Pablo Rougerie

Science Editor

Pablo obtained his PhD in Immunology from the University Paris - Descartes (France). He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York, U.S.) and at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). His research focused on different topics in cell biology, including the regulation of T lymphocyte activation, the mechanics of cell deformation, and the use of biomaterials of specific geometry to guide the growth of biological tissues.

The Science Feedback team

CLAIM REVIEWS

No evidence COVID-19 vaccines caused rise in U.S. infant mortality for 2022 reported by the CDC, contrary to implication in Facebook meme

CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccination of pregnant women is connected to an increase in U.S. infant mortality rate in 2022

SOURCE: Facebook Users, Facebook

Published: 15 Nov 2023

VERDICT

Peter McCullough misinterprets study on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy; the study shows that vaccines are safe for pregnant women

CLAIM
“No discernible benefit of covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy”; “higher rate of neonatal and all-cause readmissions among babies born to vaccinated mothers”

SOURCE: Peter McCullough, Substack, Instagram

Published: 10 Nov 2023

VERDICT

2018 coronavirus research in NIAID Montana lab is unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic, contrary to claim by Fox News’s Jesse Watters

CLAIM
“Fauci frankensteined Covid bats on our soil a year before the pandemic, but then acted all shocked when the virus started spreading” ; Fauci’s goons went to the Wuhan lab, bottled up a virus and brought it to a lab in America”

SOURCE: Jesse Watters, Facebook, Fox News

Published: 07 Nov 2023

VERDICT

Residual DNA in COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is documented, isn’t associated with genome modification or cancer, contrary to claim by Robert Malone

CLAIM
The more COVID-19 vaccines doses people receive, the higher the risk of getting COVID-19; vaccines contain DNA fragments that modify the genome and cause cancer

SOURCE: Robert Malone, The Charlie Kirk Show

Published: 03 Nov 2023

VERDICT

Preventing deaths isn’t the sole benefit of COVID-19 vaccination, contrary to Epoch Times article

CLAIM
“An accurate reporting by Pfizer would have shown equal numbers of clinical trial deaths in the vaccine and placebo groups and thus, no benefit of vaccination”

SOURCE: Megan Redshaw, The Epoch Times

Published: 31 Oct 2023

VERDICT

Naturopath promotes scientifically unsubstantiated claim that cayenne pepper is “the most powerful blood thinner”

CLAIM
Cayenne pepper is “the most powerful blood thinner”

SOURCE: Barbara O'Neill, TikTok

Published: 19 Oct 2023

VERDICT

COVID-19 vaccines aren’t associated with an increase in excess deaths, contrary to claim by John Campbell

CLAIM
There is more excess mortality in countries with higher level of COVID-19 vaccination

SOURCE: John Campbell, YouTube

Published: 11 Oct 2023

VERDICT

No evidence that COVID-19 vaccines can be sexually transmitted or change people’s blood

CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccines can be sexually transmitted to unvaccinated people; vaccines cause blood discoloration and weaken immune system

SOURCE: Aaron Lewis, Facebook

Published: 06 Oct 2023

VERDICT

Benefits of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines outweigh their risks, even for teenagers, contrary to Alex Berenson’s claim

CLAIM
“1 million mRNA covid shots or teens will prevent 0-1 deaths and CAUSE 100,000 - 200,000 severe side effects”

SOURCE: Alex Berenson, Substack

Published: 25 Sep 2023

VERDICT

CDC data didn’t show an increased risk of hospitalization in people vaccinated against COVID-19, contrary to claim by Alex Berenson

CLAIM
“vaccinated and boosted people were MORE likely to be hospitalized with the new Omicron variant than unvaccinated people”

SOURCE: Alex Berenson, Substack

Published: 20 Sep 2023

VERDICT

INSIGHTS

What do we know about the safety of COVID-19 vaccine mRNA in breast milk?

— 03 Oct 2023

Introduction A study by Hanna et al. published in September 2023 reported the presence of mRNA from COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in the breast milk of some lactating women[1]. This study...

Can mistletoe cure cancer?

— 16 May 2023

Introduction Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. In 2020, an estimated 19.3 million new cancers were diagnosed and about 10 million people died from the disease[1]. B...

What can explain the excess mortality in the U.S. and Europe in 2022?

— 02 Nov 2022

image source Introduction Every day, people die of many causes: diseases, accidents, violence, or simply old age. The number of deaths in any given country is usually stable from o...

What do we know about the possible link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism?

— 01 Aug 2022

Photo by Freepik Each week, approximately 23% of the adult U.S. population use a fever reducer and painkiller, such as Tylenol, which is the brand name for the drug acetaminophen, ...

Assessing the effect of COVID-19 vaccines on mortality: a story of confounding factors and their role in COVID-19 misinformation

— 15 Mar 2022

Introduction COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental in our fight against the pandemic and our return to a normal life, thanks to their ability to reduce the number of cases, hosp...

Could scientists use the bat coronavirus RaTG13 to engineer SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a lab?

— 19 Mar 2021

One of the biggest outstanding questions of the COVID-19 pandemic is the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the disease. One idea, put forward by some news sites...