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Joe Biden promoted medical fraudster Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos while Obama’s VP

Biden also made it clear that then-President Obama supported Theranos as well

January 5, 2022 1:10am

Updated: January 5, 2022 9:41am

Joe Biden played a role in promoting Theranos, a medical blood testing startup exposed as a fraud, and its founder Elizabeth Holmes on official channels after a visit to its headquarters in 2015 as Barack Obama’s Vice President.

Holmes was found guilty on Monday on one charge of conspiracy to defraud investors and three counts of wire fraud related to Theranos. The company, founded by Holmes in 2003, when she was only 19, promised to revolutionize blood testing, achieving broad, life-saving results with very small amounts of blood at historically low prices, and was valued as high at $9 billion before it was all exposed as a sham.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden visited Theranos’ Silicon Valley headquarters in July 2015, where he was given a personal tour by then-CEO Holmes. The visit’s goal was to promote “the importance of preventative health care” and underscoring the Obama administration’s support of technological advances in the private sector. 

Biden also made it clear that then-President Obama supported Theranos as well.

“You know, the president and I, as I hope we’ve demonstrated, led by the president, share your vision of a new healthcare paradigm focused on preventive care,” Biden said.

The Obama White House’s YouTube channel posted a video of Holmes, which described her as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship.

However, Theranos’ methods were met with skepticism from medical experts. A Wall Street Journal investigation later in 2015 confirmed their suspicions by revealing there was nothing revolutionary about its blood-test technology. Most of them were performed using existing technology.

Theranos’ board members included notable political figures like former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Defense Secretary William Perry, former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn, former Republican Sen. Bill Frist, and former Trump Defense Secretary James Mattis.