Health & medicine fact checks

«ویروس اچ‌پی‌وی مخصوصا در تهران در حال افزایش است اگر مردم کشور بیخیال باشند باید تا ۲ سال دیگه موج عظیمی از سرطان رحم و پروستات رو مشاهده کنیم».

Publisher’s rating: وزارت بهداشت با وجود اینکه از افزایش شیوع ویروس اچ‌پی‌وی خبر داده، مشخصا اشاره‌ای به تهران نکرده است و پیش‌بینی‌ای در مورد دو سال آینده هم نکرده‌است.

Ad claims Trump said, "The coronavirus, this is their new hoax."

Publisher’s rating: Out of Context

Says “black babies die at rates twice as high as white babies because of a lack of access to affordable health care.”

Publisher’s rating: Mostly True

Polio wasn’t eradicated in the United States by a vaccine.

Publisher’s rating: False

"[E]arly on in this crisis, we said — I said, among others, that, you know, you should get into China, get our experts there, we have the best in the world, get them in so we know what’s actually happening. There was no effort to do that.”

Publisher’s rating: False

“Colin Powell murió de COVID y estaba completamente vacunado. Entonces, ¿qué sentido tiene vacunarse?”

Publisher’s rating: Engañoso

Vaccinated people under 60 in England “are dying at twice the rate of unvaccinated people the same age. ... I don’t know how to explain this other than vaccine-caused mortality.”

Publisher’s rating: Mostly False

Fernando Simón advierte que Madrid se cierra por Covid-19

Publisher’s rating: Falso

Says drinking a "6-ounce glass of tonic water each night before bed" will help alleviate restless legs syndrome.

Publisher’s rating: False

Vaccine “lotteries haven’t worked in other states.”

Publisher’s rating: Studies are a mixed bag

“CDC says expect a polio-like outbreak coming in children in the next four months.”

Publisher’s rating: False

“Same little boy died of COVID-19 in three different countries. Still don’t believe the media is #fakenews?”

Publisher’s rating: Pants on Fire

"Our health department, our city and our county declared racism as a public health crisis last year.”

Publisher’s rating: True

"Nearly 800 million opioid pills were shipped to WV, amounting to 433 pills for every man, woman, and child in the state.”

Publisher’s rating: Mostly True

Málaga Hoy: Brote en Benalmádena: Dos camareros y una cocinera infectados por COVID-19 en un bar situado en la zona del paseo marítimo

Publisher’s rating: Falso

“I don’t think I’m contagious at all.”

Publisher’s rating: Unsupported

“The unvaccinated have escaped every single strain or 'variant’” of SARS-CoV-2.

Publisher’s rating: False

"We've done more tests in eight days than South Korea has done in eight weeks."

Publisher’s rating: False

“Head of Pfizer Research: Covid Vaccine is Female Sterilization”

Publisher’s rating: False

“The FDA is now saying that it’s OK to take ivermectin if you have COVID.”

Publisher’s rating: False

Related reporting describes a court case brought by three doctors who argued that the FDA had unlawfully interfered with medical practice through statements discouraging ivermectin use for COVID-19. The excerpt says a federal judge dismissed the case in 2022 and that it was appealed; it does not provide the appeals court’s decision or establish that the FDA changed its position. [S5] The reporting distinguishes a doctor’s ability to prescribe a drug from FDA approval or authorization to treat COVID-19. It says the FDA explicitly stated ivermectin “isn't authorized or approved to treat COVID-19.” It also quotes an FDA lawyer saying the agency’s statements did not prohibit doctors from prescribing it and that people could take medicine if it was prescribed by a health care provider. That supports a limited point about prescription authority, not the broader suggestion that the FDA now generally endorses taking ivermectin for COVID-19. [S5]