Cancer

Does a photo of Angelina Jolie in a wheelchair with an amputated leg confirm "very sad news" about the actress? No, that's not true: The photo appears to be a doctored image of Jolie's head on the body of a woman in Scotland whose leg was amputated in January 2023. News outlets published photos of Jolie in public as recently…

Does a social media post listing "1,884 Athlete Cardiac Arrests" and 1,310 deaths between January 2021 and July 2023 prove a connection between these mishaps and the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: While the ultimate source of the information cited in the post lists hundreds of "athletes" who have died or collapsed for various reasons (some of them clearly…

Is "lab grown" chicken that was approved by U.S. regulators "grown from human cells"? No, that's not true: Neither of the companies that received regulatory approval to sell cell-cultivated meat in the U.S. use human cells in their products. Additionally, Lead Stories did not find evidence that human cells were used to test the safety of the cell-cultivated chicken products.…

Does a patent prove that Moderna's mRNA COVID-19 vaccines contain nanotechnology that interacts with 5G? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that mRNA vaccines or their contents interact with 5G technology, a molecular biologist told Lead Stories. A chemical engineer confirmed this, saying there is "absolutely no evidence at all" that such claims are true and that "there…

Did President Joe Biden brag that he has "ended cancer as we know it"? No, that's not true: He said that if he could accomplish one large goal, it would be ending cancer. It was clear from the context that he was not claiming cancer had ended under his administration. The statement was made during a White House speech in…

Did The Washington Post report that Bill Gates was "being held under armed watch at Guantanamo Bay" after having been "charged with war crimes against humanity"? No, that's not true: A search through the newspaper's digital database returned no such results, and no credible news publication or official government statement describing such an event was publicly available as of July…

Did the U.S. government approve the sale of "lab-grown" meat "without any labeling"? No, that's not true: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on June 14, 2023, that it gave label approval to GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods; companies that produce chicken in a laboratory "grown directly from real animal cells." Their labels will say "cell-cultivated chicken." The claim…

Are health care professionals being "urged" to call vaginas "bonus holes" to avoid offending "trans or non-binary patients"? No, that's not true: There is no widespread or official push to change the terminology. A single charity in the United Kingdom suggested it as an option. In health care, professionals typically use anatomically correct and medically appropriate terminology when referring to…

Does a new study prove that the Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine causes "turbo cancer"? No, that's not true: The study cited in the social media post doesn't show that the Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine induces something called "turbo cancer." Additionally, a cancer expert wrote, "'Turbo cancer' is not a thing." It's not a recognized medical term. The claim appeared in…

Is lab-grown meat cultivated using cancerous or pre-cancerous animal cells? No, that's not true: Cell-cultured meat is cultivated using animal cells that have been modified to replicate indefinitely. Cell-cultured or lab-grown meat is regulated in the U.S. under the same stipulations as conventionally grown and slaughtered meat, poultry, and seafood. Furthermore, regulatory agencies do not allow for cancerous animal meat…