Encore: Theranos | The Walgreens Deal | 2
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Hi, this is linsey gram, host of american scandal. Our back call ague has moved behind a payland. Recent episodes remain free, but older ones will require a wone plus subscription with wondering plus you get access to the full american, have add free, plus early access to new seasons and more join wondering plus in the wondering APP or on apple podcasts. A listener note, this episode originally aired in two thousand twenty one.

It's february two thousand and ten in palo to california. Inside there are no headquarters ers. A column of sunlight streams through the windows landing on Chelsea birkat, one of the company's employees.

Burka shades her pale blue eyes as SHE round a corner. And when SHE arrives at the office of the company, CEO elisabeth homes, or cat pauses today is not going to be easy. Burkett and holmes have been friends for years, and just six months ago, holmes higher burkett to come work at their nose.

At first, IT seemed like a dream job, but cant would set up studies with the company's blood testing devices. SHE would get to travel the world, helping develop a new piece of medical technology that could save people's lives. But these last few months, our cat has grown deeply pessimistic.

Theano sis s company culture has grown toxic under the leadership of Sunny ball wani, a senior executive. Bowani is a harsh and cruel leader. He also happens to be Elizabeth lme's boyfriend.

But bad leadership isn't the only problem. There is also all the gossip that circulating among employees, inflated revenue projections, mysterious firings, bribes to foreign governments. All of that has been upsetting for brick t.

But then came the breaking point. Holmes convinced a man having a health scare to let threose test is blood for cancer. The implication was that he should use the results to make medical decisions with life or death consequences.

Her cat was shot. Their nose of technology is still far from ready, but IT was clear that holmes and thermos would continue to act recklessly. So now, as burkett hovers outside home's office, SHE gathers her courage and gets ready to deliver some uncomfortable news inside her office.

Elizabeth homes hangs up the phone and waste burkett to come inside. Bert t enters where he finds home, sitting behind her desk with a smile. I had josh, sorry, I was on the phone with the board.

Come on in for cat not taking .

a seat to cross from homes and SHE looked at her old college friend SHE can't help but notice how tired SHE looks and thin. No, thanks. live.

How are you? Do you do anything except work? You're getting any sleep when we're growing fast.

So being tired comes with the territory. But what's what's on your mind? Reason i'm here is this is heart.

I can tell you how much I appreciate working for you. 嗯， this bad news. Yeah, i'm sorry this this job isn't working for me.

Homes leans forward, her hands clutched together. Is this a joke? No, there's i'm i'm serious.

I'm giving my notice, Chelsea. I handed you an incredible position. You've travel the world making a difference.

This is the kind of stuff that we dreamed about. Its stanford. yes.

Yeah, I know. And what is IT per cat? pauses. SHE needs to be discrete.

The tech world is a small place, and he doesn't want to say anything that could hurt her own future, so she's only going to share part of the truth. Well, you know, my boyfriend in L. A.

So every weekend i'm flying back and forth. It's just it's getting exhAusting. I can't keep doing IT. So it's not the problems with the studies you've leave. No, no, because Chelsea were fixing the tech.

I know you have hit some rough patches, but that's what happens when you work in to start up. No, it's not the tag. It's not the studies.

It's I just can't do IT I miss my boyfriend that's back and forth of killing me. It's just what I need. There's a flash of anger behind homes, eyes.

Chelsea, you've been here six months. No one gets a dream job in the valley and throws IT away because they're annoyed by a flight. L.

A, that takes just an hour. You're not telling me everything. No, that's yet.

You don't even have the couch. You admit the truth. Well, whatever IT is, you can just leave. Just go. We'll be fine without you, believe me is and on your way out, don't say anything to your direct reports. We're done here.

Burkett wants to protest to plead her case and win back her friends approval, but it's too late for that. Homes has turned away her back to burkett now and begins typing something on her computer. Bercy had heard the stories about homes, how SHE could be ruthless and ignore people who disagreed with her, but he never experienced this side of her old friend, painful to witness. So without saying another word for cat rises, walks out of their .

own headquarters.

or cat steps into the blinding palelo sun or emotions wearing part of her relieved to be done with arenas, still percent worries about homes. SHE seems more isolated, more deluded than she's ever been there. Anos is a deeply troubled ed company.

Meet holmes refuses to address the underlying problems. Her cat is no visionary and no tighten them, the tech industry. But you don't have to be to see the truth.

Reno is on a dangerous course, and if homes doesn't make some radical changes, make them soon, our company could soon fell apart. American scandal sponsored by auto val. I've bet you heard that IT takes ten thousand hours of practice to become an expert, right? Who came up with that? Welcome, glad.

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From onery, i'm lanzi gram and this is american.

At the age of nineteen, Elizabeth home set out to build a product that would revolutionize health care. Her company, theron's s work to develop new blood testing technology, which could diagnose a wide variety of medical issues using just a small drop of blood to build her company homes, quoted a number of silicon bali investors. Her pitch relied on a mixture of carma and inflated projections about the company's growth.

Homes also hit some of the problems with the technology itself. When asked, there are always prepared to go public with its blood testing devices. Homes and her company faced increasing scrutiny and with opposition mounting homes found herself in a desperate scramble to stay ahead of her critics.

This is episode two, the wall Greens deal. It's late, honest, two thousand and ten. At the anos headquarters in palo alto, california, Elizabeth home steps into a conference room where SHE finds a group of executive sitting at a long table.

There are members of a delegation from wall Greens, and they're here today to discuss a partnership between the drug store chain and theus home smiles and SHE breeched. The group, their notes may soon be able to place its blood testing devices inside walery stores. The two sides are currently working to launch a pilot program, and if all goes well, law Greens will expand this partnership nationwide.

Revenge stream could be massive and cement theano ses reputation as a leader in tech IT would be a validation of homes of vision and exhAusting work. Sonos blood testing devices aren't yet ready for the public, but for homes. That's not a deal broker.

They'll be ready when it's time. For now, though, he just needs to win over this group and deflect any concerns they may have about their noses. Technology inside the conference room, holmes turns and launches a powerpoint presentation.

Welcome, everyone, and thanks for being here. Before we jump into things, I want you to just let yourself dream. Imagine what this partnership would actually look like.

Maybe there's a little girl has been tired and lethargic SHE and her mom live out in rural alabama. Not a lot of hospitals out there, but there are wall Greens. So they go in and the little girl gets a test with just, just a pin prick blood.

In less than an hour, they get the result. Girl has a deficiency invitation. B A simple, treatable condition.

And now the family can go back to living their lives, and the girl can get back to laughing and playing in the yard. Homes clicks forward to the next light. That's the promise of this partnership.

Together, wall Greens and thermos can fill a huge gap left by our health care system and give regular people the care they need, the care they deserve at a Price that won't drain their savings. There's not in approval from the executives and holm's Greens with pride so far, so good. So SHE turns back to her presentation, but then a voice from the corner, introduce, or excuse me, this homes.

Great question. Homes turns to Kevin hunter, the fixed man who runs a consulting firm. Hunter is an expert in clinical lab ork, and he's helping one Greens evaluate the partnership.

But first, I just want to say thank you for having us. Your vision is incredible, but I wanted to ask you mention that you have a commercially ready lab that's right, state of the art that's cool. That's go on a science geek myself.

But I was coming back from the bathroom. I didn't see anything that look home's freezes. The fact is, their lambs are far from commercially ready.

But in silicon valley, sometimes you have to sell a story that makes people dream, even if IT bends the truth. Well, of Kevin, of course you didn't see the lab. It's downstairs. And I promise it's all that has happened up to be no, back to the, back to the presentation. Homes clicks to the next line.

But hunter interjects, again, this homes, I I really do want to see the lab that is that possible? Yes, of course, if we have the time, what time shouldn't an issue? I know we planned to end early, go to dinner.

Why don't we take A D to check out the lamp first? Well, i'm i'm afraid our schedules a little tiger than that. The restaurant has an incredibly strict reservation.

Polis, we can be late. Well, then we'll find another time to see the labb homes. Puts on a genial smile.

No, can I do appreciate dangers? Let's get through the important stuff first, and after that, we'll see if we can do fun tours and all that, right? Hunter leans back in his chair, his arms folded.

Holmes know he has to quickly redirect the conversation so you won't get any more questions about the lab or their product because holmes made a large promise claiming the sereno sis technology could run one hundred ninety two different kinds of blood test. But so far, I can only accomplish about a half that number. But it's just an engineering problem, one that homes a certain bell soon fix.

The employees will work harder, and soon there onus will be ready for a national rollout of its blood testing devices just a matter of time. And working out a few kings and wall Greens doesn't need to know everything going on the background anyways. So holmes clasps her hands together and smiling brightly, SHE begins telling the group about thero his new research in mexico.

There have been a number of findings that should be exciting for walkings as executive chatter over the news home studies herself. For many poised SHE knows that their us will get there eventually, they will achieve the impossible. But in the meantime, SHE can let this deal with walGreens fall through.

A few months later, Kevin hunter freezes into a boardroom at the wall Greens corporate headquarters in deer field. They annoy conference table is littered with turkey sandwich es, and the other executives are getting ready for their weekly video call with theirs as hundred waits for the call to begin his mind races as he remembers his first visit to thero at their palo alto headquarters. Hunter is a consulting working from walGreens, helping to evaluate the partnership with arenas.

And when he flew out to california, he wanted to vt. The company's actual technology, he wasn't interested in the powerpoint presentations, but in the devices themselves, in their ability to test blood, that was the only way he could tell atheros was the real deal. But in that visit to poo alto hunter hit row block after row block, eliza homes deflected all of his requests.

He wasn't allowed to see theron os's lab or to witness a demonstration of a live test of thermos s device. On top of that, thermoses executive Sunny ball wani trailed him when he went to the bathroom, was like they were trying to hide something, and IT left hunter deeply suspicious of homes and her biotech company. So sitting around the board table with the wall Greens executives, hunter thinks through his plan, somehow he must stop this deal for moving forward.

A moment later, the video call begins. An eliza th homes face appeared on a large screen in her distinct of low voice. Homes says you'd like to start the meeting with some housekeeper.

Theano is changing the way IT deals with government regulators from now on. On thermos will designate their tests in illegal category known as laboratory developed. Home slips the page and then breezy moves onto the topic, but Kevin hunter s.

Ears prick up to holmes really just say that this new designation means that the reno is devices will be less closely regulated by the fda and IT could present a major liability for war Greens hunter is shaken and when the call finally ends, he pulls aside were not van hoof, the walGreen executive whose leading the pilot project hunter explains that he's very concerned about what holmes just said. Their nose's legal maneuvering could put wall Greens in a precarious, his position in long side, all of hundreds other worries. This seems to add up to something bad.

Wall Greens needs to get to the bottom of this before it's too late, and they have a lawsuit on their hands. Van hove expression is pain. He admits that he hears what hundreds saying, but at this point they can put the breaks on the deal. Law Greens is battling cvs to be the dominant drug store chain across the country.

If law Greens doesn't take this opportunity, cvs will ban don huf then gives a drug and says he knows this isn't one hundred, wants to hear what is the way things are benda, who turns to leave but before he can, hundred grams is ARM and begins pleading. He says there's another way to vet their nose's technology. He could open up one of the devices the company left behind.

They could pull back the curtain and see what homes is really working with. Van and host eyes widened in alarm. He reminds hundred that the contract prohibits any reverse engineering of their nosis devices.

Cracking one open is out of the question band and have turns, toss his half eaten and sandwich in the trash, and walks away under his left. Standing in a days, he understands why the situation is difficult. Walking away from a deal with their nose could cause walGreen millions, billions over the long term, but there is a bigger cost to consider.

Their nosis products could be defective. And if this partnership goes forward, walGreens could cost lives on resize. At this point, there's a little he can do. He's just a consultant from a small firm and trying to upend a major corporate deal like this, just too much momentum to stop in.

In september two thousand and thirteen and three years later, at their nose's headquarters, ers in palette, the company's lab director, alan bean, makes his way through the office, surveying a landscape of exhausted employees, engineers, product developers, researchers. Everyone looks depleted. It's no shock that the company appears to be staff ed by zombies for the last three years.

There no employees have suffer through a relentless workload as there now has prepared a commercial launch of its blood testing technology. The company's deal with wall Greens could be a game changer by getting their technology and drug stores across the country, their notes will be able to reach millions of people, make an incredible amount of money. The stakes couldn't be rater for terreno s and just a few days, they'll open its first wells center inside a walGreens in palo to but there's a problem, one that being just learned, their nosis devices still aren't ready for the public.

Serenus may be under incredible pressure, but beam knows he has to stop the partnership for moving forward. Only one person can make this crucial decision. The company's founder and CEO, Elizabeth mes. Beam approaches home's office and knocks on the door, but when he looks up, he notices that her eyes are ring with dark circles.

Beam has heard rumors that home sleeps only four hours a night, that he lives on chocolate covered coffee beans now looking at homes, rock back and forth and her seat beam seize that the rumors could be true to be gingerly steps into the office and takes a seat. But before he can share his deep concerns, homes begins talking rapidly, saying that this wall Green launch is going to change everything, and not just for their most people everywhere are going to find that they can get medical tests as easily as shopping for groceries. Beam looks down.

He doesn't know why he's getting the pitch, that home says for investors. Maybe all her frantic energies just cover for her true feelings. Maybe she's also scared because the truth is that if there ono's launches in walGreens, IT will have to not just use its own technology to test blood.

They'll have to rely on devices manufactured by cements, the industrial giant and even those tests that prove in problematic. So despite all of theron's sis promises and years of work, partnership with walGreens isn't ready. Beam knows he has to tread carefully, so meeting holds his gaze.

He agrees that the walGreens partnership has big potential and is for that reason that they have to postpone on the launch and work to fix the longlegs of problems. Hearing the suggestion holmes looks away, shakes her head. SHE tells me that it's not an option.

They cannot delay going to have to fix this airplane as they fly IT beam shutter. At the analogy, he could be held personally liable any faulty test results. He can't risk that, so he leaned forward and issues a demand.

It's not just that he should delay the launch. Homes must call IT off, but home shakes her head again. Looking bitter and weary, he explains that the eros only currency is its promise. Postponing the launch could damage their reputation beyond repair.

It's not a decision she's willing to make being beginning to try again, but holmes raises her hand to silence him with her voice equipped, SHE tells me that somehow everything will be fine. Homes, ushers beam out of her office and into the whole way for a moment, being just stands there, watching homes through her glass door. SHE puts on a pair of headphones, soon as not along to music, rise, closed being, stares and disbelief.

Holmes, his habit of sticking her head in the sand is more than naive. It's dangerous, their noses cleaning toward outside fraud patients lives at stake. Someone has to speak up and put a stop to this. The only question is whether being himself has the strength to take on thero .

and eliza with homes.

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It's the summer of two thousand and thirteen in palo to california, and the thermos cafeteria is bus line. Employees gather their lunch trays as they laugh and blow off steam, their conversation echoing off the walls. One of those employees is Tyler shoulder, who grabs his food, looks for a place to set for shells.

The lunch scene is a bit overwhelmed. He's a recent graduate from stanford with dark blond hair and an easy smile. This is his first job out of college.

And looking around the cafeteria, he can admit that he feels intimate to be in a room with so many brilliant people. But schultz is no stranger to success himself. His grandfather is George shultz, the former U.

S. Secretary of state and now a Serena's board member. IT was through his grandfather that shoots metal lizbeth homes and built a relationship that would lead to this job.

Shell walks through the cafeteria, searching for a place to sit. As he gazes across the wide room, IT hits him just how confident and comfortable everyone seems to look. Slott wishes he could say the same for himself.

He has a good job working with a team to test blood samples for specific antibodies, but is not the team he was hired to work with. On top of that, his supervisor just quit abruptly. According to rumors, SHE had a fall out with Elizabeth homes, or something that feels chaotic and how to control about theirs.

Shelled size as he grabbed a seat by himself and starting he shouldn't entertain these kinds of thoughts. Diana s. Is an exciting company, and his grandfather wouldn't lead him a stray.

Still, his short time here has left shell's wondering whether he made the right decision and taking the job as shalt works his way through his lunch. The cafeteria suddenly goes quiet. Shalt sets down as four and looks over a shoulder.

Eliza homes is just entered SHE stabbed onto a raised platform and right away a group of employees gather around her looks like he has an announcement to make, surveying the quiet room homes by her lower lip and tells the employees that they've just opened their first dinos wellness center at the wall. Grains and paleo homes is beaming, saying she's proud of every single person in this room, all the hard work, all the sweat, tears, and of course, all the blood IT, all LED. To this moment, every employee should give themselves a round of applause.

The cafeteria erupts in cheers, and although he still new to the company, schultz joins in, smile forming on his face. Then holmes begins to tear up and the cafeteria goes quiet. Once again, her voice quivering. Homes begins talking about her uncle, who died from a cancer that could have been prevented if he gotten an early warning sign.

That's what thermos is, reading the world of homes as voice rises in passion, as SHE reminds everyone that this is what she's been working for, to prevent these kinds of losses, to be able to hold onto the people in our lives who we loved. The most homeless wife arrived, and without saying another word, SHE steps down from the race platform. Crowd response is immediate.

Employees cheer and employed. And as shutt watches this ratri celebration, he feels something stirred inside him. This mission, this feeling, is why he joined there in us.

Shell's dips his head and smiles. He's aware that he's still Young. He been scared, uncertain how to make sense of his first days on the job, but after hearing homes of speech, he feels restored.

It's time to set aside any worries and get to the business of changing the world. Several months later, Tyler schultz sets down a glass py pet and yarns into his gloved hand. The day has gotten late, but shoulder are still at work, and their noses is lab, and IT doesn't look like his work is going to end anytime soon.

For hour, schultz has been standing here evaluating the accuracy of their nosis blood testing technology. But no matter what he does, he keeps getting the same problematic results, shell squenched eyes and exhaustion. Maybe he's doing something wrong.

Everyone says that the onus has the most cutting edge technology, so how could he keep fAiling? But schulz doesn't know what he can do differently, so he returns to his, were ready to pick up where he left off. But as he reaches for another pie pet shalts, over here is a quiet conversation from across the room.

He scoot his chair back and spots the clinical lab team another workgroup sharing the space. They're whispers ing among themselves as they process patient samples. Schultz knows he's supposed to ignore them, but it's late with no barrier between them.

Shells can't help, but his drop IT sounds like they're talking about their nosis devices. One person says that theyve been flumped quality control tests. Someone else adds that Sunny morani, a threose executive, has been pressuring him to ignore these failures and just keep running tests.

Shell's is shocked. He's heard that theory of his blood testing devices have been seeing some problems and his experience issues first hand, but ignoring failures in quality control on real patients tests, that level of dishonor y is something else entirely. As he debates what to do, shutt suddenly catches the eye of someone in the clinical lab team.

Quickly, he turns back to his lab station, pretending to focus. He hopes he wasn't just caught snooping. But even if he was, there's a bigger issue here. IT sounds like there maybe something fraudulent happening at the and us and if that's true, he has to tell a lisbeth homes as CEO SHE is a right .

to know it's early two thousand and .

fourteen and eliza holmes is in her office staring at a large calendar on the wall is covered with notes about all the big events coming up. Soon there is the opening of thermos wellness centers, clinics hosting the company's blood testing devices. There are partnerships with pharmacology companies in meeting.

After meeting with investors, homes turned away from the calendar a giant grin on her face. Years ago, he set out to build thermos into a jug. Not SHE wanted to revolutionize medicine to make a name for herself as a pioneer in the tech industry.

And as IT stands now, homes is on track to achieve those lofty ambitions. There are nose's technology could be in a hundred clinics by next year. Homes has the world's attention.

The only thing left to do is fixed the remaining issues with the technology itself. And it's not a minor problem. But IT is fixable, and holmes is eager to get past these issues. And engineering, as holmes returns to her desk, he noticed his Taylor shoulder approaching from the whole way. His dirty blond hair push back homes, gathers her thoughts.

Shall ts recently sent an email that sounded like he was planning to sound an alarm about theos's blood testing devices for any other employees? He would quickly dismissed the concerns and turn to something else more pressing. But schultz's grandfather sits on terreno s board, so holmes has to tread.

Carefully, homes, waves in shot, and he steps into her office. Hey, Tyler, thanks. You're stopping by. I was hoping we get a chance to talk. I'm glad to hear that you, eva, see a rega mail.

I could tell you we're alarmed about something, but I just want to assure you I have my eye on this entire company. Nothing gets past me and everything's going to be fine. One thing we cannot do though is raised unfound a concerns with the investors or the board.

And as we both know, you have a drag line. No, honestly, I wasn't planning to talk with my grandfather anything. Well, that's the right call board members.

They're not involved in the day today, kinds of stuff that goes on here. It's just not the responsibility or I understand, but that's not what's on my mind. I wanted to talk you to tell you about some issues I found.

Okay, tell. Well, for one thing, there are some very big variations in the test results testing people's blood. The results are supposed be consistently accurate, but these variations been more than ten percent, and that's way more than we claim.

I don't know what you mean. We would never make that kind of claim, but we do or I don't think so. Come over here.

Take a shalts approaches to desk and homes clicks over to the thermos website as he strolled through in show starter, right there. Coefficient variation less than ten percent. Oh, Tyler, you're not reading the fine print.

Look, when you scroll down further there, that claim refers to our vitamin d test. It's not a blanket promise. Tell you've got nothing to worry about.

We're not breaking our promises to our partners or our customers. Now that's all you wanted to bring up. Glad we had the chance to talk, but and you have a very busy day.

Hom starts to usher shouts to the door, but then he starts this before go. I just want to be clear that i'm concerned our company is exaggerated accuracy of our technologies. Tyler, I understand your concern, and Frankly, that's good.

Shows you care what luck. This will take me a long time to walk through all the intricacies es of IT and I don't have the time talk with Danielle Young r VP of biomedical s he should be able to clear things up. But look at me, everything's gona be OK, I promise.

Shells looks like he's about .

to protest. But then he catches himself and not home, smiles and takes a deep breath and shelves access the office. He was raising serious red flags, and with his grandfather on thermoses board, this could have been some sort of crisis. Still, holmes isn't convinced that this is the last you'll here from Taylor shows. So from now on, do you have to keep a careful eye on her Young employee?

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has IT.

It's early two thousand and fourteen, and Tyler shultz is heading down a hallway. There are those headquarters. He's on his way to a meeting with Daniel Young.

The companies is head of bio mathematics. The two are planning to discuss tailored concerns about their nosis technology. For shouts, there's an alarming disconnect between what he sees as an employee and what the rest of the world believes about the company.

Whenever he google thermos, he finds u four c articles claiming that therefore, s blood tester cheaper, faster and more accurate than conventional technologies. But that's not what schultz found working in the lab. So he wants to get some answers to figure out of his concerns are actually justified.

Shell's reaches Young office and gives a quick knock. Schultz centers the office where he finds Young sitting at a computer typing Tyler eliza a said, you had some questions for me. Yes, yes, I do.

And thank you for making the time. I'm hoping you can explain some of the weird results have been seeing. I can't promise that, but i'll try gone silts takes out is no pad which is covered in equations.

Oh, I see you've done your homework, Taylor. Well, yeah, i've been looking at our test for safe less. And when we test these samples that were known to be positive, we were only correct sixty five percent of the time.

Now the number does go up to eighty percent if we run a second test. But in our reports, we say we're ninety five percent accurate. Can I see shalts hands? Young is noble.

yeah. Okay, I see was going on. So you have to understand that sometimes tests are inconclusive and so those results are not factored in, and that's the discrepancy in your calculations in the reports.

wait. So inconclusive testers are just thrown out, so our results will look Better. Young shifts in his seat, his expression remaining inscrutable.

Al, I think from this understanding time, but we're claiming there know the tests are large, just cheaper and faster or are also saying that they're more accurate than conventional technologies. I mean, that's what we told the wall street journal. But but you're saying is not true tinor. That's just elisa th SHE does some embarrassing she's talking to reporters and that doesn't concern you at all.

Frankly.

some of us don't have time to be concerned. Do you have the time to be concerned about the proficiency tests were running them using other companies equipment? We're not even reporting results from our own technology.

And sorry, tiler, what's the issue? The issue is that it's illegal and has to be we're running tests using other people's technology to make IT seem like we're actually using theano sis devices. Tina, that's just what we have to do right now.

Proficiency tests, they require lambs to compare their results to their peers, but our devices are cutting edge. We don't have any peers, so we can't use conventional methods. That doesn't make any sense.

I'm sorry, but Frankly, that's why you're not working on regulatory issues is complicated. no. Look, I can't offer anything more. So what I think is that you should head back your desk and focus on what you do best, engineering, biology. If you got other concerns, though.

you know where to find me.

Shell size as he looks away, it's no use pressing this any further. So he rises and leaves the office few minutes later, shutters back in his desk. He's supposed to keep working, but after that, meaning with Young, his stomach is and nuts.

Young is one of the top employees at there in us, but he's casually dismissing a series of obvious concerns. The company's leaders are not telling the truth about the accuracy of their technology. And if they're willing to live out something so basic, slott can only imagine what out they're hiding if you'll shaken at first, he doesn't know what to do, but slowly his head grows clear.

Schultz realizes that he has an obligation time to start talking both to his coworkers into people outside theirs. It's march thirty first, two thousand and fourteen in palo to california. Sunlight peaks through the blinds of a bedroom where everything is silent and still.

But suddenly there's a thing announcing the arrival of a new email. Tyler shouts, shoots up in bed and opens his blood, shut eyes, his mouth is hot in his body, aches. After a long night of tossing and turning, he probably ve got a few hours of sleep, but that wasn't enough to shake the feeling of panic shell.

His raise concerns with both Daniel Young analysts with homes, and both times he got the sense that they didn't want to hear his warnings. He's afraid that by raising red flags, he could be the next person fired at there, not, but shelters is even more afraid of what will happen if he does nothing. He was brought up to do the right thing.

In the case of theirs, the right thing means protecting innocent patients from a medical technology that is not ready for the public. So schultz escalates his campaign. He began by setting up an anonymous email account.

Then he mailed a director of the new york's state department of health in his email. Schulz described how a lab he works at may not have been properly assessing whether this technology actually works. He wanted to get an expert opinion of the matter, has been waiting for a reply.

Shell t get out of bed and sustain at his computer. When he checks his inbox, his heart skips a beat. There's a message from Stephanie showman, the director of the new york's state department of health. According to sherman schultz's right, the practices that he described are in fact a form of cheating that violate state and federal rules. Shalts has two choices.

He can come forward and name the lab that he described, or he can file an anonymous complaint with the state shell fingers hover over the keyboard if he goes forward with either of these choices, if he named their nose in a complaint, he could destroy the company that he works for, and he could humiliate his grandfather, who is one of Elizabeth home stronger supporters. What if shelters does nothing? The consequences could be dire for countless people across the country. That's something he can let happen. So shell's begins typing, he will file a complaint, and he .

will blow the whistle .

on reno from laundry. This is episode two of theron's from american scan on the next episode, news of fraud and corruption inside there, as reaches an investigative reporter at the wall street journal with the press closing in a liz with homes does everything he can to keep the fact .

from leaking IT out.

If you're enjoying american scandal, you can unlock exclusive seasons on one free plus binge new seasons first and listen completely and free when you join wunder plus in the wander APP apple podcast or spontini. And before you go tell us about yourself by filling out a survey and wander dot com slash survey, if you'd like to learn more about thern OS, we recommend the book bad blood secrets and lies in the silda on valley, started by john.

Carry a quick note about a reacts. In most cases, we can't know exactly what we said, but all our drama dizened are based on historical research. American scandal alist, hosted, edited and execute to produced by knee linty gram for airship audio editing by Molly bot sounds signed by their parent this episode is written by some Matthew sharley edited by Christinia monster. Our senior producer is gay riven execute producers or stephane jans jennie lower band at her non mop for wonder.

This is a story that begins with a dying wish.

One thing I would like you to do.

my mother's last request, that my sister and I ve finished writing the memoir. She's started about her german childhood when her father designed a secret super weapon for adolf hitler. My grandfather, Robert lesser, had IT the nazi project to build the world's first cruise missile, which terrorized millions and left the legacy that dogged my mother .

like a curse. SHE had some secrets.

I'm Susann rio. Join my sister and me as we searched for the truth behind our grandfather's work, and for the first time, this, the ghosts .

of our past.

Listen to the man who calculated that exclusively with wonderful plus. Join wondering plus in the wondering APP apple podcast or spotify.