Theranos arranged an article with The Wall Street Journal at the advice of its public relations advisors to establish itself separately from Walgreens, reports Erin Griffith of The New York Times.
Griffith writes that Theranos CEO Elizabeth Homes “went to Joe Rago, a member of The Journal’s editorial board, because he had connections with members of Theranos’s board and focused on healthcare and economics.
“Ms. Holmes said that she had an opportunity to review the 2013 article, titled ‘The Breakthrough of Instant Diagnosis’ before it was published.
“Ms. Holmes sent the article to potential investors. In opening statements, Kevin Leach, a prosecutor for the United States, characterized that article as ‘falsely suggesting it had revolutionized blood testing with a blood analyzer with a finger stick.'”
Read more here.
A Dow Jones spokesman provided the following statement:
“Journal editors make publishing decisions based on their independent judgment. Our writer asked Elizabeth Holmes to confirm complicated facts on a technical subject, not to approve publication. Our writer visited Theranos, spoke with numerous sources in and outside the company about its technology, and had his blood tested on a Theranos machine that appeared to offer credible results. If that was all a deception, then the responsibility lies with Ms. Holmes and Theranos.”
