Saying Theranos needs to do some damage control is like suggesting Donald Trump may want to take a moment to collect his thoughts before opening his mouth to speak.
After damning investigations into the high-flying company’s blood-testing technology by both The Wall Street Journal and the federal government, Theranos, once valued at $9 billion, is now struggling to regain legitimacy.
Today, the company announced what appears to be an attempt at rehabilitating its reputation, stating that “nationally respected laboratory and medical experts” have joined its Scientific and Medical Advisory Board. (You can see who the board members are and the company’s description of them below.)
Company spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan says all of the board members have taken part in at least one of three scientific review panels looking at the company’s technology.
Buchanan said the board members are being paid “the industry average of an expert in the medical field.”
The board’s co-chair, Dr. David Helfet, director of the Orthopedic Trauma Service, Hospital for Special Surgery and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, was quoted in today’s press release as saying the company “literally took the lid off of the box” when it came to providing board members access to its operations . (He meant “figuratively,” we’ll have to assume.)
“Experts were shown Theranos’ technology, met with Theranos scientists, and had access to any data,” Helfet said.
So what did these panels conclude? I asked Brooke Buchanan. She said the board will meet again in two weeks to “decide and strategize delivery of our data and publication.”
The new board members join an initial group announced by Theranos last October, formed after criticism that its board of directors, which included Henry Kissinger and George P. Schultz, had just one practicing medical professional.
If Theranos does present evidence of its technology’s Read More …
Source:: Future of You