Walgreens Terminates Theranos Partnership After 31,000 Customers Receive Voided Test Results

Walgreens formally terminates its partnership with Theranos after discovering that 31,000 Walgreens customers had received voided test results from the blood-testing company’s faulty devices. The termination follows months of deteriorating relations after the October 2015 Wall Street Journal exposé revealed Theranos’ technology didn’t work as advertised. Walgreens closes all Theranos wellness centers in its stores and immediately ceases blood-testing services, citing bad test results and the federal investigation into Theranos. The pharmacy chain had invested $140 million in the partnership, which began in 2013 with plans to revolutionize blood testing through convenient retail locations.

The Walgreens-Theranos partnership exemplifies corporate due diligence failure and regulatory capture enabling medical fraud. Despite Theranos’ lack of peer-reviewed publications, absence of FDA approval for most tests, and refusal to allow independent validation of its technology, Walgreens partnered with the company and offered tests to customers in 40 stores across Arizona. The partnership proceeded even as Theranos exploited FDA regulatory loopholes by classifying its devices as ’laboratory-developed tests’ to avoid pre-market review. Walgreens’ failure to verify Theranos’ claims before exposing tens of thousands of customers to faulty medical tests demonstrates corporate prioritization of profit over patient safety. The company later sued Theranos for $140 million but settled for under $30 million, recovering only a fraction of its investment while patients faced potential health consequences from inaccurate test results.