Hydroxychloroquine

Have multiple studies shown that countries treating COVID-19 with hydroxychloroquine suffer fewer deaths than those like the U.S. where its use is restricted? No, that's not true: The claim was made without citing any such studies. Lead Stories has not found peer-reviewed clinical studies that declare hydroxychloroquine is a cure, and the World Health Organization has declared the opposite putting…

Did Dr. Anthony Fauci say that hydroxychloroquine was both a cure and a vaccine for coronavirus in 2005? No, that's not true: The National Institutes of Health did publish a study in 2005 that reported hopeful signs from in-vitro tests that chloroquine, not hydroxychloroquine, had potential against SARS-CoV-1, not SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that is responsible for the current COVID-19…

Are hydroxychloroquine, zinc and Zithromax a cure for COVID-19? No, that's not true: As Lead Stories reported previously, global health experts continue to say that there are no drugs that have been shown to prevent or cure the infection. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here). The post included a video and the following text: BREAKING American Doctors…

Does a video by Dr. Kelly Victory that promises to discuss "COVID facts" deliver all factual claims? No, that's not true: Lead Stories identified at least 10 "facts" that are false, including claims that children are at "virtually no risk" from the novel coronavirus, that social distancing is "not an established public health concept," and that there is "no scientific…

Are social distancing guidelines and the COVID-19 pandemic part of a government plot to track and control citizens? No, that's not true: Osteopath Rashid Buttar, a practitioner who has been sued for fraud, made the claim in a video rant that also included other false claims. There is no evidence to support Dr. Buttar's claim that the government wants Americans…

Did Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House, have "a Freudian slip" and acknowledge that she actually works for billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and the World Health Organization? No, that is not true: Birx, who appeared on CNN in April, did say the word "gates," but that was in reference to markers used for states to…

Did the Italian government call for the arrest of Bill Gates for "crimes against humanity"? No, this is not true. While one lone member of the Italian Parliament did attack Gates in a speech, the word "arrest" was never spoken and the Italian government did not call for the Microsoft co-founder's arrest. The claim appears in a video (archived here)…

Will Bill Gates personally profit from a COVID-19 vaccine and does he own a company that plans to implant microchips in everyone to track them? No, that's not true: Gates has spent more than $300 million of his own fortune to encourage development of treatments and vaccines for the novel coronavirus, as well as efforts to slow the pandemic's spread,…

Is there a conspiracy by "the Deep State" and China to establish "sweeping population control" and "derail" President Trump using the novel coronavirus? No, that's not true: A report by a conservative U.S. news network citing "emerging reports" of a conspiracy by the "Deep State," China, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and billionaires Bill Gates and George Soros…

Did Did Bill Gates say that the Catholic religion may have to be suspended forever because of the COVID-19 pandemic? No, that's not true: While the billionaire philantrophist has predicted that "mass gatherings" may not return until vaccinations for the novel coronavirus are widespread, he was talking about large gatherings of people at "optional events," not specifically Catholic Mass services.…