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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

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

【錯誤】網傳中國媒體擷圖：「有藥了！成年男性排出精液可抑制冠狀病毒！中國科學院上海藥物所、武漢病毒所聯合研究」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim concerns a screenshot presented as a Wen Hui Net report saying that adult male semen could inhibit coronavirus, supposedly in research jointly conducted by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The review says the claimed Wen Hui Net story did not exist and that the circulating screenshot had been altered. Its stated conclusion addresses the authenticity of the screenshot, not whether the ingredients mentioned in the real report work as a treatment. [S1: “傳言引述的中國媒體《文匯網》並沒有此則報導。 二、原始報導為另一種藥物，網傳擷圖為變造圖片。”; “原始報導提及的成分是否具有效果，非本報告查證範圍。”] To trace the screenshot, the review used its Wen Hui Net and Dayuhao logos to search the Wen Hui Net account on the Dayuhao platform, then searched for the phrase “《文汇报》官方大鱼号.” It found a January 31 forum repost whose headline said that Shuanghuanglian oral liquid could inhibit the novel coronavirus. The review reports that the repost’s notice attributed the item to Wen Hui Net’s official Dayuhao account and said it had been reposted 25 minutes after publication. [S1: “查核中心根據網傳訊息擷圖上的「文匯網」、「大魚號」等LOGO，檢索中國自媒體平台「大魚號」上的「文匯網」帳號”; “查核中心再以關鍵字「《文汇报》官方大鱼号」搜尋相關新聞，查找到中國財經論壇1月31日轉載的文章，該文章標題為「有药了!双黄连口服液可抑制新冠病毒!中科院上海药物所、武汉病毒所联合发现」”] The comparison was decisive: according to the review, the repost did not mention semen, and its text otherwise matched the screenshot. The review therefore inferred that wording about Shuanghuanglian oral liquid had been changed to wording about semen. It also located a January 31, 2020 Wen Hui Net story with a headline about Shuanghuanglian oral liquid and says other Chinese-media reports republished from Wen Hui Daily matched the forum repost. This supports the finding that the screenshot misrepresented the original report; it does not establish the efficacy of Shuanghuanglian or any other substance. [S1: “查核中心比對網傳擷圖與此篇轉載文，原始報導並未提及精液等內容，除了「精液」以外，其餘報導內文與網傳擷圖相同”; “查核中心再搜尋相關新聞，查找到一篇《文匯網》發布於2020年1月31日的新聞，標題為「有药了！双黄连口服液可抑制新冠病毒！中科院上海药物所、武汉病毒所联合发现」。”; “查核中心比對其他中國媒體轉載自《文匯報》的報導，與中國財經論壇轉載的文章相同。”]

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

【錯誤】網傳「梵諦岡方面證實了教宗及兩位助手目前已確認對新冠肺炎測出陽性反應」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim concerned a specific rumor circulating from February 29, 2020: that the Vatican had confirmed Pope Francis and two aides tested positive for COVID-19. The review traced the claim to an English-language site, MCM, whose headline presented it as breaking news. The fact-checkers reported that MCM’s article had no reporting by a journalist, identified sources, or publication time, and that the site lacked contact information and an introduction. They therefore found no basis to treat it as a reliable news report. The review then checked whether Vatican sources had confirmed the alleged diagnosis. Its search of the official Vatican News site found reports that Francis had postponed or canceled some public appearances because he was unwell, but no confirmation that he had COVID-19. The review also noted that Francis appeared at a public event on March 1, the day after the rumor began circulating. For direct confirmation, the fact-check center contacted the Holy See’s embassy in China on March 3. The embassy said Francis had a cold and had not been diagnosed with COVID-19. The review also described Reuters reporting: on February 29, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni denied that the pope was seriously unwell and said he had only mild symptoms, with no evidence of any illness. A March 3 Reuters report, citing the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, said Francis had tested negative. Together, the review’s cited evidence contradicts the claim that the Vatican confirmed positive test results for the pope and two aides.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Mit Atemschutzmaske an der Kasse: Bei Facebook wird das Bild eines Mannes mit einem übervollen Einkaufswagen verbreitet. Im Text heißt es, die Szene habe sich bei "Aldi in Hachenburg" abgespielt, einer Stadt in Rheinland-Pfalz. Dazu der Hashtag "#corona"

Publisher’s rating: Das Foto wurde in einer Filiale von Hofer in Österreich aufgenommen.

The claim attached a photo of a masked man with a full shopping cart to Aldi in Hachenburg, Germany. The investigation examined whether the pictured store was actually that Aldi. It reported that the store might look similar at first, but said several visible details contradicted the Hachenburg attribution. The review identifies the location as a Hofer store in Austria. [S1]

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Wegen seines Einsatzes für Impfungen ist der Microsoft-Gründer Bill Gates immer wieder das Ziel von Falschbehauptungen. Seit Jahren wird im Internet behauptet, der Milliardär habe gesagt: "Impfen ist die beste Art der Bevölkerungsreduktion." Die Aussage wird in verschiedenen Versionen verbreitet, mitunter ohne Quellenangabe.

Publisher’s rating: Es gibt keinen Beleg dafür, dass Bill Gates diesen Satz gesagt hat.

The review examines the claim that Bill Gates said, “Impfen ist die beste Art der Bevölkerungsreduktion” (“Vaccination is the best way to reduce the population”). It reports that the alleged quotation has circulated in different versions, sometimes without a source. To investigate one route by which the allegation spread, the review points to videos using scenes from Gates’s 2010 TED Talk, including one whose title depicts him as wanting a billion people dead. The review says that watching Gates’s original talk changes the meaning of the excerpt: he was discussing ways to reduce humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions. In that discussion, population size was one factor, and he described new vaccines and good health care as ways to reduce projected population growth—not as means of reducing the existing population. The review gives the figures Gates cited: a projected increase from 6.8 billion people in 2009 to about 9 billion. It also describes Gates’s stated reasoning for linking vaccination to slower population growth. According to the review, his 2009 open letter explained that when more children survive, parents need fewer children to provide support later in life; lower child mortality can therefore lead women to have fewer children. The review says Gates made a similar argument in a Forbes article and a 2011 CNN interview. Its conclusion is that the circulated sentence is not supported by the material it examined.

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

【錯誤】網傳「蔡總統疑似感染武漢肺炎，已送入隔離病房」、「李前總統感染武漢肺炎逝世消息被封鎖」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The review examines two rumors circulating on social media on February 28, 2020: that President Tsai Ing-wen had contracted COVID-19 and been sent to an isolation ward, and that former President Lee Teng-hui had died of the disease while the news was being suppressed. It reports that the rumors relied on altered television or news-page images, a fabricated fact-check report, and a purported military document, rather than substantiated announcements. For the Tsai rumor, the investigators searched Taiwanese media reports and the SET News website and found no report matching the claim. TTV had also publicly clarified that the altered image of its broadcast was false. The review further checked the Presidential Office website: its schedule and video showed Tsai attending and speaking at the February 28 ceremony commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the February 28 Incident. The alleged follow-up fact-check report was also fabricated; the center said it had not issued that report and had published 341 reports at that time, not the claimed report numbered 383. For the Lee rumor, the circulating claim appeared in a purported military document that named “秘情科孫笑川” as its author. The review describes the document’s assertions—including that Lee’s death had been concealed and that a hospital had been taken over—as fabricated. Taken together, the review’s account identifies manipulated media and invented documents as the vehicles for both rumors, and reports no substantiation for either claim.