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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.

13,676 published reviews in this topic

YouturnHealth & medicine

கொரோனாவுக்கு எதிரான போரில் இந்தியாவுடன் துணை நிற்போம் என்பதற்கு அடையாளமாக நம் தேசியக்கொடி Switzerland-ல் Alps மலைத்தொடரில் உள்ள Matterhorn மலையில் முப்பரிமாண வடிவில் ஒளிரூட்டப்பட்டது.

Publisher’s rating: True

BBC Reality CheckHealth & medicine

Video contains claims that the new coronavirus was created in a lab

Publisher’s rating: Scientific analysis of the evidence shows the virus came from animals, and was not man-made

The review concerns an hour-long video published by the Epoch Times that promoted a theory that a laboratory in Wuhan created the coronavirus and that it escaped because of poor security. It reports that the video had been marked false on Facebook and watched almost 70 million times. The review distinguishes the video’s lab-leak theory from the separate allegation that the virus was deliberately engineered; evidence discussed against engineering does not, by itself, establish where the virus originated or rule out every possible laboratory-related scenario. For the engineering allegation, the review cites a peer-reviewed study published in March that found no evidence the virus had been engineered. It also examines the video’s use of a study by Indian researchers, which claimed that four sequences in the coronavirus were also present in HIV. That study had not been peer-reviewed and was withdrawn by its authors. The review reports that the matching genetic information is common in many organisms, and quotes virologist Jeremy Rossman explaining that short sequences can match organisms without showing that they are related. On the question of a Wuhan laboratory as the source, the review quotes BBC science editor Paul Rincon saying there was no evidence at that time that a Wuhan research institute was the source of SARS-CoV-2. These points address distinct parts of the video’s argument: the cited study does not substantiate the HIV-sequence claim, and the review reports no supporting evidence for the asserted Wuhan institute source. The excerpt does not report a direct investigation that conclusively identifies the virus’s origin.

NewtralHealth & medicine

El Washington Post confirma el origen del paciente cero del coronavirus

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerned a viral WhatsApp and Facebook message saying The Washington Post had confirmed that the first coronavirus patient worked at Wuhan’s virology laboratory. Newtral says the newspaper had not published an investigation establishing that. Instead, the relevant item was an opinion column by Josh Rogin, based on a 2018 diplomatic cable about US experts’ concerns over safety deficiencies at the laboratory. The column’s wording did not establish either that the lab was the source of the pandemic or that a laboratory employee was the first patient. As Newtral quotes it, the cable-related discussion said the origin question remained unresolved: “aunque aún no existen pruebas concluyentes al respecto”. The review also notes that the column did not mention a “paciente cero” or say the pandemic originated with a lab worker. The Washington Post’s Spanish-language opinion editor, Mael Vallejo, likewise denied that the column made that claim. Newtral describes other material circulated alongside the claim as suggestive, not confirmation: Fox News discussed the lab-origin theory, while the Fox article cited anonymous intelligence sources that characterized it as a theory and said an investigation was open. The review also reports that scientists cited in its coverage considered a natural origin more consistent with the evidence then available. Taken together, the review’s account shows that the viral message presented an unresolved possibility as a confirmed finding and attributed a specific first patient to a column that did not identify one.