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Walgreens Cuts Ties With Blood-Test Startup Theranos (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the house-of-cards dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Walgreens has announced that it's terminating its partnership with blood-testing startup Theranos. All 40 of the "Theranos Wellness Centers" in Walgreen's Arizona drugstores will be shut down immediately, closing what has been a primary link between Theranos and would-be consumers, and further wounding the troubled startup's revenue. "In light of the voiding of a number of test results, and as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has rejected Theranos' plan of correction and considers sanctions, we have carefully considered our relationship with Theranos and believe it is in our customers' best interests to terminate our partnership," said Walgreens senior vice president Brad Fluegel in a press statement.

18 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. Homeopathic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What about all of the homeopathic products still sold at Walgreens stores?

    1. Re:Homeopathic by tripleevenfall · · Score: 3, Funny

      I buy all mine from the banner ads I see on Slashdot.

      By the way, do you know how acidic your body is?

    2. Re:Homeopathic by HornWumpus · · Score: 3, Funny

      WTF is wrong with Walgreens? They should sell guns and ammo too.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    3. Re:Homeopathic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Have you checked the magazine rack? They might have Guns & Ammo somewhere around the other sports mags.

    4. Re:Homeopathic by The-Ixian · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A company "cares" exactly as long as it is run by 1 person.

      After that, the company may be able to hold on to that image until that image comes into direct conflict with the needs of scale.

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    5. Re:Homeopathic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      My blood dissolves plastic and metal. And I can extend my jaw two feet from my head. Why do you ask?

    6. Re:Homeopathic by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 3, Funny

      WTF is wrong with Walgreens? They should sell guns and ammo too.

      A friend of mine said "Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms should be a party store, not a government bureau!" :-D

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    7. Re:Homeopathic by tnk1 · · Score: 2

      In their defense, if you have "homeopathic" on the label, then Walgreen's is selling a correctly labelled product.

      Which is to say "homeopathic" == "placebo".

      The problem with Theranos is that their product was labelled "accurate medical testing" explicitly. And it's not. At least people who see "homeopathic" on a box have not been deceived as to their purchase. They're just generally deluded, it's not Walgreen's that is lying to them.

    8. Re:Homeopathic by magarity · · Score: 2

      My blood dissolves plastic and metal

      Time to cut back on the Coca-Cola.

  2. And the bleeding starts by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

    Maybe they need a transfusion.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  3. The fraud called Theranos is almost dead by smooth+wombat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Heard this wonderful news on NPR this morning. The company has been a sham since the beginning. You name it, they lied about it.

    To date Theranos has never let the government or anyone from the outside reproduce the results they claim they get with their system. They have delayed, delayed and delayed.

    Now, finally, the fraud of Elizabeth Holmes will be revealed. She can deny all she likes but she has known about this from the beginning.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    1. Re:The fraud called Theranos is almost dead by HornWumpus · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Somebody needs to examine how their devices got FDA certs.

      There was certainly some corruption involved.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    2. Re:The fraud called Theranos is almost dead by Gilgaron · · Score: 4, Informative

      You don't get audited immediately... if the submission looked good then it'd probably go through and most medical products take long enough to ramp up that the audit will still take place before a large rollout.

    3. Re:The fraud called Theranos is almost dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Has anyone actually defined how/to what extent this is a sham though? It would seem to be a pretty easy supposition to test, get a selection of a few dozen people (preferably with some with and some without the tested conditions), send several sets of blood samples out, one to Theranos and couple to a few standard testing firms. After you get the results back chart the differences. The only thing I've heard is they're "not approved", "inaccurate", but no hard numbers. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they aren't as accurate as standard lab testing, but a Ford Focus isn't as safe as a Mercedes Benz and we aren't banning them. There is a place for somewhat less accurate/much cheaper medical testing, as long as it is used as an indicator and not a definitive result for major medical decisions. I don't know if that is Theranos, or if they are and outright scam. What I do know is that most of the "cut and dry" controversy these get a lot more grey when you dig beyond the headline.

    4. Re:The fraud called Theranos is almost dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Theranos' results are wildly inaccurate. They also refused to let the FDA or anyone else see the results of their own tests.

    5. Re:The fraud called Theranos is almost dead by NotAPK · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'm no expert, but my understanding is that the device fails to work on two levels.

      1) The device samples a tiny drop of blood from the periphery of the body. Regardless of the sensitivity of the analyzing device, any blood sample taken in this way (big or small) will not represent the composition of the blood in the body. It may work for some factors (everyone has seen a diabetic test their finger, but even that test is only "close enough" for them to self medicate with it) but not for all, including some significant ones. Theranos claimed they could "correct" for this. It was an extraordinary claim that required extraordinary evidence that it would work. No such evidence has been presented.

      2) The device works with a tiny drop of blood. Performing the analysis with such a small sample is problematic. Sure, it will work for some factors, since we have extremely sensitive tests for them, or they are abundant in the sample and easily detected. However, there are other factors that are difficult to detect, even with the largest and most sophisticated machines on the planet sampling an entire vial of blood. It was an extraordinary claim that their testing machine could sample a tiny drop of blood and perform reliable tests. No extraordinary evidence for this claim has ever been presented.

      So that's my summary, feel free to read online for a while if you want to find some citations, but it's all been reported pretty well here on Slashdot and in the online media.

  4. Re:Politics by HornWumpus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You can bet the politicians the twisted arms at the FDA will never pay a price.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  5. E-meters by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will Walgreens at least keep stocking e-Meters? I cannot remain Clear without one.