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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.

13,677 published reviews in this topic

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: Garlic and Hot water can cure coronavirus

Publisher’s rating: False

Fact Crescendo’s Tamil-language review investigated a viral Facebook post that said boiled garlic and the water it was cooked in could keep people from getting coronavirus. The post included a preparation method, according to the review. The fact-checkers consulted several Ayurvedic practitioners; those practitioners said garlic may support the body’s immune system, but they knew of no proven research showing that it controls coronavirus. They warned that treating the claim as fully true amid the outbreak could be dangerous and recommended medical examination when needed. The review distinguishes a general claim about garlic from the specific prevention claim. It says eating garlic and onion may be beneficial, but concludes that this does not establish that these foods prevent coronavirus. It also notes that a traditional or Ayurvedic basis for the Facebook post should not be mistaken for proof that the remedy works against the virus. The review therefore says garlic alone is not enough to prevent coronavirus and urges people not to accept forwarded messages as wholly true. Its conclusion concerns the unsupported claim that this garlic preparation prevents coronavirus; it does not say that garlic has no health benefits. The review advises people to seek appropriate medical examination rather than rely on the post. It also says a Sri Lankan Fact Crescendo team had previously examined related information, and mentions BBC and Snopes coverage, but the supplied excerpt does not provide details from those other reports.

The QuintHealth & medicine

Donald Trump announced vaccine for coronavirus

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The Quint examined a social-media video circulated with the claim that Donald Trump had announced Roche would launch a coronavirus vaccine by Sunday, March 22, and that millions of doses were already ready. The review found that the video itself had not been altered, but that the claim attached to it was misleading: the remarks concerned Roche’s COVID-19 diagnostic tests, not a vaccine. To trace the clip, the review searched Google for “Donald Trump Roche Medical Company” and located the White House press conference from which the video had been trimmed. It reports that the circulating segment runs from 18:44 to 19:15. The review says that watching this portion makes clear that Trump was discussing diagnostic kits and that there was no mention of a vaccine. The review also reports that Roche’s diagnostic kits had received FDA clearance, citing news reports and a Financial Times account of approval for a high-volume test. Separately, The Quint says it contacted World Health Organization officials, who told the publication that no COVID-19 vaccine had yet been developed. These findings distinguish the diagnostic test discussed in the clip from the vaccine claimed in its circulation.

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

【錯誤】網傳「太極米漿粥：來自桂林古本傷寒雜病論，靠白米就能重拾健康的本源療法」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim presents “太極米漿粥” as a health-restoring therapy rooted in the Guilin edition of the *Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases*, and promotes a recipe of one cup of rice to twenty cups of water for a wide range of conditions. The Taiwan FactCheck Center traced the circulating message to a book by 紫林齋主 and described its account of the author as developing the method after trying self-treatment approaches for gallstones. The review distinguished that personal-origin story from established Chinese medical theory: “此網傳訊息來源為一民眾自療之偏方，非中醫理論。”

NewtralHealth & medicine

Prefiero tener coronavirus que homosexualismo

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim was that Vox secretary-general and deputy Javier Ortega Smith had said, “I prefer to have coronavirus rather than homosexuality.” Newtral reports that the quotation circulated widely on Twitter, attributed to him, and traces the headline to La Realidad a diario, a website that describes itself as satirical. The review says Ortega Smith never spoke those words and reports finding no trace of the quotation in interviews with media outlets or on his social media. It therefore concludes that the attributed statement was false.