Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos • Hacker News Board

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#11

Post by dang » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 1:39 AM UTC

GuiA wrote: post #2

The Theranos leadership belongs in jail. Misleading patients with bullshit medical science ranks pretty high up on the list of things that should get executives locked up. We are talking about tens of thousands of patients here whose doctors made medical choices based on fundamentally flawed blood work, all while Holmes and her buddies were boasting about how disruptive their technology was, how much better they were…

You're not going to find many defenders of Theranos at this point, but that doesn't mean this isn't a bad comment to post to HN. We ask users here to post reflective comments, not ones that try to maximize fury—no matter how right you are or how angry you feel. The fact that you end your comment with a cheap slur about "more civilized countries" is indicative.

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#12

Post by aresant » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 1:42 AM UTC

"In recent weeks, Walgreens also was named as a co-defendant in one of three civil lawsuits filed by consumers against Theranos. The suits, which seek class-action status, allege that Theranos misled the public about the nature and accuracy of its blood-testing technology."

Walgreens had an official partnership, including an investment of $50m, into Theranos.

If there is actual consumer damage shown its Walgreens that's going to find themselves writing checks to tort classes and attorneys.

In the entire WSJ expose it sounded like Walgreens management was as snowed-over as the rest of us with regard to Theranos' "technology" but it's crazy that they didn't do more relatively simple due diligence given their exposure

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#13

Post by smaili » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 1:50 AM UTC

Anyone happen to know why this took so long to become official?

EDIT: Looks like it's mentioned a few paragraphs into the article:

Walgreens leaders decided to end the partnership after regulators disclosed problems at Theranos in late January, but held off on finalizing the separation because the company feared Theranos might sue, said people familiar with the matter.

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#14

Post by tuna-piano » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 1:52 AM UTC

FreedomToCreate wrote: post #4

It still baffles me that Walgreens got into this partnership in the first place. A complete failure of due diligence.

How many of us could name the current or former Walgreens CEO?

I've seen a certain mentality in people, including managers in the more "boring" companies in our economy. Silicon Valey companies are glamorous. There's a certain star mentality about it. Silicon Valley is in the news, the founders are rock stars.

I think the management of "boring" companies is as star struck as the rest of us are. They shouldn't be- they run huge companies employing many people, doing complex things and making profits. In this case, the star power blinded them and they'll pay a large price.

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#15

Post by forgetsusername » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 1:57 AM UTC

GuiA wrote: post #2

The Theranos leadership belongs in jail. Misleading patients with bullshit medical science ranks pretty high up on the list of things that should get executives locked up. We are talking about tens of thousands of patients here whose doctors made medical choices based on fundamentally flawed blood work, all while Holmes and her buddies were boasting about how disruptive their technology was, how much better they were…

>The Theranos leadership belongs in jail

Let's ensure that actual crimes have been committed before we go throwing people in jail.

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#16

Post by bane » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 1:57 AM UTC

Walgreens managers also grew increasingly frustrated in recent weeks with Theranos as they sought information about the extent of test reports it had corrected or voided.

This seems to be a common thread in the stories I've read about Theranos, an almost pathological inability to provide basic information upon request. I can only guess that Holmes' notion of open and transparent communication is defined very differently from what most people would consider it to mean.

A big warning sign to me is also the bizarre collection of company reviews on Glassdoor [1]. It's really fascinating to me that anybody would even consider turfing their own company's reviews with this kind of ham fisted, single voice corporate speak nonsense. I wonder who inside the company is responsible for writing all of these? Holmes herself? Regardless, it's a really fascinating look into how Holmes has prioritized things.

1 - https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Theranos-Reviews-E248889.h...

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#17

Post by honkhonkpants » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 2:06 AM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #8

GuiA wrote: post #2

The Theranos leadership belongs in jail. Misleading patients with bullshit medical science ranks pretty high up on the list of things that should get executives locked up. We are talking about tens of thousands of patients here whose doctors made medical choices based on fundamentally flawed blood work, all while Holmes and her buddies were boasting about how disruptive their technology was, how much better they were…

I agree that Theranos's leadership belongs in jail. But I think it's worth reflecting a bit on how much our community created and benefits from the tech-genius hype cycle that they exploited. On how much we have supported a mythos that our cutting-edge innovations can't be judged by existing stick-in-the-mud regulators. I'm not saying that those are entirely bad things. But it's worth remembering that Theranos couldn…

I don't think that's "our community". It certainly isn't my community. I believe (and hope) that the delusional libertarian wing of the entrepreneurial class, who believe that regulation has no place in a market, is a fringe element.

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#18

Post by dominotw » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 2:08 AM UTC

bane wrote: post #16

Walgreens managers also grew increasingly frustrated in recent weeks with Theranos as they sought information about the extent of test reports it had corrected or voided. This seems to be a common thread in the stories I've read about Theranos, an almost pathological inability to provide basic information upon request. I can only guess that Holmes' notion of open and transparent communication is defined very differen…

This is hilarious

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Theranos-R...

  Advice to Management
 You are doing a good job. Stay in better touch with the 
 employees. I think most people do feel appreciated but 
 there are also some that are disgruntled and unhappy for
 other reasons. I see these people spreading negative energy.
 You should seek them and try and fix the problem.

Is it common practice among upstart companies to pad their reviews on glassdoor. I've been using those as references for my job search, I know better now.

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#19

Post by ChuckMcM » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 2:13 AM UTC

FreedomToCreate wrote: post #4

It still baffles me that Walgreens got into this partnership in the first place. A complete failure of due diligence.

Well yes and no. Remember that they have a really well connected board of directors and a lot of people put their reputation out there based on information they believed to be true. The managers at Walgreens don't know how to design, validate, and certify laboratory tests and procedures so they are kind of at the mercy of the folks who tell them they do. And while it would have been within their rights to send an outside pathologist on site to audit the entire workflow, to come up with that idea you have to at least suspect that they might be trying to pull a fast one on you.

I speak from experience when I say that it is easy to be fooled into believing people when those people actually believe they are telling the truth.

Bottom line is this is all on Theranos, and not Walgreens.

Re: Walgreen Terminates Partnership with Theranos

#20

Post by pat_space » Mon, Jun 13, 2016, 2:21 AM UTC

bane wrote: post #16

Walgreens managers also grew increasingly frustrated in recent weeks with Theranos as they sought information about the extent of test reports it had corrected or voided. This seems to be a common thread in the stories I've read about Theranos, an almost pathological inability to provide basic information upon request. I can only guess that Holmes' notion of open and transparent communication is defined very differen…

"Pros A pay check that clears the bank. A front row seat and education how to adulterate documents and strategy! Working on my CV on company tine..."[1]

[1] https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Theranos-R...