What We Learned This Week in the Elizabeth Holmes Trial

Gould had three miscarriages before and Theranos’s tests indicated she might be able to again suffering “an imminent abortion or possibly a complete loss of the pregnancy,” Zachman said. But additional test results from a Theranos competitor indicated that Gould’s pregnancy was fine, and she then carried the baby to full term and gave birth without any problems.

Gould, herself a medical assistant whose duties include drawing blood from other patients, testified that her finger was pricked at a local Walgreens in Phoenix.

“It was a little confusing, the conflicting information,” said Gould, describing the discrepancy between the Theranos tests and the tests she was given next that showed the correct values. She never went back to Theranos, she said, because “I didn’t feel like I could trust it.”

The reputation of the former SecDef

James Mattis, the former US Secretary of Defense and four-star general, shared how he lost confidence in Theranos over the course of about three years as a member of the company’s board of directors. Mattis is the first of Holmes’ known associates to testify to a list that also includes media mogul Rupert Murdoch and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

After a certain point, he said he “didn’t know what to believe about Theranos anymore. I couldn’t understand why we were surprised by such fundamental problems.”

A look inside Holmes’ cell phone

Some text messages were shown and read in court, and they indicated that both Holmes and Balwani were aware of the problems Theranos was facing.

“Normandy laboratory is a disaster area. Glad I came here. Will work to fix this,” Balwani read in November 2014, referring to one of Theranos’ testing facilities.

In messages Balwani sent days earlier, Holmes said, “Basically, we need to stop putting out fires by not creating them. We need to fix the cause here.”

“There’s too much hype around Theranos and you,” read one of his text messages to her. “FYI, I’m concerned about no-solids overexposure that is now missing.”

A rushed launch

Adam Rosendorff, who was lab director for Theranos from April 2013 to November 2014, testified on Friday. Rosendorff said he left Theranos for many reasons, including one that he was pressured to take on tests he was not confident in.

“I came to believe that the company believed in PR and fundraising more than patient care…the platform didn’t allow me to function effectively as a lab director,” Rosendorff said.

During his interview, Rosendorff said he was impressed with the “seriousness and dedication” in Holmes and Balwani, believing the company could be the next Apple.

Rosendorff described the events leading up to the commercial launch of Theranos devices in September 2013 as extremely rushed and rushed, as Holmes struggled to please the board and investors. With less than 10 days to go before launch, Rosendorff said none of the tests had been validated for patient care.

Rosendorff expressed concern about inaccurate test results and his desire to push the launch date to Holmes in her office. He said Holmes was clearly nervous, but not surprised by the problems that had arisen.

“She was shaking a little, her knee was tapping, her voice was breaking,” Rosendorff said.

Holmes pushed for the launch, telling him that instead of using Theranos technology, they would be using conventional analyzers.

Rosendorff will testify further when the trial resumes Tuesday.