Theranos

Theranos was a health technology startup founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes. The startup experienced major controversies due to its unethical business practices. Watch this video to learn more about Theranos’ technology and the implications it had on society.


Self-Assessment Questions:

Click here to test your understanding about Theranos.


Discussion Questions:
  1. Why did investors and business partners provide backing to a product that had not been proven through extensive testing and validation?
  2. (Referring to Diamandis’ literature article) Many hospitals and centralized labs are using point-of-care devices “which incorporate many Theranos-like technologies, such as fingerprick-collected whole blood, microfluidics…” Considering that these devices could be used in emergency situations or in low-resource settings that lack access to gold standard diagnostics, should these devices be used for widespread testing? Why or why not?
  3. What responsibility did individual employees at Theranos have to report questionable business practices?
  4. What actions can be taken to prevent a similar case of fraud from occurring in the future?

Continue Reading:
  • Waltz, E. After Theranos. Nat Biotechnol 35, 11–15 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3761
    • This article analyzes the history and aftermath of the Theranos technology. Note: This article may not be available due to subscription permissions.
  • Diamandis, E. “Theranos phenomenon: promises and fallacies” Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM), vol. 53, no. 7, 2015, pp. 989-993. https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2015-0356
    • This Opinion Paper analyzes the Theranos technology and contrasts it with current technologies used today. It also talks about the potential harms of related issues, like self-testing, over-diagnosis, and self-interpretation of results.

About the Creator:

This video was created by a student in the Rice Bioengineering Class of 2023 (used with permission).

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