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15661 | "The money the Clinton Foundation took from from foreign governments while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state ""is clearly illegal. … The Constitution says you can’t take this stuff." | "Gingrich said the Clinton Foundation ""took money from from foreign governments while (Hillary Clinton) was secretary of state. It is clearly illegal. … The Constitution says you can’t take this stuff."" A clause in the Constitution does prohibit U.S. officials such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from re... | false | Foreign Policy, PunditFact, Newt Gingrich, | "Hillary Clinton is in the political crosshairs as the author of a new book alleges improper financial ties between her public and personal life. At issue in conservative author Peter Schweizer’s forthcoming book Clinton Cash are donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Foundation during the four years she ser... |
9893 | Annual Mammograms May Have More False-Positives | This article reports on the results of a study of nearly 170,000 women who had screening mammograms beginning between age 40-59. The study found that over ten years of screening mammograms, over half of the women will experience a false-positive recall for additional mammography. In addition, 7%-9% of the women will ha... | mixture | Screening,WebMD,women's health | While the financial costs of screening mammography & false-positive recalls & biopsies were not included in the study, readers would benefit from being reminded that recall mammography & biopsies increase patient financial costs. This article leads with valuable information for all women over age 40 by stating “Getting... |
11358 | SBRT Offers Prostate Cancer Patients High Cancer Control and Low Toxicity in Fewer Treatments | This news release describes five-year outcomes for 309 men with early-stage prostate cancer who received stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which delivers targeted doses of radiation cheaper and faster than the prevailing radiation therapy treatment for prostate cancer. The study measured the rates of severe i... | mixture | Association/Society news release,Cancer | The news release quotes lead researcher Robert Meier, MD, saying previous studies have shown SBRT to be “a cost-effective and faster alternative to IMRT” but does not provide any detail as to the specific costs of either procedure. In fact, the difference is substantial. A 2014 study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology... |
10166 | Study: Vaccine for Breast, Ovarian Cancer Has Potential | While the story does many things well, the overall framing of the story is that the vaccine “shows promise,” when the evidence actually points in the other direction. Because only one patient in the study remains cancer free and because that patient may very well have benefited from an earlier cancer vaccine and other ... | true | Cancer,WebMD,women's health | The story does discuss costs, but the framing is problematic. The story, based on a conversation with one source, the study’s lead investigator, says, “It’s difficult at this point to predict costs. However, he expects costs will not approach those for Provenge, the pricey treatment vaccine for prostate cancer approved... |
11276 | Some appendicitis cases may not require ’emergency’ surgery | We really don’t understand why only a handful of mainstream news organizations reported this story. (At least in what we found.) The most common emergency surgery in the world. Rushing to emergency surgery may not carry any benefit. Waiting a few hours may be safer and less expensive. Why is that not a story? We applau... | true | "Although the story didn’t cite the cost of appendectomy – emergency or urgent surgery – and we wish it had, we nonetheless will give it a satisfactory score because it at least cited what the editorial writer wrote, ""A secondary benefit is the savings to the hospital generated by minimizing staff and anesthesiologist... | |
8713 | Britain to reveal trial criteria for coronavirus antibody tests. | British regulators will this week reveal approval criteria for firms offering new coronavirus antibody tests, touted by governments in Britain and elsewhere as critical to easing nationwide lockdowns without helping the virus to spread. | true | Health News | Antibody tests show whether whether people have been infected with the novel coronavirus and developed immunity - potentially allowing them to return to their places of work. The British government has provisionally ordered 17.5 million of them, but health minister Matt Hancock has said some of those already being tria... |
9851 | Angioplasty through the wrist backed by new study | This is a good piece of reporting about a recent study comparing two different insertion sites to obtain access for angioplasty. While not providing any insight about the specific circumstances when there may be medical reasons to chose one access site over another, the story did a nice job of informing readers that th... | true | The story did not provide cost estimates for either approach; the story did mention that the through-the-wrist approach was associated with shorter hospital stays (and therefore reduced costs.) There was no discussion in the story about whether there are different costs associated with the procedure itself. The story e... | |
2768 | U.S. says results encouraging for healthcare delivery reforms. | The Obama administration on Thursday reported what it called encouraging results from efforts to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of care for more than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries under Obamacare | true | Health News | As part of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law, the efforts center around more than 360 accountable care organizations (ACOs), which are networks of doctors, hospitals and other providers specially organized to help move Medicare away from traditional fee-for-service medicine. The U.S. Centers for Medicare a... |
2717 | Latest trial in J&J talc litigations gets under way in California. | A California jury on Monday heard opening statements in the latest trial over allegations that Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ.N) talc-based products, including the company’s baby powder, were contaminated with asbestos and cause cancer. | true | Health News | The lawsuit brought by Terry Leavitt in Alameda Superior Court in Oakland is the first of over a dozen J&J talc cases scheduled for trial in 2019. The company is facing some 11,700 lawsuits over the safety of talc in its products. Leavitt’s lawyer, Joseph Satterley, accused J&J in his opening statement of knowingly sel... |
10527 | Poor test results for heart drugs | "The story reports no additional cardiovascular protection with the cholesterol lowering drug ezetimibe (Zetia) alone, or in combination with the statin simvastatin (trade name Zocor). The report is unfortunately yet another example of an attempt to explain a very complicated story in a short TV chat. The study design,... | false | "The story does not note the cost of a typical statin regimen, Zetia or the combination treatment, Vytorin. This is an important oversight as many people who are prescribed these medications take them for life. The story does mention that these new drugs ""raked in 5 billion dollars last year"". The failure of the comb... | |
28215 | Opossums kill thousands of ticks each week, inhibiting the spread of Lyme Disease to humans. | What's true: Some data indicate opossums eat thousands of deer ticks per season, reducing the number that can go on to spread Lyme Disease to humans. What's false: How much of an impact opossums' eating ticks has on Lyme Disease infection rates is indeterminate. | true | Critter Country, lyme disease, opossum | On 18 March 2016, an image of an opossum was uploaded to Imgur with overlaid text reading as follows: Given the frequently absurd nature of “amazing facts” memes, many viewers were rightly skeptical of the claim attached to that photograph. The image provided no citations to substantiate the information it presented, ... |
5793 | Democrats hoping to flip House not just trash-talking Trump. | Democrats hoping to flip enough seats to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives say they aren’t putting all their eggs in the anti-Trump basket. | true | Access to health care, Health, Politics, North America, Donald Trump, Barack Obama | Those candidates include Lauren Underwood, a 31-year-old registered nurse from Illinois and part of the Democrats’ master plan to regain control of the House. While Underwood is no fan of President Donald Trump, she said her No. 1 concern — and the top concern of the voters she hopes to will send her to Washington — is... |
36179 | Hoodies riddled with faux bullet holes bearing the names of schools involved in massacres (including Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas) are available for purchase. | Are ‘School Shooting Hoodies’ With Faux Bullet Holes Real? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In September 2019 a Facebook user shared the following screenshots (archived here) of a since-deleted tweet, depicting three hoodies (Virginia Tech, Columbine, and Sandy Hook) and a comment — “Ok, this is a NEED”:A link to the original tweet returned an error message, indicating that the September 13 2019 tweet had bee... |
11433 | Cancer Activist Sounds Alarm For Early Testing For Genetic Marker | Fails to present the nuances associated with testing for BRCA gene mutations. Focusing on a patient advocate who encourages genetic testing in those with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer may have helped narrative flow, but it may not have been representative of women’s experiences. While the risks as... | false | There is no discussion of cost in this story. According to the National Cancer Institute, genetic testing for mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 can cost anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars and insurance does not always provide coverage. The story provides information regarding the relative and absolute... | |
12216 | At the end of 2016, there were 23 percent fewer federal prosecutions than in 2011, so (prosecutors) looked at this scourge (opioid deaths) and they let it go by. | "Trump said ""at the end of 2016, there were 23 percent fewer federal prosecutions than in 2011, so (prosecutors) looked at this surge and they let it go by."" Trump made the statement in the context of rising opioid overdose deaths. An analysis of data shows that federal drug charges overall declined 23 percent betwee... | mixture | Drugs, Crime, Florida, Donald Trump, | "President Donald Trump took a swipe at former President Barack Obama as he renewed his pledge to tackle the opioid epidemic, which claims the lives of tens of thousands of people a year. Trump said that opioid overdose deaths have nearly quadrupled since 1999, speaking after a briefing on the issue. But while deaths s... |
30635 | The train carrying GOP members of Congress to a West Virginia retreat crashed due to a Deep State plot. | Sites like YourNewsWire, Gateway Pundit and InfoWars have made it a habitual practice to cynically exploit tragedies and spread false information about them for their own purposes. | false | Politics, deep state, gateway pundit, infowars | On 31 January 2018, an Amtrak train carrying Republican members of Congress to a retreat struck a garbage truck that was on the tracks at 11:20 a.m. in Crozet, Virginia, killing one person. The tragic loss of life did not give even brief pause, however, to conspiracy trolls who made it their latest fodder. Although the... |
2981 | Sex tech from women-led startups pops up at CES gadget show. | Sex tech is gracing the CES gadget show in Las Vegas this week, a year after organizers took fire for revoking an innovation award to a sex device company led by a female founder. | true | Technology, Consumer Electronics Show, General News, Business, Consumer electronics, Lifestyle, Health, Fires, Las Vegas, U.S. News | CES is allowing space for sex tech companies as a one-year trial. At the show, such companies were scattered throughout the health and wellness section, near startups pitching fitness trackers and infrared saunas. Lora DiCarlo, a startup that pushed for changes after organizers revoked its award, showed off its Osé rob... |
29528 | Waxed apples cause cancer. | "What's true: Apples are commonly coated with food-grade wax to extend their shelf lives. What's false: Waxed apples aren't ""known carcinogens""; the use of wax on apples isn't a secret." | false | Medical, apples, food warnings, metaspoon | In April 2016, the web site MetaSpoon published a blog post (titled: “He Pours Boiling Water On An Apple From The Grocery Store. Watch What Appears On The Skin… GROSS!”) which held that the wax used to preserve fruits are riddled with pesticides: Apples are so healthy and delicious, it really is no wonder that they’re ... |
26007 | Viral image Says BBC prematurely reported “Ghislaine Maxwell moved to intensive care as coronavirus symptoms worsen.” | The BBC did not publish an article dated July 11, 2020, about Ghislaine Maxwell moving to intensive care because of COVID-19 symptoms. | false | Criminal Justice, Crime, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Viral image, | "Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on July 2 on charges she lured girls to be sexually abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein. According to official autopsy results, Epstein killed himself last year in a New York jail cell where he was being held on federal sex trafficking charges, though conspiracy theories allege he was mu... |
13871 | John Faso took money from fossil fuel companies as they tried to take your land by eminent domain for a fracked gas pipeline. | Climate activists targeted BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, in London on Monday, demanding that major financial institutions starve fossil fuel companies of the money they need to build new mines, wells and pipelines. | mixture | Environment, Congress, New York, Zephyr Teachout, | Extinction Rebellion, which uses civil disobedience to highlight the risks posed by climate change and the accelerating loss of plant and animal species, is midway through a new two-week wave of actions in cities around the world. Activists thronged the financial heart of London on Monday, unfurling banners, addressing... |
3077 | Officials alert health care providers of HIV surge. | Massachusetts officials alerted health care providers to test frequently for HIV and to quickly report new infections to the Public Health Department. | true | Boston, General News, Public health, Lowell, Massachusetts | Officials discovered that there were 182 intravenous drug users who were affected in Lowell and Lawrence between 2015 and 2019, The Boston Globe reported. The number of cases dropped after the summer of 2018 after a campaign to increase access to treatment. There were six new cases diagnosed in Boston in December 2018 ... |
30992 | The United States Secret Service arrested Alec Baldwin for threatening President Donald Trump at the 2017 Emmy Awards. | Other stories that have taken in readers of the site include claims that a Muslim mayor outlawed Christmas in 2017, and that a Muslim federal judge had ruled that two items of sharia law were now considered legal in the United States. Neither story had any truth to them whatsoever. | false | Junk News, alec baldwin, as american as apple pie, asamericanasapplepie.org | On 18 September 2017, the satirical web site As American As Apple Pie reported that actor Alec Baldwin had been arrested at the 2017 Emmy Awards for threatening President Donald Trump: The Secret Service was forced to remove Alec Baldwin from the Emmys in Los Angeles Sunday night after he threatened to “use his influe... |
32993 | Hillary Clinton is (or was) a member of Monsanto's board of directors. | But despite the rumor’s proliferation across social media, there’s no truth to the claim that Hillary Clinton sat on Monsanto’s board of directors at any point during her career. Moreover, we found no direct ties between Hillary Clinton and the agribusiness firm in regards to political fundraising. Apart from working w... | false | Politics, 2016 presidential campaign, hillary clinton, monsanto | "The Walmart chain of retail stores and the Monsanto agrochemical/agricultural biotechnology corporation are two of America’s largest companies, and they’re also two of the businesses mostly frequently invoked in public criticism as supposed exemplars of corporate greed, putting profits and growth far ahead of concern ... |
15232 | Rhode Island will become just the second state to mandate the vaccine … and the only state to do so by regulatory fiat, without public debate, and without consideration from the elected representatives of the people. | "The center says ""Rhode Island will become just the second state to mandate the vaccine … and the only state to do so by regulatory fiat, without public debate, and without consideration from the elected representatives of the people."" The center, in its statement, got two things right and two things wrong. It was ri... | mixture | Rhode Island, Health Care, Government Regulation, Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, | "Rhode Island has issued a controversial vaccination requirement designed to fight HPV, or human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cancer. The requirement, ordered by the Rhode Island Department of Health, took effect Aug. 1. It has drawn fire from a group of critics that included the Rhode Is... |
9605 | I’ll never go through shoulder surgery again, so here’s what I did | This story tells the tale of the writer’s experience using a new therapy for a rotator cuff injury, a procedure called platelet-rich plasma, or PRP. The writer previously had undergone traditional rotator cuff injury surgery and cited a long and difficult recovery, making the allegedly easier procedure and recovery fro... | mixture | platelet-rich plasma | The story attempted to discuss cost by citing the difference in price between shoulder surgery ($13,000) and the PRP treatment ($1,000, in this case for two injections). This is sufficient enough for a Satisfactory rating, but barely. While this does give readers some idea of the possible cost difference in treatments,... |
37873 | CostCo stores will require shoppers to wear masks beginning on May 4, 2020. | Is CostCo Requiring Shoppers to Cover Their Faces? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | As the CostCo retail chain prepared to implement new requirements for shoppers, a message of support for the policy gained traction among Facebook users.The post is based around a photograph of a sign informing shoppers that members will be required to wear face coverings when shopping at CostCo warehouses starting on ... |
7453 | Brazil cities lurch to lockdowns amid virus crisis red flags. | Faced with overwhelmed hospitals and surging coronavirus deaths, Brazilian state and city governments are lurching forward with mandatory lockdowns against the will of President Jair Bolsonaro, who says job losses are more damaging than COVID-19. | true | Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, AP Top News, Health, General News, Latin America, Caribbean, International News, Jair Bolsonaro, Virus Outbreak, Public health | The movements of Brazilians have been completely restricted in fewer than two dozen cities scattered across the vast nation of 211 million — even though Brazil’s death toll stands at more than 12,000, Latin America’s highest. While public health experts are demanding bolder action, most governors and mayors have not im... |
10931 | Laser Used to Blast Away Cells Causing Irregular Heartbeat | Another HealthDay, another story straight from a news release. Which might not be so bad if it only put things in a balanced perspective. Which this one doesn’t, as they often don’t. We also didn’t hear anything about why we don’t jump to conclusions after studies in just 27 people. And why was the pig research thrown ... | false | "No discussion of costs – a recurring and significant oversight. The claims of ""100% accuracy"" and that ""The investigators found that after just one laser treatment, misfiring ceased in 84 percent of the treated veins, and 90 percent remained inactive three months after treatment"" aren’t put into any meaningful con... | |
8069 | Slovakia's new government to sharply ramp up coronavirus testing. | Slovakia aims to sharply increase daily coronavirus testing in the next few weeks by bringing bringing in laboratories as the new government seeks to put a clamp on the coronavirus outbreak. | true | Health News | Prime Minister Igor Matovic, whose team took office this past weekend, said the government would seek in coming days to double testing capacity to as many as 4,000 daily tests. Since the first coronavirus infections surfaced in the central European state of 5.5 million people earlier this month, only around 300 people ... |
26723 | The coronavirus is “simply the common cold.” | The 2019 coronavirus is part of a family of viruses that produce illnesses ranging from the common cold to more critical diseases such as SARS or MERS. The 2019 coronavirus is a new virus that had not been previously identified. Most cases of the 2019 coronavirus disease have been mild, but it’s been lethal for some pe... | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "If the current coronavirus were really the same as the common cold, why would it be causing some people to die, stock markets to reel and stadiums to go empty? And yet, claims likening coronavirus to the common cold persist, including in a Facebook post that says: ""The coronavirus: The Democrats are using it to promo... |
10307 | Encouraging news about reversing heart disease | This is an enthusiastic story about the results of the ASTEROID Trial, which showed that very high doses of Crestor (a statin) caused regression of atherosclerosis as shown on intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in high risk patients. The story did not make clear that, while these results are intriguing, it is not clear th... | false | The story never mentions costs. Quantitative estimate is provided in relative frame only. The lead author of the study says that 1 to 9% of the plaque was gone, but we have no context for these numbers, nor do we know if this is clinically meaningful. No harms or side effects are mentioned. Although there is mention of... | |
31799 | Microwave ovens were banned in the USSR in 1976 to protect its citizens from harmful health effects. | The text from his website (which has a significant readership) has been repeated all over the web as fact, despite the truth that no such ban ever took place, and despite the fact that the claim stems from a possibly non-existent man with no apparent scientific credentials who may or may not have worked at the Atlantis... | false | History, food, food science, Microwaves | Microwave ovens are a favorite bugaboo of the natural health set, and claims that they were once banned in various countries, including the Soviet Union, are repeated uncritically on numerous natural health websites espousing their purported dangers. For example, a 24 August 2016 article published on the conspiracy-obs... |
31852 | Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Kurt Cobain all died with white Bic lighters in their pockets. | Britain should not follow the European Union’s “Museum of Agriculture” and let false concerns over U.S. farming practices get in the way of a post-Brexit trade deal, the U.S. ambassador to London said on Saturday. | false | Entertainment, 27 club, janis joplin, jim morrison | On Thursday, the United States laid out its objectives for a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain, seeking to entirely eliminate or reduce barriers for U.S. agricultural products and streamline regulatory differences. Opponents of Brexit have argued that such a U.S. accord would open up Britain’s markets to the likes of... |
12123 | Schools in Austin Independent School District are teaching children as young as 4 years old that their gender is fluid – that they’re not a boy or a girl and they can choose whichever gender they want. | "Hodge said: ""Schools in Austin Independent School District are teaching children as young as 4 years old that their gender is fluid – that they’re not a boy or a girl and they can choose whichever gender they want."" Hodge didn’t deliver proof of Austin students including toddlers getting told that gender is fluid no... | false | Education, Texas, Glenna Hodge, | "A supporter of basing student access to bathrooms and locker rooms on gender identity at birth declared that as things stand, Austin's schools teach children to choose their genders. Spicewood attorney Glenna Hodge, testifying before the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee, said parents should recognize that without ... |
10149 | Spiriva as good as Serevent in asthma study | Helicopter pilot Mark Law did not hesitate to fly out to New Zealand’s White Island volcano immediately after it erupted to carry survivors to hospital, but after a harrowing week he knows his town’s adventure tourism industry faces an uncertain future. | mixture | As the search continues for the final two missing bodies from Monday’s deadly eruption, Law knows it will be challenging for his business, Kahu Helicopters. Some of his seven staff, including three pilots, could lose their jobs. “We’re going to be greatly affected, we’re anticipating probably damn near shutting the doo... | |
5243 | Massachusetts to help test addiction treatment rating system. | Massachusetts has agreed to participate in a new rating system that is being developed to measure the quality of addiction treatment programs. | true | Health, Massachusetts, Addiction treatment | State health officials say the rating system will primarily use data from three sources: insurance claims, provider surveys, and consumer experience surveys. The information will be made publicly available to those searching for high-quality addiction treatment, as well as to public and private payers, states, and refe... |
36991 | Secretary of State John Kerry’s daughter married an Iranian man with connections to an Iranian foreign minister who participated in nuclear negotiations. | John Kerry’s Daughter Married an Iranian with Connections to Nuclear Negotiators- Fiction! | false | Government, Politics | Parts of this rumor are true, but they have been twisted into a false narrative. Tidbits from various reports have been used to make a number of claims about John Kerry’s ties to Iranian nuclear negotiators. These reports argue that Kerry should have recused himself from nuclear talks with Iran because of conflicts of ... |
702 | U.N. urged by own staff to look at its climate footprint. | Close to 2,000 United Nations employees have called for the global body to reduce its carbon footprint, including through curbs on their own diplomatic perks like business-class flights and travel handouts, a letter obtained by Reuters showed. | true | Environment | The United Nations calls climate change the “defining issue of our time” and is hosting a New York summit on it next week. But reformers within say in the letter addressed to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that it needs more radical change to get its own house in order. “Our commitments need to be more ambitious an... |
4639 | ALS patient behind ice bucket challenge: I will bounce back. | Pete Frates was mistakenly written off as dead this summer. Turns out, the man who helped spark the ice bucket challenge that raised millions of dollars for research on Lou Gehrig’s disease hasn’t gone anywhere yet. | true | Pete Frates, Health, Boston, Lou Gehrigs disease, North America, Boston College, Beverly | Frates is fighting back from a summer health scare that landed him in the hospital while still trying to be a public face of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a degenerative disease that destroys nerve cells, impairs physical functions and so far has no cure. The former Boston College baseball star, who can no lon... |
3801 | State Senate leader outlines agenda as lawmakers sworn in. | The Democratic leader of the Massachusetts Senate promised Wednesday to work for lower prescription drug costs, expanded mental health services and a reform to the state’s education funding formula as she laid out an ambitious agenda at the start of the Legislature’s new two-year session. | true | Legislature, Mental health, Prescription drug costs, Health, Boston, Charlie Baker, Prescription drugs, Massachusetts, Education | Republican Gov. Charlie Baker administered oaths to the 40-member Senate and 160-member House in ceremonies signaling the start of the 191st term for one of America’s oldest legislative bodies. Formally known as the General Court, the Legislature traces its roots to the Colonial era. The first order of business in each... |
10018 | Menopause: A flash of concern | For decades women have been encouraged to use hormone replacement therapy to stave off a variety of ills—from menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats to heart disease and osteoporosis. But as the result of new research over the past few years, more experts are urging caution. Recent findings suggest th... | false | The article does not mention the cost of hormone therapy or compare its cost against that of other therapies. Since the story suggests that treatment might be helpful in younger women with severe hot flashes, cost is relevant. The article suggests that hormone therapy might help younger women control hot flashes. But t... | |
29931 | "Sen. Elizabeth Warren once said: ""Having an abortion is no different than someone having their tonsils removed." | Contrary to the impression created by the LifeNews and NewsTarget articles, Warren was not likening a human fetus to a set of tonsils. Furthermore, the quotation included in the meme that re-emerged in January 2019 was a fabrication: Warren simply did not say, “Having an abortion is no different than someone having the... | false | Politics, elizabeth warren, lifenews, newstarget | U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren became the subject of increased scrutiny and rhetorical attacks from the right in January 2019, after she declared she was in the running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. Against that background, a viral meme re-emerged on social media that attributed an eye-catching viewp... |
26761 | Instagram posts Says no one has died from the coronavirus in the United States. | Nine people have died from the coronavirus in the United States. The first death was reported on March 1. | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Instagram posts, | "An Instagram post making a political point about abortion in the United States muffs the landing by claiming that no one has died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. ""Death toll in America,"" the March 1 post says. ""Coronavirus 0, abortion 63,000,000."" This post was flagged as part of Facebo... |
14336 | "Rick Scott's Starbucks heckler Says Rick Scott ""cut Medicaid"" so people can't ""get Obamacare." | "The activist at Starbucks said Rick Scott ""cut Medicaid"" so people can't ""get Obamacare."" Her point-blank accusation that Scott cut the program doesn’t fit. But through Scott’s inaction and the Florida House's resistance to expansion, many Floridians are not benefitting from either subsidies to buy private insuran... | mixture | Health Care, Medicaid, Florida, Rick Scott's Starbucks heckler, | "It starts like a joke — Gov. Rick Scott walks into a Gainesville Starbucks — but one patron wasn’t laughing. In town on April 5, 2016, to tour the recently opened factory and headquarters for biopharmaceutical company Nanotherapeutics, Scott stopped in to the coffee chain for a cup. Cara Jennings, a former Lake Worth ... |
41009 | Italy is hit hard, experts say, only because they have the oldest population in Europe. | Whilst it is true that an older population has contributed to a high number of deaths in Italy, it may not be the sole reason. | true | online | Doctors in India have been successful in treating coronavirus with a combination of drugs (Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine) and are going to suggest the same medicine globally. India’s ministry of health has advised that the anti-HIV drugs, Lopinavir and Retonovir, are used in some groups of... |
8737 | 'Enemy of mankind': Coronavirus deaths top SARS as China returns to work. | China raised the death toll from its coronavirus outbreak to 811 on Sunday, passing the number killed globally by the SARS epidemic, as authorities made plans for millions of people returning to work after an extended Lunar New Year break. | true | Health News | Many of China’s usually teeming cities have almost become ghost towns during the past two weeks as Communist Party rulers ordered virtual lockdowns, canceled flights, closed factories and shut schools. Even on Monday, a large number of workplaces and schools will remain closed and many white-collar employees will work ... |
12494 | Some of the safest communities in the United States are along the border. | "Ramos said, ""Some of the safest communities in the United States are along the border."" Violent crime rates in some border communities are lower than in other parts of the United States, according to FBI data. The FBI has warned against using its crime rates to rank communities’ safety because doing so overlooks oth... | true | Immigration, Homeland Security, Crime, PunditFact, Jorge Ramos, | "Univision journalist Jorge Ramos said President Donald Trump’s promised border wall is built on a false premise. Ramos appeared on Fox News on May 12 and told Tucker Carlson that there is ""no invasion"" of immigrants coming illegally. Ramos said the number of immigrants in the country illegally has been stable, at ab... |
2572 | Holiday fitness gifts trend from high-tech to basic. | Looking for the perfect holiday present for a fitness fan? Gift offerings this year range from apps that can store a run in the country to be viewed later to gadgets so sophisticated they measure quality of sleep as well as calories burned. | true | Health News | There is also the revival of the humble foam roller, which experts say, like old-time push-ups, squats and planks, has never been more popular. Anita Golden, fitness manager at a Crunch gym in New York City, said she’ll be giving clients a foam roller called the GRID. “We’ve always had foam rollers in the club but now ... |
40739 | The message claims that the singer Shakira was a guest on MTV and during a segment of live telephone calls refused to speak to an Israeli caller. She is quoted as having said that she’d rather have pigs listening to her music than Israelis. The eRumor encourages a boycott of Shakira’s music. | A New York court on Thursday temporarily halted a state ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, giving the embattled vaping industry a breather just a day before the state’s prohibition was due to take effect. | false | Celebrities | The appellate court ruling puts a hold on the ban that was announced by New York state’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo last month in response to widespread growing concern about the rising use of e-cigarettes among teens and a nationwide spate of lung illnesses. The ban, which was due to start on Friday, will remain... |
34499 | "Secretary of State John Kerry ""funneled"" taxpayer money into his daughter's global charity." | Given that Seed Global Health was expressly conceived to provide specialized services within the framework of the Global Health Service Partnership, it would appear to meet all necessary criteria for an exception to the requirement of open competition. | unproven | Politics, breitbart, cronyism, daily caller | On 12 September 2016, a Daily Caller report appeared detailing claims that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry “funneled” millions of taxpayer dollars from the Department of State through the Peace Corps into a nonprofit foundation headed by his daughter, Dr. Vanessa Kerry: More than $9 million of Department of State mo... |
26595 | An audio message lists five ways people can prevent the novel coronavirus. | An audio message lists 10 ways people can avoid contracting COVID-19. We fact-checked five of the most questionable claims. There is no evidence that sipping water every 20 minutes or exposing your clothing to the sun can help prevent the coronavirus. Officials advise people to wash their hands, but not every 20 minute... | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Chain message, | "A post about COVID-19 is being shared in a new format on Facebook. In an audio message that a reader sent us on March 23, a woman with a British accent lists 10 ways that people can avoid being infected with the coronavirus. The message claims to be based on research from Chinese scientists. ""It was sent to me by a ... |
7606 | Mass virus test in nursing home seeks to combat loneliness. | Some were born in this warren of small rooms in what used to be a hospital, dating to the 17th century. Many are likely to die here. And all are currently confined to their rooms, denied the simple comfort of human companionship. | true | AP Top News, Understanding the Outbreak, International News, General News, France, Lifestyle, Health, Science, Nursing homes, Virus Outbreak, Europe | The residents at the Weiss nursing home in eastern France want to chat face to face, to play board games, to share meals. And so each gave a vial of blood to be tested for the coronavirus, as did each staff member — about 580 tests in all. The goal: to identify who must be isolated and who will be allowed the freedom t... |
23166 | Dwayne Bohac Says the Annie's List political group supports third-trimester abortions on demand. | "Texas Rep. Dwayne Bohac says Annie's List supports ""third-trimester abortion on demand""" | false | Abortion, Texas, Dwayne Bohac, | "Lies, truth, honesty: Anytime campaign literature shows up peppered with these words, we perk up. So it was when a reader, Randall Horton, passed along a recent mailer from state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, which opens: ""Honesty matters, especially in politics."" The Truth-O-Meter kicked in at Bohac's reference to ... |
10101 | Experiments test if implant can block sleep apnea | The story presents one glowing personal anecdote about the new devices but no sense of how much research has been done to date. It doesn’t discuss costs or spend enough time with independent experts. Because it selectively chooses the scariest facts about sleep apnea, it veers into disease-mongering, helping to hype th... | false | Associated Press | There is no mention of costs for the surgical implants or any of the other treatment methods. Whether insurers are likely to cover such treatments and whether they cover current treatment approaches would have been helpful information as well. The cost of medical devices needs to be considered for a host of reasons. A ... |
8628 | Tokyo reports 143 new coronavirus cases, highest jump in one day: governor. | Some 143 more cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in Tokyo, the city’s governor said on Sunday, with the highest daily jump bringing the number of cases in the Japanese capital to more than 1,000. | true | Health News | Tokyo’s metropolitan government has strongly urged people to stay at home as the city of nearly 14 million has seen an uptick in the number of cases in recent days. The number of cases with untraceable transmission routes had increased in recent days, Governor Yuriko Koike said in a livecast YouTube video on Sunday, ad... |
15032 | "The gun industry is ""the only business in America that is wholly protected from any kind of liability." | "Clinton said the gun industry is ""the only business in America that is wholly protected from any kind of liability."" Clinton is talking about a law that says the gun industry is protected from liability in certain instances, but the law also specifies several situations in which the gun industry is susceptible to la... | false | National, Legal Issues, Guns, Hillary Clinton, | "At the first Democratic debate of the 2016 presidential race, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for supporting a 2005 law that shields the gun industry from certain lawsuits. Clinton voted against this law when she was a senator, and she has lambasted it several ... |
35637 | A captive panda deliberately faked symptoms of pregnancy in order to obtain special treatment from her keepers. | Pandas that staff believe to be expecting are given a single, air-conditioned room, as well as more buns, fruit, and bamboo than non-pregnant pandas. | false | Critter Country | People are generally fascinated by examples of other animals engaging in human-like behavior — all the more so when that behavior involves animals seemingly outsmarting human beings. A case in point is a claim, reflected in the following meme, that a zoo-kept female panda deliberately mimicked the symptoms of pregnancy... |
6818 | Judge won’t end decades-old Everglades cleanup oversight. | A federal judge on Monday refused to end a decades-old court order that oversees water quality and environmental restoration in the sensitive Florida Everglades. | true | Environment, Miami, Florida, Ron DeSantis, Water quality, Water management, Courts, U.S. News | Miami U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno rejected a motion by the South Florida Water Management District to end a decree signed in 1992. Among other things, the order sets thresholds for the amount of phosphorous in the Everglades, an ingredient in fertilizer from the vast sugar-growing regions to the north that prom... |
37568 | A Washington, DC clergyman tested positive for COVID-19, potentially exposing congregants. | Did a Washington, DC Priest Expose Hundreds of Churchgoers to Coronavirus? | true | Fact Checks, Viral Content | On March 9 2020, WJLA-TV reporter Sam Sweeney tweeted about a Washington, DC priest’s purported positive coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnosis, adding that the clergy man led Communion services and shook hands with “more than 500” churchgoers:BREAKING: A D.C. priest has Coronavirus. He offered communion and shook hands with... |
12479 | "Dan Patrick Says Texas tax legislation would ""save the average homeowner in Texas $20,000 a year over the next 20 years or so." | Patrick said legislation targeting local tax rate growth will result in the average Texas homeowner saving $20,000 a year over 20 years. That’s an absurd amount. Even if we look at what Patrick purportedly meant to say — $20,000 over 20 years — we find major flaws in the assumptions underlying that calculation. To reac... | false | Corrections and Updates, Taxes, Texas, Dan Patrick, | "Texas Lt. Gov . Dan Patrick made such a dramatic claim about ""must-pass"" tax-rate legislation--$20,000 in savings for the average homeowner every year!--we launched a fact check. Patrick, during 17 minutes of remarks to Capitol reporters May 17, 2017, named Senate Bill 2, authored by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston... |
3775 | No more menthol cigarettes: New ban on tobacco, vape flavors. | Massachusetts became the first state to ban flavored tobacco and nicotine vaping products, including menthol cigarettes, after Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law on Wednesday a bill that’s meant to reduce the appeal of the products to young people amid a rash of illnesses and deaths linked to vaping. | true | Health, Boston, General News, Charlie Baker, Business, AP Top News, Massachusetts, Smoking, Vaping, U.S. News, Tobacco industry regulation, Laws | Anti-smoking groups hailed the ban, which restricts sale and consumption of flavored vaping products immediately and does the same for menthol cigarettes starting June 1, 2020. “The Massachusetts law is a major milestone in the fight to reverse the worsening e-cigarette epidemic and stop tobacco companies from targetin... |
31187 | Indonesian villagers performed a rite that brought a dead woman back to life after three years in the grave. | The photograph does not show an actual zombie. | false | Junk News | In mid-2017, an article published on the web site Women’s News (WNews.world) gained notoriety among social media users, thanks to its outlandish claim that an Indonesian woman deceased for three years not only returned to life and walked among the living, but was actually photographed doing so: The text of the articl... |
14753 | "Medicaid expansion ""could cost the Commonwealth of Virginia over $1 billion a year..." | "Landes, in a constituent survey, said Medicaid expansion ""could cost the Commonwealth of Virginia over $1 billion per year."" That contradicts the latest estimates on expansion. Virginia’s gross cost in 2022 - the furthest out the projections go - would be $324 million. The net cost, after taking into account a varie... | false | Medicaid, State Budget, Virginia, Steven Landes, | "Del. Steve Landes says Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s long-sought initiative to expand Medicaid in Virginia is financial quicksand. ""Do you support or oppose Medicaid expansion in Virginia?"" Landes, R-Augusta, asked constituents in a recent survey about issues. ""While expansion would enroll up to 400,000 currently uninsure... |
7171 | As wildfires grow deadlier, officials search for solutions. | Creating fire buffers between housing and dry brush, burying spark-prone power lines and lighting more controlled burns to keep vegetation in check could give people a better chance of surviving wildfires, according to experts searching for ways to reduce growing death tolls from increasingly severe blazes in Californi... | true | Wildfires, AP Top News, Controlled burns, Fires, Montana, California, Science, Billings, North America, U.S. News | Western wildfires have grown ever more lethal, a grim reality that’s been driven by more housing developments sprawling into the most fire-prone grasslands and brushy canyons, experts say. Many of the ranchers and farmers who once managed those landscapes are gone, leaving neglected terrain that has grown thick with ve... |
16297 | "Some doctors say Ebola can be transmitted through the air by ""a sneeze or some cough." | Will said that some scientists say that Ebola can be transmitted in public by a sneeze or a cough. The source of that was a commentary about the risks to hospital workers treating people in advanced stages of the disease. One of the authors of that commentary said her work applied only to health care workers in those s... | false | Ebola, Health Care, Public Health, PunditFact, George Will, | "As the national effort ramps up to beat back Ebola, the Obama administration has been taking heat. Critics say the president and top public health officials painted too rosy a picture of the country’s state of readiness. As proof, they point to the infection of two Dallas health care workers who treated the first pers... |
14848 | The number of people in Atlanta dying from HIV and AIDS declined 59 percent between 2004 and 2012. | At a time when new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are down globally, Fulton County touted a report that showed its mortality rate dropped 59 percent from a peak in 2004. The report, and state data, back up the dramatic decline. While Atlanta remains in the top five cities in the nation for such deaths and still... | true | Georgia, Public Health, Fulton County Health and Wellness, | "Just before commemorating World AIDS Day on Tuesday, Fulton County’s health department released some rare good news on its efforts against the disease. Citing a report from an independent program of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the press release said the number of people dying here fro... |
28785 | Stem cells can be harvested from baby teeth, so it's a good idea to preserve them in private stem cell banks for future use in medical treatments. | What's true: Research shows that stem cells can be harvested from baby teeth and have potential dental and medical uses in repairing and regenerating tissues, and commercial facilities exist for the preservation and storage of dental stem cells for future use, at a price. What's undetermined: Whether, to what degree, o... | mixture | Medical, stem cells, teeth | Stem cells, which differ from other types of cells in the human body in that they’re capable of renewing themselves almost indefinitely and changing into more specialized cells with the potential to repair or replace specific tissues and organs, were discovered more than 100 years ago and, according to the National Ins... |
14624 | Bioweapon! Zika virus is being spread by GMO mosquitos (sic) | "An Internet rumor propagated in a YouTube video claims that the ""Zika virus is being spread by GMO mosquitos (sic)."" There’s no evidence that this is true. The argument offered — where the Zika outbreak occurred matches up with where the transformed mosquitoes were released — doesn’t hold up. What’s more, the mosqui... | false | Global News Service, Animals, Public Health, Viral image, | "Global health emergencies understandably stoke fear, panic and wild claims. Exaggerations about Ebola were PolitiFact’s 2014 Lie of the Year. And now rumors about Zika, a virus linked to birth defects, are taking the Internet by storm. One of the claims goes something like this: Zika is caused by genetically modified ... |
17148 | "Freedom Partners Says Bruce Braley took ""tens of thousands from his friends in the health insurance industry"" and gave them ""special favors"" by voting for Obamacare." | "Freedom Partners’ ad claims that Braley took ""tens of thousands from his friends in the health insurance industry"" and gave them ""special favors"" by voting for Obamacare. Braley did take tens of thousands of dollars from the insurance industry, though from all types of insurers, not just health insurers. However, ... | false | National, Campaign Finance, Health Care, Freedom Partners, | "A new ad by Freedom Partners -- a group that has served as a hub for funding by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch -- recently began airing ads against Democratic Senate candidates, targeting them for their support of President Barack Obama’s health care law. The group had been little known until the Wa... |
33670 | Shaving makes your hair grow back in thicker, faster, and fuller. | Does hair grow back darker or thicker after it has been shaved? | false | Old Wives' Tales, ASP Article, hair | As much as we shampoo it, style it, cut it, and fret over it, hair continues to be a mystery to us. We speculate on its nature, especially its propensity for sprouting in our middle years in places we didn’t want it to, even as it disappears from locations where we would much rather it had stayed put. We wonder if it c... |
3165 | Arkansas election office may move due to high mold levels. | Mold contamination at an election commission office in Arkansas is so extreme that staff health and electronic voting machines are at risk, and officials are looking for an alternative working space. | true | Voting, Health, Elections, Arkansas, General News, Voting machines, Electronic voting, Pine Bluff, Air quality | Aerus air quality technicians who inspected the Jefferson County Election Commission office last month found evidence of water damage and mold buildup, and an oppressive musty odor permeated the air. “They found mold in the carpet,” Commissioner Stuart Soffer said. “In the heating and air room, the readings were unbeli... |
1391 | Britain confirms bird flu case in Lancashire, to cull infected poultry. | The H5N8 bird flu strain has been found in a flock of about 10,000 pheasants at a farm in Lancashire, northwest England, British authorities said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | Some of the birds have already died and the remainder will be culled, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said in a statement. bit.ly/2jOxDEv A 3-km (1.9-mile) protection zone and a 10-km surveillance zone have been put in place around the farm in Preston, it said, adding that the virus posed very low... |
16316 | "If Florida expanded Medicaid, ""some studies indicate it would create about 120,000 jobs." | "Crist said ""some studies indicate"" expanding Medicaid would ""create about 120,000 jobs."" Crist was referring to one study done for the Florida Hospital Association, a supporter of Medicaid expansion. That study predicted about 120,000 new jobs. There have been several studies that predict job growth related to Med... | mixture | Medicaid, Florida, Charlie Crist, | "Democrat Charlie Crist has criticized Republican Gov. Rick Scott for the state’s failure to expand Medicaid. During the second governor’s debate, which was held on Oct. 15, 2014, at Broward College, Crist said of Medicaid expansion, ""In addition to the $51 billion it would bring to the state over the next 10 years, s... |
41639 | £1.8 billion of ‘new money’ has been announced for the NHS over the next five years. | £850 million has been announced for 20 hospitals over the next five years and £1 billion for the NHS in capital funding this year. The £1 billion is money that NHS trusts previously earned through a cost-cutting incentive scheme, but were then told not to spend. It is ‘new’ in the sense that the Treasury had not previo... | mixture | health | £1.8 billion of ‘new money’ has been announced for the NHS over the next five years. £850 million has been announced for 20 hospitals over the next five years and £1 billion for the NHS in capital funding this year. The £1 billion is money that NHS trusts previously earned through a cost-cutting incentive scheme, but w... |
40835 | Increasing the international health surcharge to £625 and extending it to all foreign workers, including EU migrants after Brexit, will raise over £500 million a year. | It’s unclear how the Conservatives have calculated this figure. We’ve asked for more information. | unproven | health-tourism | Under the current system, people on a work, study or family visa only pay a £400 surcharge to use the NHS. This is the current level the international health surcharge is set at each year, but the taxes that people who come to work in the UK pay also goes towards things like the NHS. Under the current system, people on... |
2258 | Britain loses case to delay submission of air pollution plan. | The British government has failed in a legal bid to delay the publication of its plan to tackle air pollution until after the general election on June 8. | true | Environment | The government had gone to the High Court to extend an April 24 deadline to submit its plan to improve air quality and comply with nitrogen dioxide limits set by the European Union (EU). But the court ruled on Thursday against any extension, ordering a draft plan to be submitted by May 9 and a full report by July 31, B... |
21809 | You see a whole bunch of Korean cars here in the United States, and you don't see any American cars in Korea. | Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) plans to ramp up manufacturing capacity for its lower-cost continuous glucose monitor, the FreeStyle Libre, by three to five times in the next few years, aiming to reach millions more patients worldwide, the company told Reuters. | true | National, Foreign Policy, Trade, Transportation, Barack Obama, | Abbott executives said the increase in manufacturing capacity will begin in the second half of this year and make room for the expected U.S. launch of the FreeStyle Libre 2. This next-generation device has been approved in Europe and is now under U.S. regulatory review. Abbott’s plans for Libre, its fastest-growing dia... |
11447 | Tai Chi Reported to Ease Fibromyalgia | This is a well considered look at a limited study of an unusual approach to a disorder that has stumped clinicians for decades. It is the only one of the five stories we reviewed that quoted a patient about her experience. This has pluses and minuses. The patient’s extraordinary improvement after tai chi could give rea... | true | "At a minimum, the reporter could have found out how much the master used in the study typically charges and how much the DVD costs. Still, unlike most of the stories, this reporter did write, ""Dr. Shmerling said that though tai chi is inexpensive compared with other treatments, some patients would reject such an alte... | |
10042 | FDA approves AbioCor heart | This is an extremely upbeat article for use of an artificial heart device in the treatment of a very select subset of individuals with end stage heart failure. While mentioning that this device is only for patients with advanced heart failure who have no other options and would otherwise die, the story just three sente... | mixture | A price range of $200,000 to $250,000 for the device was included in the story. However, there was no mention of physician fees or hospital stay costs. The longest a patient has lived with device was included in the story, but no range was given for the length of time patients survived with the device for reference. Wh... | |
9578 | New treatment offers some hope for an unshakable tremor | This story describes a recently FDA-approved device to treat essential tremor in patients who have not responded to medication. The ExAblate Neuro, made by Dallas-based InSightec, uses magnetic resonance images taken during the procedure to deliver focused ultrasound that destroys tissue in the thalamus, the part of th... | true | STAT | The story does not say how much this new procedure costs or compare it with existing treatments for patients who don’t respond to medication. Deep brain stimulation, the current treatment standard, can run anywhere from $30,000 to $70,000, according to various online cost estimates. There also may be additional costs i... |
9710 | FDA Approves Roche’s Cotellic Treatment for Melanoma | This story reports on U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval of Cotellic in combination with vemurafenib to treat advanced melanoma, cancer that has spread throughout the body. The story adheres very closely to the FDA announcement and includes ample information on the side effects. However, the story does not convey... | false | drug costs,FDA | This story does not address costs at all, even though one half of the drug combination –vemurafenib — is already being used in treatment and costs $11,000 per month of treatment. The combination treatment is reportedly going to cost $17,600 per month, and it is not clear whether payers will cover it. This story does no... |
42183 | "FDA-approved ""synthetic marijuana"" leads to deaths in Illinois." | Q: Did an FDA-approved form of “synthetic marijuana” lead to recent deaths in Illinois? A: No. The drugs that have killed four people in the last two months are unregulated and illegal. | false | drugs, false stories, | Q: Did an FDA-approved form of “synthetic marijuana” lead to recent deaths in Illinois? A: No. The drugs that have killed four people in the last two months are unregulated and illegal. Four people have died after using drugs made to imitate the high of marijuana in Illinois over the last two months. That’s true.It’s n... |
28199 | Sen. David Perdue advised attendees to offer up an ominous prayer aimed at President Obama during the 2016 Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference. | What's true: Sen. David Perdue referenced Psalms 109:8 at an event; Perdue's representative later denied he wished death on the President. What's false: Sen. Perdue didn't explicitly state attendees at the conference should pray expressly for the President to die. | true | Politics, david purdue, president obama, psalms 109:8 | On 10 June 2016, the Daily Beast reported that Sen. David Perdue urged attendees of the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference to pray for misfortune and death to befall President Barack Obama: At a major event for conservative Christians this morning, a Republican senator joked about praying for Presi... |
26471 | This is COVID-19, not COVID-1, folks. And so you would think the people charged with the World Health Organization facts and figures would be on top of that. | Conway suggested that the World Health Organization should have been on top of the novel coronavirus earlier on because “this is COVID-19, not COVID-1.” COVID-19 stands for “coronavirus disease 2019” — reflecting the year in which the disease was first identified. Conway later said on Twitter that she knows why the d... | false | National, Public Health, Coronavirus, Kellyanne Conway, | "In a swipe at the World Health Organization, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway made a misleading claim about COVID-19, implying that the disease caused by the novel coronavirus was so named because it’s the latest in a string of similar coronaviruses. ""Some of the scientists and doctors say there could be other ... |
8947 | Fermented dairy products may protect against heart attack | The study described in this news release is a 20-year observational analysis of a very specific subgroup: Men from Eastern Finland, ages 42-60. The research question is: how do fermented dairy products (like yogurt, kefir, sour milk, cottage cheese, and quark) compare with non-fermented dairy (mostly milk) when it come... | false | fermented dairy products,heart attack,University of Eastern Finland | Costs are not mentioned but we’ll let this pass since it’s reasonable to assume the approximate pricing of most of the dairy products tested are widely known. Main findings mentioned include: Readers are given no sense of just how much the risk is increased or decreased in these groups. The only data provided from the ... |
8247 | UK calls for 250,000 volunteers as virus deaths surge. | The number of coronavirus deaths in Britain jumped on Tuesday, the first day of a national lockdown, while the government called for 250,000 volunteers for the health service and announced a temporary hospital would open in London next week. | true | Health News | In a TV message on Monday evening watched by more than 27 million people, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered people to stay at home, told nearly all shops to close and banned social gatherings including weddings and baptisms. However, public transport in London was busy during the morning rush hour and the streets we... |
10118 | FDA approves first inhalable version of insulin | This is a story about FDA approval for an inhaled form of insulin marketed as Exubera. The story discusses how this new form of insulin delivery may affect diabetics, possibly increasing adherence to blood sugar management by reducing the need for injected insulin. A cost comparison of the two forms of insulin is provi... | true | Gives a cost comparison with injected insulin. Given that the article stresses the need for injected insulin as an adjunct to inhaled insulin (in some cases), the cost would be higher. No quantitative data presented. No information on the efficacy of Exubera at controlling blood sugar as compared to existing methods of... | |
99 | Iran's thirsty energy industry runs up against water shortage. | The plan to build a petrochemical plant near the Iranian city of Firouzabad had everything usually needed to get a project off the ground: approval from the nation’s top authority, funding from the Revolutionary Guards and plentiful gas feedstock. | true | Environment | But a decade on, work at the site is only 10% complete because of a row over an increasingly scarce resource in Iran that is vital to keep the facility cool: water. “In early project studies, there were some mistakes about the amount of water the plant would need,” said Hamidreza Soleymannejad, one of the plant’s proje... |
30597 | Tamiflu is responsible for the increased number of deaths this flu season. | While Tamiflu does list some scary side effects in its insert, these side effects are both rare and irrelevant to the increased number of influenza deaths this year. | false | Medical, flu, influenza, insert | The 2017-2018 flu season is proving to be among the worst in recent history, in part because this year’s flu shot offers little protection against the most virulent strain — H3N2. The strength of this year’s epidemic has also lead to an increase in influenza-based fear-mongering, generally about the drugs or vaccines u... |
12926 | "The Obama administration issued an ""11th-hour rule that entrenches federal family planning funding for Planned Parenthood." | "Ernst said the Obama administration issued an ""11th-hour rule that entrenches federal family planning funding for Planned Parenthood."" It may be a slight exaggeration to use the word ""entrench,"" since there are ways to overturn the rule within a matter of months, and it should be noted that the rule would affect a... | true | Abortion, National, Federal Budget, Public Health, Joni Ernst, | "At this year’s March for Life -- the annual anti-abortion rally in Washington -- Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, decried a federal rule implemented in the waning days of President Barack Obama's administration. Ernst told the crowd on Jan. 27, 2017, that she would ""introduce a bill Monday to stop what some have referred to ... |
6671 | Plague confirmed in prairie dogs in Commerce City. | Plague has been confirmed in prairie dogs at several sites in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, prompting officials to close some parks and take other precautions. | true | Wildlife, Colorado, Health, General News, Plague, Rodents | The Tri-County Health Department said Thursday prairie dog burrows are being sprayed with insecticide to kill fleas that could transmit the disease to the rodents, people and pets. The health department says Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and Prairie Gateway Open Space are temporarily closed. The depar... |
8556 | Indonesia reports biggest jump in coronavirus deaths as Malaysia trend improves. | Indonesia reported its biggest daily jump in coronavirus deaths on Thursday, bringing the total confirmed number to 280 in the world’s fourth most populous country, the highest death toll in Asia outside China where the virus first emerged. | true | Health News | Indonesia confirmed 40 more deaths and its death toll accounts for nearly half of the more than 590 across Southeast Asia. More than 16,500 cases have been reported across the region. Indonesian health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said the country had registered 337 new infections, also a new daily high, taking th... |
26473 | Facebook post Says Michigan COVID-19 order bans gardening and the sale of vegetable seeds and fruit. | An executive order by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer does not prohibit gardening or the sale of any particular product. Stores in Michigan larger than 50,000 square feet must close areas that sell carpet or flooring, furniture and paint, as well as garden centers and plant nurseries. | false | Government Regulation, Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "In a regular feature called ""How the Left Destroys the Nation,"" a website founded by the leader of a far-right group posted this headline about one state’s coronavirus response: ""Michigan Governor Bans Gardening, Sale Of Fruit and Vegetable Seeds, Gardening Supplies Prohibited."" The attack on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer... |
21026 | "Greg Walden Says the federal stimulus program was ineffective because ""the number of jobs has actually decreased by 18,300 through July 2011." | Greg Walden says stimulus hasn't helped Oregon gain jobs | mixture | Oregon, Jobs, Stimulus, Greg Walden, | "Like most Republicans, Rep. Greg Walden says the $825 billion stimulus law has been a failure. But unlike other critics who speak in contemptuous generalities, Walden puts hard numbers behind his opinion. ""When the bill was signed into law, the White House promised that the stimulus would increase by 44,000 the numbe... |
7454 | Rules for reopening hotels, gyms, attractions taking shape. | A panel tasked with reopening New Hampshire’s economy amid the easing threat from the coronavirus pandemic agreed Tuesday on proposals for seven sectors, among them lodging, outdoor attractions and gyms. | true | New Hampshire, Health, General News, Virus Outbreak, Public health | The recommendations won’t be final until public health officials and Gov. Chris Sununu give their OK. The task force unanimously recommended that hotels be limited to half their capacity, though the limit would not apply to motels with outdoor access to rooms or to inns and bed-and-breakfasts with 10 or fewer rooms. Fa... |
22806 | The Greenest County in America. | "DeKalb ""greenest county in nation"" claim gets muddy" | false | Georgia, Environment, DeKalb County, | "In metro Atlanta, the land of smog alerts and farmland-turned-to-suburbs, one local county makes a bold claim about its efforts to be environmentally conscious. DeKalb County, its website says, is ""the greenest county in America."" Let's put that on some recycled paper and send it to each of the county's estimated 75... |
6183 | New California laws help animals, fire victims, immigrants. | Hundreds of new California laws take effect with the start of the new year, including measures stemming from the devastating wildfires that have swept the state. Others address animal rights, criminal justice, businesses and health care. Among them: | true | Wildfires, Health, Immigration, Environment, Natural disasters, Fires, California | ___ WILDFIRES — In a step to curb greenhouse gas emissions, California becomes the first state to require new homes to install solar panels, which the California Energy Commission says could add about $9,500 to the cost of a new home. But another new law exempts homeowners forced to rebuild because of a wildfire or oth... |
21950 | Ten percent of violent deaths in the U.S. each year are due to strangulation. | R.I. Rep. DaSilva says 1 in 10 violent deaths in U.S. are caused by strangulation | false | Rhode Island, Criminal Justice, Legal Issues, Crime, Women, Roberto DaSilva, | "Last month, the House, on a vote of 59-11, passed legislation that would make it a felony to attempt to strangle or choke someone, even if the attack did not result in any injury to the victim. The bill, H-5087, is now before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The proposal is intended, in part, to make it easier to prose... |
37880 | Quarantine is when you restrict the movement of sick people. | A Facebook meme asserted “QUARANTINE IS WHEN YOU RESTRICT THE MOVEMENT OF SICK PEOPLE, TYRANNY IS WHEN YOU RESTRICT THE MOVEMENT OF HEALTHY PEOPLE,” and it demonstrated lack of knowledge about the pandemic on myriad levels.Historically and through 2020, quarantine was never designed to apply to “sick people”; the word ... | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | On April 28 2020, amid ongoing coverage of astroturfed anti-lockdown protests, a Facebook post claimed that quarantine was intended to “restrict the movement of sick people” (archived here):White text against a red and blue background read:QUARANTINE IS WHEN YOU RESTRICT THE MOVEMENT OF SICK PEOPLETYRANNY IS WHEN YOU R... |
37893 | "Hot mic"" video from a White House coronavirus briefing revealed a far lower ""real"" case-fatality rate, as well as the existence of a vaccine provided to the government and the press corps (but not you.)" | Did a ‘Hot Mic’ at Coronavirus White House Briefing Reveal a COVID-19 Conspiracy? | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | "On April 20 2020, purported “hot mic” footage from a White House coronavirus press briefing appeared and quickly began circulating — involving discussion of what seemed to be fudged case-fatality rate numbers as well as the existence of a vaccine for the well-connected:Very Interesting exchange Caught on (GST HOT MIC)... |
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