Theranos documentary to contain footage from deposition tapes of founder Elizabeth Holmes, says ABC
A TV documentary telling the story of the high-profile demise of blood testing company Theranos will include never-before-seen footage from the deposition tapes of founder Elizabeth Holmes.
The high tech blood testing firm was forced to formally dissolve and hand over its remaining cash to creditors in September after years of legal challenges left the firm without a clinical laboratory certificate in 2017.
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On Wednesday, ABC News said its documentary ‘The Dropout’ was the culmination of a three-year investigation into entrepreneur Holmes, who was also chief executive of the company.
Holmes, 34, and the company’s former president Ramesh Balwani, were charged in June last year for trying to defraud investors, doctors and patients, but have pleaded not guilty.
ABC said the documentary includes the first interview with Balwani’s lawyer, and deposition tapes of Balwane, Holmes and three former members of the Theranos board.
Lawyers for Holmes did not respond to a request for comment on the ABC documentary.
Theranos, founded in 2003 by Holmes who was 19 at the time, had claimed its Edison machine could test for a range of conditions, including cancer, using a few drops of blood from a finger rather than taking a large amount by needle from a vein.
Holmes raised more than $700m in funding before her pitch to the US Department of Defense in 2012 was rejected due to the devices' unpredictable results.
Following a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015, investors, medical authorities and five federal agencies launched legal challenges against the company.
Read more: Scandal-hit blood-testing company Theranos to formally dissolve with stakeholders receiving nothing
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revoked its clinical laboratory certificate in April 2017 – the company settled with CMS agreeing to stay out of the blood-testing industry for two years.
As a result pharmacy chain Walgreens terminated its partnership with Theranos and sued the company for $140m, settling out of a court for a smaller amount.