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9628 | 36338 | An X-ray shows hundreds of undigested boba pearls in the digestive tract of a young girl. | Does an X-Ray Show Hundreds of Undigested Boba Pearls in a Young Chinese Patient? | unproven |
9629 | 12232 | Hillary Clinton has third heart attack — docs says she ‘won’t survive’. | Hillary Clinton not dead from heart attack, as fake news site claims | false |
9630 | 33509 | A childless couple discovered the cause of their infertility was a lack of sex. | The woman’s symptoms led Doctor Liu to believe that she may have had some sort of gynaecological disease. But following an examination, the wife was revealed to be a virgin. Doctor Liu then inspected the woman’s anus and discovered that she ‘could fit three fingers’ inside. It was then that the medic is said to have learned the couple had been mistakenly having anal sex for four years, resulting in their failure to conceive. | false |
9631 | 35645 | Six police officers were killed in 10 days while working during protests against police violence and racial injustice in the spring of 2020. | The South Pacific island nation of Samoa on Saturday extended a state of emergency due to a measles outbreak which has killed 72 people, mostly infants, as New Zealand announced NZ$1 million ($640,700) to help combat measles in the Pacific. | false |
9632 | 4087 | State: 8 cases of severe lung disease from vaping, e-cigs. | New Mexico Department of Health officials say they’re now investigating eight cases of severe lung disease associated with vaping and e-cigarette use. | true |
9633 | 29259 | Scraping your tongue with a spoon, placing that spoon in a bag, and putting that bag under a light for a period of time will provide useful diagnostic information about your health. | All told, claims made relating the “breath” portion of the spoon test are generally rooted in factual connections between mouth odor and internal health, but are effectively useless as a screening or diagnostic tool. Claims made of the “stain” portion of the spoon test are created by conflating unproven or confused claims borrowed from traditional Chinese medical practices or from misinterpreted and sparsely sourced websites to create an equally useless “screening” test. | false |
9634 | 9003 | New Phase 3 Data Show Esketamine Nasal Spray Demonstrated Rapid Improvements in Depressive Symptoms in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression | This news release focuses on two phase 3 clinical trials that evaluated the use of a drug called esketamine to treat depression. Both trials focused on patients who had not responded to at least two antidepressant drugs, and both trials used esketamine as a nasal spray, in conjunction with an oral antidepressant. One study focused specifically on patients over the age of 65. The release provides a great deal of detail about the trial protocols and the specific differences in the depression scale that was used. But the release, issued by a pharmaceutical company, does not address cost. And while the release does note that the trial in elderly adults produced no statistically significant results, it describes the results anyway. And while there may be promising results to report, the findings are reported in a way that makes it difficult to understand the advances — or even to tell the advances from the things that were inconclusive. [Editor’s note: The review originally rated the Evidence section unsatisfactory. That oversight has been corrected.] Clinical trials, indeed any medical research, can be extremely complicated. News releases, theoretically, are designed to help reporters (and presumably other members of the public) get a handle on new findings, so that they can determine whether the findings merit a closer look. In other words, a news release should give reporters a basic idea of the findings, so that reporters can decide whether to pursue a news story (which would entail talking to independent sources, analyzing the study, etc.). This release is, frankly, confusing. Hundreds of words are spent describing a trial for which there were no statistically significant findings, with the pharmaceutical manufacturer arguing that the findings should be considered anyway. The release also refers repeatedly to the “newly initiated oral antidepressant” used in both the control and placebo groups for both studies, without any information about which antidepressants were used. The release does refer to two pages on ClinicalTrials.gov, which contain relevant information on the first trial and on a second trial focused on older adults. But honestly, that’s not good enough. And the failure to address cost, even in general terms, is deeply problematic. What’s more, the primary efficacy endpoint (i.e., how they could tell whether the drug worked) is described in technical terms that are difficult to parse for many readers. Is there good news here? It’s hard to say. There’s a lot to wade through, and that makes it difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. Treatment-resistant depression is a common and vexing problem. Although many people may not receive adequate dosing or try a different antidepressant when the first one does not relieve symptoms, there are presumably a large number of people who would benefit from a different therapeutic approach. The danger of such news releases is in not being completely clear about when these drugs might be medically indicated and what the longer-term outcomes might be. Finally, the general anesthesia drug ketamine, an older sibling of esketamine, has been in the news a lot recently for its potential to treat people who have not been helped by depression medications. Many news stories reflect anecdotal results in a few patients or results from very small, short-term studies. Esketamine is sometimes portrayed as a milder or safer version of ketamine. It is expected that Janssen will apply for quick FDA approval of esketamine nasal spray based on the results of these two studies. | true |
9635 | 4494 | Ex-PM Sharif leaves Pakistan for medical treatment in London. | Pakistan’s ailing former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted of corruption, left the country on Tuesday to travel to London for medical treatment. | true |
9636 | 16657 | 25 percent of all drug-related fatal vehicle accidents in the U.S. involve marijuana. | """Don’t Let Florida Go To Pot said, """"25 percent of all fatal drug-related vehicle accidents in the U.S. involve marijuana."""" Some other research backs up that number, although the studies are limited in scope and descriptiveness. Reports usually don’t show whether marijuana use was the cause of the accident or how long ago the drug was ingested, and are limited in several other ways. Marijuana, for example, can be detected in person’s system for weeks after ingestion. The study cited by the group also only measured drivers that died and were tested for drugs, a very specific scope that doesn’t tell the whole story. Experts warned it’s not wise to imply causation among marijuana users in fatal crashes, but a 25 percent rate of involvement has been established in some studies.""" | mixture |
9637 | 29165 | The Denver City Council recently legalized public urination and defecation. | What's true: In May 2017 the Denver City Council passed a set of reforms that, among other provisions, lessened the penalties for public urination or defecation. What's false: The Denver City Council did not legalize public urination or defecation, as the separate and existing prohibitions on such behavior remained in place in the city's Code of Ordinances. | false |
9638 | 4361 | New chief of Global Fund says accountability is ‘imperative’. | The new executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria says he is committed to ensuring the group is as transparent as possible about how its billions of dollars are spent to fight the three killer diseases. | true |
9639 | 28431 | Donald Trump donates his entire presidential salary and Melania Trump has a White House staff of only four, while President Obama donated nothing and First Lady Michelle Obama had a staff of 23. | What's true: President Trump has so far donated his whole presidential salary to various agencies, and Michelle Obama's White House staff numbered about 23 in the latter part of her husband's administration. What's false: President Obama donated millions of dollars to charities during his time in office, and Melania Trump's White House staff is greater than just four people. | mixture |
9640 | 27252 | Detained immigrant children were strapped to chairs with bags over their heads. | According to the Associated Press, SVJC is “one of only three juvenile detention facilities in the United States with federal contracts to provide ‘secure placement’ for children who had problems at less-restrictive housing.” Roughly half the beds at any time are filled with migrant children aged 12 to 17 wading through either deportation proceedings or asylum cases. Children can languish in the facility for months or even years because “Virginia ranks among the worst states in the nation for wait times in federal immigration courts, with an average of 806 days before a ruling.” The lawsuit alleges Doe’s psychological state deteriorated due to his continued detention there. | true |
9641 | 32252 | A photograph shows an African tribe performing a ritual to reconnect a misbehaving person with his good nature. | It should come as no surprise that the misidentified image is marked with the name of David “Avocado” Wolfe, who is single-handedly responsible for a disproportionate share of the misinformation to be found on the Internet. | false |
9642 | 8799 | Study shows RAD001 froze kidney cancer for a year. | Nearly two-thirds of kidney cancer patients taking Novartis AG’s RAD001 had progression of their disease delayed by a year, a significantly better result than in those taking placebo, investigators said. | true |
9643 | 7912 | Thailand warns of coronavirus danger of sharing drinks, cigarettes. | Thailand issued a new coronavirus warning to the party-going public on Friday after a cluster of 13 cases was traced to a group of friends who shared cigarettes and drinks. | true |
9644 | 29417 | A very spicy pepper burned a hole through a man's esophagus. | What's true: A man ended up with a torn esophagus after eating an extremely spicy pepper. What's false: The heat from the pepper did not burn a hole in his throat. | false |
9645 | 26298 | Chip Roy Says Wisconsin has not had a spike in coronavirus cases that was “statistically significant related to the fact that they had voting.” | Wisconsin has linked 67 cases to the April 7 primary election in the state, a small portion of the state's overall cases. Health officials said there has not been a spike in coronavirus cases that can be tied to the election. But they said it may be impossible to assess the true impact of the election, given the uncertainty of the data. | true |
9646 | 162 | Big Oil undermines U.N. climate goals with $50 billion of new projects: report. | Major oil companies have approved $50 billion of projects since last year that will not be economically viable if governments implement the Paris Agreement on climate change, think-tank Carbon Tracker said in a report published on Friday. | true |
9647 | 32007 | Mike Pence credited 'gay conversion therapy' with saving his marriage. | Novartis’s shift into high-tech drugs won praise for providing patients with new options but criticism over prices that may run into the millions of dollars at the Swiss drugmaker’s annual general meeting on Thursday. | false |
9648 | 3666 | To battle opioid crisis, some track overdoses in real time. | Drug overdose patients rushed to some emergency rooms in New York’s Hudson Valley are asked a series of questions: Do you have stable housing? Do you have food? Times and location of overdoses are noted, too. | true |
9649 | 10584 | Implant Device Can Treat Clinical Depression | This story reports on vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) as a newer method for treating people with depression; however, it is currently approved only for people with treatment resistant depression, that is, depression that has not responded to trials of at least four medications and/or electroshock therapy. While the story does mention these other treatment options, it is out of balance when it portrays anti-depressant medications as “risky”. The surgery for VNS carries greater short-term risk than a trial of anti-depressant medications. The story also does not mention talk therapy, which when used in conjunction with medications may help people with clinical depression. The story also does not mention that VNS is typically used in conjunction with other forms of depression therapies, such as medication and talk therapy. No evidence is given to support the statement that most people with clinical depression never receive treatment. The story does not provide quantitative evidence of the effectiveness of VNS in relieving depression or preventing suicide in people with treatment resistant depression, which does a real disservice to the viewer. The story does not explain the benefit of VNS over existing treatments for depression, or the clinical trials which showed no significant effect of the device. The story mentions that changes in voice are the “only side effect†of VNS. This is not true. In clinical trials, side effects from vagus nerve stimulation included tickling in the throat, hoarseness or temporary change in voice tone, and shortness of breath upon exertion, and these were described as are mild to moderate. The story also does not discuss the potential harms of surgery and general anesthesia. Lastly, the story does not provide the cost of the device or surgery for implantation, which is approximately $20,000. Patients also typically require regular visits to physicians for adjustments to the device. The cost of these follow-up visits is not mentioned. Even though the VNS candidate in this story could not get his health insurance to pay for this treatment, insurance benefits for VNS therapy vary by health plan. The comment that 12 people died because they did not receive a VNS device in a timely manner is an overstatement. We do not know that VNS therapy would have prevented their deaths. | false |
9650 | 5578 | Another case of meningococcal disease at Oregon State. | Oregon State University said Wednesday it will fight an outbreak of meningococcal disease by requiring students 25 and younger to be vaccinated against the disease by Feb. 15. | true |
9651 | 28745 | Watching horror movies increases calorie consumption and reduces the risk of obesity. | What's true: An informal study commissioned by a movie rental service found that watching certain horror movies increased viewers' heart rates and burned more calories in a small sample of adults than simply sitting quietly did. What's false: The study was neither peer-reviewed nor published (nor, apparently, meant to be taken seriously), there have been no follow-up studies replicating its findings, and people who wish to lose weight are probably better advised to get some exercise. | mixture |
9652 | 463 | Merck says Ebola vaccine to be available at lowest access price for poor nations. | Merck & Co (MRK.N) said on Friday it expects to make licensed doses of its recently approved Ebola vaccine available in the third quarter of 2020 and price the single-dose injection at the lowest possible access price for poor and middle-income countries. | true |
9653 | 8840 | Cholesterol scientist balked at delay: lawmaker. | The lead researcher for a study of Schering-Plough Corp and Merck & Co’s controversial cholesterol drug Vytorin had expressed strong concern over the companies’ decision to delay the findings, according to e-mails released on Monday. | true |
9654 | 4898 | New Mexico sizes up potential of recreational pot market. | A panel of legislators delved into the uncertain market economics of legalizing recreational marijuana and thorny concerns about public health on Wednesday, in a prelude to a rapid-fire legislative session that could open the doors to recreational cannabis in New Mexico. | true |
9655 | 7203 | NY Assembly OKs universal health care; bill halted in Senate. | The New York state Assembly has again endorsed a single-payer universal health care system. | true |
9656 | 26290 | “Hydroxychloroquine cures this ‘virus.’ It just so happens this is the treatment used for radiation sickness!!” | Amnesty International attacked the electric vehicle (EV) industry on Thursday for selling itself as environmentally friendly while producing many of its batteries using polluting fossil fuels and unethically sourced minerals. | false |
9657 | 6741 | Indiana teachers learning to spot suicide warning signs. | Teachers in Indiana are learning to spot the warning signs that students might be considering killing themselves and how to help pupils cope with classmates’ suicides or attempted suicides. | true |
9658 | 26410 | “We are currently using only around 20% of our testing capacity.” | Vos and Fitzgerald cited capacity while criticizing Evers for waiting on more testing to re-open Wisconsin, implying the state could be doing 5x more tests now. That’s wrong. Half that listed capacity is from a new lab that is several weeks from being able to actually receive that volume of tests. While testing is far more available than it once was, the state doesn’t yet have the collection materials and infrastructure to use the other half of the listed capacity on an ongoing basis. | mixture |
9659 | 29866 | """In late 2018 or early 2019, the Girl Scouts of the USA gave a Tucson, Arizona, member the """"Gold Award"""" for a project that promoted abortion. """ | Following confirmation from the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona that Gopalan’s project “will not cover abortion in any way,” and that it had never been her intention to address that issue in her project, we have changed our rating from “Mixture” to “False” in relation to the claim, reported by LifeNews and the Daily Wire, that the Girl Scouts had given the Gold Award to a project which promoted abortion. | false |
9660 | 30222 | Imam Siraj Wahhaj, the father of a suspect accused of training children to be school shooters at a compound in New Mexico, was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. | In partisan hands, this morphed into the rumor that Wahhaj led a prayer at the Democratic National Convention itself, which in turn has morphed into the rumor that Wahhaj was the keynote speaker at the convention, and therefore somehow intimately connected to Democratic Party politics and Obama’s presidency. Those rumors are false. | false |
9661 | 26623 | “No city in the state can quarantine itself without state approval.” | Cuomo said that cities do not have the power to order quarantines without state approval. Based on the powers of the state to override local orders contained in state Executive Law and in Cuomo’s recent executive order. | true |
9662 | 218 | AstraZeneca Imfinzi combination fails advanced lung cancer study. | A combination of AstraZeneca’s lung cancer drug Imfinzi and an experimental treatment failed to extend the lives of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high levels of gene mutations, the drugmaker said on Wednesday. | true |
9663 | 9764 | Prenatal Blood Tests Could Detect Cancer in Mothers | This Wall Street Journal story offers a thoughtful and thorough summary of a presentation (and related study in JAMA) about the ability of commercial prenatal blood tests to also uncover hidden cancers in pregnant women. The story makes clear that the study’s finding of “rare cases” of cancer “underscores both challenges and opportunities” for the tests, particularly those related to the tests’ potential to reveal elevated risks for future diseases. Other stories, including one from CBS News, focused more viscerally on the handful of mothers whose hidden cancers were detected by the fetal blood work. While stories focusing on such vignettes may pack a significant emotional punch, they also may leave readers with an exaggerated sense of these tests’ cancer-finding ability and the risk that most women face. As demonstrated by the WSJ coverage, there are many ethical and social issues raised by widespread DNA testing that also merit discussion. There is increasing demand by physicians and pregnant women to perform noninvasive prenatal blood tests as a safer means of establishing fetal risk for Down Syndrome and other serious genetic abnormalities. Although professional guidelines suggest that only women at high risk of carrying fetuses with serious genetic abnormalities get these tests, they are already widely used because other procedures, such as amniocentesis, can occasionally lead to miscarriage. The discovery that in a few rare cases, the abnormalities detected in the tests have nothing to do with the fetus, but with a mother’s undiagnosed cancer instead, will likely lead to even more demand for use of these tests. That poses not only the ethical problem of whether and when to divulge incidental genetic risks also uncovered in maternal DNA (say, of breast cancer), but also a potential explosion of costs related to use of the blood tests to screen every pregnant woman to find a very small number of cancers. | true |
9664 | 15024 | """HIV/AIDS is """"dramatically on the rise in the U.S. South.""" | CDC data support the claim of superstar and part-time Atlanta resident Elton John that the South is the region most dramatically affected by the HIV epidemic. Whether that’s because cases are rising in the South or declining in other regions, or a combination of both, is not entirely a clear. Data from 2012-13 shows new HIV diagnoses on the rise in most parts of the country, with the largest -- a 7.5 percent increase -- in the South. John’s overarching point is that the South has seen an increase in AIDS/HIV, greater than any other region in the nation. The data supports that. You can quibble about whether there is enough of a trend line to term this a dramatic jump in cases. That takes his statement down a notch on the Truth-O-Meter. | true |
9665 | 11391 | FDA approves first pill meant to end periods | """This story was about FDA approval of another oral contraceptive that also suppresses or stops menstrual periods. The story didn’t include any data and didn’t evaluate the quality of the evidence for Lybrel in any way. So it didn’t disclose that many women dropped out of the trials of Lybrel because of spotting or breakthrough bleeding. That’s important to include, since the story called this """"the next generation of birth control pills."""" The story says """"most doctors aren’t worried about safety"""" because the drug is not really different from ones that preceded it. (Then why does it """"herald the next generation"""" of such pills?) The story only says """"Like all birth control pills, there can be side effects."""" But what did the studies show? There was also no discussion (as another network included in its story) of concerns over """"medicalizing"""" menstruation. Instead, the story focused on """"lifestyle choice"""", and on """"control and convenience."""" We think more time should have been spent focusing on what’s not known about long-term safety in such a medication. The viewer is left with a confusing picture of a new version of a common type of prescription medication intended for contraception but now being described in consumer terms as a desirable convenience. Since existing monophasic pills can be used in the same fashion at lower cost (because of generic availability), the story needed to do a better job of portraying whether the formulation and """"repackaging"""" into a daily use format will achieve the desired results.""""""" | false |
9666 | 1567 | U.N. supports 'brelfies' to encourage breastfeeding. | If you’re hesitating about sending a brelfie, the United Nations says go for it. | true |
9667 | 9560 | Walking Fends Off Disability, And It's Not Too Late To Start | This story focuses on a study showing that elderly persons recovering from a disability get back to normal 25 percent sooner if they participate in a program of physical activity including “150 minutes of aerobic activity as well as strength, flexibility and balance training” per week. It points out that “walking was the cornerstone of the program.” While it described the program in helpful terms, the story was light on the study’s specific findings, and seemed to assume that all people in this age group would see comparable results. Also, we would have been more satisfied if the story had mentioned early on that people in this age group should consult with their physicians before undertaking any kind of exercise program. The story points out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that “just 28 percent of those 75 and up meet the recommendation for aerobic activity, and only 8 percent also did the suggested amount of strength training.” It says that too many of the elderly are sedentary, believing they’ve earned a focus on relaxation. But this and many other studies outline numerous health benefits from exercise and physical activity, even among the elderly, assuming their physical status is up for it. Physicians should help their patients decide what kind of physical program they should undertake, and as the story shows, even regular walking can be very helpful. | true |
9668 | 36237 | In the wake of an outrageous proposal by the Trump administration to buy Greenland, Denmark has offered to buy the United States from Russia. | North Korea, one of the world’s most reclusive states, plans to branch out into medical tourism next year, offering foreign visitors, most likely from China, treatments including cataract surgery, dental implants and therapy for tumors. | false |
9669 | 28825 | Researchers have discovered that octopus genomes contain alien DNA. | """Rsearchers didn't discover that octopus DNA is """"alien,"""" or that it originated anywhere but on Earth, although a few have suggested the possibilty.""" | mixture |
9670 | 9980 | Method effectivein detecting coronary plaque | """This piece on a new imaging technique to detect noncalcified arterial plaques is described as a Sun-Sentinel """"staff report."""" In fact it is a word-for-word replication of a press release issued by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which employs the lead researchers. It’s difficult to imagine why an editor would try to pass off a press release as a """"staff report."""" Newsroom budgets are tight. But news services usually provide perfectly adequate news reports. Failing that, a house ad for the newspaper or a public service accouncement could have been published instead. Failing even that, the press release could have been described as a press release. To label an unedited handout as a staff report is to abuse whatever trust the public has for the Sun-Sentinel. The ratings above for the press release, by the way, represent a worthwhile exercise. How does an unedited press release measure up to HealthNewsReview.org criteria? Poorly–but it turns out no worse than previous Sun-Sentinel stories. Of the three articles previously reviewed, two earned only two stars as well.""" | false |
9671 | 36200 | """In September 2019, a pastor died after fasting for 30 days in an attempt to """"equal or break Jesus Christ record of fasting for 40 days.""" | Did a Pastor Die After 30 Days of Fasting to Beat Jesus Christ’s Record? | unproven |
9672 | 17589 | """Florida’s proposed medical marijuana amendment """"would make Florida one of the most lenient medical-marijuana states, allowing use for limitless ‘other conditions’ specified by any physician.""" | """Bondi’s office is arguing the proposed Florida Amendment is worded loosely enough in its definitions of what could be treated by the drug that it would put it in league with """"the most lenient medical-marijuana states."""" The Florida proposal would allow doctors to make recommendations for marijuana use without getting approval from a designated state agency, a rare guideline. Only two states with medical marijuana laws, California and Massachusetts, allow patients to obtain cannabis this way. But if we look at the amendment’s approach to regulation, distribution and registration, it’s a different picture. Florida actually places plenty of restrictions on these categories, moving the proposal closer to the middle of the pack. Bondi’s brief didn’t focus on those other considerations. Some outside experts feel it’s a little misleading to say Florida will become """"one of the most lenient medical-marijuana states"""" without explicitly couching it in terms of getting an unspecified condition approved for treatment with only a doctor’s written recommendation.""" | true |
9673 | 5507 | State’s 1st measles case confirmed in northeastern Indiana. | State health officials have confirmed a case of measles in northeastern Indiana. | true |
9674 | 9932 | Test of “artificial pancreas” offers diabetes hope | If the Times account of the study reviewed here was good, and WebMD’s was bad, then this write-up is just ugly. Misleading description of the experiment. Sensational terms. No independent perspective. They might have served readers better by simply posting a link to a more detailed press release about the study. Advances in technology could help ease the burden of managing insulin for individuals with type 1 diabetes, and the study covered here is an important step forward. That being said, journalists aren’t doing anyone any favors when they fail to ask tough questions about a study and overhype its results. | false |
9675 | 10731 | Ankles Gain as Candidates for Joint Replacement | This article reviews ankle joint replacement, a relatively uncommon procedure, when compared with knee or hip replacement. This topic is of interest as ankle replacement surgery is a procedure that may be unknown to many readers. A graphic and overview of an ankle replacement is provided below. This story provides a general overview of the topic including risks and benefits. However, the lead-in should have been more specific to clarify that knee and hip replacement are most often associated with osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, while ankle replacement is largely performed in patients with post-traumatic osteoarthritis and the much less common rheumatoid arthritis. This story provides very little scientific evidence or independent expert testimony to support the information provided. In addition, the main expert interviewed has a financial relationship with the company that produces the implant he uses. It is possible that this creates an incentive to use this procedure more and to describe it in a more positive light. This story also has other omissions and inaccuracies including the cost of the procedure and that 5, not 4, devices are FDA approved. This is a relatively uncommon procedure that many readers may not be aware of. Unfortunately this column didn’t do the best job of presenting the information in a complete and balanced manner. | false |
9676 | 37770 | A nineteen-year-old developed pleurisy because she wore a mask for extended periods at her job in a grocery store. | Many iterations of an anecdote about a healthy nineteen-year-old grocery store worker developing pleurisy specifically due to the fact she wore a face mask during her shifts was repeatedly debunked by doctors and public health experts asked about the story’s plausibility. As they noted, medical professionals have long worn masks during each shift for years on end, suffering no ill effects other than occasional skin irritation from mask friction. The rumor was one of many pieces of anti-mask propaganda spreading unchecked on Facebook, with the above iteration being shared more than 17,000 times without any sort of fact-check flag. | false |
9677 | 31860 | Two handfuls of cashews are equivalent to one dose of Prozac in treating depression, and can be safely substituted for prescribed drugs. | While the meme has been circulating on Facebook since at least May 2014, we located no evidence to support the efficacy of using cashews (or anything containing tryptophan) as a treatment for depression. | false |
9678 | 8010 | Israel to use computer analysis to find likely coronavirus carriers. | Israel’s defense ministry plans to use software that analyses data gathered from mobile phones - produced, according to Israeli media, by the spyware firm NSO - to help locate likely carriers of the coronavirus in order to test them. | true |
9679 | 29919 | The Disney cartoon character Goofy was modeled after a breed of Scottish cow. | We’ve reached out to Disney Animation Studios for more information on Goofy’s background. | false |
9680 | 10545 | Stem cells may help heart disease | """This story was about an experimental approach using adult stem cells to limit heart damage after a heart attack. The story explained that the evidence came from a small phase I clinical trial, the results of which were presented at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting. It should have mentioned some of the problems with trying to reach conclusions about research that has not yet been peer reviewed, with results that have not been replicated. (See primer on """"News From Scientific Meetings."""") The story included quotes that described the results of the study (which was sponsored by the company that developed the approach) as 'really quite spectacular', 'more encouraging than anything we've seen', and that those involved in the study were 'blown away' when they saw the outcome. But all of the sources interviewed were connected to the trial in some way, and had a vested interest in reporting positive findings. Again, especially since the work has not been peer-reviewed, it would have been helpful to have included comments from independent experts. The story didn't discuss costs of the approach. It also didn't mention any harms observed or even comment about an absence of observed harms if this was the case.""" | mixture |
9681 | 8167 | Delayed by sanctions, border checks, first medical aid trickles into North Korea. | The first shipments of international medical aid are due to arrive at North Korea’s borders this week to shore up its defenses against the coronavirus, but strict border controls could mean the stream of supplies remains a trickle. | true |
9682 | 37504 | The website for the federal Strategic National Website was changed after remarks by White House Advisor Jared Kushner on April 2, 2020. | Was the United States’ Strategic National Stockpile Website Altered After Remarks by Jared Kushner? | true |
9683 | 41185 | The estimated cost of Brexit is £4.15 per person per day. | U.S. health officials on Thursday reported 805 confirmed and probable cases and 12 deaths so far from a mysterious respiratory illness tied to vaping, with the outbreak showing no signs of losing steam. | false |
9684 | 9555 | Botox Works As Well As Nerve Stimulator for Incontinence - Study | This news story covers a clinical trial that compared two different treatments for severe urinary urge incontinence in women. One treatment, which is more standard, is an electrical stimulator that calms nerves. The other and less well-understood treatment is shots of Botox (also known by its scientific name, onabotulinumtoxinA) to the same nerves. The story doesn’t go over-the-top in its characterization of how Botox shots for incontinence could help people, and especially women (who disproportionately deal with the problem). It also hedges the benefits well and discusses the primary potential harm of Botox injections for severe incontinence. However, the story missed some of the nuances about the study’s findings (such as the researchers’ conclusions that the results are of “uncertain clinical importance”). It also attempts to discuss cost, but provides no prices, and doesn’t go far enough in detailing the potential harms of either treatment. And, because the story’s only interviewed source has potential conflicts of interest, independent scrutiny was needed. Urinary incontinence is common, affecting millions of individuals, both women and men. The prevalence increases with age, but it is not a normal result of aging. The condition is more prevalent in women, though beyond the age of 80, both men and women reportedly have similar rates. The kind of incontinence studied here–“severe refractory urge incontinence”–specifically means a person has an abnormally frequent urge to urinate, and it is resistant to standard treatments. | mixture |
9685 | 1962 | Comfort eating helps stave off the blues: study. | A sweet tooth might not be the only reason why we reach for ice cream and cake in times of stress. | true |
9686 | 22424 | """The American Academy of Pediatrics """"supports banning guns.""" | Gun lobbyist says doctors play politics with gun question | true |
9687 | 4599 | Study: Missouri’s marijuana supply will outpace demand. | Missouri won’t have enough demand for medical marijuana to support the number of businesses the state is required to license by next year, according to a new study. | true |
9688 | 8863 | U.S. FDA Official Says Heart Stent Guidelines Near. | New guidelines for the testing of drug-coated heart stents will be released soon, the Food and Drug Administration’s device chief said on Monday. | true |
9689 | 11458 | Cataract Surgery May Be Safer With Laser | “Cataract surgery may be safer with Laser.” How one could arrive at this conclusion based on a couple of 7 minute presentations is a mystery to us. Based on very preliminary studies that have questionable clinical relevance, these researchers seem all but ready to conclude that laser surgery for cataracts is superior to traditional surgery. It was the story’s job to point out that these views might not represent a totally objective evaluation of the evidence. The story should also have sought out an independent take on the role of this technology for cataract removal — something similar, perhaps, to the views expressed earlier this year by an Australian surgeon in this blog post . Cataract surgery is the most common procedure performed in the US with over 22 million adults having at least one affected eye. Current surgical methods are safe and effective. So reporting on a new technology should be done carefully and claims of superiority should be viewed with a healthy skepticism. A technology that is expensive to acquire ($4-500,000) that adds to operative time needs to demonstrate a clear and unequivocal advantage prior to adoption. Suggesting superiority based on a brief presentation at an annual meeting is simply not very good reporting. | mixture |
9690 | 34330 | Vegetarians live longer than meat eaters. | While an increasing number of studies are skeptical of a direct correlation between vegetarianism and longevity, the question remains controversial in epidemiological research. Therefore, we rank claims that vegetarians live longer than meat eaters as unproven. | unproven |
9691 | 35319 | """As of April 25, 2020, the rate of people dying from the COVID-19 coronavirus disease in New York City was at least 250 times """"higher"""" than Tokyo's — and growing with time.""" | What's true: Based on available data, New York City's COVID-19 death rate (per population) far exceeded that of Tokyo, as of late April and early May 2020. What's undetermined: Comparing the death rates per population between Tokyo and New York City is thorny for a few reasons: The cities' populations vary depending on what geographic areas one considers, their regions' processes for COVID-19 testing are different, and it's unknown to what extent those testing practices influence government-compiled death tolls. | true |
9692 | 8140 | Greece imposes lockdown after coronavirus infections jump. | Greece announced a lockdown on Sunday, restricting movement from Monday morning with only a few exceptions, to combat the spread of coronavirus. | true |
9693 | 5234 | Beshear stresses health care, defends Medicaid expansion. | Democrat Andy Beshear offered a vigorous defense of Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion, warning Monday that health care policy is at stake when voters choose between him and Republican Gov. Matt Bevin. | true |
9694 | 6685 | Trump launching campaign to end HIV epidemic in US by 2030. | President Donald Trump is launching a campaign to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030, targeting areas where new infections happen and getting highly effective drugs to people at risk. | true |
9695 | 6645 | UW teaching hospital plan passes Washington House. | The state House approved a plan for a new University of Washington teaching hospital, a prominent part of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plans to address the state’s mental health crisis. | true |
9696 | 1934 | Smoking still high in U.S. mining, food service. | Cigarette smoking remains stubbornly high among workers in the mining, food services and construction industries despite dramatic overall declines in the United States in recent decades, a federal study released Thursday showed. | true |
9697 | 3107 | Philippines declares new polio outbreak after 19 years. | Philippine health officials declared a polio outbreak in the country on Thursday, nearly two decades after the World Health Organization declared it to be free of the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease. | true |
9698 | 29321 | A meme accurately lists Democrats who have been involved in assassinations, assassination attempts, or mass shootings. | This viral list has been published by a wide range of outlets. However, none of those publications provided any documentation to prove that these individuals were all Democrats. Our investigation found that the majority of people on this list had no official connection to a political party, and that the majority of the incidents were not motivated by politics. | false |
9699 | 2534 | """Let them eat cake later: Americans hosting """"fitness parties"""".""" | From spinning birthday celebrations to pole dancing bachelorette bashes, U.S. gyms are offering fitness parties as new way to mark life’s milestones - with a few friends and a good sweat. | true |
9700 | 7556 | Vanderbilt University gets $20M grant for drug research . | Vanderbilt University announced it received a $20 million gift to support the school’s research into treatments for brain disorders. | true |
9701 | 3898 | Suspect in counselor’s death not involved in similar crime. | Police say a man suspected of killing a Tennessee counselor is not believed to be involved in a similar stabbing at another mental health facility. | true |
9702 | 7211 | Detective who fought for 9/11 compensation funding dies. | A former New York City police detective who was a leader in the fight for the Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund died Saturday at age 53. | true |
9703 | 7627 | Vectura drops severe asthma treatment after poor trial results. | Britain’s Vectura Group Plc will stop developing its treatment for severe uncontrolled asthma after a trial showed it failed to have a significant impact on the condition. | true |
9704 | 24626 | """The health care reform bill """"would make it mandatory — absolutely require — that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner.""" | McCaughey claims end-of-life counseling will be required for Medicare patients | false |
9705 | 7080 | Zika ‘syndrome’: Health problems mount as babies turn 1. | Two weeks shy of his first birthday, doctors began feeding Jose Wesley Campos through a nose tube because swallowing problems had left him dangerously underweight. | true |
9706 | 37895 | After Florida opened its beaches on April 17 2020, 1,400 people consequently contracted novel coronavirus and became ill with COVID-19. | ‘They Opened Up Florida Beaches and Now They Have 1400 New Cases Overnight!’ Facebook Meme | mixture |
9707 | 28460 | The body of a notorious pedophile was found dumped on the doorstep of the British Parliament building. | """What's true: A dead man whose remains were found near Parliament had reportedly been deported from the UK years earlier following a child abuse conviction. What's false: The man's remains had not been """"dumped"""" anywhere, nor were they discovered on the """"doorstep of the British Parliament building.""""""" | mixture |
9708 | 11350 | If at First You Don’t Succeed, Maybe It’s Time For a Different Type of Gastric Surgery | This story discussed the increased use of gastric banding in individuals who had previously had gastric bypass surgery. While indicating that there was not a lot of data about the effectiveness or longevity of this approach for aiding in weight loss, the story missed the chance to include information about several aspects that should have been covered. By featuring anecdotal information about the short term weight loss of several individuals, it overshadowed the fact that there really is not much known about either the short term or long term risks or whether the improvement in appetite control and weight loss were observed long-term. | false |
9709 | 2992 | Ex-pharma exec sentenced to nearly 3 years in bribery scheme. | A former executive for a drug company was sentenced Monday to 33 months in federal prison in a bribery and kickbacks scheme that Massachusetts prosecutors say helped fuel the national opioid epidemic. | true |
9710 | 10457 | Oxytocin has social, emotional and behavioral benefits in young kids with autism | This news release from the University of Sydney describes a published study on a group of 31 young children with autism (ages three to eight years old) who were treated twice a day with oxytocin nasal spray. The hormone oxytocin has been shown in previous studies to play an important role in bonding and establishing social relationships. The release omitted many of the details contained in the published study, including quantified benefits and a description of the evidence. With so many aspects of autism generating controversy — from its incidence to its causes and treatment options — it’s crucial to provide the public with solid data. This release doesn’t do that. The symptoms of autism spectrum disorder can vary widely in character and severity. To date, there is no medical cure for autism so it’s no wonder there is interest in finding a drug treatment to address its symptoms, especially one that is safe in children. A 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 1 out of 68 children in the United States have been identified as having autism spectrum disorder and that about 1% of the global population suffers from autism spectrum disorder. | mixture |
9711 | 6737 | Maryland House Speaker Busch dies, a Chesapeake Bay defender. | Michael Busch, a champion of the Chesapeake Bay and progressive causes during his record-tenure as Maryland’s Democratic House speaker, battled for the environment up until the end of his life. He died Sunday at age 72. | true |
9712 | 4611 | University autism study pairs theater with peer mentoring. | Researchers at the University of Alabama are preparing for a four-year study that pairs theater and peer mentoring to help improve social skills of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. | true |
9713 | 6557 | Residents near Harvey-damaged chemical plant wary of water. | The skeleton crew at Arkema’s chemical plant knew it was time to go by the morning of Aug. 29. | true |
9714 | 7017 | Selena Gomez opens up on ‘life or death’ kidney donation. | Selena Gomez says her friend Francia Raisa saved her life by donating a kidney to the singer earlier this year. | true |
9715 | 36202 | The detective who led investigations into Jeffrey Epstein died mysteriously at the age of 50 in September 2019. | Did the Detective Who Led Jeffrey Epstein Investigation Die after a ‘Brief Illness’ At 50 in September 2019? | false |
9716 | 6162 | Iowa egg farm sues over damage from bird flu disinfection. | An Iowa egg farm that killed millions of chickens because of a 2015 bird flu outbreak is suing companies hired by the federal government to disinfect barns. | true |
9717 | 2568 | Fish sold in New York is routinely mislabeled: study. | Nearly three in five New York City grocery stores and restaurants that sell seafood have mislabeled part of their stock, substituting varieties that could cause health problems, according to a new study. | true |
9718 | 40285 | An email petition nominating Officer Danita Marsh of Nashville for an ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The email says that Officer Marsh was ambushed, critically wounded and left paralyzed from the waist down while responding to a domestic violence call. | Officer Danita Marsh Petition for an Extreme Make Over Home Edition but a Grass Roots Movement! | true |
9719 | 28138 | A jewelry company is making jewelry out of unwanted human embryos. | What's true: An Australian jeweler offers parents jewelry embedded with ashes of unused embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization. What's false: A gruesome image showing a woman with an earring made from an intact fetus is fake. | true |
9720 | 33952 | In September 2018, Taya Kyle posted a Facebook message that strongly criticized the tone and slogan of Nike's recently-unveiled campaign with Colin Kaepernick. | Taya Kyle has also criticized the national anthem protests, characterizing them as divisive and angry. | true |
9721 | 32254 | A woman had a dead kitten surgically removed from her vagina after inserting it to simulate the feeling of being pregnant. | Previous Now8News hoax articles (often replicated by other “viral news” sites) include similar claims a man had sexual relations with a pig in a Walmart bathroom, aborted fetuses were discovered in McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets, Walmart bananas were contaminated with a deadly parasitic worm, a woman engaged in a sex act with a sausage at a Walmart, a separate woman was arrested for sampling feminine hygiene items in an aisle at a Walmart, a man fed his unfaithful fiancee’s remains to her unsuspecting parents, and a woman gave birth to twins in a casket after being buried alive by her husband. | false |
9722 | 26408 | Even with no shutdown, Sweden has a lower COVID-19 infection rate than UK, Italy and Spain. | Graham, who wants to see America reopen quickly, claims the COVID-19 infection rate in Sweden, which has no forced shutdown, is lower than in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Sweden’s known infection rate is lower. But the epidemiologist credited with developing Sweden’s COVID-19 strategy said infection rate is not a reliable indicator of how a country is doing. | mixture |
9723 | 13044 | It is more difficult to obtain a Costco membership than it is to get a NYC Municipal ID | """Castorina, the assemblyman from Staten Island, claimed in a press release that """"it is more difficult to obtain a Costco membership than it is to get a NYC Municipal ID."""" Getting a membership at Costco requires an application and a photo ID on your first visit to the store. A municipal ID in New York City requires more documentation and takes longer to process. The only obstacle to getting a Costco membership that might make it more difficult for some people is the cost. The New York City ID card is free. A Costco membership starts at $55 annually.""" | false |
9724 | 6951 | Matt Every suspended 3 months for drug of abuse. | Matt Every was suspended for 12 weeks Friday for what the PGA Tour said was a violation of its conduct policy on drugs of abuse. Every said it was legal prescription for cannabis to treat mental health. | true |
9725 | 9114 | World-first ketamine trial shows promise for geriatric depression | This news release does a marginal job of describing what appears to be the first randomized, placebo controlled trial of the anesthetic agent ketamine for hard-to-treat depression in older adults. It offers a baffling, apparently incorrect account of the study findings and skimps on explaining what the alternatives are for treating depression in older adults. It could also have been greatly strengthened by noting the limitations of the study. Only 16 volunteers were enrolled and the study had only a 5-week controlled treatment period with a 6-month uncontrolled follow-up. The release earns praise for its explanation of the complex protocol of the research, the limitations of previous studies in determining the value of ketamine and noting that there is still much to learn about the drug and its long-term effects and risks. In the end, though, this release doesn’t leave us any more clued in about how ready for prime time clinical use ketamine is — or is not. And its headline is a good reminder of why “promising” is one of the 7 words you shouldn’t use in medical news. Ketamine is an old, relatively inexpensive, fast acting anesthetic drug when used in common doses, inducing a trance-like state, sedation, and temporary “amnesia.” It’s in the same class of drugs as nitrous oxide and propofol, the latter often used at the start of surgical anesthesia. If a safe, effective way can be developed to extend the drug’s use to help treatment-resistant older people with serious depression, that would be a significant advance in improving the quality of life for millions. | false |
9726 | 32006 | """Delayed military absentee ballots would have """"swung"""" the presidential election for Hillary Clinton if they had been counted on time.""" | Prior instances in which Duffel Blog articles were misidentified as genuine news included claims West Point posthumously revoked diplomas of confederate soldiers, the Army adopted a “mandatory divorce” policy to “improve readiness,” Ariana Grande joined ISIS, the USS Gabrielle Giffords would be the Navy’s first “gun-free” warship, the Pentagon allocated large amounts of money for Powerball tickets to fund the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, and Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter was stripped of his award after failing to complete a minor course while actively serving. | false |
9727 | 16560 | """Every 28 hours"""" an unarmed black person is shot by a cop.""" | """When asked how often an unarmed black is shot by a cop, Hill answered """"every 28 hours."""" He then referenced a report issued by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and said """"that every 28 hours an unarmed black person is killed."""" Either description is incorrect. The report, which is not an academic work, reaches its conclusion by including deaths that were not at the hands of police, deaths of blacks who were armed, car accidents, and deaths of blacks who were in aggressive or hostile situations. The report only classified 136 of 313 deaths as unarmed, which does not support his claim that an unarmed black person is shot by police every 28 hours.""" | false |