.
Flora Teoh
Science Editor
Flora obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. During her doctoral studies, she examined how a human-colonising microbe could evolve in response to changes within a mammalian host, and how this process could influence microbial virulence. After a brief stint as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, she joined Health Feedback in 2018 as science editor.
ARTICLE REVIEWS
Washington Times article by Robert Malone and Peter Navarro relies on inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims about virus evolution, vaccine immunity, and COVID-19 vaccine safety
in Washington Times, by Robert Malone and Peter Navarro
— 15 Aug 2021
"This article has inaccuracies throughout with a clear view to push an anti-vaccine agenda. The picture depicting a skull with eyes and nose made of coronaviruses in the shape of t..
Misleading Wall Street Journal opinion piece makes the unsubstantiated claim that the U.S. will have herd immunity by April 2021
in Wall Street Journal, by Marty Makary
— 26 Feb 2021
"The article’s claim that the U.S. is near herd immunity rests on two numbers: 1) the detection of infections by testing (claimed to be 10 – 25 percent) and 2) the infection fa..
New York Post article makes speculative, unsupported claim that mutation could enable the virus causing COVID-19 to evade handwashing and mask-wearing
in New York Post, by Jackie Salo
— 08 Oct 2020
"The preprint that the article focuses on actually says nothing about the most egregious claim made in the article: that the virus is evolving to get around hand-washing, masks, et..
Telegraph article describing the hypothesis that face masks can variolate a population receives mixed reviews on its scientific accuracy
in The Telegraph, by Georgina Hayes
— 24 Sep 2020
"The Telegraph headline is obviously misleading but the subheading is accurate. Masks don’t give immunity; rather, the argument is that infections are milder or asymptomatic and ..
Potential role for T cells in COVID-19 immunity accurately reported in National Geographic article
in National Geographic, by Carrie Arnold
— 19 Aug 2020
"The article accurately discusses the recent findings about the presence/relevance of T cell response against COVID-19. Indeed, both arms of adaptive immunity, humoral and cellular..
People who do not show symptoms can contribute to significant COVID-19 transmission, contrary to CNBC report
in CNBC, by William Feuer, Noah Higgins-Dunn
— 10 Jun 2020
there is already “abundant data” showing that people who are not showing symptoms—which could include asymptomatic, presymptomatic, and paucisymptomatic individuals—compris...
COVID-19 vaccine candidate by Pittsburgh scientists show promising results in animal studies, but clinical trials still needed before efficacy in humans is known
in Pittsburgh Magazine, by Garret Roberts
— 11 Apr 2020
Scientists who reviewed this article’s scientific credibility found that the reporting was generally accurate. However, they also highlighted a missed opportunity to provide read...
Viral New York Post article perpetuates the unfounded claim that the virus that causes COVID-19 is manmade
in New York Post, by Steven W. Mosher
— 02 Mar 2020
Overall, Mosher’s argument is based on unfounded speculation and scientific inaccuracies. Such claims, which continue to be perpetuated even by public officials, have real-world ...
New York Times accurately reports vaccine-derived polio outbreaks caused by low vaccine coverage
in New York Times, by Associated Press
— 02 Dec 2019
"The content of the article is correct: attenuated polio strain type 2 contained in the oral vaccine can – in very rare cases – mutate and cause disease in under-immunized pers..
Daily Mail article misleads with clickbait headline claiming cowpox-derived virus will “kill every type of cancer”
in Daily Mail, by Zoe Zaczek
— 20 Nov 2019
"This article substantially overhypes early pre-clinical work with a viral therapy that has not yet been tested in even the earliest stages of human clinical trials. The headline i..
CLAIM REVIEWS
Lack of clinical evidence for claim that N-acetylcysteine is effective against COVID-19 and stops viral replication
CLAIM
N-acetylcysteine inhibits viral replication, breaks up mucus, and is effective against COVID-19
SOURCE: Steve Lucchino, Facebook
Published: 21 Sep 2023
VERDICT
Robert Malone makes several misleading and unsubstantiated claims about COVID-19 vaccines in Judicial Watch interview
CLAIM
“Leaky vaccines” are causing SARS-CoV-2 to evolve rapidly; COVID-19 vaccines don’t prevent disease and death; childhood vaccine safety is doubtful
SOURCE: Robert Malone, Judicial Watch
Published: 14 Sep 2023
VERDICT
Rebel News article lacks evidence for claiming COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe and unnecessary
CLAIM
Natural immunity persists for decades; Pregnant women aren’t at risk from COVID-19; DNA plasmids are in COVID-19 vaccines; no evidence that COVID-19 boosters are safe
SOURCE: Tamara Ugolini, Rebel News
Published: 08 Sep 2023
VERDICT
Daily Mail article provides misleading interpretation on South Korean mask study to imply mask-wearing is dangerous
CLAIM
“Mask study published by NIH suggests N95 Covid masks may expose wearers to dangerous level of toxic compounds linked to seizures and cancer”
SOURCE: Emily Joshu, Daily Mail
Published: 30 Aug 2023
VERDICT
Misleading Instagram posts use news headlines out of context to imply COVID-19 vaccines increase COVID-19 mortality risk
CLAIM
Higher COVID-19 vaccination rates in White people are related to higher COVID-19 death rates
SOURCE: Carl Higbie, David Harris Jr., Instagram
Published: 25 Aug 2023
VERDICT
Conspiracy theory about the deaths of alternative medicine practitioners ignores evidence, misrepresents certain doctors
CLAIM
Doctors murdered to protect Big Pharma profits and silence holistic health practitioners
SOURCE: Katryna Benson, TikTok
Published: 23 Aug 2023
VERDICT
Video about blank COVID-19 vaccine insert falsely implies there are no safety data for COVID-19 vaccines
CLAIM
Blank COVID-19 vaccine safety inserts show there are no safety and effectiveness studies for these vaccines
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook
Published: 11 Aug 2023
VERDICT
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines don’t cause long-term spike protein production in the body, contrary to claims by retired professor
CLAIM
COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body
SOURCE: Klaus Steger, The Epoch Times
Published: 07 Aug 2023
VERDICT
Claim by Brian Hooker that unvaccinated children are healthier compared to vaccinated children relies on flawed studies
CLAIM
Vaccinated children are more likely to have poorer health outcomes compared to unvaccinated children
SOURCE: Brian Hooker, Children's Health Defense
Published: 28 Jul 2023
VERDICT
Claim that a mouse study shows COVID-19 vaccine causes “turbo cancer” distorts study findings
CLAIM
“New Study Links Pfizer’s COVID Vaccine to ‘Turbo Cancer’”
SOURCE: Jonas Vesterberg, The Florida Standard
Published: 20 Jul 2023
VERDICT
INSIGHTS
Germany-based network of websites and Facebook accounts amplify clickbait content to monetize web traffic via Google AdSense and e-commerce
— 08 Sep 2022
SUMMARY This investigation, which took place between May and August 2022, shows that a network of German- and English-language Facebook pages are using the platform to build an onl...
What do we know about the safety of titanium dioxide in menstrual hygiene products?
— 09 Aug 2022
Photo by Josefin on Unsplash Introduction Social media posts claiming that titanium dioxide in tampons are responsible for reproductive cancers began circulating in early August 20...
Shedding light on LinkedIn’s enforcement of health misinformation policies: A pilot study
— 26 Apr 2022
Summary of findings The career- and business-oriented social media platform LinkedIn has been absent from the public conversation around the topic of health misinformation, as comp...
Infection-induced immunity versus vaccine-induced immunity: Weighing the benefits and risks
— 03 Nov 2021
Introduction Multiple articles and social media posts have debated the strength of infection-induced immunity—commonly referred to as natural immunity—compared to vaccina...
Copypasta of an ICU doctor’s tweet stokes COVID-19 skepticism by mimicking bot-like behavior
— 29 Jul 2021
Introduction The spread of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has put many countries back on high alert. Both the U.S. and the U.K. have seen the Delta variant become the predominant ...
Understanding causality in adverse events after vaccination
— 15 Jul 2021
Introduction Whether you’re watching the news or scrolling through your social media feeds, you’re certain to come across content about COVID-19 vaccines. This is unsurprising�...
“Plandemic: Indoctornation” video rehashes debunked claims and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines
— 20 Aug 2020
Plandemic is a pseudo-documentary produced by American filmmaker Mikki Willis, whose first instalment was published in May 2020. Featuring an interview with anti-vaccination activi...
Computing Forever interview with Dolores Cahill contains numerous inaccuracies about COVID-19 and vaccines
— 22 May 2020
This video, first published on 11 May 2020, features an interview between Dave Cullen, also known as Computing Forever on YouTube, and Dolores Cahill, a professor at University Col...
“Plandemic” vignette featuring anti-vaccination activist Judy Mikovits contains numerous false and unsupported claims about COVID-19
— 08 May 2020
This video is the first in a series of vignettes preceding a movie titled “Plandemic”. First published on 5 May 2020, it quickly went viral on Facebook, with more than 2.2 mill...
Did the COVID-19 virus originate from a lab or nature? Examining the evidence for different hypotheses of the novel coronavirus’ origins
— 24 Apr 2020
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019, many hypotheses have been advanced to explain where the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) actually came from. Initial re...