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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.

13,673 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYHealth & medicine

The COVID-19 findings by Singapore’s Ministry of Health including the cure for the COVID-19 virus

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a social-media message alleging that Singapore’s Ministry of Health had found COVID-19 to be a bacterium, based on autopsies, and that aspirin was being used as a treatment. The message also claimed COVID-19 was not caused by a virus and that it caused blood coagulation. FACTLY says the same message had previously been attributed to the health ministries of Italy and Russia. FACTLY reports checking whether Singapore’s government had announced those findings and says it found a Ministry of Health clarification. According to the review, the government said it had not performed autopsies on deceased COVID-19 patients and had not made the claimed statements about the infection’s effects. The review also describes a Singapore government fact-check addressing treatment: it says the government denied changing COVID-19 treatment protocols, reiterated that SARS-CoV-2 causes the disease, and clarified that aspirin has no direct effect on the virus. The review adds that Singapore’s National Centre for Infectious Diseases did not identify aspirin as a COVID-19 treatment, and that the World Health Organization had also debunked the claim that COVID-19 is caused by bacteria. These points address the specific assertions in the circulated message; the supplied excerpt describes FACTLY’s checks and the government’s clarification, rather than providing the underlying government documents themselves.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

The government is implanting microchips into human bodies through COVID-19 vaccine in order to take them under control

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a social-media post whose video claimed that the government was implanting microchips through COVID-19 vaccination to control people. The review’s conclusion was that there was no credible evidence for that alleged government program. It describes the claim as unsupported, rather than presenting evidence that microchips had been found in vaccines or in vaccinated people: “There is no credible evidence of government implanting microchips into human bodies in order to take control of their bodies.” (S1) The article also addresses a second assertion made in the video: that vaccination was mandatory to obtain a passport. FACTLY says it found no official government information or news reports supporting that assertion. It notes, by contrast, that the government had announced prior registration on Co-Win would not remain mandatory to get vaccinated. These points concern the passport and registration claims; they do not, by themselves, establish the absence of microchips. (S1) The review refers to earlier debunkings of a similar microchip allegation involving Bill & Melinda Gates and says FACTLY had previously addressed the same claim. The excerpt does not identify the underlying video’s creator, provide technical testing of vaccine samples, or detail a separate investigation into vaccine ingredients. Its stated basis here is the absence of credible evidence for government implantation, alongside its separate check of the passport-mandate claim. (S1)

dpaHealth & medicine

Indiase regering: Indiase variant bestaat niet

Publisher’s rating: Het statement van de regering is echt, maar het ontkent het bestaan van de mutant niet. De Indiase overheid verzet zich echter tegen het feit dat dit alom als de "Indiase variant" wordt betiteld.

The claim arose from a Facebook post presenting an Indian government statement as proof that the much-discussed “Indian variant” did not exist. The review distinguishes between rejecting that label and denying the virus variant itself. It says the statement was genuine, but that the government objected to describing B.1.617 as the “Indian variant.” The review points to a 12 May 2021 press release from India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which it describes as having essentially the same message. According to the review, the release said media were wrongly calling B.1.617 the Indian variant and noted that the World Health Organization did not use that term for the mutation. The government’s objection, therefore, concerned the name, not whether B.1.617 existed. The review says both the statement and the press release explicitly acknowledged the B.1.617 variant. It also explains that the WHO moved to Greek-letter names for variants to avoid stigma associated with geographical labels. These details support the distinction at the center of the claim: the government disputed a geographic nickname while recognizing the variant itself.

dpaHealth & medicine

In 2015 waren er 41.000 doden door griep.

Publisher’s rating: Het Facebookbericht is fout. Er zijn in 2015 geen 41.000 Belgen gestorven aan griep: dat cijfer slaat op het totale aantal overlijdens tijdens de eerste vier maanden van dat jaar. Er was toen inderdaad wel een zwaar griepseizoen, maar het officiële aantal overlijdens met griep als hoofddoodsoorzaak bedroeg slechts 314 voor het gehele jaar.

The claim concerns 41,000 deaths attributed to flu in Belgium in 2015. The review traces that figure to a Het Nieuwsblad article about provisional mortality figures, and says the article counted deaths from all causes during the first four months of the year—not deaths caused by flu. The review reports 41,479 total deaths for that period, while Statbel’s monthly figures add up to 41,939: 11,269 in January, 11,052 in February, 10,475 in March and 9,143 in April. To assess what the figures represented, the review cites Statbel’s annual count of 314 deaths for which flu was recorded as the main cause of death. That figure covers the whole year, rather than only the first four months. The review also cautions that this count does not capture every death in which flu may have contributed: Statbel’s spokesperson explained that another illness, such as cancer, may be recorded as the primary cause when someone with that illness develops flu and dies. The review does not deny that flu was significant that season. It reports that the Belgian Agency for Care and Health attributed the high mortality in January, February and March to an intense flu epidemic. But that context does not turn the first-four-month total into a flu-death count. The two numbers measure different things: all-cause deaths during a portion of 2015, and deaths assigned flu as their main cause across the entire year.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Video of the U.S. government sacking Dr. Fauci and admitting that the COVID-19 virus is man-made

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examined a social-media video presented as evidence that the U.S. government had sacked Dr. Anthony Fauci and acknowledged that COVID-19 was man-made. It identifies the woman in the footage as Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and dates the depicted press conference to 15 June 2021. Greene was discussing the “Fire Fauci Act,” a bill she had introduced in the House of Representatives—not announcing a government decision to remove Fauci or an admission about the virus’s origins. The review explains that the bill proposed reducing the NIAID Director’s salary to zero until Fauci was removed and a successor appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. At the time described, it had not passed either the House or the Senate. The review also states that Fauci remained NIAID Director; as supporting context, it quotes President Biden responding on 4 June 2021, “Yes, I’m very confident in Dr. Fauci.” Thus, the footage concerned a proposed legislative effort, not an enacted dismissal. On the separate claim about the virus’s origins, the review says the U.S. government had made no admission that COVID-19 was man-made. It reports that on 26 May 2021 the President requested an Intelligence Community investigation and a report within 90 days. The quoted statement described two likely scenarios—animal-to-human transmission or a laboratory accident—and said there was no definitive conclusion. The review therefore distinguishes an investigation into competing possibilities from a government finding or admission.

dpaHealth & medicine

Spike-eiwitten en mRNA verspreiden zich na vaccinatie naar alle organen in het lichaam, bewijst een autopsie.

Publisher’s rating: De bewering klopt niet. De autopsie waarnaar wordt verwezen bewijst niet dat spike-eiwitten zich na vaccinatie naar alle organen verspreiden. Het onderzoek wees alleen uit dat er viraal RNA werd gevonden in zeven van negen onderzochte organen. De patiënt werd voor zijn overlijden ook positief getest op SARS-CoV-2, wat een verklaring kan zijn voor de virusdeeltjes die in zijn lichaam werden aangetroffen.

dpaHealth & medicine

Les compagnies aériennes veulent interdire de vol les personnes vaccinées contre le Covid-19.

Publisher’s rating: C’est une « fake news », affirment sans hésitation à la dpa l’association européenne A4E (Airlines for Europe) et l’Association internationale du transport aérien (IATA). Le secteur du transport aérien n’a engagé aucun débat sur la nécessité d’interdire aux personnes vaccinées, ou non, de prendre l’avion.

The post at issue claimed that airlines were advising vaccinated passengers not to fly because of reports of blood clots. The review traces the claim to a Dutch-origin tweet and an excerpt from an Australian Sky News commentary; that excerpt said airlines were examining the clot issue and recommending that vaccinated people avoid flying. The review reports that A4E and IATA rejected the claim and asked both organizations directly about it. A4E’s policy director said the claim was false and provided a written statement saying there was no discussion among airlines about barring vaccinated or unvaccinated travelers. IATA’s communications specialist likewise said the organization knew of no airlines considering refusal of vaccinated passengers because of clot risk, and that the issue was not on the agenda of its medical advisory group. IATA also said it knew of no meetings among airlines on the subject. The review further reports that IATA distinguished the rare vaccine-associated condition it discussed, VITT, from other forms of blood clot that can be associated with prolonged immobility and travel. Its response said it knew of no medical-literature suggestion that VITT affected air travel, and advocated allowing vaccinated people to travel without restriction. The evidence presented therefore addresses the specific allegation of an airline-sector policy or discussion to exclude vaccinated passengers; it does not claim that blood clots never occur or that every individual travel risk is identical.

dpaHealth & medicine

La pandémie actuelle et toutes les mesures liberticides étaient détaillées dans un scénario proposé par la Fondation Rockefeller en 2010.

Publisher’s rating: Le document de la Fondation Rockefeller mentionné par l’internaute, qui date bien de 2010, décrit quatre scénarios fictifs qui examinent le rôle que pourrait jouer la technologie dans de futures situations hypothétiques. L’un de ces scénarios porte sur une pandémie, qui ne correspond toutefois pas point par point à la situation actuelle. Il ne s’agit pas d’une description ou d’une prédiction de la pandémie en cours, mais bien d’une hypothèse. Les mesures décrites dans le scénario diffèrent également de celles instaurées pour lutter contre le Covid-19.