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27832 | In 1988 author Roald Dahl penned an open letter urging parents to have their children vaccinated against measles. | Roald Dahl’s open letter was penned in 1988 but it is still frequently used as a vaccination encouragement tool by medical campaign groups such as the Encephalitis Society and the Oxford Vaccine Group. | true | Politics Quotes, children's books, children's health, parenting | In January 2015 an open letter attributed to author Roald Dahl (best known for the classic children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) titled “Measles: A Dangerous Illness” was widely circulated online due to a then-current measles outbreak that had prompted renewed debate over the importance of childhood vaccin... |
31716 | President Trump refused to give federal support to California due to state's sanctuary cities. | He added that the California National Guard put out a notification to all 23,000 soldiers and airmen to be ready to deploy if needed. | false | Junk News, donald trump, sacramento dispatch, sanctuary cities | Nearly 200,000 people were told to evacuate from counties in Northern California in February 2017, due to a damaged emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam, the tallest dam in the nation: The threat of imminent collapse of the Oroville Dam emergency spillway eased Sunday night, hours after authorities ordered the evacua... |
4105 | Congo tracing contacts of first Ebola case in eastern city. | After feeling sick for several days the pastor boarded a bus to eastern Congo’s largest city. Only upon arrival at his destination did anyone suspect he had the highly deadly and infectious Ebola virus. | true | AP Top News, Health, General News, Africa, Epidemics, Infectious diseases, Ebola virus, International News | During his trip to Goma, the 46-year-old preacher managed to pass through three health checkpoints aimed at stopping those who are sick with Ebola and contagious. Now health authorities along his route are trying to hunt down all those he may have been in contact with after the man became Goma’s first confirmed Ebola c... |
16338 | The CBO says if we raise the minimum wage the way Charlie (Crist) wants to do it, it would lose 500,000 jobs. | Environmental activist Greta Thunberg’s discourse on climate change was overly pessimistic and demoralizing for young people, LVMH (LVMH.PA) boss Bernard Arnault said on Wednesday, as the group behind brands like Louis Vuitton raised its “green” goals. | mixture | Economy, Jobs, Workers, Florida, Rick Scott, | LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury goods conglomerate, which like its peers is seeking to improve its environmental credentials and keep young consumers onside, said it was further cutting emissions and improving sourcing on materials like animal fur. But the group’s billionaire owner and CEO Bernard Arnault said he rej... |
34994 | Qassem Soleimani commanded forces that killed five U.S. service members, including Capt. Brian S. Freeman, in an attack in Karbala, Iraq, in January 2007. | This would certainly appear to lend credibility to the claim, in widely shared Facebook posts, that the forces that killed Freeman were commanded by Soleimani, though it seems more likely they were trained and commanded by others, as part of a broader strategy overseen and directed by Soleimani, on behalf of the Irania... | unproven | Military | In January 2020, readers asked us about viral Facebook posts that offered a particularly poignant perspective in the U.S. on the U.S.-ordered assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s elite clandestine Quds Force. On Jan. 3, the following message was posted to Facebook: For those people who want t... |
11210 | You’d be thinner, but possibly sad | "This is a very good story reporting on the results from a recent trial examining the impact of rimonabant, a cannibinoid receptor inhibitor, on obesity and cardioavscular disease. The story did a good job reporting on both the benefits of the drug in improving weight and cholesterol as well as the harms of increased n... | true | "The story did not mention the costs for this medication. The story provided information about the magnitude of benefit derived from the use of this drug. The story provided clear information about the harms (anxiety, depression and insomnia) associated with the medication studied. The story did a fairly complete job p... | |
4556 | Medicare drug plan finder can steer seniors to higher costs. | Medicare’s revamped prescription plan finder can steer unwitting seniors to coverage that costs much more than they need to pay, according to people who help with sign-ups as well as program experts. | true | Seniors, AP Top News, Health, Seema Verma, Politics, Business, Medicare, General News | Serving some 60 million Medicare recipients, the plan finder is the most commonly used tool on Medicare.gov and just got its first major update in a decade. The Trump administration has hailed the new version and Medicare Administrator Seema Verma says it will empower beneficiaries to take advantage of their coverage o... |
17208 | "Health insurance and medical costs ""are going down because of Obamacare." | Schultz said health care costs are going down due to Obamacare. Government data show decreases in January for the price of health insurance and health services. However, those measures can bounce around and if Schultz had looked a few months further back, he would have seen even steeper declines, followed by later incr... | false | Elections, Health Care, PunditFact, Ed Schultz, | "As the country heads into the 2014 election, Republicans are ratcheting up -- to the extent it’s possible -- their attacks on Obamacare. But MSNBC host Ed Schultz is urging Democrats to stand tall. ""Democrats need to embrace Obamacare. Don't be afraid to run on it in the midterms,"" Schultz exhorted. ""Don't pay atte... |
28260 | A widely shared meme in August 2019 showed the faces of known mass-shooting suspects in the U.S. in 2019. | "What's true: The meme was a broadly accurate representation of the identities of known suspects in 2019 incidents in the U.S. that fell under one relatively broad definition of a ""mass shooting."" What's false: The meme did not accurately represent the profiles of suspects under several other definitions of a ""mass ... | mixture | Crime | In the aftermath of two back-to-back mass shootings in the United States in early August 2019, much debate turned to the demographic dimensions of such massacres, with some commentary pointing the finger at white men, in particular. In response to such observations, others pointed out the role of non-white assailants i... |
11379 | Abortion pill might help battle breast cancer | The story notes that RU-486 (trade name mifepristone) is being studied as a treatment approach for the prevention of breast cancer in high-risk women, that is, those who carry the BRCA1 gene. The study of this drug is still in an early animal research phase, and due to potential long-term harms of RU-486, this treatmen... | true | The story does not note the cost of this potential treatment; however, this is not relevant for this piece as RU-486 is still in very early stages of animal testing and not an option for breast cancer prevention in any woman at this time. The story reports absolute numbers for the benefit of this drug in 10 of 14 mice ... | |
35236 | U.S. President Donald Trump tapped World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Vince McMahon as an adviser on reopening the U.S. economy. | Included on that long list was Vince McMahon, CEO Of World Wrestling Entertainment, better known as WWE. | true | Politics, COVID-19 | In mid-April 2020, controversy consumed the Trump administration over the goal of “reopening the economy,” meaning restarting commerce and businesses forced to shut down during the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. In efforts to achieve this, U.S. President Donald Trump convened what he dubbed the “Great A... |
35272 | The cause of country music star Joe Diffie's death was lung cancer. | GRAMMY®-winning country music legend Joe Diffie passed away today, Sunday, March 29 from complications of coronavirus (COVID-19). His family requests privacy at this time. | false | Entertainment, COVID-19 | In March 2020, country music fans were saddened by the news that “Pickup Man” singer Joe Diffie had died from complications of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease. While fans of the singer mourned the loss, some social media users attempted to obfuscate the cause of Diffie’s death to further an unfounded claim that hospi... |
4115 | State: Care center where 11 kids died can resume admissions. | A New Jersey nursing home where 11 children died following a viral outbreak last year can now resume admitting pediatric ventilator patients. | true | New Jersey, Health, North America, Infectious diseases, Disease outbreaks | A ban imposed by state health officials more than four months ago was lifted Wednesday. The decision came after they approved the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation’s plans to control infectious disease outbreaks. There are 62 children at the facility in Haskell, which is licensed to provide care to 92 venti... |
8347 | Under fire over virus, Japan's Abe may seek emergency declaration. | Japan is set this week to revise a law allowing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus if needed, as he takes heat for his handling of the outbreak ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games. | true | Health News | In perhaps his biggest test since returning to office in 2012, Japan’s longest-serving premier has been accused by critics of initial lack of leadership then over-abrupt steps like school closures that left parents and employers scrambling. Japan has more than 1,200 coronavirus cases including about 700 from a cruise s... |
2282 | Beyond Fitbit: The quest to develop medical-grade wearables. | A new wave of wearable computing devices that detect and monitor serious diseases is moving from the laboratory to the market, potentially transforming the treatment of conditions ranging from epilepsy to diabetes and creating business opportunities estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars. | true | Health News | Unlike popular fitness-tracking devices, such as Fitbit Inc’s Fitbit and Jawbone’s UP wristbands, these so-called medical-grade wearables require approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration - a rigorous regulatory hurdle that first-generation wearables sought to avoid. The FDA is preparing for the coming onslau... |
41640 | The government will be putting more money into the NHS over the next five years, £394 million more a week. | Spending increases announced for NHS England’s budget mean that £20.5 billion more will be spent on it in 2023/24 than in 2018/19. That’s £394 million more a week by 2023/24. This money doesn’t cover all health spending. | true | health | No longer sending money to the EU means we will have money to spend on priorities like the NHS. There is no guaranteed extra money to pay for increased NHS funding from stopping our payments to the EU budget. Other costs associated with Brexit are expected to outweigh the savings. When the UK leaves the EU we won’t be ... |
10834 | Researchers at Philadelphia conference announce progress toward noninvasive colon cancer test | The story suffers from a lack of independent voices and a lack of clear analysis of the data. There was little more than a nod to the potential harms done in over-screening. Detection of a marker for a disease is not the same as preventing a disease or preventing a death. The story says that “very few people avail them... | false | Cancer,Screening | This story states that “Though the cost has not been set, it could be as low as $300 per test.” But why take that cheerleading stance about how LOW it might be? And who says it may be that low? (A Reuters story attributed costs estimates to the company.) Who’s the source? Why not tell us that it could be AS HIGH AS $x... |
3962 | Rabid kitten bites three people in Otter Tail County. | State animal health officials say an Otter Tail County kitten who bit three people, including a young child, has tested positive for rabies. | true | Animals, Rabies, Health, Minnesota, Animal health | The Minnesota Board of Animal Health says the kitten’s owner saw a skunk attacking the kitten on her farmhouse porch last month. She recalled seeing blood and bite marks on the kitten’s leg. The farm owner, her 4-year-old son and her pregnant sister were bitten by the kitten in early November. The kitten was then eutha... |
4256 | US FDA clears ovarian cancer drug for hard-to-treat disease. | U.S. health officials have approved a new option for some women battling ovarian cancer: a drug that targets a genetic mutation seen in a subset of hard-to-treat tumors. | true | Medication, Cancer, Health, Tumors, Ovarian cancer, Clovis Oncology Inc, Chemotherapy | The Food and Drug Administration cleared the drug, Rubraca, from Clovis Oncology Inc. for women in advanced stages of the disease who have already tried at least two chemotherapy drugs. The Clovis medication targets a mutation found in 15 to 20 percent of patients with ovarian cancer. Women with the variation, known as... |
21491 | Blogger Says Florida U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, Alcee Hastings and Frederica Wilson are Socialists. | You've heard it from the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Democratic Socialists of America and the author of the commentary that inspired the blog activity: Just because you are a member of the Progressive Caucus does not mean you are a socialist. And none of the caucus members profess to be Socialists, including ... | false | Patriotism, Florida, Bloggers, | "Word in the blogosphere is that scores of members of Congress are actually unabashed 'S' words. That'd be Socialists. Several bloggers have listed members of Congress by name under headlines like ""Why do Americans Keep Electing These Socialist Politicians to Congress??"" and ""Socialist Party of America Releases The ... |
22568 | "Scott Walker Says under his budget-repair bill, ""collective bargaining is fully intact." | Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says his budget-repair bill would leave collective bargaining “fully intact” | false | Labor, State Budget, Wisconsin, Scott Walker, | "If Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker isn’t trying to strip most collective bargaining rights from public employees, then why do workers keep pouring into Madison by the thousands to demonstrate against him? Many state, local government and public school employees -- including those represented by the largest state workers u... |
15181 | The State of Texas is funding … women’s health services at historically high levels; they just increased their level another $50 million for the next two years. | Anti-abortion leader says Texas funding women's health services at historically high levels | true | Abortion, Health Care, State Budget, Women, Texas, Joe Pojman, | "At a Texas Capitol rally, an anti-abortion advocate suggested Texas has hit a record pace in funding women’s health. Video of the July 2015 rally shows Joe Pojman of the Texas Alliance for Life initially saluting Republican leaders for launching investigations in reaction to stealth videos showing Planned Parenthood e... |
37466 | A message that is packaged in the form of television detective Lieutenant Colombo raising questions about the documentation of aspects of the life of presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama. | "Columbo's ""Excuse Me Mr. Obama""" | mixture | Humorous, Politics | "An internet author going by the nom du plume of “Uppity Woman” told TruthorFiction.com that she is the author of an article called “Ah…Sorry To Bother You Mr. Obama, Sir.” The original version was posted on her blog site as satire during the month of August 2008. Various versions with added lines were forwar... |
37589 | Before becoming president, Donald Trump criticized Barack Obama's administration for hiring someone with no medical professional experience to respond to a virus outbreak. | Did Trump Call Obama’s Ebola Virus Response ‘a Total Joke’? | true | Fact Checks, Politics | Shortly after United States President Donald Trump announced on February 26 2020 that he was naming Vice President Mike Pence to lead his administration’s response to the issue of novel coronavirus COVID-19, critics on social media pointed out yet another instance of Trump lashing out against his predecessor Barack Oba... |
10382 | Debate surrounds new prostate-cancer treatment | "This was an excellent, provocative exploration of some of the critical issues involving the tension between treatment options, payment responsibility, patient choice, and evidence on risks and benefits. There are a great number of uncertainties about prostate cancer itself, whether active treatment is called for and i... | true | "The story provided information on the costs of various approaches to the treatment of prostate cancer and discussed varying policies on insurance coverage. The story noted something that rarely gets mentioned: ""a recent Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study, which found that no prostate-cancer treatment w... | |
9761 | Pill may make pizza, pasta safe for gluten-free diners | This Fox News story demonstrates anew that repeating a weak story does not strengthen it. The brief account reports that Canadian researchers have developed a “new pill” that may do for people with celiac disease (CD) what lactase enzyme tablets do for those with intolerance to lactose-rich dairy foods: make it easy an... | false | celiac disease,Gluten | The news release, the CBC story and the Fox News piece make no mention of the potential costs of the supplement. If the story is going to speculate that the pill may “make pizza, pasta safe” for those with CD, we think it should also offer a stab at what such a supplement might cost — even if it’s only a ballpark estim... |
9525 | Cuddling Preemies Kangaroo Style Helps Into Adulthood | This story reports on a 20-year follow-up study of low birth weight infants in Colombia who received continuous skin-to-skin contact with a caregiver as part of a practice known as kangaroo mother care (KMC). Researchers concluded that infants who had been randomized to receive KMC rather than staying in an incubator r... | mixture | premature babies | The costs of this intervention or of the control, a neonatal minimal care unit in which infants remain in an incubator while they gain weight, aren’t mentioned. The story states that KMC babies were 39 percent more likely to live into adulthood, but doesn’t give absolute numbers to help readers judge the significance o... |
29010 | One year of human time is the equivalent of seven years in a dog's age. | Conventional wisdom holds that one year of human time is the equivalent of seven years in a dog's age. | mixture | Critter Country, Wild Inaccuracies | When we human folk exchange information about each other, age is one of the most important pieces of data we pass along. Knowing someone’s age immediately allows us to infer a great deal of information about that person with a reasonable degree of certainty: Age not only tells us whether someone is a child, an adult, o... |
2968 | Jet dumps fuel that lands on schoolkids near Los Angeles . | An airliner with engine trouble dumped jet fuel that fell as a smelly mist on dozens of schoolchildren while the plane made an emergency return to Los Angeles International Airport, officials said. | true | Los Angeles, Health, General News, Business, AP Top News, U.S. News | The fuel, described by fire officials as a vapor, caused minor skin and lung irritation to 56 children and adults but nobody was taken to the hospital and the only decontamination required was soap and water, officials said. Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai reported an engine problem only minutes after takeoff. “D... |
9994 | Surgery prevents breast cancers in high-risk women | Somewhere in the news gathering and reporting arsenal of an international wire service, there needs to be a better effort on an important study than this. And lest anyone think that our standards are too high, impractical and unachievable, see our review of the competing AP story, which is a model for how this could/sh... | false | The story does not mention the costs of testing, surveillance or treatment. Most of the references to benefits are vague, such as, “you can save the majority of women who would have died of breast cancer.” The story also does not make clear that the reduction in the risk of death was due entirely to removal of ovaries ... | |
1662 | U.S. anti-legalization group urges more access to marijuana research. | A group opposed to pot legalization is unveiling proposals on Thursday for the U.S. government to ease restrictions on scientific research into marijuana’s potential as medicine, in a first step for an organization of its kind. | true | Health News | The plan from Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which is co-founded by former U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy, comes after three U.S. Senators this year introduced a bill that would require the federal government to recognize pot’s medical value and allow states to set their own medical cannabis policies. Kennedy will pr... |
16749 | "Amid the ""crisis at our southern border,"" there are ""reports of illegal migrants carrying deadly diseases such as … Ebola virus." | "Gingrey said that amid the ""crisis at our southern border,"" there are ""reports of illegal migrants carrying deadly diseases such as … Ebola virus."" We don’t dispute that the conditions for newly arrived migrant children pose public health challenges. But Gingrey went well beyond that when he invoked Ebola, a parti... | false | Immigration, National, Ebola, Health Care, Public Health, Phil Gingrey, | "As a surge of unaccompanied children from Central America was arriving on the United States’ southern border this month, Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., expressed concern about the impact they could have on public health. On July 7, 2014, Gingrey wrote a letter expressing these concerns to the Centers for Disease Control an... |
3587 | More cases of dog disease confirmed in Iowa. | Three additional cases of a dog disease that can be passes to humans have been linked to an Iowa breeder. | true | Brucellosis, Iowa, Health, General News, Pets, Dogs | The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship says three additional cases of canine brucellosis have been confirmed in dogs linked to a commercial breeding facility for small dogs in Marion County. Anyone who obtained dogs from the breeder Double G Kennels, which is also known as IowaPuppies.com, is encourage... |
24272 | One-third of the economic stimulus package was tax cuts. | Stewart claims that the stimulus bill is one-third tax cuts | true | National, Economy, Pundits, Stimulus, Taxes, Jon Stewart, | "Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and Daily Show host Jon Stewart traded wisecracks -- and a few insults -- in O'Reilly's No Spin Zone on Feb. 3, 2010. O'Reilly told Stewart that it was frightening that the Daily Show host had been called ""an important cultural arbiter."" O'Reilly said that his audience is ""primarily ston... |
26393 | Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer “has just been stripped of her emergency coronavirus powers by her state legislature.” | Two bills passed in the Michigan Senate would limit the scope of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s authority to impose a state of emergency. As of April 29, neither bill had passed the state House of Representatives. And the governor has said she will veto any legislation that restricts executive power during the coronavirus pan... | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Instagram posts, | "Social media posts are targeting some state governors after they extended stay-at-home orders in response to the novel coronavirus. An April 27 Instagram post includes a screenshot of a tweet that claims the Michigan Legislature stripped Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of her emergency powers because of the actions she’s taken ... |
9613 | Lung Cancer Trial Stopped After Jimmy Carter Drug Shrinks Tumors | Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter on stage during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. This is a story about a lung cancer clinical trial for a drug known as Keytruda. As the story explains, Keytruda “worked at least as well if not better than the chemo, so the researchers hav... | true | jimmy carter,Keytruda | The story notes the costs and puts the costs in perspective, too. It says, “Keytruda, approved October last year for lung cancer and in 2014 for melanoma, is pricey – costing about $150,000 a year for a course of treatment. It’s approved for use with a specific test for PD-L1 activity.” The story does not quantify the ... |
10936 | Elderly fare well in open-heart surgery, study finds | This story failed to provide balance for a reader to understand the risks and benefits of this line of treatment, what other options are available, or the costs involved. Other than gaining the insight that the outcomes are better today than they were in 1989, the reader did not learn much beyond the fact that surgical... | false | There was no discussion about the costs of the procedures discussed or whether there were additional costs associated with treating the older patient. The story mentioned an ever increasing percentage of patients that survived to leave the hospital. And it mentioned that 65% had no long term complications from the surg... | |
25650 | “More cops have died from COVID this year than have been killed on patrol.” | Two separate groups find that more law enforcement officers died from COVID-19 than all other causes, including gunfire and car accidents. Corrections officers are included in the tally. | true | National, Public Safety, Coronavirus, Joe Biden, | "At the Republican National Convention, President Donald Trump cast himself as a stalwart friend of police and an effective leader in the fight against COVID-19. In a speech in Pittsburgh, Democratic nominee Joe Biden said Trump was neither. ""Do you feel safer under Donald Trump?"" Biden asked Aug. 31. ""More cops hav... |
6353 | Minnesota reports 1 case of hepatitis A linked to outbreak. | Minnesota health officials say the state has reported its first case of hepatitis A linked to blackberries sold at Fresh Thyme grocery stores in September. | true | Health, General News, Minnesota, Hepatitis | The Minnesota Department of Health said Wednesday the person was hospitalized and has since recovered. Health officials have warned consumers in 11 states against eating some berries bought from the Fresh Thyme chain. Officials have confirmed 14 cases of hepatitis A as part of the outbreak in Indiana, Minnesota, Michig... |
3939 | California cannabis group wants tighter vaping-safety rules. | An alliance of major legal marijuana businesses in California urged the state Monday to adopt tougher safety rules for ingredients and devices used in vaping and get tougher with illegal shops, amid an outbreak of a mysterious illness apparently linked to vaping. | true | Health, General News, Marijuana, Business, California, Gavin Newsom, Vaping, U.S. News | The recommendations from the industry group — Legal Cannabis for Consumer Safety — come as health officials continue to investigate a wide range of products and chemicals that could be causing the illness that have sickened over 1,600 people nationwide. Most cases have involved products that contain the marijuana compo... |
36159 | A teenager died of a heart attack after masturbating 56 consecutive times. | Did a Teenager Sexually Stimulate Himself 56 Times Straight Before Dying of a Heart Attack? | false | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In September 2019, a number of people tweeted an apparent news article headlined: “Teen Masturbated 56 Times Straight Before Dying of Heart Attack”:So the limit is 55.https://t.co/6dhCnh6tSj— Nathorix (@Nathorix) September 23, 2019That’s the limit Beat that https://t.co/uZizfreKhf— Nicholas Ybarra (@DjNinelives) Septem... |
9934 | Brain scans predict which dyslexics will read | Speaking of reading… this story misreads the description of who was in a study of dyslexia and what the researchers reported. Teenagers who had dyslexia are described as being unable to read at all. The story claims that brain scans were able to predict “which students would learn to read,” when what researchers actual... | false | Imaging studies | There is no discussion of the cost of these brain scans, which is particularly troubling because sophisticated imaging of the brain and its function is an expensive diagnostic tool. Applying these sophisticated tests to all children with reading problems would incur massive costs. This story reports that the researcher... |
37908 | "Research demonstrated the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August 2020 served as a ""super-spreader event,"" generating an estimated $12 billion in healthcare costs and possibly causing upwards of 250,000 new cases." | Was the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally a Super-Spreader Event? | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | "September 8 2020 marked approximately one month from the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, and it heralded purported news that the widely-attended gathering served as a “super-spreader event” during an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic:A new study says more than 250,000 COVID-19 cases between Aug 2 and Sept 2 c... |
35438 | In October 2014, Donald Trump tweeted that U.S. President Barack Obama should resign because a doctor who had treated Ebola patients in Guinea returned to the U.S. | Overall, eleven people were treated for Ebola in the United States during the 2014-2016 epidemic. On September 30, 2014, CDC confirmed the first travel-associated case of EVD diagnosed in the United States in a man who traveled from West Africa to Dallas, Texas. The patient (the index case) died on October 8, 2014. Two... | true | Politics | More than one critic of U.S. President Donald Trump has observed that Trump seemingly “has a tweet for everything.” That is, whatever the situation today might be, one can find an old Trump tweet about it (or something similar) — and more often than not that tweet will be a criticism of how someone else dealt with tha... |
34675 | Police have cracked a "housebreakers" code by which cars or homes are marked with white Xs or other symbols for later crimes. | In January 2016, BBC News reported that the previously mysterious signs associated with the so-called “Da Pinci Code” were actually related to planned utility work. | unproven | Crime | The following warning concerning a mysterious white “X” subtly marked onto at least two vehicles in Texas was circulated online in May 2015. However, the theme of secret codes used by bands of outsiders for a range of purposes (typically criminal ones) is not new to modern lore and far predates the unusual markings spo... |
31905 | Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof is actually a former child star and crisis actor named John Christian Graas. | Visual evidence presented to bolster the theory that Dylann Roof was child actor John Christian Graas was extremely weak, consisting largely of cherry-picked images showing Roof’s child-like haircut contrasted with that of an actual child. But the details of Roof’s childhood (which differ substantially from those of th... | false | Politics Conspiracy Theories, crisis actors, dylann roof, john christian glaas | In December 2016, 22-year-old Dylann Roof was convicted on 33 federal hate crimes counts related to the June 2015 Charleston church shooting that left nine people dead. The news of his conviction revived a June 2015 conspiracy theory that the Roof was not who he was claimed to be, but rather was a former child star and... |
9739 | For Alzheimer's patients, resveratrol brings new hope | Resveratrol is an antioxidant compound found in grapes and red wine. Like a competing Time story, this CNN piece overreaches in its description of a randomized controlled trial of resveratrol’s effects on biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease. It suggests that resveratrol “may actually have benefit in slowing ... | true | resveratrol | The story does not address cost at all. But as with the competing Time coverage, we’ll rule this Not Applicable since the story clearly indicates that the supplements studied are not on the market. The key finding of the study is that high doses of resveratrol can have an effect on the production of amyloid-beta40, a b... |
7792 | Uganda confirms first Ebola case during current outbreak, a Congolese child: WHO. | Uganda has confirmed its first case of Ebola during the current outbreak, a 5-year-old Congolese child who is receiving care after arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | “This is the first confirmed case in Uganda during the Ebola outbreak on-going in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the WHO said in a statement. The affected child had entered Uganda on June 9 through Bwera Border post. His family sought medical care at Kagando hospital and the child was transferred to Bwe... |
31783 | "There is a faceless, semi-human monster called Slenderman who stands eight feet tall, has tentacles for arms, stalks and eats small children, and communicates telepathically with his human servants, called ""proxies." | We’re not in a position to judge to what extent, if any, the Slenderman materials viewed by Payton Leutner’s accused attackers may have “exerted an influence” on their behavior. We would point out, however, that reports of such incidents have been very few and far between since the character was created in 2009. Perhap... | false | Horrors, creepypasta, slenderman, Supernatural Tales | On 31 May 2014, three 12-year-old girls embarked on a “birdwatching” expedition in a wooded area near their homes in Waukesha, Wisconsin that ended in one of them being stabbed 19 times and left for dead. Seriously injured, the victim managed to crawl to a nearby road, where she was found and taken to a hospital. She t... |
40589 | There are several different versions of emails warning against taking medications that contain phenylpropanolamine, which is popular in cold and decongestant products as well as some weight loss products. Some of the emails list the over-the-counter products that contain phenylpropanolamine. It also urges you to call... | Popular substance in cold medications pulled from the shelves | mixture | Medical, Warnings | "According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA), all firms that use phenylpropanolamine in their products are being asked to voluntarily discontinue them. The suggestion from the eRumor that there are refunds on the products is a hoax. Phenylpropanolamine is commonly used in prescription and over-t... |
20419 | More than half of the births in Texas are paid for by Medicaid. | Democratic legislators say more than half of Texas births funded by Medicaid | true | Children, Medicaid, Texas, Elliott Naishtat, | "In an op-ed column questioning the exclusion of Planned Parenthood clinics from a women’s contraception program, Austin members of the Texas House say the result would be more government-funded births. ""More than half of the births in Texas are paid for by Medicaid and, without this (women’s) program, that percentage... |
9005 | Clinical Trial Offers Natural Eczema Treatment, Using Good Bacteria to Fight the Bad | The news release highlights a new clinical trial using a twice daily lotion containing what we’re told is “good bacteria” used to fight “bad bacteria” in order to restore the “natural microbial balance” of patients with eczema, or atopic dermatitis. The premise of this research is that introducing “good bacteria” might... | false | eczema,microbiome,National Jewish Health | This lotion is still in clinical trials. Pricing is most likely unavailable. We’re told the lotion contains “beneficial bacteria to fight harmful bacteria,” and the lead investigator is quoted as saying that this will “help the skin gain back it’s natural balance and create that barrier needed to keep it healthy.” But ... |
17932 | Soy ... el único official estatal quién es un hombre de negocios. | "Dewhurst said he’s ""el único official estatal quién es un hombre de negocios,"" which his camp would translate as ""the only statewide elected official who is a businessman."" This claim falls down without going beyond the five executive offices that his spokesman said Dewhurst was referring to. Past that, the claim ... | false | Candidate Biography, Texas, David Dewhurst, | "As a businessman, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst claimed in an Aug. 19, 2013, interview, he knows how to keep Texas’ job growth going. ""Soy un hombre de negocios, el único official estatal quién es un hombre de negocios,"" he said on the Houston Univision 45 show ""Conexión Texas"" – ""I am a businessman, the only state off... |
10891 | New Drug Spray May Help Premature Ejaculation | "There was a lot we liked about this story. Appropriate caveats. Even the headline said ""may help"" instead of hyping results. Lots of detail on the evidence. Maybe WebMD is starting to listen to us? The story ended with this note which we had not seen before on a WebMD story: This study was presented at a medical c... | true | "The story explains that ""No price has been set."" We give it credit for thinking about cost and addressing it – even if the answer is uncertain at this point. 70 percent of the stories we review fail to adequately address costs. The ""ejaculatory control scale"" wasn’t explained very well. But the numbers were there.... | |
35285 | U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted in 2014 that governors were making a mistake by backing off Ebola quarantines. | It should also be noted that the quarantines in 2014 during the Ebola outbreak were much different than the quarantines put in place during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. In 2014, no state-wide “shelter-in-place” orders existed. Rather, a handful of states required people who had come in contact with someon... | true | Politics, COVID-19 | In March 2020, cities across the United States started to implement various orders to “shelter in place,” “stay at home,” or “self-quarantine” in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus that emerged in 2019. While these measures appeared to work in helping to “flat... |
10737 | Good energy for bad: Reiki, a Japanese practice of clearing away negative energy, is finding acceptance in U.S. medicine | Reiki, the Japanese practice of “energy healing” is one of many complementary or alternative medical services now available at select health centers in the U.S. This story describes the use of Reiki therapy for several diseases and conditions. Although the story attempts to describe the evidence to support reiki therap... | mixture | The story does describe the cost of treatment for one patient – about $500 for two months of sessions. But the story could have explained whether this is representative of usual Reiki costs. It did mention that the profiled patient’s charges weren’t covered by insurance. Is this the norm? Although the story does descri... | |
5184 | Evers’ official: Ex-Planned Parenthood VP has no legal say. | Gov. Tony Evers’ pick to lead the Wisconsin Department of Health Services on Wednesday defended naming a former vice president at Planned Parenthood as a top deputy, saying she won’t have any involvement in lawsuits challenging the state’s abortion laws. | true | Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood, Health, Lawsuits, Abortion, Confirmation hearings | Secretary-designee Andrea Palm was asked about the pick of Nicole Safar during a confirmation hearing before the state Senate’s health committee. Palm has drawn heat from anti-abortion groups and conservative Republican senators for selecting Safar, a longtime Planned Parenthood lobbyist, to be her assistant deputy sec... |
8809 | China says Baxter holding up heparin investigation. | Chinese officials said on Tuesday a Chinese-made blood thinner was not to blame for fatalities linked to the product, and accused U.S. drugmaker Baxter International Inc of obstructing the investigation into the cause of the problem. | true | Health News | A tear rolls down the face of Leroy Hubley as he listens during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on heparin imports from China on Capitol Hill in Washington April 29, 2008. REUTERS/Jim Young Baxter has recalled batches of the drug heparin that were found to be tainted with a similar but cheaper chemical... |
3737 | 55 ‘probable’ Legionnaires’ cases tied to Atlanta hotel. | The Georgia Department of Public Health says it’s probable there are 55 more cases in the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak linked to the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel. | true | Georgia, General News, Legionnaires disease, Pneumonia, Atlanta, Disease outbreaks, Public health | News outlets report the agency hadn’t confirmed the cases in the lab Monday but the people involved have illnesses consistent with Legionnaires’ disease, such as pneumonia. There are 11 confirmed cases but health officials can’t be sure the hotel is the source until testing is complete. The Sheraton Atlanta shut down v... |
35503 | New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered thousands of COVID-19 patients to be sent to nursing homes, while the USNS Comfort, a hospital ship sent to New York to help treat patients, sat empty and unused. | What's true: Due to a March 25, 2020, New York state directive, recovering COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals and sent to nursing homes. USNS Comfort, a hospital ship, was sent to New York City that month to aid the city's hospitals, but the ship's resources were underused. What's false: USNS Comfort was ... | mixture | Politics, COVID-19 | A meme about New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was making the rounds in May 2020 that criticized his management of COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic patients in New York and the resources at his disposal. The meme said, “While the USNS Comfort sat in New York empty and unused, Andrew Cuomo mandated nursing homes to take C... |
7456 | Iowa gym owner is cited for defying coronavirus order. | The owner of a Cedar Rapids business who was violating Gov. Kim Reynolds’ order that limits the number of customers in gyms during the coronavirus pandemic has been cited with a misdemeanor. | true | Iowa, Health, General News, Kim Reynolds, Cedar Rapids, Virus Outbreak, Public health | Jason Bailey, owner of Custom Fitness, was issued the misdemeanor citation Tuesday after police observed several people working out inside the gym, KCRG reported. Reynolds’ public health emergency order limits gyms in Linn and 21 other counties to one customer at a time, and only by appointment. Bailey acknowledged to ... |
12871 | Idaho mother sentenced to prison after multiple citations for breastfeeding in public. | Idaho woman was not sentenced to prison for breastfeeding her child | false | Fake news, PunditFact, TheSeattleTribune.com, | "A fabricated story that says an Idaho mother was imprisoned for breastfeeding her child continues to be persistently shared online, despite being completely made up. ""Idaho mother sentenced to prison after multiple citations for breastfeeding in public,"" reads the headline on a Sept. 3, 2016, post on TheSeattleTribu... |
26294 | Bill Gates worked to end livestock production, and is pushing lab grown meat. | Gates has invested at different times in several companies making meat replacement products, including Memphis Meats, which grows meat from living cells in a lab. We found no evidence that Gates has worked specifically to end livestock production. Gates has said livestock are critical to fighting poverty. The Bill & Me... | mixture | Environment, Agriculture, Food, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the target of yet another widespread Facebook post, this time for his support of efforts to create climate-friendly meat replacements. ""Bill Gates worked to end livestock production, and is pushing lab grown meat,"" said a May 4 Facebook post. The post wa... |
35318 | "U.S. President Donald Trump implied the Obama administration left behind ""bad,"" ""broken,"" and ""obsolete"" COVID-19 diagnostic tests." | GOVERNOR MURPHY: I did the quick turnaround. | true | Politics, COVID-19 | On April 30, 2020, social media users and news outlets noted that U.S. President Donald Trump had blamed his predecessor former President Barack Obama for leaving the Trump administration with faulty COVID-19 diagnostic tests, even though the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic is the result of a virus not discovered ... |
9360 | Controversial researcher’s diabetes vaccine causes improvement in small study | This story from STAT met most of our criteria in describing the results of a study that examined how two doses of the generic bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccine, used for nearly a century against tuberculosis, affected blood sugar levels Type 1 diabetics. We were especially glad to see the results given in absolute... | true | type 1 diabetes | The story notes that the BCG vaccine costs less than $1 per dose, though it remains to be seen if the cost will remain the same if it’s approved for diabetes. The story does acknowledge that treatment with the BCG vaccine did not eliminate the study patients’ need for insulin. Wisely, the story quantifies reduction in ... |
31180 | Automobile components emit dangerous levels of cancer-causing benzene fumes. | Contrary to online scarelore, automobile components do not emit dangerous levels of cancer-causing benzene fumes. | false | Medical Do You Know the Danger of Turning on the A/C After Starting the Engine?, benzene, Toxin Du Jour | A commonly circulated online item about the dangers of benzene supposedly emitted by automobile components has been widely misunderstood: Do not turn on A/C immediately as soon as you enter the car! Please open the windows after you enter your car and do not turn ON the air-conditioning immediately. According to a res... |
29899 | Adam Schiff used taxpayer money to silence a man who accused him of sexual harassment. | Schiff, who now controls one of the Congressional committees overseeing an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, is the frequent target of conspiracy theorists. In February 2018, a false rumor claimed that Schiff’s sister was married to billionaire philanthropist George Soros’s... | false | Junk News | In early February 2019, social media trolls attempted to spread a claim that “congressional sources” had confirmed Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) “used taxpayer money” to cover up a sexual-harassment accusation: 🚨BREAKING: According to congressional sources Representative Adam Schiff used tax payer money to reach a s... |
9476 | Blood Test Finds Cancer Before Symptoms Start | This NBC News story reports on a new approach to a blood test that might reveal early-stage cancers by detecting altered DNA floating in the bloodstream. Researchers reported an impressive success rate in finding markers that indicate cancer, although the test still needs refinement. For that reason, we think it was to... | true | blood tests,cancer | This story gets a satisfactory in this category by including, “The genetic sequencing is also expensive right now – on the order of several thousand dollars for the 30,000 repeats the team did. But costs are coming down steadily, he said.” The story says, “They identified 62 percent of the patients with stage I cancer ... |
40070 | These are forwarded photos of a matador who got gored in the throat in a bullfight. The photos are quite gruesome and show the bull’s horn penetrating the matador’s throat and exiting his mouth. | Photos of a Bullfighter Who Got Gored Through the Throat by a Bull | true | Animals, Miscellaneous | The photos are real and the bullfighter is Spanish matador, Julio Aparicio, who according London’s Telegraph news service, narrowly escaped death by the skin of his teeth after he was horrifically gored in a Madrid bullfight by a half-ton bull on May 21, 2010. The Telegraph said that Aparicio, 41, was carrying out a pa... |
38917 | Many people have questioned whether ads for a weight loss supplement called Garcinia Cambogia are real. | Weight Loss Claims About Garcinia Cambogia | false | Health / Medical | There’s no proof that Garcinia cambogia can help you lose weight without diet and exercise, so this one is fiction. Garcinia cambogia is a fruit that grows in Southeast Asia. Dietary supplement companies regularly claim that it’s an appetite suppressant that also prevents the body from making fat. So, supposedly, the s... |
17887 | Up to half of all Americans have a pre-existing condition. | "Obama said up to half of all Americans have a pre-existing condition. A government study put the range at 19 percent to 50 percent. Most other studies suggest the percentage is less than 50 percent. The president relied on the highest estimate but qualified his claim by saying ""up to"" which is technically accurate." | true | National, Health Care, Barack Obama, | "The Obama administration is trying to rebut critics who have labeled Obamacare one of the most destructive laws in the nation’s history. At an event in Maryland on Sept. 26, 2013, President Barack Obama highlighted the program’s benefits. High on his list was the new rule about pre-existing conditions, health problems... |
8199 | U.S. hospitals, patients cancel elective surgery as coronavirus spreads. | U.S. hospitals, anticipating a need for beds as more people are diagnosed with coronavirus, are postponing elective surgeries, while some patients, leery of going to a hospital, are canceling appointments themselves. Several hospitals in the hard-hit Seattle area, including EvergreenHealth, have suspended elective proc... | true | Health News | New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday said he would sign an executive order to postpone all elective surgeries at New York City hospitals so doctors and nurses can focus on treating patients infected with the virus. The goal is to free up hospital beds so the healthcare system does not become overwhelmed during a pot... |
4691 | Western State art studio provides therapeutic asylum. | Windows stained with sheer smears of purple, gold, green and cerulean capture sunlight that shines in on an unexpected floor at Western State Hospital. | true | Hopkinsville, Health, Painting, Ceramics | Positive mantras and murals are painted on nearly every inch of white wall that outlines the wide-open space that makes up the art studio for patients at the mental health facility. “The patients ask if they can do something on the wall, and I say ‘go for it’ — as long as they don’t cover up anybody else’s creation,” s... |
10006 | Picking right blood pressure medicine challenging | "This story provided information on a very interesting topic: how to better assign medications to people with hypertension to maximize the treatment benefit and avoid medication-induced increases in blood pressure. The story tried to encapsulate insights from several studies and experts in the field about whether mea... | mixture | There was no discussion of costs, which is unfortunate. One editorial in the journal containing the study mentioned that the $20 per sample analysis would be less than the cost of a year’s treatment even using the cheapest generic triple combination of drugs. Other than to suggest that the use of the test could better ... | |
560 | Trump to meet with vaping industry as he mulls tighter regulation. | U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he will be meeting with vaping industry representatives as his administration considers tightening e-cigarette regulations amid a nationwide outbreak of vaping-related injuries and deaths. | true | Health News | “Will be meeting with representatives of the Vaping industry, together with medical professionals and individual state representatives, to come up with an acceptable solution to the Vaping and E-cigarette dilemma. Children’s health & safety, together with jobs, will be a focus!” he wrote on Twitter. Trump did not give ... |
9682 | Study finds new potential treatment for jet lag | This CNN story reports on a study of flashing light therapy as a method to improve the body’s ability to respond to jet lag. While it was an admittedly brief study with few participants, there was sufficient detail to suggest that the flashing light might be more beneficial compared to continuous light as a countermeas... | mixture | jet lag,light therapy | Costs are not discussed. How much would a device that emits a flashing light that delivers a camera-like flash every ten or so seconds cost? It could be a little or a lot, depending on the purchaser. The competing Reuters story at least suggested that this device would require complicated new technology that one can pr... |
32378 | "Mutation Response Vehicle"" vehicles spotted near Longwood, Florida, are related to outbreaks of the Zika virus." | Two videos (neither of which is embeddable) explain that the Mutation Response Vehicles were created for use at the Burning Man festival and have nothing to do with any potential disease outbreaks or public health agencies. | false | Fauxtography, automobiles, black rock city, burning man | On 15 August 2016 Facebook user Joe Amos shared photographs of automobiles labeled “Mutation Response Vehicle” (MRV), purportedly spotted by a friend of his near Longwood, Florida: Amos appeared to be simply perplexed by the unusual trucks, but the photographs were quickly noticed by conspiracy forums and inspired YouT... |
12995 | "The Russians ""tried to hack the Republican National Committee, and they were unable to break through." | "Trump said the Russians ""tried to hack the Republican National Committee, and they were unable to break through."" While Russians were able to get into the email accounts of some Republican individuals and state-level Republican organizations, they did not break into the Republican National Committee’s current system... | true | National, Foreign Policy, Technology, Donald Trump, | "After months of discounting Russian involvement in the election, President-elect Donald Trump admitted that Russia was behind the campaign hacks and document leaks. ""As far as hacking, I think it was Russia,"" he said at a Jan. 11 press conference from Trump Tower in New York, his first press conference in several mo... |
3113 | Doctor’s report calls 77-year-old Biden ‘healthy, vigorous’. | Joe Biden is “healthy, vigorous” and “fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency,” according to a doctor’s report released Tuesday by the 77-year-old former vice president. | true | Medication, Michael Bloomberg, Health, General News, Joe Biden, Election 2020 | Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who has been Biden’s primary care physician since 2009, writes in a three-page note that the Democratic presidential candidate is in overall good shape — he’s trim, exercises and keeps his cholesterol at healthy levels with the use of a statin medication. Since 2003, Biden has had episodes of atrial... |
2794 | Over 600 passengers and crew fall ill on Royal Caribbean cruise. | The number of passengers and crew who fell ill aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship climbed to more than 600 on Monday, many vomiting and using biohazard bags for anything they touch. | true | Health News | The updated sick count aboard the Explorer of the Seas, which cut short its Caribbean cruise and was expected to dock in New Jersey on Wednesday, is more than double the 300 originally thought to have been felled by gastrointestinal illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Among those sick with vomiting a... |
3070 | Justice Dept. rolls out new program to combat gun violence. | Attorney General William Barr announced a new initiative Wednesday that would better enforce the U.S. gun background check system, coordinate state and federal gun cases and ensure prosecutors quickly update databases to show when a defendant can’t possess a firearm because of mental health issues. | true | AP Top News, Mental health, Health, General News, Violence, Crime, Impeachments, Tennessee, William Barr, Gun politics, Gun violence, U.S. News, Memphis, Donald Trump | The push, known as Project Guardian, was unveiled at a news conference in Memphis, Tennessee, alongside officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, on the same day public impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump began in Washington. As part of the program, U.S. prosecutors will co... |
35088 | "Amid a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, Italians reported seeing wildlife such as swans and dolphins ""returning"" to newly tranquil waterways, ports, and canals." | What's true: Dolphins and swans were indeed spotted in some of Italy's waterways after the nationwide lockdown was imposed. What's false: Dolphins and swans swimming in Italy's waterways were not necessarily new phenomena related to reduced human activity during the COVID-19 lockdown. | mixture | Viral Phenomena, COVID-19 | Outside of Asia, Italy has been hardest hit by the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. But in March 2020, as the country continued to deal with rising death tolls and a national lockdown, many found relief in posting images of wildlife on social media. Perhaps eager for good news, some shared the images and news sto... |
10356 | Study: Older diabetes drugs safe to use | The story reports that several types of blood sugar lowering drugs have similar benefits, despite dramatic differences in cost among the various drug types. The story met many of our review criteria, including availability, cost, type of evidence, and benefits. It would have been better if more details about the impact... | true | "The story does mention costs of some, but not all, drugs. Importantly, though, it does compare costs of both a high-cost drug (Avandia) and a low-cost drug (metformin), which provides readers an idea of the price difference that’s at issue here. However the cost estimate of $100 a year for metformin is probably lower ... | |
8245 | UK will have antibody tests ready in days, official says. | Britain will have test kits available within days to be sent to households to establish whether people have contracted the new coronavirus and developed immunity, a health official said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | Sharon Peacock, interim director of the National Infection Service, said that millions of the antibody tests had been ordered, and depending on their exact form, some might be able to be administered without leaving home. The tests are designed to establish whether people have previously been infected with coronavirus,... |
10394 | Doctor plans novel treatment for autism | "This article is clearly directed at the local Pittsburgh area audience where the experimental ""clean room"" approach was developed. It describes a proposal to raise funds and research dollars mounting into the millions to conduct experiments without describing the key elements of how this program might yield any usef... | false | "This article does report costs estimated to design the clean room, $500,000, and that a minimum of $1 million dollars annually will be needed to support operating expenses. Cost of the experimental approach were not reported and may not be available at this time because the project is still in the planning stage; howe... | |
3555 | A spoonful less sugar, tad more fat: US diets still lacking. | Americans’ diets are a little less sweet and a little crunchier but there’s still too much sugar, white bread and artery-clogging fat, a study suggests. | true | Nutrition, AP Top News, Health, General News, Lifestyle, Obesity, U.S. News, Healthy eating | Overall, the authors estimated there was a modest improvement over 16 years on the government’s healthy eating index, from estimated scores of 56 to 58. That’s hardly cause for celebration — 100 is the top score. Diets are still too heavy on foods that can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other preval... |
5392 | With new category, Oscars are now a popularity contest. | Not since Faye Dunaway shouted “La La Land!” has an Oscar announcement caused quite as much chaos as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decision to create a new Academy Awards category for “outstanding achievement in popular film.” | true | Academy Awards, Entertainment, Movies, North America, Science, Faye Dunaway, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Rob Lowe | The film academy’s surprise announcement Wednesday proved remarkably unpopular, at least among film critics and some academy members. Actor Rob Lowe, a longtime academy member, pronounced the Oscars dead, “survived by sequels, tent-poles and vertical integration.” The other new changes were met with a mix of praise and... |
9279 | Discovery promises new treatments to thwart colon cancer | The release focuses on a recent study published in Cell, which finds that a protein called AIM2 may play a significant role in preventing or slowing the progression of colorectal cancer in mice. Specifically, the release says researchers found that AIM2 inhibits the proliferation of intestinal stem cells — slowing the ... | false | mice studies,St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | The release does not address cost at all. This is not surprising, given that this is an early study, in an animal model, which identifies the role of a particular protein in preventing and, possibly, slowing the progression of colorectal cancer. However, the release explicitly discusses specific therapeutic possibiliti... |
26677 | “Some states are only getting 50 tests per day, and the Utah Jazz got 58.” | After Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the state of Oklahoma administered tests to 58 people in a matter of hours. A spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Department of Health said it was the first incident where that many people met the criteria for testing in such a short timespan... | true | Public Health, Pundits, Sports, PunditFact, Coronavirus, Michael Dougherty, | "The novel coronavirus reached the NBA this week, with Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive in Oklahoma City moments before the Jazz were set to tip off against the Thunder. The development led the NBA to suspend its season. The Jazz said in a statement that after diagnostic tests were administered to team pla... |
4570 | Michigan regulatory board halts state’s drinking water rules. | A Michigan regulatory oversight board staffed with business and industry representatives selected by former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has temporarily paused state drinking water standards that would limit allowable levels of certain toxic industrial chemicals. | true | Environment, Michigan, General News, Rick Snyder, Lansing | The Environmental Rules Review Committee voted Thursday to wait two weeks before deciding on whether to delay or approve draft maximum contaminant levels for several compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively called PFAS, MLive.com reported. The substances, widely used in firefighting foam, no... |
36088 | In the early 1900s, sideshow operator Dr. Martin Couney intervened for premature babies in a way that medical care at the time did not. | Did a Coney Island Sideshow Save Hundreds of Premature Babies in the Early 1900s? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On October 15 2019, a Facebook post with images relayed a purported history of neonatology and the role of a man named Dr. Martin Couney, who created a sideshow of tiny infants as a way of covering the costs of saving premature babies:Black-and-white images of a man, nurses, and small babies appeared alongside text tha... |
14562 | "In Ohio, more than half the providers of safe and legal abortion have had to shut down"" since Gov. John Kasich took office in 2011." | "Richards said that ""more than half the providers of safe and legal abortion have had to shut down."" PolitiFact confirmed that since 2011, seven abortion providers have closed and an eighth stopped performing surgical abortions. That’s half of the previous 16 providers in the state -- not more than half. Also, four o... | mixture | Abortion, Ohio, Cecile Richards, | "Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, told a crowd of women in Los Angeles how she really feels about the idea of Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, winning the presidential election: ""It would be a complete and utter disaster."" She continued, ""Gov. Kasich has come off as a moderate, only by comparison to Te... |
35244 | Time magazine covers from 2006 and 2017 highlighted articles warning about global warming and a pandemic. | Across China, the virus that could spark the next pandemic is already circulating. It’s a bird flu called H7N9, and true to its name, it mostly infects poultry. Lately, however, it’s started jumping from chickens to humans more readily — bad news, because the virus is a killer. During a recent spike, 88% of people infe... | true | Fauxtography | Every crisis brings out the “I-told-you-so” contingent, the Cassandras who maintain after the fact that a realized danger was perfectly predictable (and therefore preventable). Unsurprisingly, during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic of early 2020, a popular social media post displayed covers of Time magazine issues be... |
31810 | Cone-shaped skulls found in Latin America are of alien, not human, origin. | We found no credible academic sources or publications corroborating the claim that DNA taken from the skulls found at Paracas was not human in origin or abnormal enough to warrant further study. The practice of purposely elongating skulls is well known to anthropologists, and while academics may debate the motivation c... | false | Viral Phenomena, aliens, brian foerster, rationalwiki | A story has been circulating around alien and UFO conspiracy web sites since 2014, alluding that DNA tests done on cone-shaped skulls found in the Paracas region of Peru show they are of extraterrestrial origin. The strange appearance of the skulls coupled with the outlandish claim continues to give the story legs, and... |
11480 | New Blood Thinner Beats Plavix When Paired With Low-Dose Aspirin | We feel several facets of the study should have been given more attention. Most notably, the drugmaker funded it. Given the ongoing FDA review, we think that’s pretty important. But read our full review for our questions about how the story covered (or didn’t cover) the evidence, benefits and cost issues at play. The p... | mixture | HealthDay | No discussion of costs. Ticagrelor isn’t available in the US. But its cost – where available elsewhere – could have been cited. Cost will certainly be an issue if it’s approved because its competitor, clopidogrel, will soon be available in the US as a generic drug. We have a few suggestions here. Most importantly, we t... |
35322 | The 1969 Woodstock music festival occurred during a pandemic as lethal as COVID-19. | What's true: The Woodstock music festival took place in August 1969. The H3N2 influenza pandemic lasted between the winter of 1968 and the early months of 1970. What's false: The 1968 pandemic does not compare to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of lethality. Also, Woodstock did not take place during one of the Pandemic'... | mixture | Medical, COVID-19 | In the winter of 1968, the H3N2 virus, also referred to as the “Hong Kong flu,” spread widely in the United States. Over the next 18 months, the pandemic killed an estimated 100,000 people in the U.S. and 1 million worldwide, yet daily life, more or less, proceeded as if it were business as usual. There were no statewi... |
7134 | Talk show host Williams taking time off for health reasons. | Daytime talk show host Wendy Williams says she’s taking three weeks off on doctor’s orders. | true | Hyperthyroidism, Health, Entertainment, North America, Wendy Williams, Talk shows | Williams says that her doctor told her to take the break to deal with her Graves’ Disease and hyperthyroidism. Reruns will air in her absence. Williams told her audience Wednesday that she’s been feeling like there are birds flying around her head, like a cartoon, and discussed other symptoms. She urged women in her au... |
4036 | Toxic lead removed from Paris schools after Notre Dame fire. | Workers in full protective gear began Thursday to decontaminate some Paris schools tested with unsafe levels of lead following the blaze at the Notre Dame Cathedral, as part of efforts to protect children from risks of lead poisoning. | true | Lead poisoning, Paris, General News, Travel, Health, Fires, Travel, Poisoning, Europe | Paris authorities ordered last month a deep clean and removal of hazardous substances at schools near the cathedral, which was seriously damaged in the April 15 blaze that sent tons of toxic lead from the metal roof into the air. The decontamination work is expected to be completed before children return to school in S... |
35784 | U.S. President Donald Trump has been the target of multiple accusations that he raped children aged 13 and younger, and he paid at least $35 million to settle most of those claims. | "What's true: A woman using the pseudonym ""Katie Johnson"" has twice filed a civil lawsuit against Trump and billionaire Jeffrey Epstein accusing them of having sexually abused her when she was 13 years old, but those lawsuits were dismissed or withdrawn. What's false: No evidence supports the claim that Trump has pai... | false | Politics | Since January 2019, claims have circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump has had to deal with multiple accusations that he raped children aged 13 and younger, paying out at least $35 million to settle most of those claims and ensure the silence of his victims: This meme contains one nugget of truth: A woman ... |
18363 | "The IRS is ""going to be in charge of our health care." | "Bachmann said the IRS is ""going to be in charge of our health care."" The IRS does play a number of key roles under the health care law, but it’s wrong to say it would ""be in charge"" of any American’s health care. The IRS won’t oversee interactions between doctors and patients, nor will it play any more of a role t... | false | National, Health Care, Taxes, Michele Bachmann, | "Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. is one of a number of Republican lawmakers who have recently sought to link the two longtime targets of conservatives -- the Internal Revenue Service and President Barack Obama’s health care law. In a May 15, 2013, interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, Bachmann invoked an inspecto... |
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