The vision of blood-testing company Theranos would have been great for patients, doctors, and even drugstores: mini-labs right inside stores, with a whole suite of blood tests available in a small machine and results available from a few drops of blood. Only the company’s tests proved inaccurate, and Arizona, the state where its labs set up shop, is planning to sue the company. [More]
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Former Blood-Testing Company Theranos Somehow Still Has 155 Employees To Fire
By 1.9.17 — Updated: 1.11.17
Remember Theranos, the blood-testing company that managed to be one of the most scandal-plagued startups of recent years? The company is back in the headlines, with the sad news that it’s managed to find 41% of staff it hadn’t yet laid off, and has targeted them for downsizing immediately. [More]
Walgreens Files Suit Against Former Partner Theranos
By 11.8.16
Theranos, the startup that shuttered its blood-testing business after losing its retail partnerships and facing stiff sanctions by federal regulators, is now facing another challenge, this time in the courtroom: Walgreens has reportedly filed a $140 million lawsuit against its one-time partner. [More]
How Bad Test Results From Theranos Led To Bad Real-Life Consequences For Patients
By 10.21.16
Something as simple and routine as a blood test can have life-changing consequences, and some patients whose test results from medical startup Theranos were later found to be inaccurate faced stress and worry, had to be re-tested, and made life-altering medical decisions based on wrong information. What did that look like in real life? [More]
Blood-Testing Company Theranos Gives Up On That Whole Blood-Testing Thing
By 10.6.16
When your blood-testing company gets called out for lying about tests, loses its retail partnerships, and has stiff sanctions put on it by the feds, well, it’s a good sign that you probably shouldn’t be in the blood-testing biz anymore. And so, after a rough year, Theranos is backing out of the blood-testing business. [More]
Feds Impose Sanctions On Blood-Testing Startup Theranos And Its Founder
By 7.8.16
Lab testing startup Theranos started from a revolutionary idea: performing blood tests quickly and inexpensively using only a drop of blood. The idea may have been more revolutionary if the technology actually worked yet, and if its lab in California had been operating up to current standards. Now the federal government has imposed sanctions on the company, which include being unable to bill Medicare or Medicaid for its services, and its founder and CEO can’t own or run a laboratory for the next two years. [More]
The Problem With Direct-To-Consumer Blood Tests: ‘Cancer Stethoscopes’ Are Not A Thing Yet
By 6.20.16
The idea of taking one blood test that tests for multiple cancers, a called a “liquid biopsy” in the medical-testing business, is a tempting one. If they work as promised, the tests check your blood for traces of various types of cancer before you even show any symptoms. The problem with these tests, meant as an option for very early cancer screening, is that they’re available, and even marketed directly to consumers, even though they haven’t been shown to actually be effective. [More]
Walgreens Closes Theranos Testing Centers In Arizona, Won’t Take Them Nationwide
By 6.13.16
When Walgreens and blood-testing startup Theranos partnered up in 2013, it seemed like a great idea for both companies and for patients. Inexpensive lab tests could be available right in neighborhood drugstores. Only the problem was that Theranos insisted on secrecy because of its new technology, and Walgreens wasn’t able to seriously investigate the tests or equipment. Now Walgreens has ended its partnership with Theranos. [More]
Report: Walgreens Signed Theranos Deal Despite Problems With Tests
By 5.26.16
A few years ago, back when lab-testing startup Theranos was still a hot and revolutionary company valued at billions of dollars, the company signed a deal to put retail lab-testing clinics in Walgreens stores. Now, Walgreens employees are reportedly wondering whether they were too eager to sign on with the company without having an outside observer ensure that the tests are actually accurate. [More]
Blood-Testing Startup Theranos Voids Test Results Dating Back 2 Years
By 5.19.16
Blood-testing startup Theranos started from a useful idea: why are we all carrying around tiny phonecomputers in our pockets, while the basic technology behind lab tests hasn’t changed much? The company developed new equipment that uses only a few drops of blood to run standard lab tests. The startup was worth billions, and partnered wtih Walgreens for in-store blood testing centers. Then it ran into a tiny problem with health regulators: the new tests didn’t work as well as advertised. [More]
