Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

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> Theranos generated around 7.8 million test results for Arizona consumers alone. Of those, roughly 834,000 had to be voided or corrected

I got one of these! I called my New York doctor in a panic because apparently my kidneys and liver were failing. We ordered a bunch of rush tests, they came back fine, then we did a bunch more to confirm. That was a lot of stress, wasted medical professionals' time and cost for a single person. (The only reason I didn't go straight to ER is I was doing my start-up at the time and, America being America, didn't have the best health insurance.)

I don't think my doctor reported that result as being wrong. I certainly didn't–I was too busy confronting my impending doom. So my HDHP wound up paying for not only the un-needed follow-up tests, but also for the Theranos test. (I don't remember if I paid a deductible. It was at a Walgreens.)

> She did it before for Paul Logan and Anthony Scaramucci, and now is softening the road for Elizabeth Holmes pardon

She's maintaining access to powerful people. It's a well-known problem with access journalism.

>> It's a well-known problem with access journalism.

Yes, CNBC is a prime example :-)

Having followed your comments here for years, I was shocked to read that you got Theranos tests. From the get-go, long before the WSJ exposé, it was apparent to me this was a complete fraud. I based my thinking on long experience (38 years) drawing blood for tests.

> was shocked to read that you got Theranos tests

I’d been reading about them for a few years, never got personally involved in any capacity, was in Phoenix for a long-distance relationship and saw the billboard and thought “why not?” When I saw the results I panicked. Ex post facto I figured something went wrong with my draw (full venous draw, by the way).

I have no background in medicine, and I was probably considerably stupider at the time inasmuch as I was in my twenties, so I never connected it to being a fraud, instead concluding their kit didn’t work reliably and that they’d launched prematurely and would have to pull back from the market and regroup (and get sued) for a while.

Do you ask the doctor to stop so you can discuss which vendor will be recieving test materials prior to blood draw?

I would NEVER patronize a doctor who sent my blood to Theranos. At the time it was operating in Arizona, it was only after a tremendously intense and expensive lobbying campaign to get approval. That was very much in the news at the time.

Is your doctor the one who actually takes your blood and sends it in for tests? Where I'm from, the doctor just orders a blood test, and you go to some other lab facility somewhere (with some discretionary choice) and get it done by a phlebotomist and its more or less outside of the doctor's purview.

In the USA either my doctor takes the blood, or in certain cases, they have Labcorp or similar do the test (I asked and it was because they didn't have the proper vial labels to do the blood test in house). I also get copies of the test and it has the logo of the testing company.

So yes

It works both ways. I walked into the Theranos and volunteered for bloodwork. I’ve also had my doctor send my bloodwork order to a lab of my choosing when I’m e.g. traveling.

This doesn't make sense. You are just getting your blood drawn. You don't even see who is doing the test until it's done. How on earth would you even know.

I’m generally discerning of the lab doing my bloodwork. You can look up ratings online. Less out of paranoia for being defrauded and more for comfort.

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