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Allegations of Data Manipulation At Theranos (wsj.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A lengthy report at the Wall Street Journal brings allegations of data manipulation against blood-testing startup Theranos. The company raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors, at a valuation of roughly $9 billion, on the hope that they can revolutionize medical diagnosis. They've also made agreements with Safeway and Walgreen's to offer blood tests within stores. But multiple former employees say Theranos was shaky on the science at best, and intentionally misrepresentative at worst.
Engineer Anthony Nugent says the device intended for Walgreen's was still experimental. He also recalls seeing the machines labeled "for investigational use only," because of poor accuracy. A Theranos lab worker "told federal authorities that the results from the quality-control runs diverged from the known amount by more than two standard deviations, a red flag that suggested possible accuracy problems." When that employee notified superiors within the company, somebody came and deleted the quality control data, which made the device's test runs appear better than they were. There are also reports that inspectors and auditors were purposefully kept away from parts of Theranos's lab. A Theranos spokesperson denied everything.
Engineer Anthony Nugent says the device intended for Walgreen's was still experimental. He also recalls seeing the machines labeled "for investigational use only," because of poor accuracy. A Theranos lab worker "told federal authorities that the results from the quality-control runs diverged from the known amount by more than two standard deviations, a red flag that suggested possible accuracy problems." When that employee notified superiors within the company, somebody came and deleted the quality control data, which made the device's test runs appear better than they were. There are also reports that inspectors and auditors were purposefully kept away from parts of Theranos's lab. A Theranos spokesperson denied everything.
The tech is actually already cheap. A local hospital performs a 35 point blood screening with most of the commonly done tests twice a year for $40 a shot, and they do this as a FUND RAISER. A link to the event from earlier this year (although very short on details): http://www.topofwv.com/ai1ec_event/blood-analysis-weirton-medical-center-2/?instance_id=
The reason that the tests are so expensive in the Dr's office is that they run each one as a distinct test vs. using bulk analysis. They should NEVER just do a "cholesterol" test, but it is more profitable if they split it up.
"Theranostics" is a contraction of "therapeutics" and "diagnostics". It's been a fashionable term in research over the last decade.