Former US Defense Secretary James Mattis is promoting a new book, and Vox says this offers the chance to examine his role in the Theranos debacle.
Theranos, which once was valued at $9 billion for its technology that purported to only need a pinprick of blood to run numerous clinical tests, was brought low following a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal that alleged the firm was not using its own technology, often needed larger quantities of blood to perform testing, and was not following proper quality control procedures. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also sent the firm a letter about deficiencies in its lab testing procedures and later barred then-CEO Elizabeth Holmes from owning or operating a lab. Holmes was indicted alongside Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani on wire fraud charges last year, and Holmes is to go to trial next year.
Mattis, Vox notes, was on Theranos' board during some of this time, and pressed to have Theranos' technology rolled out in the military. Holmes and Balwani claimed, according to Vox, that the US Department of Defense used Theranos' technology in Afghanistan and on medevac helicopters. It further adds that Mattis was enlisted by Holmes to smooth over regulatory issues at the DoD. But, it says, few questions have been asked about Mattis' Theranos involvement.