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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.

13,674 published reviews in this topic

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Der Verfassungsgerichtshof (VfGH) beschäftigte sich in Österreich bereits mit mehreren Covid-19-Verordnungen. Einige dieser VfGH-Erkenntnisse werden jetzt von Social-Media-Usern aufgegriffen. So kursiert etwa derzeit in einem Facebook-Posting (hier archiviert) ein Schreiben, in dem behauptet wird, die Maskenpflicht sei nicht mehr gültig. Sie sei vom VfGH als «verfassungs- und gesetzwidrig beurteilt worden.» Die VfGH-Erkenntnis besage auch, dass alle Folgeverordnungen, in welchen eine Maskenpflicht vorgeschrieben wurde, gesetzwidrig seien. Zudem wird behauptet, dass die Maskenpflicht im Handel unter «Nötigung gem. § 105 StGB» fällt.

Publisher’s rating: Der Verfassungsgerichtshof erklärte im Dezember 2020 u.a. die Maskenpflicht im Schulgebäude, die im Frühjahr 2020 gegolten hatte, nachträglich für gesetzwidrig. Auf die jetzige Maskenpflicht in Schulen hat diese Entscheidung aber keinen Einfluss, sie gilt also nach wie vor. Die VfGH-Erkenntnis besagt zudem nicht, dass alle Folgeverordnungen, in welchen eine Maskenpflicht vorgeschrieben werden, gesetzwidrig sind. Der Paragraf 105 StGB stellt in Bezug auf die Maskenpflicht keine Nötigung dar.

Pagella PoliticaHealth & medicine

«In Italia le morti per droga sono in impennata»

Publisher’s rating: Nì

The review assesses Maria Teresa Bellucci’s statement on January 26 that drug deaths in Italy were sharply rising. It says Interior Ministry figures, which extend through 2019, show an increase in deaths from drug substances between 2016 and 2019, including an 11 percent increase from 2018 to 2019. The review also notes that the figures remained well below levels recorded in the late 1990s and early 2000s. To examine the more recent trend, the review compares those official figures with Geoverdose, a database maintained by the Italian Society of Addictions. Geoverdose tracks deaths using online news reports, so its counts are not official and can differ from ministry totals. For 2017–2019, it recorded 199, 256, and 258 deaths, respectively, compared with ministry counts of 297, 336, and 373. Despite the differences in totals, the review says both series show a similar upward trend over those years. Geoverdose counted 203 deaths in 2020, 21.5 percent fewer than its 2019 count. That result suggests the earlier rise may not have continued, but the review stresses that the 2020 figures are partial and that the downward trend still needed confirmation from the next ministry report. It also explains that the deaths covered by the report are those directly attributable to drug use, excluding examples such as traffic accidents while intoxicated and pathological complications. The evidence therefore supports an increase through 2019, while leaving the broader claim of an ongoing sharp rise uncertain in light of the preliminary 2020 figures.

Vera FilesHealth & medicine

SARS-CoV-2 can be spread only through close contact and may only become airborne through "aerosol procedures."

Publisher’s rating: False

Research reported in the related source examined SARS-CoV-2 spread from two patients to healthcare workers in a healthcare setting. Its conclusion was qualified: observations suggested that most transmission in that setting likely occurred during close contact through respiratory droplets, rather than by long-distance airborne transmission. The source also says investigators found no evidence of airborne transmission despite multiple aerosol-generating procedures. That evidence does not establish that SARS-CoV-2 spreads only through close contact, or that it can become airborne only during aerosol-generating procedures. The excerpt describes airborne transmission as a possible route discussed in prior research, and says the risk of long-distance transmission was uncertain. It separately reports that WHO recommended airborne precautions during aerosol-generating procedures; that is a precaution recommendation, not proof that airborne spread is possible only during those procedures.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Unter welchen Umständen ist der Bundesrat befugt, eine nationale Maskenpflicht einzuführen? Wie ist dies mit unserer Schweizer Gesetzesgrundlage zu vereinbaren? Ein Facebook-User behauptet in einem Post (hier archiviert), dass eine generelle Maskenpflicht in der Schweiz gegen geltendes Gesetz verstosse und den Straftatbestand der Nötigung gemäss Artikel 181 im Strafgesetzbuch (StGB) erfülle. Weiter wird behauptet, dass das Tragen von Masken gesundheitsschädlich und der Nutzen zur Bekämpfung des Coronavirus nicht nachgewiesen sei. Ist dem tatsächlich so?

Publisher’s rating: Die Behauptung, die Maskenpflicht erfülle den Straftatbestand der Nötigung, ist falsch. Es gibt zudem auch keine Belege, dass das Tragen von Masken gesundheitsschädlich sei.

The review examines a Facebook post claiming that Switzerland’s general mask requirement violated the law, amounted to coercion under Article 181 of the Criminal Code, harmed health, and lacked proven value against coronavirus. Its legal analysis relies on comments from Franziska Sprecher, director of the University of Bern’s Centre for Health Law, and Jann Schaub, a research associate in the university’s Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology. Sprecher says the requirement was based on the Epidemics Act, whose stated purpose is to prevent and combat outbreaks and the spread of communicable diseases. She and Schaub explain that coercion requires an unlawful means—such as violence, threats, or similar conduct—to force someone to act; in their view, that element was absent where the mask requirement was imposed under the Act. The review also describes the limits on the government’s authority. It says that, under the “special situation” then in effect, both the Federal Council and cantons could order measures, with the need for uniform rules being relevant. Measures had to be limited to what was necessary and last only as long as required to prevent SARS-CoV-2 from spreading. The review therefore does not describe the Council as having unlimited power: it says the Act did not authorize a general, permanent mask requirement. On health and effectiveness, the review cites a University Hospital Leipzig study. It reports that masks reduced physical capacity, while the study authors also considered them valuable for slowing SARS-CoV-2 transmission. It further cites a May 2020 statement from the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine, which said masks filter exhaled air and catch infectious droplets, helping protect other people. Thus, the post’s broad claims are not supported by the evidence recounted in the review; the review does note a physical-capacity effect rather than claiming masks had no effect at all.