Claim reviews
Flawed analysis of Florida Medicaid data used to promote false claim that vaccines cause autism
CLAIM
“New peer-reviewed study again confirms childhood vaccines are likely responsible for nearly 80% of the autism cases in US”
SOURCE: Steve Kirsch, Substack, X/Twitter
Published: 31 Jan 2025
VERDICT
Vaccines don’t cause mercury toxicity; the mercury compound present in some vaccines is different from the one in seafood
CLAIM
“Doctors: don't eat fish when you're pregnant to avoid mercury getting into your baby Also doctors: vaccines containing mercury are safe to inject into your baby”
SOURCE: Kaylee Winfield, Threads
Published: 30 Jan 2025
VERDICT
Did the CIA conclude that SARS-CoV-2 came from a Chinese lab? Beware of misleading headlines in the Daily Mail and elsewhere
CLAIM
“CIA now says Covid DID come from Chinese lab”
SOURCE: Joe Hutchison, Daily Mail
Published: 29 Jan 2025
VERDICT
Grapefruit can cause negative effects when mixed with certain antidepressants, such as sertraline (Zoloft)
CLAIM
Eating grapefruit while using antidepressants can cause overdose, other complications
SOURCE: Social media user, Facebook
Published: 27 Jan 2025
VERDICT
Moderna booster vaccine trials didn’t cause “mass heart attacks” in children, contrary to online claims
CLAIM
“Moderna Covered Up ‘Mass Heart Attacks of Toddlers’ in COVID Jab Trials”
SOURCE: Sean Adl-Tabatabai, The People's Voice
Published: 24 Jan 2025
VERDICT
Nature Biotechnology study misrepresented in social media posts claiming “all mRNA jabs cause heart damage”
CLAIM
Nature study shows “all mRNA jabs cause heart damage”
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook, X/Twitter
Published: 23 Jan 2025
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines not shown to have “negative efficacy”, contrary to claim by Nicolas Hulscher
CLAIM
New research from Japan shows COVID-19 vaccines have “negative efficacy”
SOURCE: Nicolas Hulscher, Substack
Published: 22 Jan 2025
VERDICT
Experimental study using mosquitoes to vaccinate against malaria wasn’t funded by Bill Gates
CLAIM
“Researchers Funded by Bill Gates Turn Mosquitoes into ‘Flying Syringes’ to Deliver Vaccines”
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook, Instagram
Published: 22 Jan 2025
VERDICT
Mel Gibson makes baseless claim on Joe Rogan’s podcast that dewormers ivermectin and fenbendazole are effective cancer cures
CLAIM
Ivermectin, fenbendazole have been used to cure stage four cancer
SOURCE: Mel Gibson, Joe Rogan, The Joe Rogan Experience
Published: 16 Jan 2025
VERDICT
The human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has been circulating for decades and isn’t a side effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
CLAIM
“Pfizer has disclosed that Human Metapneumovirus is one of the potential side effects of their mRNA vaccine”
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook
Published: 15 Jan 2025
VERDICT