Skip to main content

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

APA - Austrian Presse AgenturHealth & medicine

Wolodymyr Selenskyj hat ein Drogenproblem, vor allem mit Kokain, und wirkt bei seinen Videos beeinträchtigt.

Publisher’s rating: Es gibt keinerlei Hinweise, dass Selenskyj in seinen Videos durch Drogen beeinträchtigt ist. Die vermeintliche Kokainspur auf seinem Tisch ist eindeutig als Tischverzierung zu identifizieren.

The claim links two things in videos of Ukrainian president Wolodymyr Selenskyj: alleged impairment and white marks on a table said to indicate cocaine. The APA review examines those specific videos and the inference drawn from a camera pan in a recent Instagram post. It reports that the marks were visible at about the 15-second point and that the footage was often circulated in poorer image and audio quality, where the lines were presented as evidence of cocaine use. The review says the higher-quality video on Selenskyj’s official account clarifies what the marks are. It identifies the longer lines as decoration on the table and the shorter ones as a reflection of a picture frame standing on its surface. The review says this interpretation can also be checked against other images of his desk: the desk mat has a border made of double lines. Thus, the particular visual detail cited in support of the allegation has an alternative explanation consistent with the desk’s visible design. The review also addresses the broader allegation that Selenskyj was impaired in videos. It says the cited videos provide no evidence of drug use. Separately, it reports that Selenskyj voluntarily took a drug test during Ukraine’s 2019 presidential election campaign and that the test was negative. The review notes that he declined a call for a second test at a proposed location, citing concern about provocation, while saying he was willing to take tests at other international laboratories. That account provides background, but the review’s examination of the viral footage rests on the video quality and the identifiable desk decoration—not on the earlier test.

maharat-newsHealth & medicine

كوفيد-19 قد يسبّب تجلّط في الدم بعد أشهر من التعافي؟

Publisher’s rating: صحيح

The review examines a claim attributed to Russian immunologist Nikolai Kryuchkov: that blood clots can occur months after recovery from COVID-19 and may be accompanied by a stroke, heart attack or pulmonary embolism. It traces the statement to an interview with the Russian outlet Ura News, which the review says published an article about the interview on 24 March 2022. Kryuchkov is quoted as saying that the illness could appear months after infection in people predisposed to clotting, even if they had shown no outward signs of that predisposition. To put the claim in context, the review cites Mayo Clinic material stating that COVID-19 can make blood cells more prone to clumping and clot formation, and that larger clots can cause heart attacks and strokes. It also reports that the review consulted material from UK health authorities, the CDC and WHO concerning complications or effects that may persist after infection. Those broader points support the plausibility of clotting and lasting health effects, but the excerpt does not provide data establishing how often delayed clots occur or independently verify Kryuchkov’s specific estimate of risk. The review’s conclusion is limited: it accepts the accuracy of the statement as an account of what Kryuchkov said, while noting that fuller information and data from official sources are still needed. It therefore does not present the quoted interview as conclusive evidence that delayed clots will occur in any particular recovered patient.

dpaHealth & medicine

Duitse verzekeraar zegt dat er tienduizenden doden zijn door (corona)vaccinaties.

Publisher’s rating: De data van de zorgverzekeraar BKK Provita ondersteunen de uitspraak van Schöfbeck niet. De analyse en conclusie zijn vertekenend. Er werd immers geen onderscheid wordt gemaakt tussen voorbijgaande symptomen na vaccinatie zoals hoofdpijn en vermoeidheid enerzijds en ernstige, aanhoudende nevenwerkingen anderzijds. Artsen in Duitsland zijn niet verplicht om die eerste soort te melden onder de Duitse Infectiewet. De data van BKK Provita verschilt van de data die het PEI gebruikt in de officiële cijfers en vertekenen dus de conclusie. Er is ook weinig bekend over de gebruikte methodologie en evaluatiemethode.

maharat-newsHealth & medicine

هل ظهر متحوّر جديد باسم أوميكرون XE؟

Publisher’s rating: صحيح

The review examines whether Omicron XE existed, distinguishing that question from the separate question of whether it caused new symptoms. It reports that the UK had confirmed 637 XE cases and that the variant was a recombinant of Omicron lineages BA.1 and BA.2. According to the review, the first case appeared on 19 January 2022. This evidence supports the existence of XE as a detected variant; it does not establish that XE had distinctive symptoms. (The review states: “تم تأكيد إجمالي 637 حالة من المتحوّر XE المؤتلف من أوميكرون BA.1 و BA.2 في المملكة البريطانية. وقد ظهرت أول حالة في 19 كانون الثاني 2022.”) The review describes a recombinant variant as arising when someone is infected with two or more variants at once, allowing their genetic material to mix. It also attributes to UK Health Security Agency chief medical adviser Susan Hopkins the view that recombinant variants are not unusual when several variants circulate, and that many identified during the pandemic disappear relatively quickly. These points provide context for XE’s classification, rather than evidence that it was a wholly unrelated new virus. (The review states: “ويخلق المتحوّر المؤتلف(recombinant variant) عندما يصاب الفرد بمتغيرين أو أكثر في نفس الوقت ، مما يؤدي إلى اختلاط مادتهما الجينية داخل جسم المريض.”) On symptoms, the review reports that the Independent said it was not then thought that XE brought new symptoms, while noting that the situation could change because the subvariant was new. It lists commonly reported COVID-19 symptoms but does not present evidence that XE caused a distinct symptom pattern. The review’s conclusion therefore distinguishes confirmation of XE’s existence from the still-open question of whether its characteristics, including symptoms, might be assessed differently as further data became available. (The review states: “فقد ذكرت صحيفة "independent" البريطانية أنه ونظرا لأن المتغير الفرعي جديد ، فقد يتغير الوضع ولكن لا يُعتقد حاليًا أن XE يأتي بأعراض جديدة.”)

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

លោក​ជំទាវ ហ៊ុន ស៊ីណាត បាន​ដាច់​សរសៃ​ឈាម​ខួរ​ក្បាល​ក្រោយ​ពី​សប្បាយ​បុណ្យ​ចូល​ឆ្នាំ​ហួស​កម្រិត​ពេក។

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned Hun Sinat, Hun Sen’s sister, and said she had suffered a stroke and been hospitalized after becoming overjoyed during the Khmer New Year celebrations. Posts circulating with the claim included photos of her lying on a medical bed. Fact Crescendo Cambodia checked the allegation by interviewing her husband, Nim Chandara, on April 20; he said her health was normal and that she had not been hospitalized after the holiday. Chandara also addressed the images accompanying the posts: he said they were old photos. Fact Crescendo reported that it found no recent Facebook photos showing Hun Sinat receiving hospital treatment, but did find that iDOL Medias had posted hospital-treatment photos two years earlier. The article says those photos showed her receiving care on April 26, 2020, so their recirculation did not establish that she had recently been hospitalized after the New Year. The investigation therefore found that the claim’s central event—a recent stroke and hospitalization following the celebrations—was not supported by the husband’s account, while the apparent hospital images had an earlier provenance. The article concluded that Hun Sinat had not been hospitalized in recent days after Khmer New Year and that the old images had reappeared on Facebook.

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: misinformation spreading that bill gates refused to vaccinate his children

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

Fact Crescendo examined a social-media claim that Bill Gates would not vaccinate his children despite promoting vaccination to the public. The review says a reader sent it to the outlet’s WhatsApp number for verification, and that the post had circulated since 2018–19. The publisher’s conclusion is that the claim is false. To assess it, the review points to a 2018 media report and says Melinda Gates had already denied the claim in 2019. It also says she stated that the children had been vaccinated according to schedule. The review identifies an official Facebook post by Melinda Gates as supporting evidence. These are the checks and evidence described in the supplied excerpt; the linked report and Facebook post are not reproduced there, so their contents cannot be independently assessed from this excerpt alone. The review characterizes the social-media item as an old claim being shared again as though it were new. Its stated conclusion rests on the reported earlier denial and vaccination history, rather than on any newly described interview or medical records.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

A Parsi girl in Surat gave birth to 11 sons at single birth – Viral visuals

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video said to show a Parsi girl giving birth to 11 sons in one delivery at Nanpura Hospital in Surat. The review reports finding no reports of such a birth in Surat or elsewhere in India, and says a keyword search found no information about Nanpura Hospital in Surat. The review traced the video’s earlier appearance to a 2018 Instagram post by Turkish paediatrician Banu Ince Demirpençe. That post described visuals of six babies being delivered, not 11, but said the video’s source was unknown. The review also notes that the language audible in the viral video suggests it is not from India. It could not independently verify the video’s location, but concluded the available information did not support the claimed Indian setting or a birth of 11 children. The review identifies a possible source of confusion: a report about an IVF centre in Surat scheduling deliveries for 11-11-11. That report concerned 11 couples who wanted their babies’ births scheduled for the date—not one woman giving birth to 11 children. The review also states that the then-current Guinness record for most children delivered at one birth to survive was held by Nadya Suleman, who delivered eight children in 2009.