CA - Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos) Wire Fraud

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RickshawFan said:
Here's to answer part of my blood question.

Even accounting for viscosity and the diameter of the needle, a blood test would need minimally many drops of blood.

https://www.quora.com/How-many-drops-are-present-in-1ml-of-blood

Holmes was claiming "a drop" and "a few drops" per the indictment.

I assume tests wouldn't work with lower quantity than the minimum current quantity of 0.5 ml on test. If it were possible, it would have been done already? Makes no sense to me why this would be a viable proposition for Theranos even to attempt this.

I'm also thinking blood coagulates quickly if you prick your finger and collect it from the surface, and this would undoubtedly throw off a test? And there would be a contamination problem from whatever was on the surface of your finger?
Click to expand...

There already exists what we call POC (Point of Care) testing. Think glucometers for checking blood sugars. And a device called an iStat can (in a hospital environment) run a couple dozen commonly ordered tests at the bedside. For example, in my former job in a Peds ICU- we used iStats extensively for blood gas monitoring, lactate, electrolytes, hemoglobin/ hematocrit - common things any critically ill child would need tested for frequently. These devices used a cartridge that took about 0.3mL of blood- and could be obtained by a finger or heel prick (you of course cleaned the skin with alcohol first!). ALL of these tests can be performed on whole blood (in other words- they did not need to be spun in a centrifuge and have components separated). To your clotting queston- there is an anticoagulant embedded in the testing cartridge of the iStat- it keeps the blood from clotting while the test is being run. Processing time is 1-2 minutes.
So Theranos/ Holmes was claiming thousands of really sophisticated multi-step tests requiring component testing (serum/ plasma) could somehow magically be done on just a couple drops of blood.
And to your previous post- I vote psychopath / liar.
 
Thanks, mjm. That clarifies a lot. I hadn't thought about how some blood tests don't require reagents and they can be done on the fly. I had also forgotten about blood sugar-sticks. This puts the picture together for me.

I'm guessing the array of tests Theranos was bragging about would also require an array of different reagents, and each of these would dilute this tiny sample too much for it to be accurate?

I'm calculating you'd need more than 1-3 drops of blood for even a basic infant test, too?

Also, if I can figure this out and I'm just an intelligent non-medical type.... and medical "types" are available in the world (like you) to fill out and adjust my (common) sense of the matter.... Why weren't there thousands of regular folks out there laughing at this megalomaniac?

This is so "emperor's new clothes", but tens of thousands were duped, not just the investors.

With just a little explanation from an expert witness and their own experience with blood tests, a jury is going to easily understand why Theranos was never a viable proposition. IMO.

*******

I notice women are all about "she's a psychopath and narcissist, duh". Guys are all "she made a bad decision early on, there was one little lie, she went down a slippery slope, and it snowballed....no pathology here...it's a human thing that lying can get out of hand, and anyway it happens in Silicon Valley all the time".
 
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Does anyone know why Holmes's and Bulwani's sexual relationship was so problematic that it came up in the deposition? And why they had to keep it secret?
 
EXCELLENT podcast June 2018 with Carreyrou interview. The lies began much earlier....

‎Inside the Hive with Nick Bilton: ‘’Sociopathic Tendencies”: Inside Elizabeth Holmes’ Colossal Disgrace on Apple Podcasts

This one is titled Sociopathic Tendencies.

Carreyrou is very articulate and a great story teller.

It helped me get through sanitizing my kitchen for an hour....

There are more.....

Holmes gets married and gossip: ‎Inside the Hive with Nick Bilton: Wait, Elizabeth Holmes Got Married?! on Apple Podcasts
 
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Elizabeth Holmes trial likely delayed until 2021 because of Covid-19

July 20, 2020

“Proceeding in the midst of a pandemic comes with great risks,” said Lance Wade, an attorney for Holmes. “We think a trial anytime soon is just not realistic, it’s just not safe. If we’re forced to do it we will do it, but it endangers people and we prefer not to.”

However, prosecutors argued the government is ready to proceed as planned.

“From the government’s perspective, we’re ready to go and it’s important to this case that it goes expeditiously”, assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Leach said. “The fraud here is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Davila, who was hesitant about delaying the trial said “to take the foot off the gas pedal makes the finish line more obscured.”

The judge set an August hearing to decide on an exact new trial date.
 
Elizabeth Holmes' Theranos trial set to begin on March 9, 2021

Aug 11, 2020

Last week, prosecutors filed a third superseding indictment – hitting the Stanford dropout with a twelfth fraud charge relating to a patient’s blood test.

Holmes and her legal team are fighting the new charge claiming the indictment violates her rights because the grand jury that handled it was created during the pandemic.

In a motion filed last week, Holmes’ team has requested Davila grant them access to the jury selection records.

Prosecutors fired back, urging the court to deny Holmes’ request, saying she’s asking for too much by suggesting “without basis” that the jurors were improperly selected.

The government’s motion says Holmes has requested “21 broad categories of documents” about the selection process.

Prior to her 2018 downfall, Holmes was named the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire and Theranos was privately valued at $9 billion.
 
My gosh, I just heard Carreyrou say Holmes used a re-purposed glue dispenser (aka glue bot) for THE blood testing machine developed by Theranos. I suppose the mechanism involved glue nozzles getting filled with glue/blood/reagent, being moved by an arm over to where the drop would be dumped.... She named it the Edison. It was the centerpiece of Theranos, like the Holy Grail of unicorn technology; everything was staked on it. Yep, a mechanical glue machine.
Can you imagine the contamination?
Evidently, Holmes was thrilled with this concept. Around 23 sec.
 
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RickshawFan said:
My gosh, I just heard Carreyrou say Holmes used a re-purposed glue dispenser (aka glue bot) for THE blood testing machine developed by Theranos. I suppose the mechanism involved glue nozzles getting filled with glue/blood/reagent, being moved by an arm over to where the drop would be dumped.... She named it the Edison. It was the centerpiece of Theranos, like the Holy Grail of unicorn technology; everything was staked on it. Yep, a mechanical glue machine.
Can you imagine the contamination?
Evidently, Holmes was thrilled with this concept. Around 23 sec.
Click to expand...

Scary...
 
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