Health

Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remove COVID-19 vaccine adverse event reports from its website? No, that's not true: The national public health agency did not remove COVID vaccine adverse event reports from its website. The CDC and other health agencies regularly monitor and report on vaccine safety, including adverse events, through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting…

Was a state of emergency declared due to an Ebola outbreak at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada? No, that's not true: There were no reports of known or suspected Ebola cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the agency confirmed to Lead Stories on September 5, 2023. Burning Man representatives confirmed to Lead Stories that…

Did the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) attempt to substitute "most salt in America" with a single alternative that contains "mRNA chemicals" and is produced by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates? No, that's not true: An FDA representative told Lead Stories that the proposal would only expand the options for food manufacturers to use salt substitutes. The proposal, which is not…

Did the U.S. military place "Moderna chemist" Melissa J. Moore under arrest for developing a "mRNA clot shot" for the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer? No, that's not true: A Moderna spokesperson told Lead Stories that this claim is "false." Also, the website where this claim was made has a disclaimer that states it publishes satirical content. The claim appeared in a…

Should cracked watermelon not be eaten because the cracks may be from the plant growth regulator forchlorfenuron, which causes cancer and neurological complications? No, that's not true: The cracks in the flesh of watermelon are caused by poor pollination, a University of Delaware expert told Lead Stories. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says forchlorfenuron is used on grapes and kiwifruits…

Did a "survey" find that "Vaccinated people are over 2X more likely to get COVID than the unvaccinated"? No, that's not true: The survey in question was not scientifically sound and included methodological flaws, an infectious disease expert told Lead Stories. The claim originated in a blog post by Steve Kirsch, whose false claims regarding COVID-19 vaccines have been debunked…

Did the World Health Organization (WHO) say COVID-19 vaccination can cause multiple sclerosis? No, that's not true: WHO has not stated that COVID-19 vaccination can cause multiple sclerosis or any other serious chronic condition. The global public health agency told Lead Stories, "There is no conclusive link between multiple sclerosis (MS) and COVID-19 vaccination." The claim appeared in a post…

Does an article published in the medical journal Cureus prove that ivermectin reduces COVID-19 mortality by 74 percent? No, that's not true: A professor of medicine at John Hopkins University School of Medicine told Lead Stories, "The study does not establish a causal role for ivermectin in the fluctuations of death rates in Peru," adding "the claims seem poorly supported."…

Did Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates suggest on the social media platform X that people who resist a coming "mRNA tsunami" will be punished by exclusion from society? No, that's not true: There's no record the billionaire ever wrote it on his account. The expression "mRNA tsunami" was taken from a different person's public talk, and it was said in a…

Do vitamin K shots typically given to infants at birth put their lives at risk with excessive and unreasonable exposure to dangerous ingredients? No, that's not true: The claim is misleading about the properties of the additives and omits the life-saving benefits of the injections. The claim appeared in a reel published to Facebook on May 25, 2023. Its caption…

Is Lyme disease a "made-up disease" that "was and is always" HIV/AIDS? No, that's not true: Lyme disease and HIV, the infection that causes AIDS, are distinct. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread by ticks. HIV is a virus. The two have different causes, symptoms and treatments. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, the site…

Is mRNA being integrated into "every childhood vaccine" without regulatory reapproval? No, that's not true: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calls the claim "completely false." There are rigorous regulatory processes in place to evaluate and approve any changes to vaccines, including the incorporation of new technologies like mRNA. Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was the first mRNA product to achieve…

Did Anthony Fauci state in August 2023 that "all unvaccinated citizens must be locked down this winter"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories watched the entire interview where this quote supposedly originated and found no such statement. Furthermore, no credible evidence or news reports exist that attribute the purported quote to the former director of the National Institute of Allergy…

Does the German government have study figures that show people given the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty) "have overall suffered from fewer medically undesirable events as subjects who received the placebo"? No, that's not true: As of August 4, 2023, Germany's Federal Ministry of Health said it did not have "such figures." But not having such study figures proves nothing in…

Does an image show a single man in China breaking up couples' seating arrangements in a movie theater on Valentine's Day? No, there's no evidence of that: The image actually shows the reopening of a movie theater in Beijing amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on August 16, 2023. The…

Does walking barefoot, or "grounding," change the pH in the body? No, that's not true: That claim is not grounded in science. A retired chemist and a dermatologist both told Lead Stories that there is no evidence that grounding has the ability to change the pH of anything around the body. The chemist said blood pH can change with exercise,…

Is the federal government giving out health spending cards worth up to $5,600 that every American qualifies for? No, that's not true: The claim that the government is freely giving out health spending cards with thousands of dollars on them is a scam. Such scams are usually attached to some sort of advertorial asking whether one needs federal assistance or…

Does a study conducted by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic provide an "absolute direct linear correlation" that the more COVID-19 vaccines a person receives, the higher likelihood that person has of contracting the disease, thus proving that the bivalent vaccine was a "complete failure"? No, that's not true: Dr. Nabin Shrestha, an infectious disease expert and one of the cited…

Did aluminum exposure in honeybees grow by 800 percent in the year 2022? No, that's not true: This claim, presented without sourcing, seems to pull this fact from thin air. Lead Stories could not find any evidence reporting statistical changes in Honeybee exposure to aluminum in 2022, let alone a ninefold increase in one year and among all honeybees. Honeybee…

Did U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, a physician, describe mothers as "egg producers" during her August 6, 2023, visit to an LGBTQ+ clinic in Alaska? No, that's not true: None of the sources describing this supposed remark use a direct quote or a recording to prove it was said, and a clinic manager confirmed to Lead Stories…