Autism

Two weeks before strict nationwide coronavirus lockdown measures were announced in Britain, Abbie had already been practicing the recommended social distancing. In her flat in the southwest of England, she had plenty of projects in the works and was coping quite well in isolation. She worked on some paintings, took photos of her favorite subject - books. She made some…

Were Maryland Board of Physicians officials forced to pay millions for humiliating an anti-vaccine doctor? No, that's not true: The story being shared contains outdated information. An intermediate appellate court in Maryland has overturned the $2.5 million judgment against the Maryland Board of Physicians and staff who had disclosed private medical information about an anti-vaccine doctor. The story originated in…

Do high doses of Vitamin C dramatically slow or stop the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus? No, that's not true: There is no known cure for the virus that to date has infected more than 24,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. The story appears to have originated with a press release from the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service that…

Did billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates help fund a patent for the Wuhan coronavirus? No, that's not true: The Pirbright Institute addressed the conspiracy theories and said the patents involve infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) only, and the Gates Foundation did not fund that work. The claim originated from an article (archived here) published by Natural News on January…

Does a spray offer protection against the new coronavirus? The claims are unproven, and here is some context: The Genesis Church 2 touts its products as a treatment for a variety of ailments and diseases, but the ingredients are actually industrial bleach. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has warned the public against consuming the toxic treatment. The claim surfaced…

Did the entire European Union vote to ban all single-use plastics by 2021? No, that's not true: this article is misleading, taking out of context the very BBC story to which it links. The EU's Parliament did pass the Single-Use Plastics Directive, which bans only products for which alternatives exist. The ban applies to only the top 10 single-use plastics…

Did Israel invent 5G technology, then ban it because of health concerns? No. That's not true: Israel is aggressively pushing the 5G networking service through a tender to incentivize that country's carriers to start rolling it out, according to Reuters. While Israeli companies are actively developing 5G tech, it's not accurate to say that they invented it. The United States…

Were 570 children taken from their parents and placed into foster care in Los Angeles murdered in 2013? No, that's not true: The child protection advocate who is quoted in several articles citing the number told Lead Stories her source was a document published by the Los Angeles Times, but our review of the document found 570 was the total…

Was global warming data faked by the U.S. government to fit climate change fictions? No, that's not true: When scientists with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) modernized the way daily temperatures recorded in every nook and cranny of the United States were charted, it triggered cries of fraud and conspiracy by those who argue global warming is a hoax.…

Do flu vaccines contain 25,000 times more mercury than is legally allowed in drinking water? No, that's not true: Some flu vaccines do contain a trace amount of the organic compound Thimerosal, whch is 50-percent mercury. Thimerosal, used as a preservative only in multi-dose vials, breaks down in the body as ethyl mercury, which is removed from the body and…