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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

SciCheck

FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy. It was launched in January 2015 with a grant from the Stanton Foundation. The foundation was founded by the late Frank Stanton, president of CBS for 25 years, from 1946 to 1971.

Measles Is Harmful, Contrary to Flimsy Social Media Claims of Long-Term Benefits

Measles Is Harmful, Contrary to Flimsy Social Media Claims of Long-Term Benefits
March 14, 2025

Measles is an extremely contagious vaccine-preventable disease that can lead to death or disability. It also wipes out immune memory for several years after an infection. As an outbreak in Texas continues to expand, social media posts have claimed without sufficient support that measles infections are beneficial later in life against cancer and other diseases, an idea health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has echoed.

RFK Jr. Misleads on Vitamin A, Unsupported Therapies for Measles

RFK Jr. Misleads on Vitamin A, Unsupported Therapies for Measles
March 7, 2025

In the midst of a growing measles outbreak in Texas that has killed one child, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has misleadingly focused on vitamin A, including from cod liver oil, and two non-standard medications as treatments for measles.

RFK Jr. Minimizes Measles Outbreak in Texas

RFK Jr. Minimizes Measles Outbreak in Texas
February 27, 2025

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the Department of Health and Human Services, downplayed the seriousness of an ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, falsely claiming that people had been hospitalized “mainly for quarantine” and misleadingly stating that the situation is “not unusual.” The Texas outbreak is already larger than any single outbreak last year and has led to the first measles death in the U.S. since 2015.

FactChecking RFK Jr.’s First Interview as HHS Secretary

FactChecking RFK Jr.’s First Interview as HHS Secretary
February 21, 2025

In Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first interview as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, he made multiple incorrect or misleading statements, including about seed oils, an abortion drug and the notion that the U.S. has the “sickest population in the world.”

What to Know About Trump’s Executive Order on Wind Energy

What to Know About Trump’s Executive Order on Wind Energy
February 5, 2025

On his first day in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that attempts to slow the growth in the country’s wind generation capacity. We’ll explain what the order did and what Trump has said about wind energy.

RFK Jr. Cites Flawed Paper Claiming Link Between Vaccines and Autism in HHS Confirmation Hearing

RFK Jr. Cites Flawed Paper Claiming Link Between Vaccines and Autism in HHS Confirmation Hearing
January 31, 2025

In his second day of confirmation hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, refused to say that vaccines do not cause autism — despite a large body of evidence showing there is no link. He also pointed to a flawed paper to suggest that there is credible evidence to claim vaccines cause the disorder.

Q&A on Trump’s Impending Exit from the World Health Organization

Q&A on Trump’s Impending Exit from the World Health Organization
January 30, 2025

As part of a rash of executive orders completed on his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump began the nation’s exit from the World Health Organization. Here, we explain how the withdrawal would work and what it would mean, both domestically and abroad. We also fact-check the president on his claims about WHO funding.