Comment by JumpCrisscross
15 hours ago
> Theranos generated around 7.8 million test results for Arizona consumers alone. Of those, roughly 834,000 had to be voided or corrected
I got one of these! I called my New York doctor in a panic because apparently my kidneys and liver were failing. We ordered a bunch of rush tests, they came back fine, then we did a bunch more to confirm. That was a lot of stress, wasted medical professionals' time and cost for a single person. (The only reason I didn't go straight to ER is I was doing my start-up at the time and, America being America, didn't have the best health insurance.)
I don't think my doctor reported that result as being wrong. I certainly didn't–I was too busy confronting my impending doom. So my HDHP wound up paying for not only the un-needed follow-up tests, but also for the Theranos test. (I don't remember if I paid a deductible. It was at a Walgreens.)
> She did it before for Paul Logan and Anthony Scaramucci, and now is softening the road for Elizabeth Holmes pardon
She's maintaining access to powerful people. It's a well-known problem with access journalism.
>> It's a well-known problem with access journalism.
Yes, CNBC is a prime example :-)
Having followed your comments here for years, I was shocked to read that you got Theranos tests. From the get-go, long before the WSJ exposé, it was apparent to me this was a complete fraud. I based my thinking on long experience (38 years) drawing blood for tests.
> was shocked to read that you got Theranos tests
I’d been reading about them for a few years, never got personally involved in any capacity, was in Phoenix for a long-distance relationship and saw the billboard and thought “why not?” When I saw the results I panicked. Ex post facto I figured something went wrong with my draw (full venous draw, by the way).
I have no background in medicine, and I was probably considerably stupider at the time inasmuch as I was in my twenties, so I never connected it to being a fraud, instead concluding their kit didn’t work reliably and that they’d launched prematurely and would have to pull back from the market and regroup (and get sued) for a while.
Do you ask the doctor to stop so you can discuss which vendor will be recieving test materials prior to blood draw?
I would NEVER patronize a doctor who sent my blood to Theranos. At the time it was operating in Arizona, it was only after a tremendously intense and expensive lobbying campaign to get approval. That was very much in the news at the time.
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I’m generally discerning of the lab doing my bloodwork. You can look up ratings online. Less out of paranoia for being defrauded and more for comfort.