Elizabeth Holmes Gives 'Stunning' Testimony

Admits she added Pfizer logo to Theranos reports without drugmaker's authorization
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 24, 2021 1:30 AM CST
Updated Nov 24, 2021 6:45 AM CST
Elizabeth Holmes Gives 'Stunning' Testimony
Elizabeth Holmes walks into federal court in San Jose, Calif., Monday, Nov. 22, 2021.   (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

It was Elizabeth Holmes herself who added the logos of drugmakers Pfizer and Schering-Plough to complimentary Theranos lab reports, the Theranos founder admitted during her third day on the stand at her criminal fraud trial. But, Holmes insisted, she didn't mean to mislead business partners or investors, some of whom have testified at the trial that seeing the logo influenced their decision to invest in the blood-testing startup. Rather, Holmes said, she did so "because this work was done in partnership with those companies and I was trying to convey that." Still, the use of the logos was not authorized by the companies, and Holmes testified that she wishes she "had done it differently." CNBC calls it a "stunning admission." Holmes testified that she did not hide the fact that she used Pfizer's logo from the drugmaker.

The AP reports that while Holmes did show some remorse in Tuesday's testimony, she also "repeatedly emphasized" that other executives and a board that included former presidential cabinet members helped her make most of her business decisions. She also said that while there are "always challenges" in endeavors like hers and she was aware of those challenges inside the Theranos lab, she continued to believe the company's fingerprick blood-testing technology would revolutionize medical care. As for why Theranos sent out samples from its partnership with Walgreens to a conventional lab rather than using its own Edison device, Holmes testified the company had created an "invention" that was able to process small amounts of blood on ordinary machines, but it didn't want to reveal that trade secret. Others have testified Theranos secretly used third-party labs due to problems with the Edison. (More Elizabeth Holmes stories.)

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