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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

NewtralHealth & medicine

En Alemania, Austria y Suiza está permitido comercializar el dióxido de cloro

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns whether chlorine dioxide, specifically the product known as Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), could legally be marketed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The review explains that reports describing MMS as legal in those countries were used to cast doubt on warnings from health authorities. Its evidence addresses the status of MMS as a medicinal product; it does not establish that no product containing chlorine dioxide can be sold for any purpose.

NewtralHealth & medicine

Ángeles Blanco dice “gracias a Dios” porque la situación se complica en Alemania por el COVID-19

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a broadcast in which Ángeles Blanco appeared to say “gracias a Dios” while discussing the worsening COVID-19 situation in Germany. Newtral’s review says that the circulating post attributed that wording to her, but its examination of the audio found that she said “gracias Darío” instead. The review places the exchange in Telecinco’s weekend news: Rome correspondent Darío Menor had just given a live report about COVID-19 in Italy. Blanco thanked him as she began explaining developments in Germany. Newtral says the overlap between her words and the start of the Germany report could cause confusion, but reports that listening back to the audio distinguishes the name “Darío” from “Dios.” The review also says Blanco and Menor responded to the false interpretation on Twitter. Menor joked that he was “no God.” The evidence described therefore supports the conclusion that the apparent phrase was a mishearing of Blanco thanking the correspondent, not her saying that the situation in Germany was worsening “thank God.”

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: WHO issued protocol for covid 19 curfew

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigates a social-media leaflet that claimed the World Health Organization had issued a staged lockdown schedule for controlling COVID-19. The schedule in the post specified a one-day lockdown, then 21 days, a five-day break, 28 days, another five-day break and a final 15 days. It also claimed that India followed this plan. The review says the image was shared by Kannan Ramachandran Yadav on April 6, 2020, and that the claim circulated on WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook. To check whether WHO had published such guidance, the fact-checkers say they searched the organization’s official website and found no such information. They also located a statement from WHO’s South-East Asia regional account addressing the circulating claim. As quoted in the review, WHO said the messages attributing lockdown protocols to it were “baseless and FAKE” and that it “does NOT have any protocols for lockdowns.” The review further reports that India Today had contacted WHO officials, who said the organization had not issued the purported guidance. Based on the website search and WHO’s public denial, the review concludes that the leaflet’s attribution of the lockdown schedule to WHO was false. The supplied evidence establishes the finding about WHO’s alleged protocol; it does not independently document how Indian officials made each lockdown decision.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

In Deutschland sind derzeit umfassende Kontaktsperren für die Bürger in Kraft, die die Ausbreitung des Coronavirus bremsen sollen. Viele Geschäfte sind geschlossen, die Kurzarbeit erreicht Rekordwerte. Im Internet wird nun behauptet, während "unsere Wirtschaft an die Wand gefahren" werde, hielten Muslime "ungehindert ihre Freitagsgebete und Versammlungen ab" (http://dpaq.de/9LzCQ). In Berlin hätten sich "dazu 300 Muslime, eng aneinander und ohne Schutz" versammelt, heißt es weiter. Trotz des Verstoßes gegen die Corona-Maßnahmen habe es keine Sanktionen gegeben

Publisher’s rating: Muslimische Freitagsgebete finden in Deutschland derzeit nicht in der gewohnten Form statt. Zusammenkünfte in Moscheen sind seit Mitte März nicht mehr erlaubt. In Berlin-Neukölln kamen jedoch am 3. April viele Menschen zu einer Moschee, die zum Teil den vorgeschriebenen Mindestabstand nicht einhielten. Die Polizei leitete ein Ermittlungsverfahren ein.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Video of a Muslim man spitting into the food packages to spread coronavirus

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a video shared with the allegation that a Muslim man was spitting into food he was packing in order to spread coronavirus. The review’s central finding was that the clip predated the coronavirus outbreak: it reported finding the video online from April 2019, months before the outbreak was reported in China in December 2019. That chronology means the clip cannot show the alleged act being done to spread coronavirus.

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: Was Kanika Kapoor treated in Mumbai Wockhardt Hospital

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigated a circulating claim that singer Kanika Kapoor was treated at Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital and that her presence caused coronavirus infection to spread there. It says the post also alleged that the hospital had to close because of that spread. The review’s central check was where Kapoor actually received treatment.