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.

22 September 2023

Nutritionist makes errors in listing causes of acid reflux

A social media video listing the “only four main causes of acid reflux” doesn’t actually list the chief causes. Some listed aren’t causes at all.

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21 September 2023

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.

19 September 2023

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.

19 September 2023

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.

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6 September 2023

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.

4 September 2023

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.

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1 September 2023

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.

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29 August 2023

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.

23 August 2023

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.

21 August 2023

‘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.

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About

Dr Fergus Brown

Clinical Fact Checker (former)

Nutritionist makes errors in listing causes of acid reflux

Staring at the sun is bad for your eyes

UK tap water among safest in the world

Bad breath, headaches and pimples not caused by worm urine

Daily Star corrects error in reporting obesity deaths

Pasteurisation does not cause lactose intolerance

Telegraph mixes up heart attacks and cardiac arrests

Covid-19 vaccines not ‘Mass Genocide’ of children

ONS data shows lower death rates in people vaccinated against Covid-19

‘Men's performance issues’ have more than one cause

Full Fact fights bad information