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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

dpaHealth & medicine

Duitsland heeft een nieuwe wet aangenomen die vaccins mogelijk maakt waarbij micro-organismen via gevaccineerden worden verspreid naar niet-gevaccineerden.

Publisher’s rating: De bewering is fout. De wettekst is zeker niet nieuw. Hij staat al meer dan 20 jaar in de Duitse infectiebestrijdingswet. Daarvoor stond hij ook al in 1979 in de epidemieënwet. Vaccins die zijn gebaseerd op micro-organismen worden al vele jaren gebruikt.

The claim concerned paragraph 21 of Germany’s Infection Protection Act, which online posts presented as a newly passed law enabling microorganisms in vaccines to spread from vaccinated people to unvaccinated people. The dpa review identifies that provision as the subject of the claim and says the law itself had been in force since 20 July 2000. The provision was already included when that law was introduced, and its predecessor appeared in paragraph 15 of Germany’s 1979 Epidemics Act. The review notes a 2019 change, but describes it as a change to a cross-reference to another law, not a substantive change. (S1: “De infectiebeschermingswet waar deze paragraaf onderdeel van uitmaakt, is geldig sinds 20 juli 2000.”; “De tekst stond daarvoor ook al in 1979 in de Duitse epidemieënwet (paragraaf 15).”) The provision does describe vaccines containing microorganisms and says they can be shed by a vaccinated person and taken up by others. That point does not establish that the law was new or that widespread transmission would follow. The review says these are live attenuated vaccines and gives the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine as an example; it reports that such vaccines have been used for many years. (S1: “Paragraaf 21 beschrijft dat op grond van deze wet vaccinaties mogen worden gebruikt die micro-organismen bevatten.”; “Er staat ook bij dat deze micro-organismen door de gevaccineerde kunnen worden uitgestoten en door andere mensen kunnen worden opgenomen.”; “Het vaccin tegen bof, mazelen en rodehond is een voorbeeld van dit type prik.”) The review distinguishes the limited biological possibility of shedding from the much stronger scenario promoted in the posts. It describes transmission sufficient to infect another person as extremely rare, and says the cited cases involving a weakened flu virus did not result in serious illness. It also explicitly excludes COVID-19 vaccines from this phenomenon because they do not use live attenuated viruses. The review identifies the online article as a translation of an English-language Hal Turner Radio Show article, shared by the Dutch site Frontnieuws and the Facebook page Het Verzet. (S1: “Het artikel van Frontnieuws is een vertaling van een Engelstalige artikel van de Hal Turner Radio Show.”; “Het is wel extreem zeldzaam dat iemand zoveel virus zou afgeven, dat het iemand anders zou kunnen besmetten met de ziekte waar de prik tegen werkt.”; “Overigens is dit fenomeen van vaccin 'shedding' niet van toepassing op de coronavaccins.”)

dpaHealth & medicine

Un professeur canadien affirme que la protéine de pointe que le corps produit après la vaccination contre le Covid-19 est « toxique » et circule dans le sang, provoquant des problèmes cardio-vasculaires et se retrouvant dans le lait maternel.

Publisher’s rating: Ces affirmations sont fausses, expliquent plusieurs experts à la dpa. La protéine Spike est une protéine virale, et non une toxine, qui se trouve à la surface du virus. Les vaccins actuellement utilisés contre le Covid-19 vont stimuler une réponse immunitaire contre cette protéine. Une fois la réponse immunitaire mise en marche, les traces de la protéine Spike dans le corps disparaissent. Il n’existe par ailleurs aucune preuve que la protéine Spike fabriquée par le corps après la vaccination est toxique ou a un effet sur le lait maternel et/ou la fertilité.

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: World Doctors Alliance not claimed that novel coronavirus is a normal flu virus

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigated social-media posts claiming that the World Doctors Alliance had admitted it was wrong and that coronavirus was a seasonal virus, supposedly no more than a cold or flu. The posts also attributed claims about isolation and social distancing to the WHO. The review says readers submitted the post and accompanying video to its WhatsApp chatbot for checking. The video, about 18 minutes long, featured Dutch doctor Elke De Klerk and Irish medical professor Dolores Cahill; the review describes their remarks as presenting social-media claims about coronavirus as true. (S1: “இதில், ‘’ பிரேக்கிங் நியூஸ்: கொரோனா ஒரு பருவகால வைரஸ் என்று கூறி, யு-டர்ன் எடுப்பதை world doctors association தனது தவறை முழுமையாக ஒப்புக்கொண்டது.”; “சுமார் 18 நிமிடங்கள் ஓடும் இந்த வீடியோவில், 2 பேர் பேசுகின்றனர். ஒருவர், ஹாலந்தை சேர்ந்த டாக்டர் எல்க் டி கிளெர்க் (Elke De Klerk) ஆவார். மற்றொருவர் அயர்லாந்தை சேர்ந்த மருத்துவ பேராசிரியர் டோலரஸ் கஹில் (Dolores Cahill) ஆவார்.”) To assess the comparison with flu, the review says coronavirus is not an influenza virus but SARS-CoV-2, and concludes that comparing it to an ordinary cold or flu is wrong. It also says the post’s claims about PCR tests were incorrect and that deaths from COVID-19 exceeded deaths from seasonal flu, but the supplied excerpt does not include the linked studies or figures underlying those statements. The review’s stated conclusion is that the information it examined was unreliable. Its described evidence therefore addresses the circulating post and video, rather than documenting a direct statement by the World Doctors Alliance itself. (S1: “கொரோனா வைரஸ் என்பது இன்ஃப்ளூயன்சா (ஃப்ளூ) வகையை சேர்ந்தது அல்ல; அது SARS-CoV2 வகை வைரஸ் ஆகும்.”; “இறுதியாக, நாம் ஆய்வு செய்யும் தகவலை பரப்பியதற்காக, மருத்துவ பேராசிரியர் Dolores Cahill-க்கு, அவர் பணிபுரியும் கல்வி நிறுவனம் கடும் கண்டனம் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.”; “முடிவு: உரிய ஆதாரங்களின் அடிப்படையில் நாம் ஆய்வு மேற்கொண்ட தகவல் நம்பகமானது இல்லை என்று ஃபேக்ட் கிரஸண்டோ தமிழ் நிரூபித்துள்ளது.”)

APA - Austrian Presse AgenturHealth & medicine

Corona-Geimpfte dürfen nicht mehr fliegen, da seit Jahren Personen mit erhöhtem Risiko für Blutgerinnsel nur unter strenger Aufsicht fliegen dürfen und Gerinnungsprobleme eine der Hauptreaktionen der Covid-19-Impfungen sind.

Publisher’s rating: Das ist falsch. Großen Verbänden von Fluggesellschaften sind keine solchen Diskussionen bekannt. Sie unterstützen das Reisen von geimpften Personen. Spezielle thrombotische Ereignisse, die nach Covid-19-Impfungen für Unsicherheit gesorgt hatten, traten nach Vektorimpfstoffen und nicht nach mRNA-Impfstoffen auf.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Post-lockdown guidelines issued by the Police Department for the safety of people in the country

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media message presenting safety precautions as post-lockdown guidelines issued by police across the country. The message reportedly urged people to avoid wearing costly watches and chains, avoid crowded buses, and tell children to return home early; it also said the guidance should be followed for at least three months. The review investigated whether police departments had issued those guidelines, rather than whether the precautions themselves might be sensible. The review says it searched for news reports of state police departments issuing the guidance and found none. It also reports finding no such guidelines on the Ministry of Home Affairs’ official website. These searches did not, by themselves, establish who created or first circulated the message, but they provided no corroboration that it was official guidance. The most direct evidence described was a clarification from Mumbai Police. The review says the department stated in a tweet on 7 June 2020 that it had not issued the post-lockdown guidelines and that the message attributing them to police was fake. On the evidence reported, the circulated precautions were therefore not shown to be police-issued guidelines.

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: a video taken from Mexico shared as covid vaccine jab faking in India

Publisher’s rating: Missing Context

The claim concerns a video circulated as showing an Indian nurse pretending to vaccinate someone by inserting a needle but not administering the vaccine. The Tamil-language review says a reader sent the clip to Fact Crescendo asking whether the incident had happened in India, and that the reviewers found it being widely shared on Facebook. Its conclusion is that the video was from an incident in Mexico, not India. To investigate the clip’s location, the reviewers say they searched for information with Google and found numerous news reports identifying the incident as having happened in Mexico. They describe the setting as a COVID-19 vaccination session arranged by Mexico’s Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), and report that a nurse was involved in the deception and was immediately dismissed. The excerpt also points to an IMSS tweet about events at a vaccination session at the National School of Biological Sciences of the National Polytechnic Institute. The review therefore disputes the video’s Indian attribution, not the existence of the depicted conduct: it says the video came from an event in Mexico and was shared with a misleading connection to India. It additionally notes that another video was circulating and says that one, too, was not connected with India, but the supplied excerpt does not identify that second video or provide details that would allow its provenance to be assessed.

dpaHealth & medicine

Canadese professor Byram Bridle beweert dat het spike-eiwit dat het lichaam aanmaakt na coronavaccinatie 'giftig' is en doorheen de bloedbaan circuleert. Zo veroorzaak het bijwerkingen en belandt het ook in moedermelk.

Publisher’s rating: De beweringen zijn fout. Bridle probeert bewijs voor zijn claims aan te voeren, maar dat toont niet aan dat het spike-eiwit dat het lichaam aanmaakt na vaccinatie giftig is of enig effect heeft op moedermelk of de vruchtbaarheid. Websites die de uitspraken zonder meer delen missen dan ook noodzakelijke context en zijn misleidend.

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

गृह मंत्री अमित शाह ने यह पत्र उत्तर प्रदेश के मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ को लिखा है, जिसमें उन्होंने कोरोना वायरस महामारी की स्थिति संभालने के लिये मुख्यमंत्री आदित्यनाथ की तारीफ की है

Publisher’s rating: False

dpaHealth & medicine

Over heel Australie wordt bericht over 1 overlijden door corona, 210 door vaccinatie. Daardoor zijn alle wachtrijen voor de centra verdwenen.

Publisher’s rating: Het klopt dat een lokaal radionetwerk het bericht heeft uitgezonden, al geldt dat niet voor alle radiostations in Australië. Ook komt de inhoud van het bericht niet overeen met de actuele coronacijfers in het land. Verschillende instanties hebben Clive Palmer, die het bericht samen met het netwerk verspreidde, gewaarschuwd voor het delen van schadelijk nepnieuws. Het bericht op Facebook mist daarom context.

The Facebook post said that Australian radio stations had reported just one COVID-19 death but 210 deaths caused by vaccination, and also claimed that long vaccination queues had disappeared. The review traced the broadcast mentioned in the post to a real radio spot, but found that it had aired on only a number of stations in Queensland—not across Australia. It identified Zinc, Hot 91 and Hot Tomato among those stations, and reported that the message was paid for by businessman and politician Clive Palmer. A journalist, Michael Pascoe, tweeted on June 5, 2021, that he had heard the spot. The review compared the death claim with reported figures. It said the most recent COVID-19 death recorded in Australia at that time was on April 13, 2021. Separately, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration had received 210 reports of deaths after vaccination by May 23, when 3.6 million vaccine doses had been administered. The review described these as reports following vaccination, not proof that vaccination caused the deaths. It also noted that the TGA’s comparison of expected and observed natural deaths found fewer deaths than normally expected after vaccination. The claim about queues was not supported by evidence in the review. It reported that vaccination numbers were still rising: 141,245 people were vaccinated on June 5 and about the same number, 140,885, on June 9. It also found no reports in Australian media of the alleged reduction in queues. Thus, the post combined a real but geographically limited broadcast with figures and claims that did not establish its broader conclusions.