As the preliminary testimonies in the Elizabeth Holmes trial unfold, and stories are told, one thing is clear: Theranos was more than a “failed business.”
On August 4, 2021, Chris Spargo, reporting for the Cancer website Survivornet.com related the story of a man undergoing a blood test for prostate cancer.
The man’s test numbers were all over the place. At first, he had high numbers, then he didn’t, and when he complained to Theranos, the company sent a phlebotomist to his office to draw a full-sized vial of blood to run the conventional test rather than the “one drop” mini-tube (named “Edison”) which was reputed to run more than 200 tests.
According to Spargo (my italics):
“Major errors in the test devised by Theranos to determine the presence or propensity or prostate cancer first came to light back in 2016, courtesy of a letter sent to the company from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.”
Flawed Technology
The patient above, was one of many who complained about the Theranos technology. This was further brought to light on September 22, 2021 when another patient’s story was revealed under oath.
Brittany Gould, went to an Arizona Walgreens back in September 2014 for a Theranos blood test. As related in a prior blog, Theranos had briefly entered into an agreement with Walgreen’s to establish wellness centers.
Ms. Gould was a high-risk OB-Gyn patient. She had suffered through three miscarriages and when she suspected she was again pregnant her doctor’s office suggested she have a blood test to measure her pregnancy hormone.
According to her doctor’s testimony:
“The [hormone] value doubles every 48 to 72 hours in a normal pregnancy. Ms. Gould first took a test on 30 September with a value of 1,005, and later on 2 October, the levels had jumped to 12,558.”
However, the blood test conducted by Theranos on October 4 indicated she was suffering another miscarriage. The levels were down around 100. The doctor’s office re-tested and the levels bounced back up. Something was wrong.
Said the practitioner at the medical office:
“I felt very uncertain of the validity of the results and felt uncomfortable as a provider continuing to have my patients use it.”
The good news was that eight months later, the patient gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
Hardly Harmless
The defense has maintained that Theranos is no more – or less – a failed entrepreneurial venture. One of thousands of Silicon Valley “plays” that fell flat. While the prosecutors in this case, as well as the whistle-blower insiders of the former company, would vehemently disagree, this post tries to introduce a “more human, less business” take to the case.
In just the two (of many) examples that have come to light, one patient was blatantly lied to about cancer in his results, and the other might have decided upon an abortion based on her results.
Theranos was engaged in much more than a business deception, whether intentional or unintended, they were playing with people’s lives. The “Edison” tubes, with the two or three drops of blood were following algorithms rather than actual results. In short, they were playing the odds or if you prefer, throwing darts into a dartboard.
It circles back around to a highly flawed technology. Elizabeth Holmes may have taken on the persona of an incredibly confident, genius (who was undeniably attractive), but so far, her breakthrough technology was never more than a failed scam.
There are already loud reverberations throughout the Silicon Valley world that in the future they had better tread lightly when touting a technology known to be a failure or at least, highly flawed. The bottom-line in this particular aspect of the Theranos debacle is what might have happened had these test results resulted in a death?
The Theranos technology can be thought of a nice idea that failed to materialize or a side-show led by an unethical, circus huckster. Suddenly, the genius in this fraud, has become as flawed as the technology.
