Theranos? Anyone have any opinion on this?

[kilroy69 993]

I have been watching this mess unfold for a while now. I have been saying from the start that this seems like a scam. If its too good to be true it usually is. Then they started stonewalling and it got even more fishy smelling. They were valued at 9 BILLION at one time. Now it looks like the wheels seem to be coming off.

[fandandy 3,311]

I haven't really followed Theranus, but I have followed Therbutthole. From,what I read it's a real sh1thole.

[southcarolina 166]

I dont think its a scam. I think he will be the big baddie in the next Avengers movie.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,587]

Good question for the medical professionals on the board.

[IGotWorms 3,297]

Is that one of the kingdoms in Game of Thrones or something?

[frank 2,144]

I have no idea what the thread is about.

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,566]

I have no idea what the thread is about.

 

hey I thought we found a new planet

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Is that one of the kingdoms in Game of Thrones or something?

You are thinking of Theros, the red priest with the flaming sword. HTH

[kilroy69 993]

The last few months have witnessed the unraveling of the remarkable life sciences company Theranos, culminating in the latest news that federal regulators may ban founder Elizabeth Holmes from the blood-testing industry for at least two years. The company is also facing a federal criminal investigation into whether it misled investors about its technology and company operations.

How has this widely acclaimed biomedical innovator fallen so far, so fast?

Theranos' revolutionary claim that won over investors was that it could accurately run tests using a small amount of blood taken from a poke in the patient’s finger, instead of a syringe full from a needle stuck in a vein. The idea was that dozens of tests, such as cholesterol and thyroid hormone levels, could be run on a single, tiny blood sample.

Theranos has had medical laboratory experts—including me—scratching their heads for some time. Having worked quite a bit in development of innovative medical tests, I knew what the company was promising just didn’t make a lot of sense.

THERANOS' MUCH-HYPED BLOOD-TESTING TECHNOLOGY

Theranos wowed investors, journalists and even groups like the Cleveland Clinic and Walgreens with what you might call an “iMedicine” vision of blood testing.

Basically, the idea was this. A few drops of blood from a fingertip are collected into a “nanotainer” collection tube and analyzed on the company’s proprietary machine, named after famed inventor Thomas Edison. How exactly the Edison devices work is unknown. But the claim was that many—possibly dozens—of tests could be run on those few drops of blood.

From a clinical perspective, this was always concerning, as such a shotgun approach to medical testing is actually very bad medicine. It is well-known that running numerous tests without symptoms or signs of disease invariably leads to false positive results.

Questions about the company’s technology came to a head in October. The Wall Street Journal alleged that Theranos might actually be performing the majority of its tests using traditional machines, the kind already in use in labs across the country, instead of its own much touted Edison devices. And then the FDA called the nanotainer an “uncleared medical device.” The company stopped using its signature collection tube, except in the single test that had been cleared by the FDA.

And, by the way, a machine capable of measuring many molecules on a drop of blood might seem like a breakthrough, unless you are someone familiar enough with life sciences technology to know that such capability has been invented numerous times. For instance, in my laboratory, we have a small handheld analyzer called an I-STAT. It can do 25 different tests on very small amounts of blood. It was developed more than 20 years ago and is commonplace today.

BLOOD FROM A FINGER ISN’T SAME AS BLOOD FROM A VEIN

Let’s leave the technical issues aside for a moment and focus on those drops of blood from a fingertip.

The vast majority of FDA-approved medically important laboratory tests are based on blood taken from a vein, not from the finger. In fact, the package inserts for medical tests cleared by the FDA say something like “blood should be collected using standard venous blood collection techniques.”

To understand why that matters, let’s start with some simple physiology. The human body can be considered a series of compartments; the concentration of any given molecule in blood or tissue fluid may vary from one compartment to the next.

A small molecule, such as glucose, can move easily between these compartments, and any bodily fluid can generally be used to test its concentration. This is why testing blood sugar with a finger works.

But large, medically important molecules like proteins and lipids are not always found in uniform concentrations throughout the body. The composition of blood from finger pricks from the same person can vary, a problem that doesn’t happen in blood taken from a vein.

When you lance a fingertip, you get both blood and tissue fluid, and this means that the concentration of molecules may be different than if the blood sample comes from a vein.

The point is that blood taken from a finger would be considered another bodily fluid by the FDA, and any tests using finger blood would need to cleared by the FDA. According to news reports, at one time Theranos was seeking FDA clearances for as many as 120 tests. Even if its technology actually works, hundreds of FDA clearances would have required hundreds of clinical trials, a process that would have taken years to complete.

Theranos has gotten only one test cleared by the FDA. That test—for Herpes infection—is for the detection of antibodies, not a measurement of their concentration. Tests for the presence or absence of a molecule are much simpler than those that quantify its concentration.

In March, researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine published asecret shopper study comparing Theranos to Quest and LabCorp, two major medical testing companies. Overall, more of the results from Theranos were outside the normal range, indicating a need for further medical testing. This is a worrisome result because the secret shoppers were healthy adults. But it’s also difficult to interpret because we don’t know if Theranos used its Edison machines or ran diluted samples on conventional analyzers.

MILLIONS INVESTED WITHOUT ANY PROOF?

Why didn’t investors and journalists dig more deeply, such as by demanding a head-to-head comparison of Theranos' Edison machine to standard chemistry analyzers?

Part of the problem seems to have been the secrecy surrounding these types of startups. Theranos always asserted that it had to operate in “stealth mode” to protect its lead in breakthrough technology, which means that there was literally no peer-reviewed information out there about its technology.

But the leading explanation seems to be that they were enthralled by the company’s charismatic young founder. Laudatory magazine cover articles about Holmes have been so numerous that the phenomenon has itself been a topic of discussion.

Theranos' board of directors also lacked anyone with expertise in laboratory testing or medical diagnostics. This should have been a warning sign.

SHOW ME THE DATA

Just a few weeks before regulators proposed banning Holmes and Theranos President Sunny Balwani from the blood-testing industry, the company tried to remedy this by bulking up its medical advisor board with well-qualified experts in chemistry, pathology and clinical chemistry.

It’s hard to imagine these experts would have signed on amid all the bad publicity and allegations without demanding proof that the technology works, but who knows?

It still remains possible that Theranos has discovered a breakthrough technology that can do hundreds of lab tests on a drop of fluid from a patient’s finger. But even if this increasingly unlikely prospect is a reality, Holmes' erstwhile acolytes need to remember the lessons learned from the pantheon of past pied pipers and summed up by statistician W. Edwards Deming:

In God we trust; all others must bring data.

[IGotWorms 3,297]

You are thinking of Theros, the red priest with the flaming sword. HTH

I'm rooting for Dorne but it ain't gonna happen. They just spend all their time drinking and focking

[wiffleball 4,631]

I didn't usually use a theranus, No, my parents would just give me money to buy a carton of milk For lunch.

[kilroy69 993]

Some good responses so far. I am entertained. Keep up the good work.

[Mookz 1,287]

I'd ###### her.

 

eta: pr!ck

[naomi 343]

Not that too many young women would have been aware of her, but I liked that Elizabeth Holmes was an example of getting attention for contributing something meaningful to society. It did seem like the demographic of its starter could have been a big part of why the company was getting the buzz it did though. I was cautiously appreciative of her/the company and I didn't know all the latest negative revelations were happening.

[parrot 789]

I'm picking out a Theranos for you!

Not an ordinary Theranos for you!

But the extra-best Theranos that you can buy,

with vinyl,

and stripes,

and a cup built right in!

[joeshushu 51]

I been applying for job there. I think the CFO is hot.

[TD Ryan2 314]

Theranos?? There are no's...

 

There are no red witches that can bring back Jon Snow and...

 

There are no machines that can predicted your health from a speck of blood.

 

We shouldda' learned all this from the Iffits Corp. collapse years ago... If it too good to be true.... There are no such things...

[IGotWorms 3,297]

I been applying for job there. I think the CFO is hot.

Just looked and she is definitely "CEO hot"

[kilroy69 993]

Just looked and she is definitely "CEO hot"

I would fock her. she is going to be in jail soon and would probably be on one of those jail marriage sites.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,587]

That's a rotten person. And I can almost guarantee that Walgreens and whoever else bought in on this were either given or bought stock in it. Book it.

[Sho Nuff 719]

You are thinking of Theros, the red priest with the flaming sword. HTH

How does one know of the sword is gay?

Other than it belonging to a priest?

[Mookz 1,287]

Never seen it. Don't have HBO.

[Frank M 181]

I have been watching this mess unfold for a while now. I have been saying from the start that this seems like a scam. If its too good to be true it usually is. Then they started stonewalling and it got even more fishy smelling. They were valued at 9 BILLION at one time. Now it looks like the wheels seem to be coming off.

 

 

I actually develop the kinds of molecular testing that Theranos claimed it could do on a drop of blood, and I knew from the minute I heard about them that it wasn't possible with today's technology to do what they claimed.Some tests only require a small amount of blood, but complex molecular assays require a robust amount of DNA that you can't get from a drop of blood. Doing multiple molecular tests on that single drop of blood is simply not possible at this time.

 

A lot of people at my place of employment were worried that they would soon be out of a job because of Theranos' magic machine, especially when the CEO visited our facility right before everything started falling apart.

 

All you have to have in health care is a novel idea that could (in theory) produce revenue and venture capitalists will throw money at you. I think they exaggerated what they were capable of doing and got caught up, hoping their "technology" would eventually catch up to their claims. Early on in my career, I worked on a very interesting project using viral vectors and protein packages targeting cell surface receptors to deliver DNA to cells in the hope of expressing normal protein in cells with mutations in their DNA, like in people with CF. It never quite worked right, and it was a complete black box as to how it worked when it did sort of work, yet there were enough venture capitalists willing to fund it that a company was formed to work on it. Even with most of the people working on it being fairly certain that it wouldn't ever get to the point of viable gene therapy, people were still willing to bet on it to the tune of several million $$.

 

The fall of Theranos is not shocking to me at all. I'd be surprised if the CEO doesn't get to spend a little time at the Gray Bar Hotel.

[IGotWorms 3,297]

 

 

I actually develop the kinds of molecular testing that Theranos claimed it could do on a drop of blood, and I knew from the minute I heard about them that it wasn't possible with today's technology to do what they claimed.Some tests only require a small amount of blood, but complex molecular assays require a robust amount of DNA that you can't get from a drop of blood. Doing multiple molecular tests on that single drop of blood is simply not possible at this time.

 

A lot of people at my place of employment were worried that they would soon be out of a job because of Theranos' magic machine, especially when the CEO visited our facility right before everything started falling apart.

 

All you have to have in health care is a novel idea that could (in theory) produce revenue and venture capitalists will throw money at you. I think they exaggerated what they were capable of doing and got caught up, hoping their "technology" would eventually catch up to their claims. Early on in my career, I worked on a very interesting project using viral vectors and protein packages targeting cell surface receptors to deliver DNA to cells in the hope of expressing normal protein in cells with mutations in their DNA, like in people with CF. It never quite worked right, and it was a complete black box as to how it worked when it did sort of work, yet there were enough venture capitalists willing to fund it that a company was formed to work on it. Even with most of the people working on it being fairly certain that it wouldn't ever get to the point of viable gene therapy, people were still willing to bet on it to the tune of several million $$.

 

The fall of Theranos is not shocking to me at all. I'd be surprised if the CEO doesn't get to spend a little time at the Gray Bar Hotel.

Oh great, now we have a fake molecular biologist too

[kilroy69 993]

 

 

I actually develop the kinds of molecular testing that Theranos claimed it could do on a drop of blood, and I knew from the minute I heard about them that it wasn't possible with today's technology to do what they claimed.Some tests only require a small amount of blood, but complex molecular assays require a robust amount of DNA that you can't get from a drop of blood. Doing multiple molecular tests on that single drop of blood is simply not possible at this time.

 

A lot of people at my place of employment were worried that they would soon be out of a job because of Theranos' magic machine, especially when the CEO visited our facility right before everything started falling apart.

 

All you have to have in health care is a novel idea that could (in theory) produce revenue and venture capitalists will throw money at you. I think they exaggerated what they were capable of doing and got caught up, hoping their "technology" would eventually catch up to their claims. Early on in my career, I worked on a very interesting project using viral vectors and protein packages targeting cell surface receptors to deliver DNA to cells in the hope of expressing normal protein in cells with mutations in their DNA, like in people with CF. It never quite worked right, and it was a complete black box as to how it worked when it did sort of work, yet there were enough venture capitalists willing to fund it that a company was formed to work on it. Even with most of the people working on it being fairly certain that it wouldn't ever get to the point of viable gene therapy, people were still willing to bet on it to the tune of several million $$.

 

The fall of Theranos is not shocking to me at all. I'd be surprised if the CEO doesn't get to spend a little time at the Gray Bar Hotel.

There was never a time when I thought this was every anything other than the "empress not wearing clothes" no one wanted to say it and if you did you were either anti woman, anti technology or just an assshole. There is just something about her and her actions that lead me to believe it was a scam.

[kilroy69 993]

Oh great, now we have a fake molecular biologist too

Right. Everyone knows every person who posts here is a taco bell counter person asking for 15 an hour while focking up a taco.

[Mookz 1,287]

Right. Everyone knows every person who posts here is a taco bell counter person asking for 15 an hour while focking up a taco.

 

I personally am hoping to work my way up to assistant Fry-o-lator.

[Frank M 181]

Oh great, now we have a fake molecular biologist too

 

It wasn't taken yet.

 

[kilroy69 993]

It wasn't taken yet.

 

glad I got to football playing cowboy astronaut first. whew.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Tejanos - most are okay, throw a good party. Don't leave your goat unattended around them.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Sometimes I wonder why "investing" is legal and "gambling" isn't. Seems like the same sh!t to me.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,587]

Sometimes I wonder why "investing" is legal and "gambling" isn't. Seems like the same sh!t to me.

Gambling is regulated much better and it's much more honest.

[Djgb13 2,338]

 

 

I actually develop the kinds of molecular testing that Theranos claimed it could do on a drop of blood, and I knew from the minute I heard about them that it wasn't possible with today's technology to do what they claimed.Some tests only require a small amount of blood, but complex molecular assays require a robust amount of DNA that you can't get from a drop of blood. Doing multiple molecular tests on that single drop of blood is simply not possible at this time.

 

A lot of people at my place of employment were worried that they would soon be out of a job because of Theranos' magic machine, especially when the CEO visited our facility right before everything started falling apart.

 

All you have to have in health care is a novel idea that could (in theory) produce revenue and venture capitalists will throw money at you. I think they exaggerated what they were capable of doing and got caught up, hoping their "technology" would eventually catch up to their claims. Early on in my career, I worked on a very interesting project using viral vectors and protein packages targeting cell surface receptors to deliver DNA to cells in the hope of expressing normal protein in cells with mutations in their DNA, like in people with CF. It never quite worked right, and it was a complete black box as to how it worked when it did sort of work, yet there were enough venture capitalists willing to fund it that a company was formed to work on it. Even with most of the people working on it being fairly certain that it wouldn't ever get to the point of viable gene therapy, people were still willing to bet on it to the tune of several million $$.

 

The fall of Theranos is not shocking to me at all. I'd be surprised if the CEO doesn't get to spend a little time at the Gray Bar Hotel.

I venture that only a couple people here besides myself know what you're talking about and have actually done a couple of those assays.

 

Anyways, agreed on your points. At this point in time our technology just hasn't caught up to the idea yet. It's great in theory and in the future could be promising. But as of right now we lack the technology to develop something like this. It's the same with the underwater breathing apparatus that is on gofundme right now which is the size of a watch and requires no oxygen tank. It claims that it can take the oxygen that's available in the water and convert it to breathable oxygen without the use of an oxygen tank. It would be nice to have but right now the tech just isn't there. Great concepts. Just not possible right now

[wiffleball 4,631]

I was hoping there's a thread on this. Fascinating read. Hot 19 year old starts his company up in 2003. Becomes a multi-billionaire. Signs or attempts to sign major contracts Nationwide based on technology that just flat out doesn't exist. Scores huge huge amounts of private Equity from ostensibly some very smart Capital investors.

 

As far as I know, still hasn't gone to court.

 

Actually probably a saving grace that the company never went public. There would have been a lot more charges. As it stands now, they have multiple counts of wire fraud indictments.

 

Honest to God, based on this country's history with white collar crime and the biggest scams in history? I will not be surprised if they settle this down for a single count of wire fraud. She spends a couple years in Camp fed working on the outline for her book. And then she becomes the next Michael Milliken.

If you don't know him, he was a major scamster in the 80s and now makes more money traveling the world doing speaking engagements. She's hot, young, she would fetch a pretty penny on the open speaking Market.

 

I assume the courts would seize this money, but Jesus, can you imagine the book and movie rights? You take some hot young engeue from the bullpen in Hollywood. Get a few writers, punch this thing up and you have a multi zillion dollar movie. And a new darling hero of the me-too movement.

 

Tagline: "She outsmarted the Wall Street Boys Club. And looked gorgeous doing it!"

 

Frick, I bet every production company in Hollywood is lined up around the block waiting for a shot at this one.

 

My bet? Jennifer Lawrence.

[TimmySmith 2,782]

All Pyramid schemes end eventually. This lasted longer than most and IMO it was all about #metoo. If she wasn't a woman she would not have landed such big fish. She bullied people and dared them to question her because of the woman card. She still has it to play. Even money she eventually eats a bullet.

[dain11279 926]

We are talking about the new bad guy in the Avengers, amirite?

[nospk 230]

Its in between Sagittarius and Capricorn

[Filthy Fernadez 2,696]

Ties back to Fusion GPS and the Clintons..............

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/974489688106029056.html

In the years before it produced the dossier, Fusion GPS worked to blunt aggressive reporting on the medical-device company Theranos. 

Tanya Chutkan represented Theranos in a 2013 malpractice lawsuit. She left BSF to be appointed Judge by Obama a year later. BSF is David Boies' Law firm: David Boies is Hillary Clinton's friend.

Tanya Chutkan recused herself twice in cases involving Fusion GPS, the same judge who was the lawyer representing Theranos, became a judge and just happened to preside over fusion GPS cases. 

https://dailycaller.com/2017/12/12/federal-judge-recuses-herself-from-a-second-fusion-gps-case/

Tanya Chutkan's previous boss was David Boies, whose law firm also represents Huma Abedin and Harvey Weinstein to name a few.

Tanya Chutkan was the Judge presiding over Imran Awan.

Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes are well connected to Clintons and Obama: Elizabeth Holmes, a Clinton donor who was named a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship under former President Barack Obama.

Holmes during her investigation hosted fundraisers for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Palo Alto. The event included a conversation with former Chelsea Clinton, and participants paid $2,700. The venue was later changed after public outcry.

BSF: David Boies's team including Tanya Chutkan represented Theranos during their legal mess: guess who was also on Theranos's Board of directors?

Yes, David Boies himself was on the board of directors: you can't really make this up. The guy whose law firm represented her, Huma Abedin, Weinstein, and called himself a personal friend to the Clintons was also on Theranos' board of directors.

[wiffleball 4,631]

RJeesus, this biitch is getting more press than AOC.

I hope they bury her. So far, they've done little to nothing.

It's really unfair and shows the perfect example of the American system. Some poor single mom bounces a check hoping to God that her paycheck comes in before they cash it and she goes to jail. This b**** deliberately and repeatedly scams the world's richest for billions of dollars and gets her own documentary series.

[wiffleball 4,631]

On 3/22/2019 at 8:04 AM, Filthy Fernadez said:

Ties back to Fusion GPS and the Clintons..............

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/974489688106029056.html

 

 

You know the problem with cutting and pasting filthy? It rots your brain. You should have learned that from Baker boy.

Like for example, two of the three biggest investors in theranos? Betsy DeVos and her family. Heard of them? Here's a hint, she sits in the cabinet room with Trump.

 

The other investor? Rupert Murdoch. Heard of him? Trumps bestie?

Each of them put it in at least nine figures each. Are they hooked up with the Clintons too?