Theranos Beefs Up Board in Light of Lab Problems

Brian Buntz

April 7, 2016

3 Min Read
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Reeling from months of negative press coverage and warnings from CMS and FDA, Theranos is beefing up its scientific and medical advisory board with eight medical and lab testing experts.

Qmed Staff

Theranos had raised eyebrows for the illustrious members of its board of directors, which included political luminaries such as former Secretary of State Harry Kissinger, former Senator Samuel Nunn, and former cabinet member George P. Shultz. But after the Wall Street Journal began a series of critical articles questioning the company's approach to science and the accuracy of its technology, people started wondering why the company didn't have more medical and lab testing experts on its board. Fortune, for instance, published an October piece titled "Theranos' board: Plenty of political connections, little relevant expertise."

The form had assigned many of those political legends to a board of counselors and had recently announced many new members to its scientific and medical advisory board. The news was announced prominently on the company's home page

The list of experts include:

  • Susan A. Evans, Ph.D., FACB had been the president of the American Association For Clinical Chemistry. Evans had formerly served as a member of the Board of Directors and President of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB), which is now known as the Academy of the AACC.

  • Bill Foege, MD was the former Director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Foege had been credited with helping eradicate smallpox in the 1970s. He won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

  • Ann M. Gronowski, Ph.D., DABCC, works in the Department of Pathology and Immunology and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She is the former President of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) and the former President of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry (ABCC).

  • David Helfet, MD, serves as the Director of the Orthopedic Trauma Service, Hospital for Special Surgery and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine.

  • Larry J. Kricka, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

  • Jack Ladenson, Ph.D., a Professor of Clinical Chemistry at Washington University School of Medicine.

  • Andy O. Miller, MD,  an Assistant Attending Physician in Infectious Diseases at the Hospital for Special Surgery and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

  • Steven Spitalnik, MD, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), a Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology and the Vice-Chairman of Laboratory Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

The reshuffle comes after eyebrow-raising reports from the FDA, which has limited the company from using proprietary equipment for any test other than for Herpes (HSV-2). More recently, CMS has released reports stating that the company may be putting patients in danger and that its test results are erratic.

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