1. What happened to Theranos
1.1. Because of the many issues with Theranos, they were threatened to be sanctioned by the CMS
1.1.1. Threats included:
1.1.2. Holmes is suspended for two years
1.1.3. The lab's license is pulled
1.1.4. Banned from receiving Medicare and Medicaid payments
1.2. Theranos accepts full responsibility for the issues, and promises to work non-stop until the issues are resolved
1.2.1. The laboratory was mismanaged
2. Should there have been course correction?
2.1. Theranos tried to correct their course by hiring a new lab director and new medical advisors. They also submitted a plan of correction.
2.2. Theranos voids or corrects tens of thousands of blood tests
2.3. Theranos could have and should have done more corrections than they did
2.4. At Which Points?
2.4.1. They should have made corrections when CMS gave them a list of the 45 deficiencies of the lab
2.4.1.1. When CMS came back, they saw that Theranos still hadn't fixed 43 of the 45 deficiencies
2.4.1.1.1. These remaining issues should have been addressed in the first place, which further escalates the problem, and questions leadership within the company
3. How was the table set for the board of directors?
3.1. Qualifications
3.1.1. Consisting of members that actually lacked medical knowledge, and leaned more towards political emphasism.
3.2. Reconfiguration
3.2.1. Most of the following issues should have been prevented by the board, especially the second round of changes that was ordered by the administration
3.2.2. With the implementation of new members by Elizabeth, this action should have enabled the company to take a more positive route to better the company, however, with the continued quality issues, the public also lost hope in the board as well.
4. Issues with Theranos
4.1. 1. There was little to no published evidence on the process/functions of "Edison," their "industry changing" blood testing device. The company was often described as "secretive." These issues, which should have been a typical evidence-based practice, was first scrutinized by Dr. John P. A. Ioannidis (Khan, 2017).
4.2. 2. Theranos faces issues with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the voided test and results.
4.3. 3. Theranos' board of directors had a lot of political luminaries, but no one who currently practiced medicine
4.4. 4. "Theranos failed to report tests that showed Edison, its proprietary blood-testing device, may not be accurate, and that the company didn't use it for most tests" (Brooks & Fiore, 2016).
4.4.1. Patient's safety at risk.
5. The Possibility of Recovering/Further Success
5.1. Their new product
5.1.1. This may be one of their last attempts at making a stand in the health care industry with no more blood testing for the time being
5.1.2. During the announcement, the audience was underwhelmed with the release of the "Minilab," their new product (Brooks & Fiore, 2016).
5.2. The ability to resume their work
5.2.1. Theranos will be able to resume their work once the two-year hold on blood testing is released.
5.3. The public view on Theranos
5.3.1. Given the recent publications and instances in which Theranos failed guidelines more than once, puts the public's trust at bay.
6. References
6.1. Brooks, J., & Fiore, M. (2016, October 13). The Rise and Fall of Theranos: A Cartoon History. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from http://ww2.kqed.org/futureofyou/2016/07/14/the-rise-and-fall-of-theranos-a-cartoon-history/
6.2. Khan, R. (2017, February 21). Theranos' $9 Billion Evaporated: Stanford Expert Whose Questions Ignited The Unicorn's Trouble. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/roomykhan/2017/02/17/theranos-9-billion-evaporatedstanford-expert-whose-questions-ignited-the-unicorn-trouble/#6deca47a6be8
6.3. Loria, K. (2015, October 19). What we know about how Theranos' 'revolutionary' technology works. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from http://www.businessinsider.com/how-theranos-revolutionary-technology-works-2015-10
6.4. Mclean, R. (2017). Theranos issues thousands of blood-test corrections. [online] CNNMoney. Available at: http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/19/news/companies/theranos-corrects-tests/ [Accessed 14 Apr. 2017].
6.5. Peng, R. (2016, May 23). Update On Theranos. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from http://simplystatistics.org/2016/05/23/update-on-theranos/
7. What is Theranos
7.1. Theranos is a company created by Elizabeth Holmes
7.1.1. The goal of the company is to provide blood tests at 50% of the cost of Medicare's reimbursement rates
7.1.2. These blood tests use a "nanotainer" to collect blood from a single finger prick, thus eliminating the need for needles and tubes
7.1.3. Providing access to a patients body is another goal of Theranos