The Theranos Story, vol. 23: Walgreens drops the $140 million contract breach hammer

November 9, 2016 | by

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/upside-down-duck.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Walgreens Boots Alliance has finally sued Theranos in Delaware Federal Court in for breach of contract.  Walgreens is seeking $140 million, supposedly equivalent to their amount invested, according to sources cited in the Wall Street Journal article. Not many details are available, since Walgreens moved to seal the civil suit under their mutual non-disclosure agreement.

Allegations are flying, of course. Walgreens is officially mum, but according to the WSJ‘s ‘close to the matter’ sources, Walgreens claims that Theranos misled them about the state of their technology during their three-year partnership and even after the blood-draw centers were closed in June, which put their customers at risk. This sounds like the fraud and misrepresentation cited by Partner Fund Management, which moved in October to get its $96 million back like Lee Marvin as Walker in Point Blank. Earlier reports confirmed that patients did not learn for weeks or months, often not until forced to, that their Theranos test results were unreliable. There are reports that at least 10 patient lawsuits have been filed in Arizona and California.

(This Editor notes that their Theranos agita hasn’t soured Walgreens on funding health tech. They are a substantial investor in TytoCare, an all-in-one vital signs device with retail potential, and MedAvail, a kiosk dispenser for prescription and OTC medications)

Theranos has, no surprise, said a great deal, aggressively–the trademark of their legal supremo David Boies. They claim to be the aggrieved party: “Over the years, Walgreens consistently failed to meet its commitments to Theranos. Through its mishandling of our partnership and now this lawsuit, Walgreens has caused Theranos and its investors significant harm.” Theranos has exited the blood-testing business and is supposedly refocusing on developing technology to sell to outside labs. Also MedCityNews ‘coughs’, The Verge.  See here for the 22 previous TTA chapters.

A kudo for kiosks: HealthSpot Station adds $8 million funding

May 9, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/booth-Dr.-Jenkins-with-attendant-300dpi-website.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /] In a week of small funding announcements, HealthSpot announced an add of $8 million to its 2013 $10 million round, totaling $18.3 million of a $20 million offering (SEC filing). Investors are not disclosed. In three years, HealthSpot has raised an impressive total funding of $23 million (CrunchBase), although the company is still in pilot in a handful of locations around their Ohio HQ and reports minimal revenue. The company’s hosted, fully enclosed kiosks with both telehealth monitoring and virtual consult capabilities debuted at the end of 2012 at International CES New York. According to their website, their markets are facility waiting rooms, pharmacies, schools, military bases and prisons. Their partnerships have been notable: EHR Netsmart, telemedicine network Teladoc and a co-location arrangement with Canadian pharmacy kiosk MedAvail [TTA 23 Jan]. They are also on the board of the Alliance for Connected Care lobbying advocacy group [TTA 13 Feb], which will certainly aid their cause by plumping for increased telehealth coverage by Medicaid beyond the present 20 states and Medicare beyond rural special programs. Yes, they will be at ATA 2014, if you are attending. Mobihealthnews

HealthSpot Station kiosks add telepharmacy

January 23, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/booth-with_new_attendant.jpg” thumb_width=”180″ /]’Virtual consult’/staffed kiosk HealthSpot Station [TTA 29 Oct], most recently adding behavioral health EHR Netsmart and telemedicine provider Teladoc [TTA 5 Sept], as well as several health system providers, is expanding into telepharmacy through a strategic alliance with Canada-based MedAvail. MedAvail’s kiosks fill prescriptions in clinics, hospitals and office locations, including live assistance from a pharmacist, though the website video doesn’t explain how drugs not in stock in the kiosk are handled. What’s notable? Large kiosks are moving towards full-scope onsite clinics. HealthSpot in its three years of existence has quietly accumulated over $15 million in funding, $10 million in 2013 alone–a fact that is not included in Rock Health’s Digital Health 2013 report, unless this Editor overlooked it. Is this not digital health delivered? Correct me if I’m wrong. HealthSpot/MedAvail press release. Also see Editor Charles’ post on ‘The Future of Doctors’ below for more on this trend and its consequences.