Theranos Faces Legal Action After Inaccurate Blood Tests

Another lawsuit against Theranos, Inc was recently filed, alleging a patient suffered a heart attack less than a month after receiving a routine blood test that his physician stated was normal.

In May 2016, Theranos voided 2 years’ worth of “tiny blood test” results, including this patient’s test.

The patient, identified by the initials RC, obtained a blood test at the Theranos Wellness Center in an Arizona Walgreen’s pharmacy in 2015, according to the lawsuit.

The company uses “tiny blood tests,” meaning that they test blood with only a few drops of blood from a patient’s finger, instead of getting a sample from a needle. Theranos said this method is quick, high-quality, and less fear-inducing than traditional methods.

The company created a device named Edison, which they claimed was able to conduct blood tests from a small sample of blood. But, they used to only run approximately 10% of tests on the device, and they stopped using it by June 2015.

The FDA and the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services even published reports regarding the safety of the tests and violations to hematology, analytics, and staffing, according to the lawsuit. Although blood tests can be used routinely, or for diagnostics, inaccurate results can potentially lead to fatalities.

The plaintiff received a routine lipid and A1C blood panel from Theranos. He alleged that the “tiny blood test” process was painful and not quick. The process was even repeated multiple times to gather enough blood for the test.

The results were sent to RC’s physician, who said the test results were normal. Therefore, his physician recommended that RC maintain his current regimen.

Less than a month later, RC suffered a heart attack and had to have 2 stents placed in his heart, the lawsuit states. Hospital bloodwork conducted after his heart attack strongly suggested that the Theranos results were inaccurate.

The lawsuit is seeking $5 million dollars, and is expected to have many class members, since Theranos conducted millions of these tests.