THERANOS TRIAL
A JURY reached a verdict in the trial of Elizabeth Holmes on Monday, January 3, 2022.
Theranos CEO Holmes was sentenced to over 11 years in prison after being convinced of fraud in early 2022 over the blood-testing startup that was accused of scamming patients.
2
What was the Elizabeth Holmes trial verdict?
Holmes was found guilty on four charges, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
She was found not guilty of four felony charges and, at the time, the jury did not reach a verdict on the three counts of wire fraud.
The verdict was read by the court on January 3, 2022. Each count "carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison," reported.
On September 6, 2022, Holmes requested a new trial, indicating that a witness for the prosecution "regrets the role he played in her conviction," .
Read More on Elizabeth Holmes
On May 27, 2022, Holmes made an appeal to the judge to throw out the verdict.
The basis for her appeal claimed that the jury acted irrationally during their deliberation.
Months later on Thursday, September 1, the judge denied her appeal and did not overturn the verdict or change the sentencing date.
Finally, on November 18, 2022, Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding Theranos investors.
most read on elizabeth holmes
What did prosecutors say in their closing remarks?
Elizabeth Holmes and her former partner, Ramesh Balwani were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud in the case against Theranos.
The jury's verdict comes after Elizabeth Holmes took the witness stand for seven days in what some called a bold decision.
Holmes told the jury she was innocent of the allegations of conspiracy and fraud, saying her partner, Ramesh Balwani, abused and manipulated her.
During her seven-day cross-examination, Holmes delivered conflicting statements by shifting the blame to Balwani who claims he is not guilty and faces his own trial.
2
Holmes additionally admitted to affixing the Pfizer and Schering-Plough logos, without the company's permission, when sending documents to Walgreens to boost Theranos' credibility.
However, on Tuesday she said she didn't remember the process for filling out and submitting the documents.
Holmes' testimony came months after she gave birth to her first child in July.
Holmes and Balwani were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud in the case against Theranos.
When will Elizabeth Holmes receive her sentencing?
The former Theranos CEO will be sentenced on October 17, 2022, following her conviction on Monday, January 3.
The maximum penalty Holmes will receive is 20 years in federal prison but reported that legal experts say she will most likely receive a reduced sentence.
A former federal prosecutor, Amanda Kramer, said she would be surprised if Holmes didn't receive "some term of imprisonment."
Kramer told the severity of Holmes' sentencing may deter other businesses from committing similar crimes of fraud,
She added that the lengthy timeframe for Holmes to be sentenced is not typical but there may be a reason for the delay.
"Some facts established in Balwani's trial might prove to be relevant in Holmes' sentencing."
Holmes' partner, Ramesh Balwani's trial was set to begin on February 15, 2022, but has been delayed due to Covid-19 concerns.
There is not a set date for his trial to take place but U.S. District Judge Edward Davila says it is likely to begin in mid-March.
Why was Elizabeth Holmes on trial?
Holmes founded Theranos in 2014 after spending two years developing a supposed technology that would be able to diagnose disease with a single vial of blood.
The then-30-year-old built the testing technology after only two semesters of studying biochemical engineering at Stanford University.
In 2015, one year after Holmes founded the company, John Carreyrou, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal received a tip alleging the technology didn't work and was churning out false results prompting medical issues for patients.
When the report was published, Holmes vehemently denied the allegations and threatened to sue Carreyrou for his article.
During her trial, Holmes testified that she and Balwani "were very worried about Mr. Carreyrou's story."
In a text message shown to the jury, Holmes told Balwani that they would "need to get ahead of all of it."
The FDA investigated the reports and found the tests did not work and patients were misdiagnosed resulting in improper care.
A document said Holmes and Balwani "claimed that Theranos developed a revolutionary and proprietary analyzer ..." and "claimed the analyzer was able to perform a full range of clinical tests using small blood samples drawn from a finger stick."
The document claimed both Holmes and Balwani knew the Theranos analyzer was producing false results, adding, "The defendants also represented that the analyzer could produce results that were more accurate and reliable than those yielded by conventional methods – all at a faster speed than previously possible."
Holmes stepped down as CEO in 2018 and Theranos officially closed its doors three months later.
What was Theranos?
In 2018, nine people came forward to testify in a lawsuit against Theranos that their test results significantly impacted their lives, resulting in taking medication they did not need and changing their lifestyle.
At the peak of the Theranos organization, it was reported the company sold more than 1.5 million blood tests, for nearly 176,000 patients.
The patients collectively received 7.8million test results, most of which were proven to be inaccurate.
of the 240 diseases Theranos allegedly tested for shows prices starting as low as $3.13 for potassium levels and ranging upward to $108.98 for a test for Lymphocyte Enumeration.
In 2015, Theranos operated more than 40 locations in Arizona where a bill was passed to allow independent facilities to administer tests for diseases.
Read More on The Sun
When the patients started speaking out in 2018, Heather Carter who was an Arizona House Representative and sponsored the direct-access bill told USA Today she was concerned about "patient safety."
"Hopefully justice will be served and people will have their day in court on this."
Topics