The Founder of Theranos Tries to Change the Subject

On Monday, Patricia Jones, the president of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, made an unusual introduction at the sixty-eighth Annual Scientific Meeting and Clinical Lab Expo, in Philadelphia. “This session is not an endorsement of Theranos,” Jones said, somewhat nervously, adding, “Please be courteous.” The fact that it seemed necessary to issue a plea to avoid hostility in front of an audience of chemists and lab experts was testament to the emotions surrounding the presenter. Jones was introducing Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and chief executive officer of Theranos, a company that sought to revolutionize the collection and testing of blood but has, instead, become a subject of regulatory scrutiny. “This session, folks, as everyone is pretty well aware, has been controversial,” Jones continued. “It has generated a lot of interest from the lab-medicine community. We’re all aware that there have been some questions about whether we’ll see any science here today, and the viability of Theranos technology. This is a tremendous opportunity for A.A.C.C. members to decide that for themselves.”