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Rosendorff, who ran Theranos’ clinical lab during a crucial start-up period as he launched consumer blood tests with Walgreens, has held the witness stand for most of the last six of the 12 court days. since the start of the long-awaited trial. last month. Wednesday marks his sixth day at the helm.
Rosendorff said he left the company feeling “very skeptical” about the accuracy and reliability of his tests. He testified that he felt “it was a question of integrity as a doctor” not to stay with the company and continue to endorse test results that he “didn’t trust”. He said he “came to believe that the company believed more in public relations and fundraising than in patient care.”
Much of his testimony focused on scientific weeds as he was asked about specific tests and laboratory protocols. He spent the vast majority of his more than 20 hours of questioning being pushed by the defense – who made it clear in their opening statements on September 8 that they planned to point fingers at those who served as laboratory directors as being legally responsible. for any failure of his blood tests. The defense attempted to portray Holmes, who started the company at 19, as an unqualified college dropout for the role.
During his cross-examination, Lance Wade, a defense attorney for Holmes, sought to discredit Rosendorff, who is now known as the first and most important source for helping John Carreyrou, then a Wall Street Journal reporter, to expose the company’s failures in 2015. Wade attacked Rosendorff’s motives. , its credibility and its competence.
Repeatedly during his days of testimony, Rosendorff said he felt an obligation to “alert the public”, including exploring a whistleblower trial. The defense attempted to present the potential lawsuit as an indication that he was financially motivated, given that he might have been entitled to a percentage of the clawback. He ultimately did not continue the trial, but spoke with Carreyrou about his experience.
Perhaps Wade’s sharpest comments came when he argued before Judge Edward Davila on Tuesday, outside of the jury’s presence, that he should be allowed to question Rosendorff about his post-Theranos career.
As Wade put it, since leaving Theranos in late 2014, Rosendorff has worked for three different companies, each with their own set of controversies. Wade argued that his skill in the following jobs is relevant because “he was also incompetent at Theranos”.
“If he was incompetent and not doing his job, that exonerated Ms. Holmes,” Wade argued.
Judge Davila largely agreed, telling Wade that he had already “grilled” Rosendorff for four days about his jurisdiction. He ultimately only allowed Wade to question Rosendorff lightly about his current job as a lab director at PerkinElmer, which was the subject of a recent investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The same agent who investigated Theranos inspected the lab of which Rosendorff is currently director.
Wade has sought to portray Rosendorff as potentially biased in favor of the government because his career is threatened by the CMS inquiry. Cross-examination ended with Rosendorff conceding that he could lose his license to operate a laboratory for two years due to the investigation.
Wade also attempted to dig holes in Rosendorff’s commitment to his work at Theranos by pointing out that he joined Theranos in April 2013 and started looking for other jobs in “mid-2013”. Wade plotted this against some key dates like June 2013, when Rosendorff’s name was put on the clinical lab certification, as well as September 2013, when his blood tests first became available for some patients with Walgreens.
“You basically had one foot out the whole time,” Wade said. Rosendorff replied that he was “very committed to my job as a laboratory manager”, while acknowledging that he was indeed looking for other employment opportunities. Rosendorff had previously said he started looking for a job after being “disillusioned” with the company’s priorities.
Rosendorff ultimately resigned from the company in November 2014. Wade pointed out that it was two days after submitting his resignation that Rosendorff requested that his name be removed from the clinical laboratory license. (His contract required him to stay in the company for another 60 days after formal notice).
Wade squeezed him, asking “Is that so you can start your other job?”
Rosendorff said he wanted to be out of license “because I was uncomfortable with the legal responsibility I had at Theranos at the time.”
On Wednesday, Rosendorff responded to a question from Bostic about the difference between responsibility (“what you are legally responsible for in CMS’s eyes”) and authority (“the real power to make these things happen and implement them in the laboratory “). Rosendorff said it was Holmes who held the power, which came from “business priorities” rather than regulations.
Overall, Rosendorff called Theranos “the most complicated lab I have ever had to supervise or run.”
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