PeakMetrics / Fact Checks
Health & medicine fact checks
Explore claims publishers have checked about health & medicine. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.
Search fact checks
Search by text or image13,667 published reviews in this topic
massaging breasts with oil make them fuller
Publisher’s rating: Mostly False
a herbal mix can cure endometriosis without surgery
Publisher’s rating: False
Castor oil-cayenne pepper poultice can cure hypothyroidism
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
mRNA COVID-19 vaccines causes turbo cancer
Publisher’s rating: Mostly False
Research from related reporting examined a viral claim that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines cause “turbo” skin cancer, specifically melanoma. The fact-check describes the post as alleging unusually aggressive melanoma in young adults and points out that the cited cases and images do not establish that vaccination caused the cancers. It reports that the images used in the post were published years before the COVID-19 pandemic and before mRNA vaccines were invented; it also says the post provides no evidence that the people it mentions were vaccinated. The fact-check traced the images to earlier material: one was a stock photograph from 2011, another came from a 2014 clinical atlas, and the third appeared in a 2011 paper. It describes the images as showing melanoma, but not vaccine-caused disease; the explanation for one image identifies sunlight exposure, while the others depict melanoma metastases or local recurrence. These provenance details undercut the post’s use of the images as evidence of a new, vaccine-related phenomenon. A separate related article discusses claims that pandemic-era spike-protein exposure, including through vaccination, could be linked to cancer, but its excerpt does not present a direct test of that causal claim. It reports that mainstream medical institutions say current evidence does not establish a causal link and mentions other proposed explanations for rising early-onset cancer statistics. The supplied reporting therefore supports rejecting the specific viral melanoma evidence as proof of vaccine causation; it does not provide a comprehensive assessment of every cancer type or all evidence about cancer risk.
NHS has stopped Covid vaccinations in Europe as of June 30.
Publisher’s rating: False: While the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) ended routine coronavirus vaccinations for most of the UK population at the end of June, anyone at higher risk from the infectious disease can still get a jab when doctors feel this is needed. The NHS has no control over any medical policy, including vaccination advice, in Europe.
The risk of myocarditis is "1 in 30 per vaccine dose"
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
COVID-19 wasn’t a “real” pandemic and the world is being prepared for the “actual one”
Publisher’s rating: Misleading
cats and dogs are responsible for increasing Candida auris fungal infections cases
Publisher’s rating: Mostly False
regular Coke or Diet Coke cause diabetes and cancer
Publisher’s rating: Half True
From Using Public Toilets, There is a Heavy Risk of Infecting HPV !
Publisher’s rating: Misleading
“Hay un montón” de pruebas de que la atrazina afecta la sexualidad humana como lo hace en las ranas.
Publisher’s rating: Falso
The claim concerns statements Robert Kennedy Jr. made in a June 2023 interview: he said atrazine affects people as it affects frogs and suggested endocrine-disrupting chemicals could be contributing to gender dysphoria in children. The article reports that he did not identify the human evidence during the interview. When the campaign was asked to provide studies, its press team said he meant the possibility warranted further research; the materials it supplied discussed atrazine’s effects mainly in frogs, fish, or reptiles, alongside references to early puberty or outcomes in in-vitro fertilization. The article says none linked atrazine exposure to people’s sexual characteristics or gender dysphoria. (S1: “El precandidato presidencial Robert Kennedy Jr. sugirió esto en una entrevista en junio de 2023”; “sin detallar en la entrevista cuáles serían estas pruebas”; “ninguno de estos textos relaciona la exposición a la atrazina con las características sexuales de las personas o con la disforia de género.”) The investigators sought input from experts, including physiology professor Ángel Nadal and researchers Nicolás Olea and Tyrone Hayes. The article reports that experts found no scientific evidence establishing a link between exposure to endocrine disruptors and gender dysphoria, and that specialists cautioned against extrapolating frog findings to humans because of biological differences. It also notes a limitation in the evidence: Olea said the absence of studies specifically addressing gender dysphoria has hindered establishing mechanisms or the role of chemical exposure. The article’s conclusion is that the claimed abundance of evidence for similar effects in humans is not supported by the material reviewed. (S1: “no hay evidencias científicas que permitan vincular la exposición a disruptores endocrinos con la disforia de género”; “no se pueden extrapolar estudios hechos en ranas a seres humanos, por las diferencias biológicas entre ambas especies”; “La ausencia de estudios específicos que contemplen el objetivo particular de disforia de género ha dificultado tanto el establecimiento de los mecanismos implicados”).
LGBTQIA+ linked to mental disorders
Publisher’s rating: False
Research in the supplied excerpt addresses whether LGBTQIA+ identity is itself linked to mental disorders. It describes a different relationship: rigid heteronormative standards can lead society to treat departures from those standards as deviant, and LGBTQIA+ people may face harassment, violence, and ostracism. The excerpt concludes that oppressive social norms are linked to mental-health disorders; it does not say that LGBTQIA+ identity causes or is itself a mental disorder. The distinction matters because the excerpt identifies social treatment and norms as the relevant factors. It says that gender identity is viewed through a rigid heteronormative lens and that this has led to homosexual and transgender people being labeled diseased, shunned, and mistreated. The evidence provided therefore supports a link between oppression and mental-health harm, not the claim that LGBTQIA+ people are mentally disordered because of their identity.
it is true that pani puri heals oral ulcers
Publisher’s rating: Mostly False
熱湯で殺菌されるから輸入紅茶は細菌検査されない
Publisher’s rating: 不正確
The review says imported black tea is not routinely tested for bacteria, but explains that the reason is that no pathogenic-microorganism risk has been detected at present—not that hot water kills bacteria. It also says imported foods are reviewed under Japan’s food sanitation law, with testing conducted as needed.
Toothpaste can cure foot and toenail fungus
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
Long Covid patiënten krijgen omstreden middel Ivermectine voorgeschreven.
Publisher’s rating: Nee, ivermectine wordt niet algemeen gebruikt als medicijn tegen een acute coronabesmetting, noch Long Covid. Door enkel de kop van het artikel van Hart van Nederland te lezen en te delen, ontbreekt belangrijke context. Onderzoeksjournalisten kwamen er recentelijk achter dat enkele Nederlandse huisartsen, tegen de beroepsrichtlijnen in, alsnog ivermectine voorschrijven aan Long Covidpatiënten. De artsen lopen nu kans beboet te worden.
"ניתוחים לשינוי מין לילדים ממומנים על-ידי סל הבריאות"
Publisher’s rating: לא נכון
The claim was made by Knesset member Yitzhak Pindrus during a Now 14 television appearance, in a discussion about the LGBTQ movement and conversion-therapy legislation. He said that children could have sex-change surgeries funded by the health basket. The review’s central distinction is between coverage for adults and eligibility for minors: it reports that the Health Ministry’s 2014 circular requires an applicant to be at least 18 when first applying to the committee that approves these surgeries. The review also describes a committee process involving professional assessments and an evaluation period that generally lasts about a year. To assess whether the surgeries are publicly funded, the review cites the Health Ministry’s response that gender-affirming surgeries are covered for people aged 18 and older after committee approval. It also checks the example Pindrus offered: a recording of a mother asking a private clinic about “top surgery” for her son, who was nearly 14. In that call, the clinic quoted a price of 30,000–32,000 shekels. The review says this example concerns private care, not public funding, and therefore does not establish that children’s surgeries are covered by the health basket. The review distinguishes surgery from care that minors may receive publicly. It reports that, before age 18, minors may receive hormone treatment through the health basket with parental and professional approval, and says the ministry described treatments performed on minors as reversible. Its conclusion is that the statement wrongly applies adult surgery coverage to children: the reported public coverage for surgery is limited to adults, while the review identifies hormone treatment—not surgery—as the relevant publicly funded treatment for minors.