FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy. It was launched in January 2015 with a grant from the Stanton Foundation. The foundation was founded by the late Frank Stanton, president of CBS for 25 years, from 1946 to 1971.
Taking unregulated herbal cocktails to cause an abortion can be dangerous, obstetricians say. But recipes — some containing potentially toxic ingredients — for self-induced “miscarriages” have been circulating online since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Despite persistent claims to the contrary, none of the three authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccines contains fetal tissue. We take a look at the facts in light of Justice Clarence Thomas’ dissent.
An executive at the German pharmaceutical company Bayer referred to mRNA vaccines used against COVID-19 as an example of innovation in biotech at the World Health Summit 2021. But a website post takes the executive’s words out of context to falsely claim he said the vaccines are gene therapy.
With the U.S. experiencing a major dip in the number of daily deaths as the omicron variant wave runs its course, President Joe Biden has repeatedly boasted that his “approach has brought down COVID deaths by 90%.” That figure is accurate, but experts say the dip is largely attributable to a number of factors outside the president’s control.
Pop star Justin Bieber announced he has Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a form of facial paralysis caused by a reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox. Social media posts have claimed his condition was caused by COVID-19 vaccination, but there is no established link between vaccination and the syndrome. Some posts have also baselessly claimed vaccination was behind a mini-stroke suffered by Bieber’s wife, Hailey.
Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, or SADS, has been studied for decades and is caused by genetic heart problems. But social media posts suggest, with no evidence, that SADS is related to COVID-19 vaccines.
Studies have found that COVID-19 increases the risk for heart complications, and that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risks for males and females in all age groups. Social media posts, however, have misinterpreted and publicized a criticized study that claims to have identified a correlation between emergency calls for cardiac events and the vaccination rate in Israel.
Q. Are vaccinated and boosted people more susceptible to infection or disease with the omicron variant than unvaccinated people?
A. No. Getting vaccinated increases your protection against COVID-19. Sometimes, certain raw data can suggest otherwise, but that information cannot be used to determine how well a vaccine works.
In the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, some officials have cited mental illness as a reason for the unprovoked attacks. But as we’ve explained before, having a mental illness isn’t predictive of who will perpetrate a mass shooting.
We explain what monkeypox is, what makes the outbreak unusual, and why it’s important to take seriously but unlikely to play out like the coronavirus.