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- Dr. Phyllis Gardner, a professor at Stanford Medical School, was one of the first people to be wary of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Gardner had rejected one of Holmes' first ideas regarding a patch capable of deploying antibiotics.
- Gardner has followed Holmes and Theranos ever since and has shared his concerns with reporters, including John Carreyrou of The Wall Street Journal, who quoted him in an interview to question the effectiveness of the company's blood test technology.
- But for her, the story is not over yet. "I just want her to be found guilty," Gardner said. "All I want is to see her in an orange jumpsuit with a black turtleneck."
- Theranos is at the center of "The Inventor: The Blood Hunt in Silicon Valley", a new documentary that will debut Monday at 9 pm. AND on HBO.
Dr. Phyllis Gardner, a professor at Stanford Medical School, was used to being approached by entrepreneurship students who were seeking a place in the world of biotechnology.
So, when Elizabeth Holmes approached her after arriving at Stanford in 2002 with the idea of creating a patch that would allow the wearer to detect infections and release antibiotics, if any, Gardner tried to explain to him why this might not work. In practice, the antibiotics that she wished to administer had to be administered at higher doses than those of a patch.
When she saw that she was not going to reach Holmes, Gardner directed her to other people to help him, including Gardner's husband.
"She was going to make it work and follow the pattern of trying it until you succeed," Gardner said. "It's so ridiculous in terms of health care."
Read more: 100 hours of footage, an inflatable house and MC Hammer: how the HBO documentary about the dishonest blood test company Theranos was reunited
This approach worries Gardner even then.
"When you put people's lives in danger, you do not do it," she said.
Shortly after, Holmes left Stanford. In 2003, at the age of 19, she founded Theranos, a blood screening company.
Theranos then raised more than $ 700 million from investors, ending up accumulating a $ 9 billion valuation and his ambitious vision is to test several diseases using only a small sample of blood.
In subsequent years, Gardner would hear rumors about the company's activities from people who had worked there. Theranos particularly attracted young employees from Stanford.
Gardner goes back to the story of Theranos when Richard Fuisz – a friend of the Holmes family and someone whom Gardner met while she was working in the health sector at ALZA Corp. – asked him his opinion on Holmes. She was frank with him.
"I do not trust her, I do not know what she's up to," she recalls to Fuisz.
Theranos and Fuisz ended up going to court over a patent dispute. The experience was difficult for Fuisz and his family. Gardner and Fuisz stayed in touch and ended up communicating with Rochelle Gibbons, the widow of Ian Gibbons, a former senior scientist at Theranos. Ian Gibbons was killed in 2013.
The group sent out information about what they heard about Theranos, particularly in light of the company's partnership with Walgreens. Theranos set up clinical laboratories in some Arizona Walgreens pharmacies, where he performed his finger tests.
In 2014, Holmes appeared on business magazine covers and lists of senior executives. Gardner was not happy.
"I was laughing all over the place," said Gardner.
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The Stanford students would ask to invite Holmes to speak as a founder, but Gardner would not allow it.
"I support women, I've always done it, I've been in trouble for that, I've pushed hard," Gardner said. "But I will not support a fraud I do not care about your sex."
Then, in October 2015, John Carreyrou of the Wall Street Journal published his first article raising questions about how business technology works.
The day the article broke out, Gardner – who is quoted in the Carreyrou article – was attending a board meeting at Harvard Medical School. That summer, Holmes was appointed a member of the board of directors and she attended as well.
During the day of meetings. Holmes and Gardner were sitting on either side of the room, Gardner remembered. Gardner said that she did not talk to Holmes that day and kept her distance.
Holmes attended the entire meeting day, took a break to go to CNBC's "Mad Money" show and challenged what Carreyrou had reported, and then returned for dinner. Holmes is no longer on the board.
In June 2018, Holmes stepped down as CEO of Theranos, remaining with the company as founder and chairman of the board. She was later charged with wire fraud by the Department of Justice. She pleaded not guilty.
By September, Theranos had officially ceased operations and its investors had lost the hundreds of millions that they bet on the company.
Theranos is at the center of "The Inventor: The Blood Hunt in Silicon Valley", a new documentary that will debut Monday at 9 pm. AND on HBO.
For Gardner, the story is still not over.
"I just want her to be found guilty," Gardner said. "All I want is to see her in an orange jumpsuit with a black turtleneck."
His reasoning for his dislike is simple. "You put people in danger, I do not forgive that."
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