wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare because he said they’re bankrupting our country." | "TV ads say that Marco Rubio ""wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare because he said they’re bankrupting our country."" Rubio has repeatedly said since 2010 that those programs will bankrupt the United States. His plan to raise the retirement age would amount to a cut for those recipients. He supported the Ryan bu... | mixture | Medicare, Social Security, Florida, Senate Majority PAC, | "Two Democratic groups say Republican Sen. Marco Rubio wants to cut Social Security and Medicare -- programs that millions of Florida seniors rely on each year. ""Marco Rubio wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare because he said they’re bankrupting our country. But that’s what politicians say when the insurance in... |
17157 | The Koch brothers are one of the biggest polluters in the country. | "Beckel said that the Koch brothers are one of the country’s biggest polluters. In this fact-check, we're talking about the Kochs' company, Koch Industries. Koch Industries operates over 100 plants across the country. According to one ranking, it is not responsible for the most significant releases but it does land wit... | true | Environment, PunditFact, Bob Beckel, | "When a billionaire speaks, people listen, especially when that billionaire is Charles Koch. Koch, along with his brother David, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to get the low-tax, low-regulation government he wants. He’s backed the tea party-funded campaign ads to topple Democrats and deployed scores of lobb... |
9230 | Vitamin D reduces respiratory infections, says CU Anschutz study | This a tidy little release that gives just enough information for reporters to decide whether it’s newsworthy. The release summarizes a randomized clinical trial which enrolled 107 elderly nursing home patients. Half the enrolled patients received a very large dose of vitamin D (3,300-4,300 units daily) and the control... | mixture | respiratory infections,University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus,vitamin D | There is no mention of costs in the release. Even though we are talking about vitamin D, which can be found at any drugstore for around $20 a bottle, we estimate that it could cost about $10 – $15 for a 30-day supply. The release did not provide adequate quantification of benefits. It said that of the 55 elderly people... |
26608 | U.S. deaths since 1/22 (2020): COVID-19: 27, flu, 4,700; abortion: 118,000. | The post’s numbers are inaccurate, but abortions do far outnumber deaths from COVID-19 and flu. The COVID-19 number is likely too low, and the flu number is too high. The number of abortions is roughly accurate. Abortion is an elective procedure, not a contagious illness. | false | Abortion, Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "An anti-abortion post on Facebook attempted to use the coronavirus to advance its cause, stating: ""U.S. deaths since 1/22: COVID-19: 27 Flu: 4,700 Abortion: 118,000."" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Fac... |
26375 | “The (corona)virus just isn’t nearly as deadly as we thought it was.” | Reputable scientists warned early in the outbreak that there was not a totally accurate picture of how deadly the coronavirus was. There’s still not. It’s misleading to compare, as Carlson did, the early reported case fatality rates, which reflect deaths among confirmed COVID-19 patients, with more recent infection fat... | false | Public Health, Pundits, PunditFact, Coronavirus, Tucker Carlson, | "Fox News host Tucker Carlson railed against continued statewide shutdowns meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus, claiming in a recent TV segment that they did little to flatten the curve and that ""the virus just isn’t nearly as deadly as we thought it was."" Citing recent studies from hotspots such as New York,... |
35104 | A bill introduced to the Alabama Legislature would require a man to undergo a vasectomy within one month of his 50th birthday. | What's true: A bill introduced in the Alabama Legislature would require all men to get vasectomies after their 50th birthday or the birth of their third child. What's false: However, the bill was intended as a form of protest over attempts to enact new abortion restrictions in Alabama and was not intended to be passed ... | mixture | Politics | We have previously seen some unusual bills proposed in state legislatures as a form of criticism over restrictions on women’s reproductive health care, such as the 2017 Texas “Man’s Right to Know Act” that proposed to fine men $100 if they masturbated outside of a vagina or a medical facility and thereby engaged in “an... |
27744 | It's possible to tattoo the whites of your eyes. | The end result of this method permanently turns the whites of the eyes another color to create an otherworldly, striking look. | true | Junk News, Body Modifications | Humans have been modifying their bodies as long as there have been tools available to do so. Tattoos, piercings, corseting, and other practices generally characterized as “transgressive” actually come with centuries of historical weight, and even newer types of body modification generally have precedents. Eyeball tatto... |
7908 | Philippine capital plans curfew as coronavirus deaths, infection tally spike. | Manila announced nighttime curfews on Saturday and urged shopping malls to close for one month, in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, as the Philippines reported its eighth death and the largest single-day increase in confirmed cases. | true | Health News | The Philippines’ health department on Saturday confirmed three new fatalities, including a patient in southern Philippines, bringing the total number of deaths to eight. It also reported 34 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 98. Details of the new cases are being validated and authorities are verifying reports ... |
8263 | PM Johnson says coronavirus top priority, as first Briton dies. | Prime Minister Boris Johnson said slowing the spread of the coronavirus was now his government’s top priority, shortly after news on Friday that the first Briton had died of the disease after contracting it on a cruise ship moored in Japan. | true | Health News | The country was right to be concerned about the virus, he said, as the number of people infected in Britain rose to 20. “The issue of coronavirus is something that is now the government’s top priority,” he told broadcasters in his first statement on the disease, adding that he would be chairing a meeting of ministers a... |
9274 | Maintaining a healthy heart through bile acids | This release falls short in providing the reader with useful takeaway information about an important and interesting study published in PLOS ONE. The study involved the use of bile acids to prevent cardiac fibrosis in mice. The use of hyperbole, beginning with the title, the lack of adequate information about the stud... | false | bile acids,cardiac fibrosis,mice studies,University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry | At this stage of the research, cost is not of major concern. Having said that, tauroursodeoxycholic acid or TUDCA (the bile salt used in the experiments) is readily available from health food stores (for better or worse) and is relatively inexpensive. Beginning with the headline (“Canadian discovery may soon lead to th... |
22319 | In three years we could find close to 50 million gallons per day through a toilet replacement program. | Water advocate says toilets could save nearly 50 million gallons daily | true | Georgia, Environment, Water, Sally Bethea, | "Despite decades of legal squabbles over the Southeast’s precious water resources, the problem still looms large over Georgia. But take heart. And look down. Some of the solutions can be found in your toilet, the head of a water conservation group said recently. ""In three years we could find close to 50 million gallon... |
10026 | Study: Other Drugs May Limit Plavix’s Effectiveness | This story provided solid, concise reporting on results from a recent study that indicate that patients taking Plavix and a proton pump inhibitor medication had a greater number of adverse events. It explained the nature of the study and the frequency with which the problem occurred in those who took the combination of... | true | There was no discussion of cost. The cost implications are important. The results of the study question the routine use of a costly drug, and cautions that the PPI only be used in select patients and not those who are on Plavix. It would been of interest to note that the alternative medications for the treatment of ‘he... | |
10819 | Exercise beneficial for colon cancer patients | This story reports on the results of a study that looked at physical activity among colon cancer survivors that found that those who engaged in moderate activity 4 or 5 times a week were 50% less likely to experience cancer recurrence or death over a seven year period. These results are intriguing and of great interest... | false | Costs are also not applicable in this situation. The story provies estimates of benefit in relative terms only. We learn in the story that those who exercised more than six hours a week were 47% less likely to have a cancer recurrence or die over the study period. But what does this mean? What are the absolute differen... | |
8078 | Brazil doctor urges caution on coronavirus 'game changer' drug. | A Brazilian doctor leading a clinical trial of a malaria drug and antibiotic combination to treat the coronavirus urged caution on Wednesday, saying initial results of the drug that U.S. President Donald Trump called a potential “game changer” would take two weeks. | true | Health News | On Wednesday, Brazil green-lighted the use of the related chloroquine to treat the coronavirus, even though its efficacy is yet unproven. The trial of hydroxychloroquine, which is being led by the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo in conjunction with other Brazilian hospitals, began on Monday and is testing the eff... |
31155 | Criminals in the U.S. are using burundanga-soaked business cards to incapacitate their victims. | Criminals in the U.S. are not using burundanga-soaked business cards to incapacitate their victims, despite a recurrent warning. | false | Crime, burundanga, crime warnings, scopolamine | Our first sighting of the “burundanga” warning was an early May 2008 e-mailed alert that included precious little detail: the woman reported to have been drugged was identified only as “Jaime Rodriguez’s neighbor” rather than by her own name, and the attack supposedly happened “at a gas station in Katy,” with no furthe... |
23288 | "Scott Bruun Says Kurt Schrader voted to cut $500 billion from Medicare, threatening ""thousands of Oregon seniors and their access to their current coverage." | Scott Bruun says Kurt Schrader cut $500 billion from Medicare, hurting seniors | false | Oregon, Health Care, Medicare, Message Machine 2010, Scott Bruun, | "Politicians love seniors. It's a bloc that stays put, pays attention and, most importantly, votes. So it's no surprise that the over-65 crowd figure prominently in elections. In Oregon's 5th Congressional District, Republican challenger Scott Bruun is accusing Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., of voting to cut $500 billion ... |
13251 | "California’s proposed tobacco tax ""diverts 82 percent of the new taxes to line the pockets of wealthy special interests like insurance companies who don't have to help even one more patient." | "A recent No on 56 campaign ad claims: ""Prop 56 diverts 82 percent of the new taxes to line the pockets of wealthy special interests like insurance companies who don't have to help even one more patient."" The Legislative Analyst’s Office reported that 82 percent of revenue generated by the measure, after some is dire... | false | Elections, Public Health, Taxes, California, No on 56 campaign, | "Opponents of Proposition 56, California’s proposed tobacco tax increase, have raised more than $66 million to defeat the November ballot measure. Nearly all of that money has come from the tobacco industry and much of it has been spent on television ads criticizing the initiative. Supporters have raised nearly $30 mil... |
36171 | After actor Christopher Reeve was paralyzed in an accident, his friend and colleague Robin Williams lifted his spirits by pretending to be a proctologist. | Did Robin Williams Cheer Up a Paralyzed Christopher Reeve by Pretending to be a Proctologist? | true | Entertainment, Fact Checks | In September 2019, the Facebook page “Clips of Our Past” shared the following meme, which presented an anecdote about Superman actor Christopher Reeve and purported actions taken by friend and fellow actor and comedian Robin Williams to raise his spirits in the wake of a life-altering accident:Beneath an image of Willi... |
3667 | Capitol Watch: Health care industry awaits NY Medicaid plan. | New York’s health care industry is waiting with some trepidation to see how Gov. Andrew Cuomo intends to plug an over $8 billion hole in the state’s Medicaid program. | true | Health care industry, New York, Andrew Cuomo, General News, Medicaid | The Democrat is expected to release his annual budget proposal in the next two weeks, and the stickiest issue he has to address will be how to curtail spending on the program, which last year soared over its budget. New York’s Medicaid program is the nation’s largest, serving over 6 million people or about one in three... |
37505 | COVID-19 patients with high BMIs are being denied ventilators, and a circulating Google Docs guide can assist people in asserting their rights. | Are COVID-19 Patients With High BMIs Being Denied Ventilators? | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | "As the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic became more omnipresent in American life in mid-March 2020, Twitter and Instagram rumors about coronavirus patients with high body mass indices being denied ventilator treatment began to spread.On Twitter on March 19 2020, @LindoBaconX cited @BigGirlsWorkout as a source for the clai... |
5792 | Stabenow, Peters oppose Trump’s high court nominee Kavanaugh. | Democratic U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters of Michigan announced Friday their opposition to President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, saying Brett Kavanaugh’s judicial record clearly shows that he would limit access to health care and curtail environmental protections. | true | Access to health care, Gary Peters, Health, Michigan, Debbie Stabenow, Brett Kavanaugh, Courts, Donald Trump | Stabenow, who is up for re-election to a fourth term, issued a statement expressing “deep concern” that Kavanaugh — a federal appellate judge — “believes the president is above the law.” It was a reference to his 2011 dissent in a case challenging the U.S. health care law in which Kavanaugh suggested that a president c... |
37555 | South Korea has tested 200,000 people for coronavirus, prioritizing the most vulnerable people. The CDC only tested 77 people this week. Yet, the Utah Jazz was able to test all 58 players in a matter of hours. | South Korea Tested 200,000, the CDC Tested 77 in a Week, and the Utah Jazz Tested 58 Players for COVID-19 in Hours? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On March 12 2020, Twitter user @SawyerHackett tweeted that South Korea had managed to test 200,000 people for novel coronavirus strain COVID-19, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) only tested 77 people in a week — adding that all 58 Utah Jazz players managed to secure coronavirus tests with litt... |
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