Theranos in Scottsdale still open?

[Sophie78]

I have found that Sonora Quest testing menu is not as extensive as Theranos. I have a health condition that I like to monitor and Sonora Quest does not offer the particular lab that I need.

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by Sophie78

I have found that Sonora Quest testing menu is not as extensive as Theranos. I have a health condition that I like to monitor and Sonora Quest does not offer the particular lab that I need.

You'll need to find a new source for those tests pretty soon. The WSJ is saying that the company is under criminal investigation.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by azdr0710

can anybody give a quick summary of why Theranos got in trouble??....

was it poor testing conditions (inaccurate results)?....or fraud in billing the govt.?.....or what?.....

a couple posters above seem to think the test results are good, so am wondering if they are still ok to use for basic blood tests.....

thanks

Here's an article:

Everything You Need to Know About the Theranos Saga So Far

The general gist: Theranos’ technology was not what it seemed. In fact, the company’s blood testing device, a machine called Edison, couldn’t accurately detect enough molecules in blood samples to provide accurate readouts. Blood behaves differently in small volumes, more like a pile of M&M’s coated in honey than a proper fluid. Edison couldn’t get things right, sources told Carreyrou, so Theranos had been diluting samples taken via the fingerstick and running them through blood testing devices manufactured by Siemens1—the same type of equipment used by every other blood testing company. And in fact, Theranos was using these off the shelf machines to run most of its tests.

They never did double blind studies in peer-reviewed journals showing that their technology ever really worked. They kept saying that their technology was proprietary and they could not reveal how their Edison machine worked (hint, it didn't). Many people got skeptical so that's when the The Wall Street Journal published an expose, which eventually took the company down.

[CV880]

Originally Posted by cjseliga

Here's an article:

Everything You Need to Know About the Theranos Saga So Far

The general gist: Theranos’ technology was not what it seemed. In fact, the company’s blood testing device, a machine called Edison, couldn’t accurately detect enough molecules in blood samples to provide accurate readouts. Blood behaves differently in small volumes, more like a pile of M&M’s coated in honey than a proper fluid. Edison couldn’t get things right, sources told Carreyrou, so Theranos had been diluting samples taken via the fingerstick and running them through blood testing devices manufactured by Siemens1—the same type of equipment used by every other blood testing company. And in fact, Theranos was using these off the shelf machines to run most of its tests.

They never did double blind studies in peer-reviewed journals showing that their technology ever really worked. They kept saying that their technology was proprietary and they could not reveal how their Edison machine worked (hint, it didn't). Many people got skeptical so that's when the The Wall Street Journal published an expose, which eventually took the company down.

It's all smoke and mirrors. Two years of test results voided.

I would take any Theranos blood test with a huge grain of salt and have some real blood work done.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Sophie78

I have found that Sonora Quest testing menu is not as extensive as Theranos. I have a health condition that I like to monitor and Sonora Quest does not offer the particular lab that I need.

Sonora Quest is part of Quest Diagnostics. So you can order any test that is a part of Quest Diagnostics that is run through the Tempe lab. These are not all on the Sonora Quest test menu but you can order them.

Essentially, the companies results were inconsistent and there were huge deviations in results when compared to comparable labs. In short, their technology was not well vetted and released too early to the market. When they further investigated, they found a lot of flaws. One thing most people didn't know is the majority of their tests involved standard venous blood draws and not the finger stick that they became famous for. They were cited for that.

This company reminded me of a lot of dotcoms. It had inflated early high valuations and brought a lot of hype that created a snowball effect. After the FDA, CMS, New York Times and Washington Post came down on them, the company has plummeted. Their once billionaire founder now has a net worth of 0. That's how far that company has fallen. I don't think they will recover.

Originally Posted by Gixxer1K

Mostly accused of inaccurate results but my results were dead on with my physicians at a fraction of the cost. It's nice to be able to check your levels through the year especially if you're watching specific ones.

Not "accused" but rather proven hence the reason the FDA and CMS came down on them. Here is a list of their sanctions. The last one is significant because private insurance companies base their reimbursement on Medicare rates. And if Medicare is not participating, most private insurance will follow suit so essentially, they will have to rely completely on self pay cash patients only for the next 2 years. You simply cannot survive on that.

• Revocation of the laboratory’s certificate under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, a 1988 set of regulatory standards. This automatically means owners and operators of the lab are banned from owning, operating, or directing a lab for at least two years.
• A civil money penalty (Theranos does not say how much).
• A plan of correction
• Suspension of the laboratory’s approval to receive any payments from Medicare and Medicaid.

[Pink Jazz]

Note that LabCorp is also an option as well (that is the lab I use) if you don't like Sonora Quest.