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Crime Biotech

Elizabeth Holmes Breaks Her Silence In First Interview From Prison (people.com) 138

Convicted Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes, had her first interview since being reported to prison in 2023, telling People magazine that she is still working on "research and inventions" in the healthcare space. Here's an excerpt from the article: Scheduled for release on April 3, 2032, Holmes says she hopes to travel with her family and to fight for reform of criminal justice system. She recently drafted an American Freedom Act bill -- a seven-page handwritten document -- to bolster the presumption of innocence and change criminal procedure. "This will be my life's work," says Holmes, adding that she is speaking out now as part of her mission to advocate on behalf of incarcerated persons and those ripped away from their children.

And, despite her global reputation as a biotech con artist who put lives at risk, she says she's continuing to write patents for new inventions and plans to resume her career in healthcare technology after her release. "There is not a day I have not continued to work on my research and inventions," she says. "I remain completely committed to my dream of making affordable healthcare solutions available to everyone."

For now, however, she is sustained by weekend visits from her family, when she can cuddle Invicta, watch William gather acorns in the prison yard and hold Evans's hand and briefly hug and kiss. (Conjugal visits are not allowed.) "It kills me to put my family through pain the way I do," she says. "But when I look back on my life, and these angels that have come into it, I can get through anything. It makes me want to fight for all of it."

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Elizabeth Holmes Breaks Her Silence In First Interview From Prison

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 13, 2025 @09:50AM (#65163333)
    STOP!!! Please Liz just stop already! You have done enough damage...
    • by blastard ( 816262 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @09:58AM (#65163363)

      All the 'I'm the victim here' attitude from her is too much. Even the phrase "since being reported to prison" fits that narrative. You were thrown in jail for defrauding people, risking lives, and quite possibly leading to death or poorer health outcomes by anyone unfortunate enough to rely on your 'tests' for their decisions.

      Clearly she has not learned her lesson, and there should be no opportunity for early release until she does.

      • by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @11:17AM (#65163647)

        But she IS a victim. The poor lass is being ripped away from her children. Children she decided to conceive during her fraud trial. Now what kind of a person would choose to have children under those circumstances? A victim!

        She's just another victim of an Elizabeth Holmes fraud attempt.

      • Did she write that or is it just editor fail? When somebody is ordered by a judge to report to prison, then they "report to prison" when they go there on their own. If she didn't do that, they'd issue an arrest warrant and she'd be "sent to prison" instead.

        Unless they're saying she was "reported on" for fraud, and then sent to prison, which is just plain silly for either her or the editors to say.

        • This is now journalism 101, if discussing a public figure, attractive person, suspected criminal and that person is a woman, there will be layers of softening words to appeal to the emotions and more emotional prone readers.

          All of these softening words are downplaying any negative deeds, crimes, and avoiding any responsibility because responsibility, duty, obligation and sacrifice are for the other half of the population.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

          And the main benefit

          • Even though she led the company and defrauded investors she received 11 years in prison (minimum security one) while her subordinate, a man, received 13 years in prison even though he was not in charge.

            Sentencing disparity - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

            Men receive 50% longer sentences for the same crimes with similar circumstances than women.

            Black men receive even longer jail sentences that men as a whole.and much longer sentences than women do for the same crime with similar circumstances.

    • Women is clearly insane.
    • He Jianke, who famously used CRISPR to edit human embryos and carried them to term effectively conducting science experiments on human beings, spent 3 years in prison for his unethical science practices [science.org].

      Now he is out and has a gene editing pharma company [npr.org].

      It creates an interesting conundrum; these people are serving their time, but when they get out they go back to waht they're doing because they're passionate and cut corners, but should we be banning them from doing this?

      • Nobody has banned Elizabeth Holmes from doing any type of research around affordable health systems. And she wasn't jailed for that. She was jailed for fraud. She will pay her penalty in the form of jail time. She will be forced to also pay restitution. From what I can tell, she's not restricted from forming another company and raising capital. And, if she's successful, maybe she will be able to pay the full restitution to the investors.

        She didn't have to pay anything to the victims who got wrong medic

        • Actually, Walgreens ponied up $44M [axios.com] for those that went through Theranos centers and got bad results. And Holmes has millions in outstanding legal fees she'll be working to pay off for the rest of her life. Not a lot, but there was some restitution.
        • I would agree with her that financial fraud shouldn't have a higher consequence than unethical biomedical research. Not necessarily that her sentence was too high, though. The current justice system is harsher on crimes that affect the wealthy.

      • How else will we get to invent the xenomorph bioweapons that we deserve as a species?

    • by kriston ( 7886 )

      Came here to emphasize this. She isn't researching or inventing squat.

  • by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @09:53AM (#65163341)

    It's best, though, to STFU until after you've met with a parole board and been released. Maybe until your sentence is up and they can't get you for parole violation and have to start up a whole new legal process from scratch.

    Even better, would be to actually reform.

    • by sirket ( 60694 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @10:09AM (#65163403)

      There is no parole in the Federal prison system for anyone sentenced after November 1987 so there is no way for her to violate parole.

      • by bugs2squash ( 1132591 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @10:47AM (#65163529)
        She has some name recognition - she'll probably be pardoned
        • She has some name recognition - she'll probably be pardoned

          By whom? Her biggest crime was defrauding rich investors. It's not like she killed people, sold drugs, or attempted to overthrow the capital. She's done things to *important people*.

          • She has some name recognition - she'll probably be pardoned

            By whom? Her biggest crime was defrauding rich investors. It's not like she killed people, sold drugs, or attempted to overthrow the capital. She's done things to *important people*.

            All she has to do is get Elon Musk to feel sorry for her, or maybe just get the hots for her, he'll talk to his Buddy In Chief and it will be a done deal with The Donald telling us about how unfair the Biden administration was to go after her for political reasons and how she's the real victim here.

            • More realistically, she has to find a way to grease Trump's palm and it'll happen. A Mar-a-Lago membership or book a whole floor of a Trump hotel for a while. Whatever the threshold is for buying a pardon.

            • What are the odds that she's carrying Elon's child within the next several years?
            • She can get pardoned. And, as part of the pardon, the restitution requirement can be removed and the victims are essentially deprived of being made whole. Admittedly her victims aren't very sympathetic, but it can happen. I'm not a lawyer. I imagine that, if this did happen, the victims would seek civil restitution and likely be successful and she can't be pardoned for a civil judgment, as far as I know. There is a real concern that both fraud and political violence have just become legal in the US.
          • Yeah she's got that going against her. If she'd only stolen from the poor like Scott Tucker she'd probably only have a few months left, going by the Tucker:Madoff ratio.

      • by shilly ( 142940 )

        Every so often, I learn a new fact that gives a little bit more colour to the fact that the US justice system is wildly unjust compared to any other western country. Especially as this fact led me to the First Step Act.

        • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

          Well lets add some relevant facts.

          You can still get out early / have your sentence reduced for good behavior - which amounts to an unconditional parole.

          So it isn't widly unjust at all. It is in reality far more just than most systems that include parole. Unless you consider justice to be about retribution and not reform.

          Good behavior means reforms have succeeded and there is no value to society in further imprisoning the convict. So we actual restore their freedom rather than letting them out with a bunch

          • by shilly ( 142940 )

            Ah facts. Tricky, aren’t they? Let’s have a little look.

            You said that the First Steps Act early release scheme “amounts to an unconditional parole” and that “We actually restore their freedom rather than letting them out with a bunch of conditions and a nanny”. Except that the early release involves exactly what you say it doesn’t: you’re only let out with “a bunch of conditions and a nanny”. Early release inmates serve the remaining portion of the

            • I have an alternative solution to crowded prisons, unfair justice system, early parole release plans, and so,on.

              Anyone who doesn't want to deal with the justice system should stop committing crimes. It isn't fool,proof but works in most cases.

              I know it's a weird idea but let's give it a shot and see how it goes.

              • by shilly ( 142940 )

                If you think the injustice of the US justice system doesn't encompass detaining, arresting, charging and convicting very large numbers of people who are innocent, then you're more naive than I gave you credit for.

                Additionally, of course, there's a really quite famous saying about two wrongs not making a right.

    • That's no way to get a pardon from the felon-in-chief.

    • Leon spawn (Score:2, Informative)

      by abulafia ( 7826 )
      Hey, maybe she can fuck King Leon for a pardon.

      Before any fanbois get woodies, remember he offered a horse to a flight attendant for a rub 'n tug.

      • And, in the end, she declined but got $250k for having to endure the proposition. Under most situations that would be excessive, but having to put up with Musk, I feel like she should have gotten a bigger payout.
  • by evanh ( 627108 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @09:57AM (#65163355)

    A lot of people seem to conflate the two. Ideas are a dime a dozen as they say. Coming up with something workable is a lot more than just an idea.

    • by Tom ( 822 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @10:55AM (#65163569) Homepage Journal

      Yes, but the patent office has done all it can to muddle the line. Patents used to require a working model or prototype. These days, you can just sit down, write up some shit, and get a patent for it.

      Aside from software patents, there's a number of technical patents that violate the laws of physics and/or describe purely theoretical machines.

      So sadly, an idea written up in the correct application form with the right words the inspectors want to see is very likely to result in a patent.

    • Actually an idea very much is patentable. There is a long history of patents filed and issued for things that flat out don't work. Remember something is considered patentable when the patent office grants the patent. The fact that the patent office is too staffed full of clueless people to identify obviously unworkable inventions is the reason these things are patentable. An idea alone is not patentable only in a legal context. But that context requires smart people to review something, and often challenge

    • Haven't you heard of the AI revolution that's happening? The virtual AI agents (associates? friends?) can do all the actual development and manufacturing. Humans can just sit around comfortably ideating, taking recreational drugs, and farting out prompts while our AI assistants do all the dirty work. We may forget how to tie our own shoes (solution: velcro) and our brains will shrink to bird-size, but things will be so fantastic when we're all working for ourselves as entrepreneurs.

  • by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @09:57AM (#65163361) Journal

    telling People magazine that she is still working on "research and inventions" in the healthcare space.

    If you're in the financial industry or healthcare, you need to be extra careful as a startup because you actually have to follow the law.

    She should switch to a normal internet startup, where it's ok to lie and you won't get arrested even if your code has bad bugs.

    • by dknj ( 441802 )

      Isn't it crazy now that CVS has the ability to diagnose certain conditions with a simple blood test? Also found was that a simple blood test can predetect certain specific cancers. Crazy how crazy Elizabeth Holmes was making these same crazy statements. Ofc what she did was what everyone in tech does, fake it until you make it.. that doesn't really play well in Biotech, but it's hard to ignore the impact she actually did to make preventative care just a bit simpler.

      Also how is she getting interviewed in p

      • Isn't it crazy now that CVS has the ability to diagnose certain conditions with a simple blood test?

        CVS did that before Holmes.

        Ofc what she did was what everyone in tech does, fake it until you make it.. that doesn't really play well in Biotech

        If you decide to do that, don't do biotech, and don't do banking.

        Also how is she getting interviewed in prison?

        Most people can be interviewed.

      • Also how is she getting interviewed in prison?

        The same way this story made it to slashdot. They figured there was a high chance that people would read it. It's junkfood for the brain. The western societies LOVE the shit.

      • Ofc what she did was what everyone in tech does, fake it until you make it

        I'm really tired of the "fake it til you make it" defense of her and her supporters. There's a difference between failing to deliver on a promise of the future and lying about your current progress. Most people would agree that failing to deliver for investors should not be a crime as it would disincentivize startups since failure to meet your goals could get you a prison sentence. However, most people would also agree that lying

    • Maybe switch to an EV startup. That way you can have ideas around self-driving and charge people for it without delivering.
  • Was the cheap rips off people who are really rich instead of just ripping off Grandma's and the guy who runs your auto mechanic shop down the street.

    She really made a fool of the guy that runs Walgreens. He went all in on her nonsense even though it was obvious nonsense.

    The Real danger with scam artists like her is that they show us that the people at the top are just as incompetent as we are and just as easily fooled. If we ever figure that out we're going to start questioning why they get all the
  • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

    "Hey Donald, I'm a big enough fraud to join your team!" - Elizabeth Holmes

    • by m00sh ( 2538182 )

      I'm surprised Holmes and SBF haven't been pardoned yet.

      They must have not put a safety pot away to buy their pardons.

  • by zawarski ( 1381571 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @10:11AM (#65163417)
    Am I the only one turned on by her level of crazy? No way that does not transfer to the bedroom.
  • Sure... (Score:5, Funny)

    by douglasfir77 ( 6439950 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @10:23AM (#65163453)

    "those ripped away from their children."

    Don't commit felony fraud and you won't be.

    What a dumb b*tch!

    • "those ripped away from their children."

      Don't commit felony fraud and you won't be.

      What a dumb b*tch!

      I would have gone with "don't conceive children while being on trial for felony fraud".

      But calling her a dumb bitch is a bit much. She's a victim. ... A victim of a Elizabeth Holmes fraud scheme, in this case a scheme to avoid prison.

    • by _merlin ( 160982 )

      She didn't even have children until after it was obvious she'd be serving time. When she realised she was facing a prison, she got pregnant as quickly as possible in a bid to get a more lenient sentence. If she didn't want to put herself and her children through that, she shouldn't have got pregnant for sympathy points.

  • by gosso920 ( 6330142 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @10:41AM (#65163501)
    ... if you won't go away?
  • A good rule of thumb is to ignore anything posted with emotion baiting, drama-manufacturing headlines.

    I'm sure she had a principled stance she was mum as a monk, and something big and important changed for her to finally break that silence.

    Maybe soon she'll "clap back" about something.

  • by Pseudonymous Powers ( 4097097 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @10:51AM (#65163555)
    Narcissistic sociopaths be narcissistically sociopathin'.
  • Elizabeth homes is fascinating. She is like some evil doll out of a horror movie. That said, I am not sure why everyone from her company boardroom--is not also in prison, as well her her and Sonny.
    • Because the Board represents the investors. These are money guys. They know as much about the science as the typical dog walker.

      They're actually victims here as they put in zillions of dollars and it went to zero.

  • by boxless ( 35756 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @11:42AM (#65163739)

    I am sure she is gathering the money needed to get a pardon from Trump.

    My spies tell me it is a sliding scale, but for someone of her stature the bidding starts at 10million usd.

  • by Harvey Manfrenjenson ( 1610637 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @11:46AM (#65163759)

    If she really wants to work on "research and inventions", there's an established pathway for doing that. She could finish her college degree, apply for a PhD program, and spend several years working long hours under the tutelage of experienced scientists. Then, *maybe*, if she's smart and hard-working, she'll come up with some useful "research and inventions".

    Nothing stopping her from doing any of that; PhD programs aren't that hard to get into, and more than half of the candidates (in the medical research space) are women. It's not a boys' club and there aren't a lot of obstacles to getting started. The main obstacle is getting things done once you're in.

    But I'm guessing that this option has never even occurred to her. People like Holmes start with the assumption that they are special, that they are geniuses and "natural leaders", and that the ordinary rules of life don't apply to them.

    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      You don't need to do all that stuff, although it's not a bad idea. Plenty of people with little education invent stuff in their garage in their spare time. What you need to do is not lie about how well it works.

      Holmes' story is well known. She was an undergrad, thought she had a wonderful world changing idea and, despite being told by her professors that it wouldn't work took the risk to drop out and work on it. There's nothing wrong with any of that, although it is pretty risky. But then, when it didn't wo

      • In the *medical* field, though? I would think the solitary garage-tinkerer/inventor is rare, although maybe there are exceptions I don't know about. There's so much prior art, and so many billions of dollars already thrown at the problems you're trying to solve (especially if the problem is "how to do an accurate immunoassay"). Most of the garage inventors I can think of succeeded because they were among the first to tackle a specific problem (like Wozniak with the Apple).

        • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          Sure. The *medical* field isn't special. Stuff gets invented the usual way. The only thing that's different is the later stages of development, which are expensive and bureaucratic, for very good safety reasons.

          The general public hears lots of stories about pharma trials and stuff with very important MDs giving very important opinions but that's just the very end stage. PCR was dreamed up by a guy who was high on LSD while driving. Dimethyl fumarate, which is an anti-inflammatory used to treat psoriasis and

  • Maybe we shouldn't give unrepentant celebrity criminals attention and publicity.

  • Someone clearly hasn't learned shit
  • ... that stupid fake voice yet? God that was fucking annoying
  • Please note the complete lack of contrition.

  • If they were interviewing a man, there's no way they'd play up the "missing my kids" angle. They might talk about how hard it is on his family. Society cares about women, and only cares about men in-so-much as it affects women.
  • It all seems to be about her. Poor little thing. Reform is a word not in this woman's vocabulary. If she does somehow enter the health care system again expect fraud and deceit, which I suppose is par for the industry in the first place sadly.

  • by kaatochacha ( 651922 ) on Thursday February 13, 2025 @03:22PM (#65164347)
    Just for the voice thing alone, she deserves to be in prison forever.
  • "...and those ripped away from their children"

    It's important to note that she didn't have children before the scandal started falling apart.

  • No early release
  • Sure, there is plenty of systemic failure within the legal system. Good luck stamping that out, and I would welcome the news. However, the sheer hubris of Mrs. Holmes applying herself to the task as if she were any kind of victim doesn't sit well with me. The hallucination she's presenting makes me wonder if she uses some AI copilot for making her press releases.
  • She recently drafted an American Freedom Act bill -- a seven-page handwritten document -- to bolster the presumption of innocence and change criminal procedure

    This is the bit that I'm confused by. Was she presumed guilty prior to conviction? I don't believe so. Why does the presumption of innocence need bolstering? And what would that look like?

    Don't get me wrong, I think the American criminal justice system is insane, but... just like how I believe the worst person to give HIV safety advice is someone who has AIDS (I think people at risk would pay far more attention to someone who actually followed said advice than someone saying "I didn't do this but you should

  • She didn't "accidentally" get Kissinger on her Board of Directors.

    She should go to Congresswoman Luna's Transparency Commission with the op to collect all Americans' DNA for TIA the same way USAID did in Pakistan and East Africa with their scam "vaccine clinics".

    Her big problem is the music stopped before DARPA could develop the tech and she was left without a chair.

    Sucks to be a patsy but she was willing and complicit. But if she turns State's she can get a deal.

  • I'm glad to see she is under the delusion that she is working on science and inventions. At least she is not under the delusion that she is a man. Or is she?

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