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.

13,674 published reviews in this topic

BR24 FaktenfuchsHealth & medicine

Auf deutschen Intensivstationen liegen auffällig viele Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund.

Publisher’s rating: Dazu gibt es keine Daten. Es handelt sich um einzelne Beobachtungen, die nicht statistisch nachgewiesen werden können. Eine Annäherung ist über den sozioökonomischen Status möglich. Da Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund im Schnitt einen geringeren sozioökonomischen Status haben, haben sie ein höheres Infektionsrisiko und eher Vorerkrankungen, die einen schweren Verlauf von Covid-19 begünstigen.

dpaHealth & medicine

Malagassisch president zegt dat de WHO hem 20 miljoen dollar aanbood om wat vergif in hun coronamedicijn te doen. Madagascar stapt ook uit de WHO als gevolg van die schandaal.

Publisher’s rating: De beweringen zijn fout. Madagascar is nog steeds lid van de WHO en de Malagassische president werd geen omkoopsom van 20 miljoen dollar aangeboden om het 'coronamedicijn' dat het land ontwikkelde te vergiftigen. De claim dateert al van mei 2020 en werd al meermaals weerlegd.

The claim combines two allegations: that the WHO offered Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, $20 million to poison Covid-Organics, a Malagasy remedy promoted against COVID-19, and that Madagascar left the WHO. The review says Madagascar remained a member and that no such bribe was offered. It identifies the claim as a story that had circulated online since May 2020 and been repeatedly fact-checked. To trace the allegation, the review examined a screenshot shared as evidence and found that it came from a Ghanaian journalist’s blog in spring 2020. It then traced the story’s origin to Rajoelina’s France 24 interview of 11 May 2020. In that interview, he defended Covid-Organics and criticized international reactions to it; the review reports that he argued the remedy was being dismissed because it was developed in Africa rather than in the West. But the interview did not mention an attempt by the WHO to bribe him, and the review says the allegation appeared in no other interview with Rajoelina. The review distinguishes those documented criticisms of the remedy from the much more specific poisoning allegation. It notes that the WHO had criticized Covid-Organics because it had not been clinically tested. That criticism, and Rajoelina’s defense of the remedy, do not establish the alleged offer of money or poisoning. The review also reports that Madagascar remained a WHO member.

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

केंद्र सरकार ने अमेरिका से भेजी गई ऑक्सीजन सांद्रता व अन्य चिकित्सकीय संसाधन के कंसाइनमेंटो को वापस भेजने का इंतजाम किया है क्योंकि वह केंद्र सरकार के लिये नहीं बल्की राज्य सरकार के नाम पर आयी है

Publisher’s rating: False

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Die gezeigten Schilder geben eine offizielle Anordnung zur Impfpflicht und Maskenpflicht in Leipzig ab 1.5.2021 wieder.

Publisher’s rating: Das Schild ist eine Fälschung. Es gibt weder in Leipzig noch sonst in Deutschland eine Pflicht, sich gegen Covid-19 impfen zu lassen. Eine Maskenpflicht besteht in der Leipziger Fußgängerzone seit Ende Oktober 2020.

The claim concerned a photo of a sign said to be at the entrance to Leipzig’s pedestrian zone. The sign showed the wording “Ab 01.05.2021 Impf- und Maskenpflicht” alongside syringe and masked-person pictograms. The review says the signs bearing this notice were seen in Leipzig and on social media in late March; the allegation was that entering the area would require both vaccination and a mask from 1 May. The decisive evidence reported is that the notice was an added sticker, not an official city sign. The City of Leipzig stated on its verified Twitter account that the posters were fabricated and had not been put up by the city. The review also reports that the city administration told the Leipziger Volkszeitung there was no vaccination requirement and that the stickers had been removed. These statements directly address both the signs’ provenance and the alleged vaccination rule. The mask element had a different basis: the review says a mask requirement in central Leipzig had already been in force since late October 2020, and that a city spokesperson confirmed it remained valid when asked by dpa. Thus the photo combined an existing mask requirement with a false claim of a new vaccination requirement, presenting the combination as an official notice taking effect on 1 May.

dpaHealth & medicine

Het Pfizervaccin tegen COVID-19 kan leiden tot prionziekten en Alzheimer.

Publisher’s rating: Er is geen bewijs en het is biologisch extreem onwaarschijnlijk dat het mRNA-vaccin van Pfizer leidt tot ALS, Alzheimer of prionziekten. Het onderzoek waarin deze claim wordt gedaan is volledig onbetrouwbaar. De schrijver van het artikel legt niet uit hoe hij tot zijn conclusies is gekomen. Deze uitleg is een vereiste voor een betrouwbaar wetenschappelijk artikel. Diverse wetenschappers ontkrachtten de beweringen. Deze studie kan daarom worden gezien als onjuist.

The claim was based on a paper by Dr. J. Bart Classen, which Frontnieuws and Facebook users cited as evidence that Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine could cause prion diseases, Alzheimer’s and ALS. The review identifies the paper as having appeared in the Journal of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and focuses on whether its conclusions and supporting analysis substantiate those risks. S1 describes the study as claiming the vaccine “zou kunnen leiden tot zogenaamde prionziekten en Alzheimer,” while noting that the broader claim also included ALS. A central issue in the review is that the paper does not set out how its conclusions were reached. David Gorski, as described by the review, noted that Classen said he had analysed the vaccine’s mRNA sequence but did not describe how: “Hij claimt de mRNA sequentie uit het Pfizervaccin te hebben ‘geanalyseerd’, maar hij beschrijft niet hoe hij dat heeft gedaan.” The review adds that the three-page publication contains no steps explaining how Classen arrived at his conclusions. It reports that virologist Angela Rasmussen and Gorski challenged the claims, with Gorski citing a lack of evidence and biological plausibility. The review also reports that the journal was part of Scivision Publishers, which it describes as known for predatory journals, and says the journal was not listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals. Separately, it cites a CDC spokesperson’s statement that there was no evidence linking COVID-19 vaccines to Alzheimer’s or prion diseases. Taken together, the review’s criticism is that the cited paper’s method and reasoning are not adequately explained, its venue raises reliability concerns, and the review reports that scientists and a CDC spokesperson found no supporting evidence for the asserted link.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Auf dem Schild steht "Wohngebiet der Ungeimpften".

Publisher’s rating: Das Foto wurde manipuliert. Auf dem Schild steht eigentlich «Wohngebiet der Juden». Es stammt aus dem Dokumentarfilm «Eichmann und das Dritte Reich» und zeigt einen Eingang des Warschauer Ghettos. Laut einem Medizinhistoriker gab es niemals «Wohngebiete» für Ungeimpfte.

The claim concerns a Facebook image showing two soldiers beside a sign said to read “Residential area of the unvaccinated. No entry.” The review identifies the image as a manipulation: the sign in the original reads “Residential area of the Jews,” and the image depicts an entrance to the Warsaw Ghetto. It also reports that a medical historian said there had never been “residential areas” for unvaccinated people. [S1: “Derzeit kursiert etwa in einem Facebook-Posting (hier archiviert) ein historisch wirkendes Bild, das zwei Soldaten zeigt. Hinter ihnen steht ein Schild mit der Aufschrift: «Wohngebiet der Ungeimpften. Betreten verboten».BEWERTUNG: Das Foto wurde manipuliert. Auf dem Schild steht eigentlich «Wohngebiet der Juden». Es stammt aus dem Dokumentarfilm «Eichmann und das Dritte Reich» und zeigt einen Eingang des Warschauer Ghettos. Laut einem Medizinhistoriker gab es niemals «Wohngebiete» für Ungeimpfte.”] The review describes comparing the circulating image with versions found on film portals, in a Holocaust-research library’s post, and in a Keystone image listing. Those versions show a somewhat different crop, but the review says they depict the same image. It further identifies the scene in the ZDF documentary *Eichmann and the Third Reich*, at minute 47:20. Together, these comparisons and the documentary reference support the review’s conclusion that the Facebook sign was altered rather than an authentic historical sign about unvaccinated people. [S1: “Das Originalbild findet sich unter anderem auf den Filmportalen imdb und filmportal.de. Auch «The Wiener Holocaust Library», ein großes Archiv zur Holocaustforschung, teilte das Bild im Oktober 2019 auf Twitter mit einem kurzen Text über die Entstehung des Warschauer Ghettos. Auf einem Portal der Schweizer Nachrichtenagentur KEYSTONE ist das Bild ebenfalls zu sehen. Laut Angaben der Agentur zeigt es deutsche Wachposten vor einem der Eingänge zum Warschauer Ghetto. Die Bilder haben einen etwas anderen Bildausschnitt als das Bild im Facebook-Posting.Das Bild stammt aus dem ZDF-Dokumentarfilm «Eichmann und das Dritte Reich». Bei Minute 47:20 ist die Szene zu sehen.”]

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Images of ambulances provided by Pakistan Government extending medical support to India

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post presented a collage as evidence that Pakistan’s government had recently sent ambulances and medical support to India during the COVID-19 crisis. The review says the post also claimed Pakistan had supplied oxygen, nurses and 50 ambulances. Its examination of the two images found that neither showed the claimed recent delivery to India. For the first image, the review reports that a reverse-image search found a similar photo in a Live Mint article, which identified it as a fleet of ambulances waiting on a road in Thane, Maharashtra. For the second, reverse-image search led to an Express Tribune article identifying it as a representative image of Pakistan’s Edhi Foundation ambulance services; the review says that image was published in April 2017. The review therefore distinguishes an Indian ambulance scene from an older image associated with a Pakistani charity, rather than treating the collage as documentation of ambulances sent from Pakistan to India. The review adds an important qualification: Faisal Edhi, head of the Edhi Foundation in Pakistan, had offered 50 ambulances and medical support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the Indian government had not approved the offer at the time of the review. The evidence described supports the conclusion that the collage’s images do not document that offer being carried out; the offer itself was a separate, reported development.

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: Doctor Harini not died because of Covid 19 vaccination

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review examines a social-media claim that Dr. Hari Harini died because she had received a COVID-19 vaccine. It identifies her as a young doctor from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, and says that she received the vaccine on February 5, 2021. The article describes her death about a month later, after she developed symptoms and received an injection for pain and fever—not as a death immediately following vaccination. According to the review, Harini developed mild fever and body aches some days after vaccination. Her husband, Dr. Ashok Vignesh, also a doctor, gave her an injected painkiller, diclofenac. The article says she then experienced severe vomiting and dizziness, lost consciousness, was admitted to hospital in March, and died. This sequence is the review’s central evidence for distinguishing the reported circumstances of her death from the social-media claim that vaccination caused it. The review says the Tamil Nadu Health Department provided an explanation and that police and an RTO inquiry were ordered. It does not give the findings of those inquiries in the supplied text. Its conclusion is that the reported circumstances did not establish a link between the vaccination and Harini’s death, and that the claim attributing her death to the vaccine was unreliable. The excerpt does not provide medical records or describe independent clinical findings, so those should not be inferred from the review.