My friend, the emergency physician Dr. Victoria Stephen tweeted the following and I think it is important:
"I hope the journalist sees a psychologist. A psychopath can truly damage a person’s psyche, understanding of reality in just one encounter. They are extremely harmful people who can disarm and beguile anyone. Stockholm syndrome is a thing."
Victoria shows great wisdom here. Yes, I let off some steam with this essay, but there's yet another victim and it's the Times writer Amy Chozick. I can't tell you how correct Tori's tweet is. In our job, we do work with people who are mentally ill every day. And some of them really do emotional harm to others in brief interactions. It's not anyone's fault. It's a part of illness for some. But it's something to be aware of.
On her Twitter account, Tressie McMillan Cotton re-tweeted a tweet by Todd Kashdan, who quoted this comment on the Holmes story:
One of Those People
New York • 1m ago I'm a VC who works with female founders every day (over half our portfolio is
comprised of companies founded and led by women). Several are in healthcare. The "gymnastics" they must do to be taken seriously include building genuinely valuable companies, being insanely persistent in a male-dominated culture, and being constantly judged on things that would be considered irrelevant in male
entrepreneurs. Not one of them has adopted a fake voice, falsified test results, passed off a "black box" that doesn't work as a functional and marketable product, sold in a huge
corporate deal on an utter lie, or threatened end customers' health. Holmes is a skilled huckster and apparently may indeed be a sociopath. Her media- friendly youth, looks, and extreme stylization (the voice, the turtlenecks) brought many successful investors and advisors alongside her. It appears few if any did real
due diligence. This, frankly, is on them. the rest is on her and on Balwani. Holmes did NOT "girl boss too close to the sun". She did enormous harm to every young woman starting or considering starting a company. It will be better for
women in technology when we stop turning over the rock and re-examining her.
Morning Dr. Faust, I love the Gilbert & Sullivan quotes. They are so true. DJT is reported to be a charming talker it’s if you can tolerate narcissistic babble, but underlying everything is simply a thief. Everybody is a mark, and every encounter is a potential grift. The awful dilemma we face going forward is about half the population have been seduced into the political scam, and it is dangerous for the rest of us.
Holmes has been able to sway so many people-- usually powerful men- with her nonsense. The NYT just keeps losing credibility for me. Thanks for your analysis.
This piece was so bizarre. I can't believe how much time they spent interviewing her, nor how much space the article was given. I couldn't even finish it. It just kept going on and on and on with seemingly no point.
Very small correction of an excellent essay: Martha Stewart went to Federal Prison not for the original crime of insider trading itself but for her later crimes of obstructing the investigation by lying to the FBI.
“Despite intimidation and threats of legal action, former Theranos employees Erika Cheung and Tyler Schultz, whose Grandfather George Schultz was a member of the Theranos board, began sharing their experiences of the company, its technology and practices with John. They revealed lies to board members, a culture of intimidation and secrecy, technology that repeatedly failed quality assurance and crucially, results sent to real patients that were fundamentally incorrect, upon which life-changing medical decisions were being made. It would seem that the company had been built on nothing more than audacious lies.”
From: Everything you need to know about the Theranos scandal
OK, the Gilbert & Sullivan quote topping this article was a brilliant way to poke fun at the ridiculous NYT article on the new new Liz Holmes. That reporting was the most infuriating shower of words I've ever read. I'm very grateful to have stumbled on your newsletter.
I was surprised at the places she popped up beginning in 2014. All the scientists I know are motivated by finding answers to basic research questions, not splashing themselves across magazines and seemingly spending all their time in fawning interviews. At least Ken Auletta in the New Yorker pointed out her ridiculous answer to his question about how her 'invention' worked:
"A chemistry is performed so that a chemical reaction occurs and generates a signal from the chemical interaction with the sample, which is translated into a result, which is then reviewed by certified laboratory personnel."
What nonsense. So I called up Siemens, the blood testing manufacturer. In 5 minutes a sales rep was giving me a tutorial on blood testing and microfluidics. I asked him if he was worried about Theranos as a competitor and he laughed. He said they manufacture a machine that uses capillary blood, but it's used only in neonatal settings and tests for fewer than 10 markers. I'll never understand why no one else bothered to do that simple thing.
And I'm glad to read about your skepticism over the Balto story. I don't think there's even proof that a body was found. One would think the 'wolf' dog would not go gently into the good night with a mountain lion so surely there was some noise. As for how the dog met its end, who knows? It's pretty hard to bury a 100+ carcass, especially on rented property. I called CA Fish & Wildlife, and they had no reports of a mountain lion attack in Woodside during the time in question. I also called San Mateo County Animal Control and ditto. So where is the body? There is always local coverage of mountain lion sightings and attacks because they're pretty rare. But nothing. And at the time there was a lot of publicity about Woodside trying to block affordable housing by designating itself as a mountain lion preserve. So maybe 'Liz' thought she could parlay that into sympathy, I don't know.
Possibly the most infuriating bit in the article was how the reporter allowed Liz to blab on about how she could come up with a COVID test. Her worthless patents were sold to Fortress Investments, a patent troll. They've been suing valid diagnostic companies that DO make COVID tests. So not only does 'Liz' not have anything to offer, her actions continue to harm real scientists.
I guess I'm confused about why she is not being charged with additional counts based on damage done to actual patients. Have not people and physicians come forward to elucidate actual consequences in human terms of basing treatments on false results? This is all so disappointing. Isn't some young guy behind a bank or crypto currency failure last year serving out his time in his parents' mansion instead of jail also? Whatever happened to guillotines?
My friend, the emergency physician Dr. Victoria Stephen tweeted the following and I think it is important:
"I hope the journalist sees a psychologist. A psychopath can truly damage a person’s psyche, understanding of reality in just one encounter. They are extremely harmful people who can disarm and beguile anyone. Stockholm syndrome is a thing."
Victoria shows great wisdom here. Yes, I let off some steam with this essay, but there's yet another victim and it's the Times writer Amy Chozick. I can't tell you how correct Tori's tweet is. In our job, we do work with people who are mentally ill every day. And some of them really do emotional harm to others in brief interactions. It's not anyone's fault. It's a part of illness for some. But it's something to be aware of.
On her Twitter account, Tressie McMillan Cotton re-tweeted a tweet by Todd Kashdan, who quoted this comment on the Holmes story:
One of Those People
New York • 1m ago I'm a VC who works with female founders every day (over half our portfolio is
comprised of companies founded and led by women). Several are in healthcare. The "gymnastics" they must do to be taken seriously include building genuinely valuable companies, being insanely persistent in a male-dominated culture, and being constantly judged on things that would be considered irrelevant in male
entrepreneurs. Not one of them has adopted a fake voice, falsified test results, passed off a "black box" that doesn't work as a functional and marketable product, sold in a huge
corporate deal on an utter lie, or threatened end customers' health. Holmes is a skilled huckster and apparently may indeed be a sociopath. Her media- friendly youth, looks, and extreme stylization (the voice, the turtlenecks) brought many successful investors and advisors alongside her. It appears few if any did real
due diligence. This, frankly, is on them. the rest is on her and on Balwani. Holmes did NOT "girl boss too close to the sun". She did enormous harm to every young woman starting or considering starting a company. It will be better for
women in technology when we stop turning over the rock and re-examining her.
Morning Dr. Faust, I love the Gilbert & Sullivan quotes. They are so true. DJT is reported to be a charming talker it’s if you can tolerate narcissistic babble, but underlying everything is simply a thief. Everybody is a mark, and every encounter is a potential grift. The awful dilemma we face going forward is about half the population have been seduced into the political scam, and it is dangerous for the rest of us.
Another excellent piece. Thank you for calling out the charade.
Holmes has been able to sway so many people-- usually powerful men- with her nonsense. The NYT just keeps losing credibility for me. Thanks for your analysis.
This piece was so bizarre. I can't believe how much time they spent interviewing her, nor how much space the article was given. I couldn't even finish it. It just kept going on and on and on with seemingly no point.
Very small correction of an excellent essay: Martha Stewart went to Federal Prison not for the original crime of insider trading itself but for her later crimes of obstructing the investigation by lying to the FBI.
“Despite intimidation and threats of legal action, former Theranos employees Erika Cheung and Tyler Schultz, whose Grandfather George Schultz was a member of the Theranos board, began sharing their experiences of the company, its technology and practices with John. They revealed lies to board members, a culture of intimidation and secrecy, technology that repeatedly failed quality assurance and crucially, results sent to real patients that were fundamentally incorrect, upon which life-changing medical decisions were being made. It would seem that the company had been built on nothing more than audacious lies.”
From: Everything you need to know about the Theranos scandal
By Connie Roff
This article earned you my subscription to Inside Medicine. Superb analysis and hilarious top notes!
Excellent. You have captured my outrage perfectly!
This article earned you my subscription to Inside Medicine. Superb analysis and hilarious top notes!
OK, the Gilbert & Sullivan quote topping this article was a brilliant way to poke fun at the ridiculous NYT article on the new new Liz Holmes. That reporting was the most infuriating shower of words I've ever read. I'm very grateful to have stumbled on your newsletter.
I was surprised at the places she popped up beginning in 2014. All the scientists I know are motivated by finding answers to basic research questions, not splashing themselves across magazines and seemingly spending all their time in fawning interviews. At least Ken Auletta in the New Yorker pointed out her ridiculous answer to his question about how her 'invention' worked:
"A chemistry is performed so that a chemical reaction occurs and generates a signal from the chemical interaction with the sample, which is translated into a result, which is then reviewed by certified laboratory personnel."
What nonsense. So I called up Siemens, the blood testing manufacturer. In 5 minutes a sales rep was giving me a tutorial on blood testing and microfluidics. I asked him if he was worried about Theranos as a competitor and he laughed. He said they manufacture a machine that uses capillary blood, but it's used only in neonatal settings and tests for fewer than 10 markers. I'll never understand why no one else bothered to do that simple thing.
And I'm glad to read about your skepticism over the Balto story. I don't think there's even proof that a body was found. One would think the 'wolf' dog would not go gently into the good night with a mountain lion so surely there was some noise. As for how the dog met its end, who knows? It's pretty hard to bury a 100+ carcass, especially on rented property. I called CA Fish & Wildlife, and they had no reports of a mountain lion attack in Woodside during the time in question. I also called San Mateo County Animal Control and ditto. So where is the body? There is always local coverage of mountain lion sightings and attacks because they're pretty rare. But nothing. And at the time there was a lot of publicity about Woodside trying to block affordable housing by designating itself as a mountain lion preserve. So maybe 'Liz' thought she could parlay that into sympathy, I don't know.
Possibly the most infuriating bit in the article was how the reporter allowed Liz to blab on about how she could come up with a COVID test. Her worthless patents were sold to Fortress Investments, a patent troll. They've been suing valid diagnostic companies that DO make COVID tests. So not only does 'Liz' not have anything to offer, her actions continue to harm real scientists.
I guess I'm confused about why she is not being charged with additional counts based on damage done to actual patients. Have not people and physicians come forward to elucidate actual consequences in human terms of basing treatments on false results? This is all so disappointing. Isn't some young guy behind a bank or crypto currency failure last year serving out his time in his parents' mansion instead of jail also? Whatever happened to guillotines?
I went back and re-read it entirely. I guess I stopped before the story of her dog. Your Billy Madison reference... *chef's kiss*
INSANE story from NYT.
Wonder if Chozick has ever watched Primal Fear. She just got Aaron'ed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah8Vjbs3JsM