蜜柚直播 鈥渄efinitely鈥 bears a portion of the blame for the Theranos blood-testing debacle, the author of a new book about the disgraced Silicon Valley startup says.
鈥淭he way in which they welcomed Theranos with open arms and did very little vetting of what the Theranos proposition was certainly contributed to putting 蜜柚直播 patients in harm鈥檚 way,鈥 said John Carreyrou, the Wall Street Journal reporter who broke the Theranos story and authored the newly released book, 鈥淏ad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup鈥 (Knopf Publishing Group).
鈥溍坭种辈 is where this giant, unauthorized medical experiment took place,鈥 Carreyrou said in a phone interview Thursday. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no sugar-coating it. It was a giant, unauthorized medical experiment that put tens of thousands of people鈥檚 health in jeopardy.鈥
蜜柚直播 was 鈥済round zero鈥 for Theranos, as the place where the blood-testing startup rolled out its faulty technology and tested human samples, Carreyrou said.
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Theranos sold investors on the promise of free market competition and lower medical lab-testing costs.
It sold consumers on the 鈥減in prick,鈥 finger stick blood tests the company was selling through Walgreens stores. The tests were supposed to require a drop or two of blood and no needles. The samples were to then be analyzed by Theranos鈥 portable technology.
The problem 鈥 the blood testing did not work.
蜜柚直播 does not bear the main blame, as state officials didn鈥檛 know Theranos was defrauding investors and 鈥渂asically deceiving everyone鈥 with its inaccurate testing methods, Carreyrou said.
Walgreens 鈥渃ompletely failed to do its due diligence鈥 before partnering with Theranos, he said. Walgreens, which filed a lawsuit against Theranos that was settled out of court, declined comment through a corporate spokesman on Friday.
Theranos never officially said why it favored 蜜柚直播, but the state鈥檚 friendliness to startups, entrepreneurship and its 鈥渓ight鈥 regulation of businesses factored into the decision, Carreyrou said.
鈥淲hen you think about it, 蜜柚直播 has not just gotten in bed with Theranos. It鈥檚 gotten in bed with Silicon Valley generally,鈥 said Carreyrou, citing the example of Uber testing its self-driving cars in 蜜柚直播, though after a Tempe pedestrian was killed by one of the vehicles earlier this year the testing was discontinued here.
鈥淚f I were an 蜜柚直播 resident, I鈥檇 be shocked at how the state has, even as it鈥檚 been so welcoming to these Silicon Valley startups, put in place so few safeguards to protect its consumers and its residents.鈥
Blood test law
Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes visited 蜜柚直播 in early 2015 to push House Bill 2645, legislation allowing people to get any blood test sold by a licensed lab without needing a doctor鈥檚 order. Gov. Doug Ducey signed the bill into law later that year. While Theranos is set to liquidate and will likely cease to exist by fall, HB 2645 remains law in 蜜柚直播.
In 鈥淏ad Blood,鈥 Carreyrou calls HB 2645 鈥渁 bill Theranos had practically written itself and heavily lobbied for.鈥
The legislation played a role in getting publicity for Theranos and in galvanizing enthusiasm for patients to utilize Phoenix-area Theranos 鈥渨ellness centers,鈥 Carreyrou said.
The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Heather Carter, a Cave Creek Republican, significantly expanded the existing number of medical tests 蜜柚直播 patients could get without a doctor鈥檚 order.
In its final version, the bill included a caveat that insurance companies do not have to cover the lab tests and that health-care providers are not liable for failure to review or act on the results of a laboratory test they did not request.
The bill passed the House 60-0 and the Senate 26-2, with Sen. Steve Farley, a 蜜柚直播 Democrat, casting one of the only two 鈥渘o鈥 votes.
Farley was not impressed with Holmes, whose presence at the Legislature seemed flashy, he said last week.
He recalls watching the young CEO get out of her limousine surrounded by bodyguards, dressed in her trademark black turtleneck that some say was a way to self-style herself like Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder.
鈥淚t was very dramatic,鈥 Farley said.
To Farley, HB 2645 was about Theranos and its attempt to test an 鈥渦nproven medical technology鈥 on 蜜柚直播 residents. One need only look at photos of Ducey signing the bill with Holmes in the background to find proof of the connection, he said.
鈥淚t was all about Elizabeth Holmes,鈥 Farley said. 鈥淪he showed up with her entourage and testified in the hearings all about how important this was to her and her company.鈥
鈥楾hat is inaccurate鈥
But Carter says the bill is sound public policy and was not about Theranos.
鈥淭he whole notion that they pretty much wrote the whole bill 鈥 that is inaccurate,鈥 Carter said last week. 鈥淭his was legislation and a concept I was already thinking of independent of them. Just like many other businesses sign in support of legislation, that was the situation here.鈥
The bill expanded on the number of blood tests patients could request on their own 鈥 including tests for Vitamin D levels and valley fever, Carter said.
鈥淲e just said unilaterally we will be a direct-testing state and we are not by any means the only state that has this,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd we put extra precautions in place to protect the doctors. That didn鈥檛 exist anywhere else.鈥
Theranos is no longer in the marketplace, but other lab companies such as Sonora Quest Laboratories have been 鈥渨ildly successful鈥 in embracing the concept of direct lab testing, Carter said.
Consumer demand for medical tests without a doctor鈥檚 order has continued to grow since the law went into effect in 2015, said Sonora Quest officials, though they did not give specific numbers. Consumers often use the tests to track their own health and wellness goals, officials said.
鈥淎s a legislator I don鈥檛 pick winners and losers among private businesses,鈥 Carter said. 鈥淭he underlying policy is still sound public policy that is shown to give patients more control over their own individual health care and their own individual health information.鈥
Carter declined to comment on Theranos鈥 downfall.
鈥淢y role as a public policy maker is to speak to public policy, not to opine on the success or failure of any individual business,鈥 she said.
In an emailed statement, Ducey鈥檚 office said it鈥檚 up to any new business model to prove itself in the market and, if a company breaks the rules, there should be consequences.
鈥淧ublic health and safety is always a top concern and the law we signed wasn鈥檛 about one company, it was a reform that was about expanding patient access,鈥 the statement says.
Restitution
Between 2013 and 2016, Theranos sold approximately 1.5 million blood tests to more than 175,000 蜜柚直播ns.
In April 2017, Theranos agreed to pay $4.6 million in consumer restitution as part of a consent judgment reached with the office of 蜜柚直播 Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
In December, Brnovich鈥檚 office issued 76,223 checks averaging $60.92 per person to reimburse people who paid for their tests out-of-pocket. One consumer had paid more than $3,400 for tests, Brnovich鈥檚 office says.
After Carreyrou published his first story questioning the company鈥檚 technology in October 2015, Theranos began facing numerous challenges, including lawsuits filed by patients alleging harm due to inaccurate test results.
Theranos and Holmes recently settled charges of 鈥渕assive fraud鈥 by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission. As part of the settlement, Holmes is banned from being an officer or director in a public company for 10 years.
Holmes and former Theranos President Sunny Balwani are also under criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney in San Francisco.
Multiple media outlets have reported Carreyrou鈥檚 book is starring Jennifer Lawrence as Holmes, who was 19 when she dropped out of Stanford to start the company. She is now 34.
Carreyrou doesn鈥檛 think Holmes set out to defraud investors or put people in harm鈥檚 way when she started Theranos. But that had changed by 2013, he said.
鈥淲hen you see the enormous gaps between her promises and where the technology was, there鈥檚 no way she didn鈥檛 know she was committing wrongdoing,鈥 he said.
Theranos did not respond to the Star鈥檚 request for comment.
The company did issue a press release disputing a recent 鈥60 Minutes鈥 report based on Carreyrou鈥檚 research, calling the report 鈥渕isleading and incomplete.鈥
Contact health reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or email sinnes@tucson.com. On Twitter: @stephanieinnes