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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Health & medicine fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about health & medicine. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

13,672 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYHealth & medicine

For months, a father gave oxygen to his son from his lungs through a hole ripped in his chest

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post described in the review claimed that a hole had been ripped into a father’s chest so he could supply oxygen to his premature baby boy, and that this continued for months. The review identifies the people in the image as RaSean Dickey and his son Fontaine, and says the image actually shows the father giving the baby skin-to-skin therapy. The review’s account is that the chest-hole and oxygen-from-the-father story is false. Supporting text: “A post is being circulated on social media saying that, to save a premature baby boy, a hole was ripped into his father’s chest to supply oxygen to him.” Supporting text: “It shows her prematurely born son, Fontaine Dickey receiving skin-to-skin therapy from his father, RaSean Dickey.” To trace the image, the review says it used reverse image search, which led to a Facebook post and then to Jenny Sanchez’s Instagram account. It reports finding a similar image on her timeline and says the Instagram images show RaSean giving their baby skin-to-skin therapy. This establishes the family and the setting for the image rather than relying only on the viral post’s description. Supporting text: “After performing a reverse image search, we found a Facebook post leading us to an Instagram user account, jdazzle101, that belongs to Jenny Sanchez.” Supporting text: “The images on her Instagram account show her husband, RaSean Dickey, giving their baby skin-to-skin therapy.” The review also points to the image itself: it says there is no hole in the father’s chest and that an oxygen tube visible in the pictures does not come from his chest. On the claim that this continued for months, it reports that Sanchez posted an image of her son on a separate bed a few weeks later, and quotes her rejecting stories invented about her family. These observations support the review’s conclusion that the image depicts care for a premature infant, not the claimed procedure. Supporting text: “An oxygen pipe can be seen too, which is not coming from the father’s chest.” Supporting text: “she posted a picture of her son on a separate bed only a few weeks later.”

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Recent photo showing the money thrown away by a Cancer patient at the Harbin Hospital in China

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a photo said to show a cancer patient throwing money at Harbin Hospital in China after a doctor refused treatment. FACTLY’s review says the photo is old and describes a different incident at the same hospital: a man threw money during an altercation with his ex-girlfriend, who worked there as a nurse. The review says he was upset that she had accepted a BMW from her current boyfriend, not that he was a cancer patient seeking treatment. Its conclusion is that the photo was shared with a misleading account of what happened. To check the image, the review reports conducting a reverse image search. It says that search found a similar photo published by a Vietnam-based news website on 12 July 2014, which described the hospital incident as a dispute between the man and his ex-girlfriend. FACTLY also says that Chinese news websites reported on the incident in 2014, describing millions of RMB being thrown, and that a doctor in the cardiology department at Harbin Medical University had first shared the photos online. The review further recounts that a witness told media the pair had been arguing outside the emergency room before the money was thrown, and that security guards intervened and reportedly resolved the situation. It states that reports did not identify the man as having cancer. Thus, although the image is associated with Harbin Hospital, the investigation’s cited image history and accounts describe a 2014 personal dispute—not the claimed recent episode involving a cancer patient.

فکت‌نامهHealth & medicine

بررسی گفته‌های جفری ساکس درباره درز کووید ۱۹ از آزمایشگاه‌های آمریکایی

Publisher’s rating: او به طور خلاصه می‌گوید که به درز ویروس کرونا از آزمایشگاه‌های آمریکایی باور دارد اما معتقد است ما هنوز در این باره مطمئن نیستیم و باید تحقیقات مستقلی در این زمینه صورت بگیرد.

THIP MediaHealth & medicine

Eating yoghurt make your bones stronger

Publisher’s rating: Half True

Research from related reporting offers qualified support for a link between yoghurt and bone health, but the excerpts do not show that yoghurt by itself makes bones stronger. One article advises older adults to eat yoghurt and cheese in the context of maintaining bone health. It says calcium and vitamin D are important as osteoporosis and fragile bone density become more common with age, and recommends considering three daily servings of dairy-rich food when calcium intake is low. It identifies a small pot of yoghurt as one serving. This is dietary advice about nutrients and food choices, not evidence in the excerpt that yoghurt alone increases bone strength. A separate article about perimenopause describes Greek yoghurt as containing protein and calcium that can help support muscles and bones. It places yoghurt among several foods suggested for a nutrient-rich diet during hormonal changes. Neither excerpt reports a trial, measurements of bone strength, or a comparison showing that people who eat yoghurt have stronger bones. The evidence therefore supports a more limited interpretation: yoghurt can contribute nutrients associated with bone support, while the supplied material does not demonstrate the broader cause-and-effect claim.

Rumor ScannerHealth & medicine

অফিস, স্কুল বা বাড়িতে শখ করে লাগানো এই পাতাবাহারটি যে আদতে কি ভয়ঙ্কর, তা আমরা ঘুণাক্ষরেও টের পাই না! এই গাছটির কারণে অসুস্থ হয়ে পড়তে পারেন আপনি, এমনকি মারাও যেতে পারেন

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

THIP MediaHealth & medicine

Pfizer Covid vaccine cause mass depopulation through infertility

Publisher’s rating: Mostly False

Related reporting discusses claims that COVID vaccines, including mRNA vaccines, were deliberately designed to cause infertility and advance a depopulation agenda. The excerpt attributes these claims to former Pfizer executive Michael Yeadon, quoting him as alleging that the vaccines were designed to cause “injury, infertility, and death.” However, the supplied excerpt does not show how those allegations were tested or provide underlying data demonstrating that Pfizer’s vaccine causes infertility or mass depopulation. It says that reports cite miscarriages and declining sperm counts, but gives no measurements, study details, or causal analysis. The material therefore documents the allegation and its presentation, not evidence sufficient to establish the claimed effect.