How a medical scheme so altruistic in nature convinced millions of lies.
Blood in a petri dish. - (WIX, 2024)
Modern tech companies are constantly driven to discover new technologies for profit and innovation globally. This process can breed innovation and drive humanity forward. However, more often than not, in the 21st century, it can create disasters that affect generations. When the Theranos startup emerged in the early 2010s, it was heralded as a groundbreaking solution that could potentially save thousands of lives by detecting illnesses in advance. This technology, initially promising, would later be marred in controversy and mystery, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars, jobs, and confidence in the tech side of medicine.
"For most of its existence, the now-defunct biotech startup Theranos operated in so-called "stealth mode" — disclosing little about the science behind its blood-testing device while boldly claiming that it could deliver faster, more convenient, and cheaper diagnostic tests to millions of people anxious to know if they had diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, or scores of other conditions." (PEW, 2022). It's a claim that would rock the world of medicine and testing care. There is no need for intravenous needles, the possibility of finding out about life-threatening illnesses early, and a brand new women-led company. Elizabeth Holmes seemed to have killed Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp. Her company was valued in the billions and had a board with names like Murdoch and Kissinger. She had partnered with Walgreens and had even been named one of history's most inspirational women by Forbes. Holmes had the world on her fingers (CNN, 2022).
In reality, her company was a fraud. Holmes and Balwani had driven the company to be an aggressive workplace of secrets and lies. "In truth, Theranos' testing devices didn't work as advertised, a fact the company managed to conceal from investors, regulators, and customers for years until whistleblowers and a journalist exposed the firm's misconduct." (Pew, 2022). By 2015, Theranos appeared high, gaining FDA approval to test Herpes on the nanotaner Edison machine. However, behind the scenes, the company was consuming funds at an alarming rate, the Wall Street Journal was investigating it for fraudulent behavior, and Safeway dropped its partnership with Theranos. It was the beginning of the end for the Silicon Valley startup. While Holmes believed she could pull the company forward, like Steve Jobs, she was living in a fantasy world. In the coming years, Theranos would fall into disrepair. Balwani stepped down, CMS banned Holmes, Walgreens left the partnership, the FDA removed approvals, and almost all investors and partner companies sued Theranos. By 2018, Theranos had died, and Holmes and Balwani would see prison in the coming years.
The Theranos saga is a cautionary tale of misplaced trust, faulty federal approvals and investigations, tech freedoms, corporate espionage, and massive fraud. While Holmes may have initially harbored an altruistic idea to save millions of people, her plan to revolutionize the world of healthcare ended in tragic lies and a damaging stigma against women in the tech industry. The fallout from this scandal has been profound, triggering a global shift in the way tech companies are perceived. They are now under closer scrutiny, investors are more circumspect, and, most significantly, medical startups are now compelled to substantiate their technological claims. With Tiktok, Meta, and Amazon under growiung scrutiny, its become clear tech companies are no longer above the law.
Bibliography
Abdulkaf, Mariya. “Why Theranos Failed, but Other Researchers Might Not.” The Verge, December 30, 2021. https://www.theverge.com/22858603/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-blood-testing-future.
Avery Hartmans, Sarah Jackson. “The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes, the Former Theranos CEO Whose Prison Term Has Been Shortened by 2 Years.” Business Insider. Accessed May 11, 2024. https://www.businessinsider.com/theranos-founder-ceo-elizabeth-holmes-life-story-bio-2018-4.
“Elizabeth Holmes Sentenced to More than 11 Years for Defrauding Theranos Investors of Hundreds of Millions.” Northern District of California | Elizabeth Holmes Sentenced To More Than 11 Years For Defrauding Theranos Investors Of Hundreds Of Millions | United States Department of Justice, November 18, 2022. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/elizabeth-holmes-sentenced-more-11-years-defrauding-theranos-investors-hundreds.
O’Brien, Sara Ashley. “The Rise and Fall of Theranos: A Timeline | CNN Business.” CNN, July 7, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/07/tech/theranos-rise-and-fall/index.html.
Richardson, Liz. “The Theranos Problem Congress Must Still Solve - Patients Need Protection.” The Pew Charitable Trusts, January 12, 2022. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/about/news-room/opinion/2022/01/12/the-theranos-problem-congress-must-still-solve-patients-need-protection.
“Theranos: The Unicorn That Wasn’t.” Theranos: The Unicorn That Wasn’t - Case - Faculty & Research - Harvard Business School. Accessed May 11, 2024. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55762.
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