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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

Unvaccinated people are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 in San Diego county; vaccines don’t cause COVID-19, contrary to claim by Shaun Frederikson
CLAIM
“67% of the deaths are from the vaccinated”; “67% of your COVID deaths that you’re creating are from your virus that you’re putting within these people”

SOURCE: Shaun Frederikson, Kusi News

Published: 23 Aug 2022

VERDICT

Analysis of Dutch cities’ mortality doesn’t show that COVID-19 vaccines increase the risk of death, contrary to Alex Berenson’s interpretation
CLAIM
“New paper suggests Covid mRNA vaccination rates are linked to increases in overall deaths”

SOURCE: Alex Berenson, Substack

Published: 17 Aug 2022

VERDICT

Consuming sufficient vitamin C is necessary for health and plays an important role in many of the body’s chemical processes
CLAIM
“The herbs heal [...] not vitamin C, because the body is not composed of any vitamin C”

SOURCE: Alfredo Bowman, Facebook

Published: 14 Jul 2022

VERDICT

Abortifacient plants are dangerous, and ineffective as an abortion method
CLAIM
Plants such as pennyroyal, blue and black cohosh or mugwort are an effective alternative abortion method

SOURCE: Instagram Users, Instagram

Published: 09 Jul 2022

VERDICT

The claim that medical doctors are more likely to kill than firearms isn’t supported by evidence
CLAIM
“In America, you’re 6x more likely to be killed by a Doctor than a gun”

SOURCE: Facebook Users, Facebook

Published: 26 Jun 2022

VERDICT

No scientific evidence supports claims that plant-based food supplements reduce blood sugar to normal levels and cure type 2 diabetes
CLAIM
Plant-based food supplements get “perfect sugar levels restored” and “help with type 2 [diabetes]”

SOURCE: Facebook Users, Facebook

Published: 10 Jun 2022

VERDICT

Published research from the Wuhan Institute of Virology didn’t describe artificially created monkeypox strains; the research is unrelated to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak
CLAIM
Researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) “assembled monkeypox strains”

SOURCE: Natalie Winters, The National Pulse

Published: 03 Jun 2022

VERDICT

No scientific data support the existence of orgone and its ability to cure cancer
CLAIM
“Wilhelm Reich invented a way to cure cancer”

SOURCE: Facebook Users, Facebook

Published: 27 May 2022

VERDICT

Event 201 isn’t evidence that authorities knew or planned the COVID-19 pandemic
CLAIM
Event 201 is evidence that officials already knew about COVID-19

SOURCE: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Facebook

Published: 20 May 2022

VERDICT

The U.S. COVID-19 death toll reached the 1 million mark in May 2022; 15 million estimated deaths worldwide
CLAIM
U.S. deaths from COVID-19 hit 1 million

SOURCE: Carla Johnson, Associated Press

Published: 17 May 2022

VERDICT

INSIGHTS

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...