The Eight Edison Debate 2 Peyton Chiotti• Miranda Vanlith Thomas Rolfs • Claire Johnson

Position: AGAINST continuing Edison research. Perspective: (Elizabeth) HOLMES' INTERESTS Strategy: Discontinuing Edison, redirecting Holmes’ career so she can start paying debts instead ​ of prison.

Background

● In the last days of Theranos, December 2017 Theranos was forced to mortgage all of their assets to an investment group called fortress investment group for a 100M$ loan. ● One of the main conditions of the loan agreement was that Theranos was to produce audited financial statements. According to Phillipe, they had not done so since 2009. ● Over 700M$ was given to Theranos between 2015 and 2013. Not one of the investors had ever asked for financial audits. ● In the spring of 2018, Theranos received the final audit, forcing them to disclose that they didn't have enough money to continue any further research. ● On March 14, 2018, the SEC filed charges against Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes (CEO), and Ramesh Balwani (COO). The SEC claimed that Theranos had been lying when they said that they were conducting blood tests on The Edison. ● Theranos and Holmes settled immediately. Holmes was stripped of voting control of Theranos, could not become a director of any company for 10 years and she was fined 500K$ ● After battling multiple charges, she and Balwani stand trial in summer 2020 for 11 accounts of wire fraud totaling over 100 million

● Character of circumstances ○ Concerns that matter the most ■ Holmes has proven she cannot be trusted to run a company by enacting several accounts of fraud and deception. ■ Her intentions of creating a device that could provide affordable in-home blood testing were whole, however, her means of creating such a device were flawed. ■ She has many debts and fines; if those are to be repaid, she cannot be allowed to go to prison. ○ Secondary concerns ■ Even though Holmes seems like a monster, and in some ways, you could argue her intentions were unethical, she was trying to revolutionize the medical industry. ■ Many of the techniques were unjust, and fines and settlements are a reasonable punishment for her actions ■ If The Edison was to continue, she may not be involved with or receive any benefits associated with any success or failure it may have.

The Analysis

The Edison product has come with technical issues. The product cannot deliver the ​ desired results promised by Elizabeth Holmes. Managers, investors, and patients have suffered due to her demands to create the invention and will be harmed by the continuation of The Edison. ​ It is better to invest the money into more practical means. In other places, not in the hands of Theranos. As a medical company, these patients are putting their health and security in the hands of the company. Theranos is responsible in the case that The Edison cannot give an accurate ​ ​ analysis of blood diagnosis for its customers. It is compromising their human right to health. For Theranos to continue commercializing the use of The Edison. They must find answers to these ​ ​ issues. Additionally, Elizabeth Holmes has nine billion dollars in stock. Assumedly, she was granted this money by investors on the assumption that she can deliver such a product. Elizabeth promised she had the potential to advance the field of blood research decades ahead. She will be liable to be persecuted under fraud if The Edison does not deliver the desired results asked of ​ ​ Elizabeth Holmes. Theranos is under hot water with its clients as well. The company of Theranos must dissolve their financial fraud by paying back patients that have suffered from false diagnosis. A practical matter that must be addressed.

The Strategy

Holmes’ strategy should be to end any involvement with Theranos as she and the company are in immense debt, her credibility has been lost and the goal of the Edison was never achieved. It would be in Holmes’ best interest to acknowledge her wrongdoing in misleading investors, patients and employees. She has no credible knowledge in science or engineering which would make it difficult to continue with this project or even within this field. She shouldn’t be in charge of any company, investment management or direct patient care. Research in the goals of Theranos may continue without the Edison, in order to repay debt with technologies without her involvement. Following court sentencing and any prison time, Holmes could look for work outside of the scientific community where she can use her skillset to ultimately get out of debt. Technological innovation commitments must first be made in order for any progress to occur. Theranos must meet all safety needs with properly tested technology before making any progressions with patients or investors. Another important element is the ethics of patient care which has had issues in the past business model. The company patient relationship will need to include more transparency about the state of the technology and the accuracy of testing when informing and involving patients. Another concern is how business ethics would play out. A new ​ ​ ​ ​ team of scientists, engineers and most importantly, leaders will be necessary to reorganize the ethics that the company would practice in order to regain trust. This plan is likely to span over many years as technology in general improves and our knowledge of blood testing increases. It will also take Holmes’ an unknown amount of years to repay debts and make new moves in her career.

Justification

This proposal is adequate because the continuation of The Edison cannot be justified. ​ ​ And with its termination, Elizabeth should not be criminalized for her previous actions. The efforts of Theranos could be construed as noble. People agreed with her vision and knew it would be a beneficial asset for the community. As Elizabeth expressed, the company strove to create beneficial change. If The Edison was to be successful in its ability to diagnose health care. ​ ​ It would grant convenience and accessibility. Elizabeth was misinformed and too optimistic. There was no way for her to accurately determine if The Edison would be a success. She had a ​ ​ dream, and there was no way for her to know the dream was impossible. Not good causes to Sentence her. In another light, she does have some variation in management skills. Many times, she was able to persuade the efforts of her workers. The workers of Theranos were highly qualified engineers who would work tirelessly to make The Edison function correctly. Doing so, ​ ​ ​ ​ with little to no evidence that the invention would succeed. Despite her good intentions, it is foolhardy to believe that the continuation of The Edison would be a worthwhile investment. ​ ​

Counterpoints

Continuing the work of The Edison could help with scientific breakthroughs in the future: “But the Edison straight-up didn't work, and that's putting it very broadly. Pieces of the machine would fall off, doors wouldn't close, and the device couldn't properly regulate its temperature, Tyler Shultz, a former Theranos employee and one of the first whistleblowers told 60 Minutes in ​ ​ 2018. And that's not for lack of trying; engineers worked tirelessly to figure out solutions and were dismissed or fired by Holmes when they tried to raise concerns. ● Despite the fact that tests weren't working with the machine, Holmes repeatedly lied to investors — including Walgreens, which had Edison systems in stores — or made up ​ ​ excuses as to why it wasn't working at the moment. In 2016, Theranos "voided" two ​ years of blood tests because federal regulators said they were putting patients' health and ​ safety at immediate risk.” (Stieg) ● With The Edison, people would be allowed to test their blood at home : “Nowadays, ​ when you can order a home genetic test and view results online, the thought of having a home blood-testing machine might sound kind of clutch for those who have health conditions but can't regularly get to a doctor (like HIV, for example). But even when a testing device is 100% accurate and reliable, some experts are iffy on the benefits of self-testing. Due to human error taking samples, mistakes transferring the blood to the device, or trouble reading the results, the bottom line is self-testing has its cons” (Stieg)

Personal Plea

Continuing to work on The Edison is not a good idea. Theranos Founder Elizabeth ​ Holmes Created a $9 Billion Scam. The idea she had at 19 years old was more a fantasy than a reality. I do believe that Holmes’ intentions were good, but she ignored the warning signs from people around her at Stanford University. Holmes lied to her business partners about the blood tests she was conducting, Theranos the company is currently still in debt. The company is still facing lawsuits from former patients for inaccurate test results. (Alltucker)

References

Alltucker, Ken. “As Theranos Drama Unwinds, Former Patients Claim Inaccurate Tests Changed Their Lives.” USA Today, 5 July 2018, ​ ​ www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/07/05/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-lawsuits-pa tients-harm-arizona/742008002/.

McKenna, Francine. “The Last Days of Theranos - the Financials Were as Overhyped as the Blood Tests.” MarketWatch, October 20, 2018. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-last-days-of-theranos-the-financials-were-as-ove rhyped-as-the-blood-tests-2018-10-16.

Stieg, Cory. “What Exactly Was The Theranos Edison Machine Supposed To Do?” Refinery29, ​ ​ 12 Mar. 2019.

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley. ​ ​ ​ HBO Documentaries . Accessed November 26, 2019. https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-inventor-out-for-blood-in-silicon-valley/about.