'Science Is a Process'

What does a fact-checking organization do when the facts aren’t clear? 

And what happens when reputable scientists disagree about a public health policy? 

Science Editor Jessica McDonald this week answers those questions in her article "When the Science Is Messy: How SciCheck Handles Scientific Disputes." 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, SciCheck, a project of FactCheck.org, has covered critical health issues when scientific opinion has been divided, at least to some extent, typically because of a lack of robust data. That includes the utility of face masks, particularly before it became clear that the coronavirus could be spread from individuals without symptoms, and the need for healthy people to get booster vaccines.

It's important, in such cases, to be transparent: Provide readers with the best information available at that time and remind readers that the science on a given topic can change.

As Jessica writes, "The best — and arguably most fundamental — part of science is that it is self-correcting and always evolving. More than anything, science is a process, a method for moving closer to truth and a better understanding of our world."

Reader: Did Biden or his son take money from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin while he was VP?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: There is no evidence of that.

I suspect you may be referring to another Russian, not Putin, and even that claim is unsubstantiated. 

During the final presidential debate, President Donald Trump baselessly accused Joe Biden of receiving “$3.5 million from Russia.”

Trump said: "Joe got $3.5 million from Russia and it came through Putin because he was very friendly with the former mayor of Moscow. And it was the mayor Moscow’s wife. And you got $3.5 million. Your family got $3.5 million. And, you know, some day you’re going to have to explain why you got $3.5 [million]."

But, as we wrote at the time, Trump was distorting the facts of a disputed account in a partisan report from a Republican-controlled Senate committee about Biden’s son, Hunter.

That report claimed that “an investment firm co-founded by Hunter Biden” received $3.5 million from Russian businesswoman Elena Baturina in 2014. Baturina was the wife of the former mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, who was removed as mayor in 2010 by then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. At the time of the alleged payment, Baturina was living in London and Austria.

The report says nothing about Joe Biden receiving any money from that transaction, and it is not clear that Hunter Biden did, either. George Mesires, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, told the Washington Post that the allegation is false. Mesires said Hunter Biden was “not a co-founder of” the company, Rosemont Seneca Thornton LLC, that is named in the report as receiving the payment from Baturina. 

The former president brought it up again more recently at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, and we wrote about it again.

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "COVID-19 is Caused by a Virus, Not Snake Venom": The COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a novel coronavirus, first isolated in January 2020. But a viral video has been spreading a conspiracy theory that the pandemic has actually been a plot to poison people with snake venom. 
• "McCormick’s Denouncement of ‘Structural Bigotry’ Not an Endorsement of BLM": A TV ad from a super PAC backing Dr. Mehmet Oz for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania stretches the facts in an attempt to tie Oz’s chief rival, Dave McCormick, to Black Lives Matter. 
• "McDonald’s Ice Cream Isn’t Toxic for Dogs, Contrary to Viral Posts": The ingredients of McDonald’s restaurant food have been the subject of bogus claims in social media posts in recent years. In April, posts falsely claimed the fast-food chain includes xylitol, which is toxic to dogs, in its ice cream. The company told us xylitol is not used in its food, and the sweetener isn’t listed as an ingredient on McDonald’s website. 
• "Posts Spread Unfounded Claims About Disney Company’s Financial Health": The Disney Company opposed Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, also referred to by critics as “Don’t Say Gay.” Disney’s actions sparked calls from conservatives for a boycott of Disney — and a flurry of unfounded or exaggerated claims on social media that the company was suffering declines in subscribers, visitors and stock value. 
• "Mark Walker Voted Against Impeaching Trump, Contrary to a Misleading Ad": Republican Mark Walker voted against former President Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, and he was no longer a congressman when the House voted to impeach Trump a second time in 2021. Yet, a misleading TV ad claims Walker, who is running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, "abandoned" Trump on a vote "to block a Democrat bill" impeaching Trump.

• "Preguntas y respuestas sobre la segunda dosis de refuerzo de la vacuna contra el COVID-19 para las personas mayores": A fines de marzo, la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de Estados Unidos autorizó una segunda dosis de refuerzo de las vacunas contra el COVID-19 para las personas mayores de 50 años. Pero los datos que apoyan la dosis adicional son limitados. Aquí desglosamos los hallazgos disponibles y compartimos lo que los científicos recomiendan. 
• "El COVID-19 es causado por un virus, no por veneno de serpiente": La pandemia del COVID-19 fue causada por un nuevo coronavirus, aislado por primera vez en enero de 2020. Pero un video que se ha viralizado ha difundido la teoría conspirativa de que la pandemia es en realidad un complot para envenenar a las personas con veneno de serpiente. 
• "Las vacunas contra el COVID-19 reducen las tasas de hospitalización y mortalidad, al contrario de lo que se afirma en las redes sociales": Las personas que no están vacunadas contra el COVID-19 son más propensas a padecer la enfermedad grave y mueren en mayor proporción que las vacunadas. Sin embargo, cuentas partidistas en las redes sociales, incluida una publicación de un miembro del equipo legal de la campaña del expresidente Donald Trump, continúan sugiriendo de forma errónea que las vacunas son innecesarias y desaconsejan su uso.