Health
Staring at the sun is bad for your eyes
A social media video features claims about sungazing, including that staring at the sun won’t harm the eyes or cause blindness. This is false. Read
Fact checks
Dr Fergus Brown
Clinical Fact Checker (former)
Fergus joined Full Fact in December 2022, as part of a new team tackling health misinformation. Before this, he had been working as a junior doctor, including a stint in Public Health, and as a Royal College of Psychiatrists Foundation Fellow.
Health
UK tap water among safest in the world
A social media post with over 100,000 shares claims tap water is “the most underrated cause of disease”—but tap water in the UK is strictly regulated to keep it safe. Read
Fact checks
Health
Bad breath, headaches and pimples not caused by worm urine
A video about parasites from the 1990s has resurfaced on social media. But the claims made about worm infection symptoms and blood results aren’t accurate. Read
Fact checks
Health
Daily Star corrects error in reporting obesity deaths
The paper has corrected its claim that 2.8 billion people die of obesity each year, with the real figure being in millions. Read
Fact checks
Health
Pasteurisation does not cause lactose intolerance
A video on social media claims pasteurised milk is a cause of lactose intolerance. This isn’t true, and raw unpasteurised milk can make you unwell. Read
Fact checks
Health
Telegraph mixes up heart attacks and cardiac arrests
The newspaper mistakenly referred to people having heart attacks when discussing access to public defibrillators. The devices should be used in cardiac arrests only—a different condition. Read
Fact checks
Health
Covid-19 vaccines not ‘Mass Genocide’ of children
A Facebook post repeats the claim that Covid vaccines are causing death to children on a large scale. This isn’t true. Read
Fact checks
Health
ONS data shows lower death rates in people vaccinated against Covid-19
A video from the US is circulating on social media again, claiming that mortality data in the UK shows Covid-19 vaccines to cause a large increase in deaths. This is not what the data shows. Read
Fact checks
Health
‘Men's performance issues’ have more than one cause
A Facebook video claims erectile dysfunction is only caused by blood flow issues. But sexual issues can have many different causes. Read
Fact checks
Health
Andrew Bridgen misrepresents study in letter to PM
The MP has called for a halt to the Covid-19 vaccine booster programme based on a Swiss study. But the study has a number of limitations, and the authors view their findings differently. Read
Fact checks
