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The results of Elizabeth Holmes’ psychological assessment could potentially be released by the judge presiding over her criminal fraud trial.
A court record has been filed by Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the Wall Street Journal, for the sealed records to be made public. The record argues that the public has a right to see the First Amendment “any part of such material which describes or discusses the mental or psychological condition claimed by the defendant.”
Legal experts have speculated that Holmes’ defense team could indicate she had a mental health issue while she was CEO of Theranos. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila allowed the psychological assessment to take place last year after the defense suggested it could call a trauma expert to the stand to testify about a possible “mental illness or defect” .
Deputy U.S. attorney Kelly Volkar told CNBC the prosecution supported the case because they too wanted to see the psychological assessment sealed in order to inform their legal strategy.
“The main thing we are concerned about is the continued sealing at the current level, including even high level matters including Mrs Holmes’ defense against rule 12.2 and this is hampering the government’s preparation for trial,” said Volkar on CNBC. Rule 12.2 refers to a sanity defense.
“The question is how far will the sealing go,” Volkar added.
Theranos, once valued at $ 10 billion, was envisioned by then 19-year-old Stanford dropout Holmes. The company has promised near instant blood test results, giving patients a quick and inexpensive way to get information to make health decisions.
According to Holmes, his company’s technology only needed a blood stick to perform a range of tests, putting an end to the expensive and slow lab results of the medical industry. The idea was so appealing that big names like former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz and retired General James Mattis were on Theranos’ board of directors.
But it was all an illusion. The technology, as advertised, did not exist. In some cases, Holmes later admitted in an affidavit that blood taken from unsuspecting patients – in tubes, not in pinpricks – was sent to Theranos Laboratories and executed on standard equipment.
Holmes’ legal team argued the company’s claims were too “vague” to mislead patients, while prosecutors claimed patients were making medical decisions based on fraudulent test results. Prosecutors allege that Holmes and his business partner (and then romantic) Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani knowingly misled consumers, investors and medical professionals about what their product could do.
After a series of delays, one of which was due to Holmes giving birth to her first child in July, the criminal trial is scheduled to begin on August 31.
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