THE REAL REASON THERANOS AND ELIZABETH HOLMES THINK YOU’RE STUPID.
Well it’s finally over folks.
Put a fork in this one.
Thanks to the work of John Carreyrou at the WSJ and a decades worth of trickle truth coming to the surface, we can close the books on the Theranos ‘Unparalleled Transparency’ saga.
I’m begrudgingly in awe of how well-crafted, well-oiled and well-funded of a machine was in place duping us with the Messianic story of young Stanford drop-out, Elizabeth Holmes, waging war on the Medical Industrial Complex.
What a ride it’s been watching this $9 Billion Dollar Unicorn impale its golden horn into a wall, get stuck, and watch a dozen men in clown suits hop off.
P.T. Barnum would be proud.
I’m hard pressed picking a favorite part of the story.
There’s the part when 99% of the Theranos board had ZERO experience in medicine, chemistry or anything vaguely related.
A big deal when you’re a “research company”.
The only thing missing was a Scorsese montage with ‘Layla’ playing in the background, as we watched the high profile board with their pants around their ankles.
SELLING BLUE SKY
About 6 months ago, I knew something didn’t quite smell right when a close lab industry contact caught wind that Oracle’s Larry Ellison was considering pulling his investment out of the company.
Details began to divulge of intense employee secrecy and potential investors not getting a chance to see company figures or the fabled ‘Edison’ technology — valued at 9 Billion Dollars.
9 Billion Dollars.
9 Billion Dollars for the functional equivalent of an open bag of Ruffle’s Sour Cream and Cheddar.
No one’s mentioned criminal charges yet, but it is an interesting possibility when you consider the net loss of recovered funds for the victims of the Bernie Madoff Scandal was a touch under $10 Billion.
The technology either exists and works or we have a classic Bait and Switch.
Just that simple.
And why were we even considering Theranos ‘Nanotainers’?
We already have pediatric vials that can use about a shot glass worth of adult blood and run any blood panel with most current laboratory devices.
FRYING BIGGER FISH
This points us to the much larger issue in Healthcare.
As famed VC investor Vinod Khosla stated, “Medicine isn’t a science”.
And he has a point.
The truth about Healthcare, like most industries, is that there is a painful amount of complication and administrative nothingness parading as substance.
90% of healthcare comes down to either an almost embarrassing level of smoke and mirrors shrouding what should be a very simple series of steps - or the deferment of liability.
KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID
Maybe the fact that Elizabeth and Company tried to sell us nothing more than a disrespectful wish was a blessing in disguise.
Maybe it will shed light on the true state of Healthcare.
Maybe instead of working within a hyper vigilant Nanny-system of Health ‘Care’ we shift our focus to one of Health Empowerment.
Maybe companies like Theranos shouldn’t cast syntactical wizardry, touting phrases like ‘Unparalleled Transparency’ and hope through some act of magic it will manifest.
Maybe there is no real need for what Theranos sold us on needing so desperately.
Maybe instead of chasing the next vaporous IPO, we leverage the affordability and efficiency of the technology we currently have to service as many people as we can.
Maybe Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, was right in saying, “To do nothing is also a good remedy”.
Maybe the healthcare crisis is really just One Big Logistical Clusterfuck.
Maybe having some honest and painful appraisals of what we already have, what we can do with it and who’s willing to do it will show us that we already have all the tools needed to solve it.
Maybe individuals should have the responsibility to make the choices for their own health like Theranos claimed and the Healthcare System just needs to get out of the way.
Maybe you aren’t as stupid as they think you are.
Maybe.
