PeakMetrics / Fact Checks
Health & medicine fact checks
Explore claims publishers have checked about health & medicine. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.
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Search by text or image13,677 published reviews in this topic
Fluoride in water can lower children’s IQ levels.
Publisher’s rating: Unlikely but studies continue
Related reporting describes a University of Minnesota study that examined whether childhood consumption of fluoride or fluoridated water is associated with lower intelligence. The article reports that researchers found no evidence supporting that concern and quotes the study’s co-director saying its results provide no support for harmful effects of community water fluoridation on children’s IQ or adult cognition. The article also distinguishes the U.S. setting from evidence cited in a 2025 report: it says that report’s association came from children in China, India, and other countries, where naturally occurring fluoride levels can be much higher than U.S. levels. The Minnesota researchers’ conclusion therefore speaks to the U.S. policy question described in the article; this excerpt does not give the study’s methods, measurements, or enough detail to evaluate its analysis independently. It also does not establish the evidence behind the National Academies’ assessment.
Vaccines are safe.
Publisher’s rating: True
Images posted pupported to be of killer STI 'Jakadala'
Publisher’s rating: False.
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「吃完柿子千萬别喝優酪乳，也不能吃香蕉，會中毒。有個孩子還沒到醫院就往生了」？
Publisher’s rating: 錯誤
The claim warns that eating persimmon followed by yogurt or banana can cause poisoning, and invokes a child who supposedly died before reaching hospital. The Taiwan FactCheck Center investigated both the food-combination warning and the story behind the alleged death. It consulted nutrition and medical professionals and examined Chinese media reports about the child’s case. The professionals consulted said that persimmon with yogurt or banana does not produce a toxin. The review explains a narrower, different concern: persimmon tannins may combine with protein in an acidic stomach to form a mass, sometimes called a persimmon stone, which can be difficult to digest and may affect digestion. It distinguishes that possibility from poisoning. It also notes that persimmons and bananas are high in potassium, so people with kidney disease should control their intake; that qualification does not support the claim that the combination poisons people generally. On the child’s story, the review traced reporting to a 2013 Qingdao News Network report and examined a 2015 Hebei TV report. Those accounts described a three-year-old who had eaten persimmons, bananas and a large amount of milk—not yogurt—and arrived at hospital unconscious. The reports said the child had signs of a weak stomach wall or an existing perforation, and the doctor did not establish that persimmons caused it. A physician assessing the reported details considered the likely cause of death to be sepsis following stomach perforation, rather than poisoning from the food combination. The review therefore found that the viral account both misstates the reported circumstances and presents an unsubstantiated causal explanation.
「你的頭皮為什麼癢!? 是毛囊螨在作怪，矽油是它唯一的食物」？
Publisher’s rating: 錯誤
The Taiwan FactCheck Center examined a circulating claim that itchy scalps are caused by follicle mites and that silicone is the mites’ only food. Its review consulted Huang Yuhui, a dermatologist at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, about the causes of scalp itch and what follicle mites eat. Huang said scalp itch has many possible causes and that follicle mites are only one of them; the claim that itch is caused by mites is too broad. The review also distinguishes the possibility that mites can contribute to itch from the stronger assertion that they are the cause. [S1: “頭皮癢的原因有幾十種，毛囊蟎只是其中一種。正確來說，『毛囊蟎可能造成頭皮癢』這句話是合理的，可是『頭皮癢是毛囊蟎造成』這句話是不行。”] On the food claim, Huang said follicle mites feed on oils produced by the human body, not silicone. The review therefore rejects the assertion that silicone is their sole food. [S1: “毛囊蟎吃的東西是人體自己分泌出來的油脂，這跟矽油、矽靈完全沒關係，毛囊蟎不可能吃化學的東西。”] The review’s conclusion is limited to these claims: scalp itch has multiple causes, and silicone is not the mites’ food. It also discusses silicone’s use in shampoo separately, noting that it is used to help hair lie smoothly and that choosing products depends on individual hair-care needs. That discussion does not establish that silicone feeds mites. [S1: “矽靈主要作用是讓頭髮排列比較有順序、比較好”] [S1: “『不含矽靈』的洗髮潤髮產品，並沒有好或壞的問題，還是要回歸到個人護髮需求來做選用。”]
Panic as deadly Tilapia virus is detected in Lake Victoria
Publisher’s rating: False.
「癌症化療97%無效」？
Publisher’s rating: 錯誤
The claim under review is that chemotherapy is ineffective in 97% of cancer cases. The review traces it to a video in which American naturopathic physician Peter Glidden cited a 2004 paper, “The Contribution of Cytotoxic Chemotherapy to 5-year Survival in Adult Malignancies.” That paper analyzed data from 1990–2004 on the effect of cytotoxic chemotherapy on five-year survival among adults with cancer; it estimated that curative and adjuvant chemotherapy increased five-year survival by 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in the United States. Those estimates describe a change in population-level survival, not the proportion of patients for whom chemotherapy has no effect. 【S1】 To assess the interpretation, the review reports consulting Chang Yi-fang, director of the cancer center and a hematologist-oncologist at Mackay Memorial Hospital. Chang explained that an increase in treatment results of under 3% does not mean treatment is effective in only that share of cases. He also noted that the paper’s statistical analysis included treatments whether effective or ineffective, although ineffective treatments would not be used in clinical practice; for that reason, the paper’s estimate does not represent the results of current clinical treatment. 【S1】 The review also describes evidence illustrating why the figure cannot be generalized to all chemotherapy or cancer care. It cites a 2018 study of pembrolizumab combined with standard chemotherapy for metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer: the review reports that 40–50% of patients receiving standard chemotherapy alone survived 18–21 months, compared with 60–70% surviving nearly two years when immunotherapy was added. It further reports an oncologist’s examples of colorectal-cancer response rates varying by regimen, from about 60% for FOLFOXIRI to about 40–50% for targeted therapy combined with chemotherapy, while noting the former’s substantial side effects. These examples concern specific cancers, treatments, and outcomes—not a universal measure of chemotherapy’s effectiveness. 【S1】
可以做到這兩個動作的人，有大約多3倍機率是「馬凡氏症候群」但也可能是其他結締組織疾病或正常。即使是也不一定會發生主動脈剝離，需要定期追蹤，時時留意。
Publisher’s rating: 大部分屬實
「非洲豬瘟也會感染牛羊，人類也難倖免」？
Publisher’s rating: 錯誤
The claim under review was a message circulating through messaging apps that said African swine fever could infect cattle and sheep, put humans at risk, and remain viable in frozen meat for three years. The Taiwan FactCheck Center examined these claims separately rather than treating them as one: its report distinguishes whether the virus infects other species from how long it can persist in pork and how readily it spreads. Its conclusion on the claim about cattle, sheep, and people was that it was false; it separately described the frozen-meat and China-outbreak portions of the message as having different qualifications. For the species claim, the report says it checked Taiwan’s animal-health authority’s published information, consulted two veterinary academics, and referred to the World Organisation for Animal Health’s Terrestrial Animal Health Code. The authority’s guidance says the disease affects domestic and wild pigs but does not infect people. National Taiwan University professor Cheng Chien-jen and Chiayi University associate professor Chang Chih-cheng were quoted as saying that infection is limited to domestic and wild pigs, not cattle, sheep, or humans. The report also cites the Code’s statement that, among non-arthropods, pigs are the only animals naturally infected by the virus. Taken together, these sources support rejecting the message’s assertion that cattle, sheep, and humans are susceptible. The report does not say the entire circulating message was false in every respect. On persistence, it cites Taiwan’s animal-health authority and a Food and Agriculture Organization manual for survival in frozen pork of 1,000 days, about 2.7 years; it also reports that a consulted academic said survival in frozen meat could exceed three years. The review therefore distinguishes persistence in pork from infecting people or other animals, and says high mortality in pigs does not mean the virus has unusually high transmissibility. It also addresses a separate statement about the outbreak’s spread in China, reporting that authorities described cases across 20 provinces and possible movement by people and vehicles.
Dewayne Johnson 並非吃了早餐麥片致癌，是在舊金山擔任學校園丁，曾在強風下噴灑大量農藥導致遍佈全身，最後確診罹癌。對致癌麥片送往美國環境工作組織（EWG）檢測是不實內容。
Publisher’s rating: 大部分不實
The share of public health expenditure to GDP of the country was doubled from a mere 0.13% in 2000-01 to 0.26% in 2010-11 respectively. For the year 2012-13, the Budget for healthcare was earmarked at a whopping Rs. 24,261 crore.
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim says public health expenditure rose from 0.13% of GDP in 2000–01 to 0.26% in 2010–11, and that Rs. 24,261 crore was earmarked for healthcare in 2012–13. FACTLY’s review examines those specific figures as claims made by the Congress party about public expenditure during the UPA. It says its health-spending figures were based on data collected from the World Health Organization and a Lok Sabha question, while the 2012–13 expenditure figure came from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The review reports public health expenditure at 0.90% of GDP in 2000–01 and 1.35% in 2010–11—not the percentages stated in the claim. For 2012–13, it reports Ministry expenditure of Rs. 23,265 crore, rather than the claimed Rs. 24,261 crore. These comparisons directly contradict both parts of the claim; the review’s conclusion is also consistent with the figures it presents.
根據專業急救人員說法，目前沒有正式使用這樣的方式，儘管部分研究表示能增加挽救心肌梗塞的機率，但不建議大眾輕易嘗試，報導說國外盛行三十年的急救方式也是錯誤的。
Publisher’s rating: 不實
สูตรเร่งผมยาว ด้วยไข่แดงผสมน้ำมันมะละกอ กล้วยหอมผสมน้ำผึ้ง น้ำมันมะพร้าวผสมน้ำมันมะละกอ
Publisher’s rating: ไม่จริง ไม่ควรแชร์ต่อ
Suiza ha incorporado la homeopatía a su sanidad pública
Publisher’s rating: Falso
「全球愛滋病患感謝台灣健保、外國愛滋病患者濫用台灣健保…愛滋病治療將會弄垮臺灣的健保」？
Publisher’s rating: 錯誤
The claim combines several messages circulated online: that foreign HIV patients abuse Taiwan’s health insurance, that patients worldwide are grateful for it, and that HIV treatment—possibly following legalization of same-sex marriage—would overwhelm the system. The review examined the financial impact of HIV treatment, foreign patients’ eligibility and costs, and whether marriage or same-sex marriage altered those rules. It reports checking National Health Insurance Administration statistics, consulting an official from its medical-management division, and examining laws and government rules on insurance eligibility and treatment subsidies. (The article also describes seeking confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control.)
