4 ms·

Just going by Carryous podcast, it seems like there was a lot more hard evidence (emails, transcripts, texts, etc) that she was knowingly lying to investors. O

Just going by Carryous podcast, it seems like there was a lot more hard evidence (emails, transcripts, texts, etc) that she was knowingly lying to investors. On the other hand, I don't think there was any hard proof that she didnt know the results delivered by her labs (which were using third party machines, albeit ones being used improperly), were bunk.

chihuahua 5y ago
I feel like John Carreyrou deserves a medal for exposing the entire scam. First in WSJ articles and then in his book, which is a great read. It's incredible how much trouble this caused for him when Theranos tried to fight him. Who knows how long the scam would have continued without him, and how many more people would have gotten bogus test results. If Tiger Woods can get a presidential medal of freedom for playing golf, it seems like it's the least they could do for Carreyrou.
alanh 5y ago
I agree the proof for defrauding investors was less arguable. However there were still clear indications that she should have known the tests offered to patients were unreliable. For example, Schultz told her, before resigning, that it was not OK for Theranos to continue re-running their benchmark tests until they got a passing result (kind of like shaking the magic 8 ball until it, on the fourth shake, correctly answers the question “Is today Sunday?” — then selling it as an oracle). One employee flagged it for her attention that females were getting results that should only be possible if they had prostates — and she dismissed this as well! There was other evidence introduced during court that showed she knew the tests her company was doing for customers were not as accurate as she claimed, too. I would have loved to see her found guilty on these counts as a result, and I would also love to hear about the jurors' reasoning for not doing so.

chihuahua 5y ago

I feel like John Carreyrou deserves a medal for exposing the entire scam. First in WSJ articles and then in his book, which is a great read. It's incredible how much trouble this caused for him when Theranos tried to fight him. Who knows how long the scam would have continued without him, and how many more people would have gotten bogus test results. If Tiger Woods can get a presidential medal of freedom for playing golf, it seems like it's the least they could do for Carreyrou.

alanh 5y ago

I agree the proof for defrauding investors was less arguable. However there were still clear indications that she should have known the tests offered to patients were unreliable. For example, Schultz told her, before resigning, that it was not OK for Theranos to continue re-running their benchmark tests until they got a passing result (kind of like shaking the magic 8 ball until it, on the fourth shake, correctly answers the question “Is today Sunday?” — then selling it as an oracle). One employee flagged it for her attention that females were getting results that should only be possible if they had prostates — and she dismissed this as well! There was other evidence introduced during court that showed she knew the tests her company was doing for customers were not as accurate as she claimed, too. I would have loved to see her found guilty on these counts as a result, and I would also love to hear about the jurors' reasoning for not doing so.