Theranos lab director never entered the lab, resigned over “lack of clarity”

Enlarge / Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos Inc., left, arrives at federal court in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. (credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)

The prosecution had an up-and-down day in court yesterday during the criminal trial of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of failed medical diagnostic startup Theranos.

Judge Edward Davila ruled that a witness that the prosecution had flown in from out of state wouldn't be able to take the stand. The onetime Theranos patient identified in court documents as B.B." was supposed to testify about suspicious" test results he received in 2015. Holmes' attorneys had filed a motion last week to block his testimony, saying that the test in question, a complete blood count, wasn't included in a list of 25 tests that the government claimed Theranos couldn't consistently or accurately produce results for.

The judge agreed, saying that because the test wasn't included in court documents, Holmes' attorneys wouldn't have time to prepare an adequate defense. Assistant US attorney John Bostic admitted that prosecutors were confused." They thought that B.B. had taken a test for blood clotting, which was included in court documents. Bostic said the patient was likely to testify about whether he had symptoms related to an elevated platelet count.

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