Walgreens settles consumer claims that it knew Theranos was a fraud
Walgreens Boots Alliance reached a tentative settlement with consumers who received Theranos blood tests in Arizona and California and claimed that the drugstore giant was “willfully blind” to fraud at the blood-testing startup.
Lawyers for the company and consumers filed a notice with a federal judge in Arizona that they have reached a settlement in principle and expect to submit a request for court approval in about three weeks. Terms of the accord weren’t provided in Monday’s filing.
U.S. District Judge David Campbell in Phoenix this month ordered the case to go to trial after concluding there were factual issues that only a jury could resolve. They pertained to questions about whether Walgreens entered into an ill-fated partnership with Theranos to offer tests at its drugstores even while it had good reason to suspect the startup’s technology didn’t really work.
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and former chief executive of Theranos, was convicted of fraud last year and sentenced to 11¼ years in prison. The company’s former president, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, also was found guilty by a jury and is now serving a 13-year sentence.
A judge has ordered disgraced former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes to report to prison May 30 to begin serving her more than 11-year sentence.
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