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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】網傳影片搭配文字宣稱「李文亮醫師婚禮」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim concerned a video circulating with captions identifying it as Li Wenliang’s wedding, including a caption referring to a February 12, 2020 wedding entrance. The investigation examined whether the footage actually showed that event. It concluded that the video had been taken from a different wedding in Taiwan, not Li Wenliang’s. (S1: “社群平台、通訊軟體流傳影片日前搭配文字宣稱：「李文亮醫師婚禮」、「2020 0212 #李文亮婚禮 開場和他的死檔進場，真是酷炫了！」”; “影片原始事件為台灣另一對新人的婚禮，與李文亮醫師無關。”) To trace the footage, the investigators noted a LOOKER VIDEO logo and subtitles containing words for “groom,” “entrance,” and “dancing,” then searched video platforms using those terms. They found an unsubtitled version uploaded on September 26, 2019, describing a wedding held at the Okura Prestige Taipei and naming the groom as Daniel and the bride as Zona. (S1: “查核中心利用上述關鍵字於影片平台反搜找到原始影片。原始影片上傳於2019年9月26日、舉辦於台北大倉久和大飯店的婚禮。該影片簡介提到新郎為Daniel、新娘Zona，此影片為無字幕版。”) The review also compared the circulating video with a version posted by the LOOKER VIDEO Facebook page on January 1, 2020. It reports that this version bore the same logo and that its subtitles matched those in the circulating video. LOOKER VIDEO subsequently stated that its video had been used without authorization. Together, the traced wedding’s earlier date, its identified couple and venue, and the matching branded and subtitled version show that the footage was repurposed with a false identification. (S1: “查核中心也於社群平台查找到2020年1月1日，Facebook粉專「LOOKER VIDEO」上傳的影片，該影片右上角有「LOOKER VIDEO」的LOGO，影片中也有字幕註解。查核中心比對此部影片的字幕，與網傳影片相同。”; “「LOOKER VIDEO」也於2020年2月13日，發布聲明表示影片遭盜用。”)

NewtralHealth & medicine

La foto de «los pasillos del Hospital Virgen Macarena» de Sevilla con basura

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerned a photograph shared by Verónica Pérez, a PSOE representative in Seville, showing bags in a corridor at the Hospital Virgen Macarena. Pérez described them as piled-up rubbish bags. The hospital’s communications office told Newtral that the bags contained bed linen, not rubbish. It said the contents were visible through the transparent bags. The hospital also explained that the yellow bags are left outside rooms for collection by a special container and transport to the laundry. The PSOE press office maintained that Pérez had called them rubbish bags without specifying their contents, and argued that piled-up linen could contain bodily fluids. That response does not change the hospital’s identification of the contents: the central claim that the photograph showed bags of rubbish was contradicted by the hospital’s account.

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

【錯誤】網傳「鍾院士在確診病例中發現一個現象，一萬多個確診案例，竟然都是葷食者，而素食者都躲過了此劫」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim being checked was that Zhong Nanshan had found, among more than 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, that all were meat-eaters while vegetarians had escaped infection. The review examined whether this finding had been reported by Zhong’s team and whether research supported a connection between diet and infection. It reports that the team’s hospital account and the team’s research paper did not contain the alleged finding. [S1]

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: Tamil Siddhar Bogar predicted Corona virus long before

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned a verse shared on social media as a prediction by Bogar, an ancient Tamil Siddhar, about coronavirus and illness. The review describes a newspaper clipping circulating the verse and its interpretation, which linked eating a snake to breathing difficulties and severe illness. It says K7 Tamil News posted about the verse on Facebook on February 13, 2020, and that others shared it. The review checked the verse’s form and searched for its wording online. It reports that a Times of India-affiliated Samayam article noted the verse did not resemble the couplet-based form found in much of Bogar’s collected work. The article also quoted Chennai University philosophy professor Karu. Arumugathamilan, who said the verse was not written by Bogar and described it as promotional rather than a genuine medical note. The investigation then traced the verse’s circulation to a Facebook post by Venkatesh Arumugam. According to the review, he said he had composed it himself as a joke and posted it as Bogar’s work; others subsequently took it seriously and circulated it as authentic. The evidence presented therefore identifies the verse as a modern fabrication, not a historical prediction by Bogar.

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

【錯誤】網傳「剛才和我在美國做醫生的弟弟通電話，他告知...多喝水可促進自身粘膜組織液的分泌來抵抗（新冠肺炎）病毒」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The message under review says that a speaker had just spoken with a brother who is a doctor in the United States, and relays the claim that drinking plenty of water promotes mucus containing antibodies that can resist COVID-19. The review also examines a related assertion in circulating versions: that keeping the throat moist sends virus down the esophagus to the stomach, where stomach acid kills it. The review’s stated conclusion is that neither drinking more water nor the described route through the stomach is a proven way to prevent infection. To assess the mucus-and-antibody claim, the review reports consulting Taiwan’s Communicable Disease Control physician Huang Shih-tse and Cathay General Hospital clinical pathology director Tsui Ke-chung. Huang said drinking water has no connection to antibodies and that people would not have antibodies to a new virus such as COVID-19; Tsui said there was no scientific basis for the claim that drinking more water prompts mucus to produce antibodies. The review distinguishes drinking water as a basic health need from treating it as a preventive measure. For the throat-and-stomach claim, the review reports consulting physician Yen Mu-yung, who said there was no empirical research showing stomach acid kills all viruses, and microbiology professor and infectious-disease specialist Lu Min-chi. Lu said the virus enters through the nose or mouth and reaches upper respiratory cells and the immune system, rather than going directly to the stomach. He also said drinking water may dilute stomach acid. These expert accounts address the specific mechanisms asserted in the message; the review does not present them as evidence that normal hydration is harmful or unnecessary.

NewtralHealth & medicine

Un caso de coronavirus en Calella, Barcelona

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerned a purportedly confirmed coronavirus case at Sant Jaume Hospital in Calella, Barcelona. The review says the claim was circulating on Facebook and reports that Newtral contacted the Corporació de Salut del Maresme i la Selva, which denied that a case had been confirmed at the hospital. The health corporation also said there were no suspected cases there. The review reports a separate denial from the Generalitat’s Department of Health: it told Newtral that there was no coronavirus case in the municipality of Calella. These checks address both the specific hospital allegation and the broader claim about a case in the town. The article also reproduces a statement from the health corporation, dated February 13, 2020, explicitly denying any coronavirus case at Calella Hospital and describing the circulating information as false. Taken together, the reported responses from the hospital’s health corporation and the regional health department contradict the circulated claim.