Walgreens Officially Breaks-Up with Theranos

Walgreens is terminating its relationship with Theranos, and will no longer offer its testing services at any of its stores.

Walgreens also said it would close all 40 Theranos Wellness Centers in its Arizona stores and will be working to help transition customers.

Those actions came after Theranos rescinded test results from the past two years for its Edison blood-testing diagnostics (IDDM, May 20).

The pharmacy chain said that CMS rejected Theranos’ correction plan, noting that looming sanctions justified ending the partnership. The firm also was hit with criminal investigations by the SEC, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and U.S. Department of Justice (IDDM, April 22).

Walgreens further informed Theranos that tests collected at its Wellness Centers at stores in Arizona, must be sent only to Theranos’ certified lab in the Phoenix area or to an accredited third-party lab for analysis.

Theranos said it was disappointed with Walgreens’ decision, and it would continue to serve customers through independent retail locations in Arizona and California.

The once-prized company has yet to provide details and documentation to Walgreens, its critical source of revenue, or how its tests work and compare to standard blood tests. — Joya Patel