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Theranos’ alleged fraudster Elizabeth Holmes is pregnant, according to a new lawsuit, potentially delaying her trial for several weeks.
Holmes is being accused of fraud for his role at the helm of Theranos, a blood testing startup that was a rising star in Silicon Valley before it emerged and had misrepresented the effectiveness of its technology.
Holmes’ lawyers asked the judge on March 2 to postpone the start of the jury selection until August 31, after the due date.
“The parties met and checked, and both parties agree that, in light of this development, it is not feasible to start the trial on July 13, 2021, as currently planned,” said the filing.
Holmes, who became famous for leaving Stanford at the age of 19, founded Theranos in 2003 with the aim of revolutionizing blood tests. She quickly became a star in the startup space that is largely dominated by men.
The rise and fall of the company became a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of the Silicon Valley advertising machine: it received brilliant media coverage and raised more than $ 700 million from investors on the grounds that it invented a machine that could drive hundreds of laboratory tests with a single finger – blood blood. The tests were launched at Walgreens stores and Theranos reached a $ 9 billion valuation before it became clear that many of the claims about the company’s allegedly revolutionary blood test were false.
Holmes and the former president of Theranos, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, have pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud to investors, doctors and patients. Theranos’ tests for calcium, potassium, HIV and diabetes, for example, have misrepresented their effectiveness.
“Based on these statements, many hundreds of patients paid or caused their medical insurers to pay Theranos for blood tests and test results, sometimes following referrals from their fraudulent doctors,” said the initial charge.
Holmes was indicted in 2018 and his federal trial in San Jose, California was originally scheduled for July 28, 2020, but was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Balwani’s case is being dealt with separately and his trial is scheduled to begin on January 18.
The Silicon Valley saga inspired a best-selling book, a popular podcast, several documentaries and a feature film.