Skip to main content

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

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Das Auswärtige Amt (AA) entwickelt eine eigene technische Lösung, um mit Ebola infizierte, medizinische Helfer aus Infektionsgebieten zu bringen und unter deutschen Standards zu behandeln. In dem Blog "Anonymousnews" wird behauptet, Außenminister Heiko Maas wolle mit dem Projekt für eine "Ebola-Massen-Infektion in Deutschland sorgen", indem er "kranke Afrikaner" einfliegen lasse

Publisher’s rating: Mit dem neuen System sollen vorrangig erkrankte Mediziner aus Deutschland und anderen europäischen Ländern transportiert werden. Die Technologie soll sicherstellen, dass behandelnde Ärzte und die Bevölkerung vor Viren geschützt sind.

The claim concerned a Foreign Office project to transport people infected with Ebola, and Anonymousnews portrayed the plan as a way for Heiko Maas to cause a mass Ebola outbreak in Germany by flying in “sick Africans.” The dpa fact-check examined what the project was intended to do and whom it was meant to serve. It reports that the Foreign Office confirmed on 3 January 2020 that it was working on a modular, flexible evacuation option; the ministry told dpa that German and other European medical workers were the primary target group and that case numbers were expected to be low. The person or organization requesting a transport would pay for it. The described system was designed to keep a patient contained from the crisis location to an isolation ward. According to the report, the planned containers would each hold one patient, fit inside standard cargo aircraft, and be transported by truck directly to a special isolation unit, such as Berlin’s Charité. The patient would not need to leave the container during that journey. These details describe a controlled medical evacuation arrangement, not a plan to bring in people generally or to expose the public to infection. The fact-check also cites the Robert Koch Institute’s assessment that the risk of a mass infection in Germany was very low and that spread would be practically excluded even if a small number of Ebola cases occurred. It notes that Germany had the necessary conditions to interrupt infection chains and provide safe care. This evidence addresses the specific outbreak allegation as well as the stated purpose and safeguards of the transport system.

The QuintHealth & medicine

Pakistani woman screamed at Polio vaccine volunteers

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a video shared as showing a Pakistani mother slamming a door on polio workers and screaming at two female volunteers. The Quint investigated the video’s purported setting and whether the people shown were real volunteers and a member of the public. It concluded that the video was not footage of an actual confrontation in Pakistan: it was a scene from the 2018 Pakistani film *Load Wedding*. The review reports that actor Mehwish Hayat, who was in the film, responded to the claim by identifying herself as the polio worker in the scene and the woman opposite her as an actress. Hayat said the scene was made to raise awareness about the issue, and that the performances had been convincing. This directly contradicts the presentation of the video as genuine footage of a Pakistani woman confronting vaccine volunteers. For its own check, The Quint says it searched for “Load Wedding polio vaccination scene” and found the scene uploaded on AryMip, which it describes as a Pakistani entertainment website. The review does not provide further details about the search or independently identify the woman playing the other character; the attribution to an actress is reported through Hayat’s statement.

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

網傳圖片「14年性平教育偏差，致15-24歲愛滋與性病狂飆..」？

Publisher’s rating: 部分錯誤

The image linked a supposed rise in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among 15–24-year-olds to gender-equality education and same-sex marriage. It gave a timeline beginning with the 2004 Gender Equity Education Act and asserted that the law encouraged students to explore homosexuality and sexuality. The review compared the image’s assertions with disease-reporting figures and consulted Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and named academic experts about the trends and the proposed causal link. The review’s headline labels the claim partially incorrect; its conclusion says the claim that infections were surging was misleading and that the asserted causal connection was unsupported. The CDC figures described in the review did not show all three diseases rising together. Among people aged 15–24, reported syphilis and HIV cases had fallen by 2019, to 1,029 and 375 respectively, and both had been declining since 2017. Gonorrhea had also declined from 2017, but rose again in 2019. The review therefore found that the image’s sweeping description of HIV and sexually transmitted infections as surging left out different trends and did not reflect the then-current figures. On causation, the review reports that experts found no research or concrete country examples showing that gender-equality education or same-sex-marriage legislation causes increases in HIV, syphilis, or gonorrhea. It also quotes the CDC’s explanation that transmission is principally associated with unsafe sexual practices, not gender-equality education. The evidence presented thus challenges both the image’s generalization about disease trends and its attribution of those trends to the education law; it does not claim that every infection measure had fallen.

YouturnHealth & medicine

சந்தையில் ஒரு புதிய கேக் வந்துவிட்டது, லூபோ நிறுவனத்தில் ஒரு டேப்லெட் சொருகப்பட்டுள்ளது, அதை சாப்பிடுவது குழந்தைகளுக்கு பக்கவாதத்தை ஏற்படுத்துகிறது, மேலும் இது இந்து முஸ்லிம் பகுதியில் விற்கப்படுகிறது.

Publisher’s rating: Fake

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: Hernia can be cured with herbal medicines

Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo Rating: False

Fact Crescendo investigated a Facebook post that described how hernia occurs and offered natural remedies to treat it. The review says the post was shared by a Facebook account named Vijay Balaji on January 9, 2020, under a heading about natural treatments for hernia. The central question was whether those remedies could provide a full solution to the condition. The review reports that it asked herbal researcher Maria Belsin to assess the post. She said the remedies were presented with exaggeration and could not be relied on as a complete solution. The article further reports her point that treatment depends on the nature and severity of a person’s condition, whereas the post offered general remedies without first establishing what problem an individual had. The review also says it examined medical handbooks. It reports that these materials described natural remedies as potentially useful for prevention, but identified surgery as the only permanent solution after hernia has developed. On that basis, the article concluded that the Facebook post’s claim of a herbal cure was false. The excerpt does not identify the handbooks, so their individual contents cannot be independently assessed from the supplied material.

台灣事實查核中心Health & medicine

網傳「大家投票當天記得一定要戴口罩哦...武漢那邊的不明肺炎...臺灣也有確診病例」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The review examined a message circulating on messaging apps and social platforms that urged people to wear masks on voting day and claimed Taiwan had confirmed cases of the unexplained pneumonia reported in Wuhan. It focused on whether the claim of confirmed cases in Taiwan was true. The Taiwan FactCheck Center says it asked Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC). According to the review, the CDC reported that as of January 10, 2020, at 6:14 p.m., Taiwan had no confirmed cases. The review also addresses reports of suspected cases: two people who met reporting criteria had tested negative, and three people with fever and pneumonia after travel to Wuhan had all been ruled out by January 8–9. The evidence described supports the review’s conclusion about the claim at that time: suspected cases had been investigated, but none was confirmed as Wuhan pneumonia. The finding is specific to the CDC’s reported status on January 10, 2020; the article directs readers seeking updated information to the CDC.

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

Claim: Nerium Oleander seeds will cure all diseases

Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo Rating: False

Fact Crescendo investigated a Facebook post claiming that a preparation made from oleander could cure every disease. The post showed an image described in the review as resembling an oleander fruit and advised grinding the plant with sesame oil, then drinking it with cow’s milk. The review says the post was shared by the KG Memes Facebook page on January 4, 2020, and notes that commenters asked for it to be removed or asked whether the preparation should actually be consumed. S1 describes the post’s claim as: “இந்த மூலிகையை நல்லெண்ணெய் விட்டு பசை போல அரைத்து, பல் படாமல் பசும்பாலுடன் குடிக்க சகல விதமான வியாதிகளும் குணமாகும்”. To assess the advice, the review says it consulted medicinal-plant researcher M. Maria Belcin. He distinguished possible medicinal uses of oleander from the post’s recommendation to ingest its fruit or seeds: he said medicinal use should be under the guidance of experienced practitioners, and that the plant can be dangerous. He described leaves, roots and root bark as parts used medicinally, while saying they are generally not used as internal medicine. The review specifically warns that oleander fruit and seeds are poisonous and that eating them can be fatal. S1 reports his caution: “குழந்தைகள் ஒரு அரளி இலையைச் சாப்பிட்டால்கூட மரணம் ஏற்பட வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது என்பதால் கவனம் தேவை”. The review concludes that the post’s blanket cure claim is false and that its casual instruction to consume oleander is dangerous. Its conclusion is not that oleander has no medicinal properties: the researcher acknowledged potential medicinal uses, but emphasized that they do not justify unsupervised ingestion of the fruit or seeds. The review ends by advising readers not to share such claims without verification.