this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024
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Elizabeth Holmes—the disgraced and incarcerated founder of the infamous blood-testing startup Theranos—is barred from participating in federal health programs for nine decades, according to an announcement from the health department Friday.

The exclusion means that Holmes is barred from receiving payments from federal health programs for services or products, which significantly restricts her ability to work in the health care sector. It also prevents her from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs. With a 90-year term, the exclusion is lifelong for Holmes, who is currently 39.

The exclusion was announced by Inspector General Christi Grimm of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General.

Holmes is serving an 11-year, three-month sentence for defrauding investors of her blood-testing startup, Theranos, which she founded in 2003. At the time, Holmes claimed to have developed proprietary technology that could perform hundreds of medical tests using just a small drop of blood from a finger prick. The remarkable claim helped her drive the company's valuation to a stunning $9 billion in 2014, and set up lucrative partnerships. But, in reality, the technology never worked. The company collapsed in 2018, and she was convicted of fraud in 2022.

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[–] GilgameshCatBeard@lemmy.ca 39 points 5 months ago (3 children)

And yet…. Antivaxxers walk free.

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 34 points 5 months ago (1 children)

And the Sacklers' walk free.

[–] theangryseal@lemmy.world 25 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That depresses me.

I grew up in their test market. I watched every friend I had lose their parents to opioid addiction. I watched my dad go from busting his ass caring for us, camping trips, fishing trips, and hunting trips, to hanging out behind a car wash with other unemployed junkies while we cooked on a wood stove and had no electricity.

I grew up in it so it was normal. I ended up on it. You either had a social life or you didn’t. There weren’t very many sober people left by 2005.

I have seen death and chaos all of my life. My brother and I are among about 5 boys from our neighborhood left. We got sober because luckily our mother never touched the stuff and was able to be there for us. The rest in our age group are dead. Overdoses and suicides because of the addiction.

I knew nothing but violence and chaos as a kid because they lied and made junkies of entire communities.

Money is magical. As long as you pay your taxes you’ll be fine. Might have to deal with some embarrassment from time to time, you might get your name taken off of something. Other than that, luxury and protection.

The only reason Holmes is in jail is that she fucked with other people with money. She should have found a way to get rich poisoning the poors.

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 4 points 5 months ago

The only reason Holmes is in jail is that she fucked with other people with money. She should have found a way to get rich poisoning the poors.

That's also the only reason rich people stay rich ... they own the justice system, Wall St and the banking system lock, stock and barrel.

I'm glad you made it through, and sad so many didn't.

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 4 points 5 months ago

Don’t forget the ivermectin pusher with the spray tan

[–] Custoslibera@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago

She is an absolute psychopath and should be jailed for life.

[–] SpringMango7379@lemmy.world 8 points 5 months ago

I read that as in she is unable to work or research, in the medical field, not as a patient.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 8 points 5 months ago (4 children)

It also prevents her from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs.

This is pretty unfair imo. I don't think she would going to used them, but still.

[–] prole@sh.itjust.works 23 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It's unclear what they mean by "participate" in this context. The sentence right before that is talking about being barred from receiving payments from federal health programs, so I'm wondering if they mean "participating" on the provider's side, rather than the patient's.

Don't really care enough to look into it though.

[–] QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.world 6 points 5 months ago

From the official OIG website:

HHS-OIG has authority under 1128(a) of the Social Security Act to exclude from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other Federal health care programs individuals who have been convicted of certain crimes, including criminal offenses related to health care fraud. An exclusion is an administrative sanction that protects Federal health care programs and the people they serve by prohibiting payment for any health care item or service furnished, ordered, or prescribed by an excluded person.

https://oig.hhs.gov/newsroom/news-releases-articles/hhs-oig-issues-notice-of-exclusion-to-founder-and-ceo-of-theranos-inc/

I could see it argued both ways. It looks like this is meant to prohibit her from working with or receiving payment from any group in this sector.

From the wording it's difficult to tell if this means she also won't be able to be reimbursed for her own personal healthcare costs by any of these programs.

And if anyone really wants to get into the legalese: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title11/1128.htm

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 7 points 5 months ago

It's not about fair, it's about sending the message that you don't fuck with rich people's money, especially not in a way that publically embarrasses them.

[–] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Imagine she's 80, broke, alone and is struggling. She's already served her time, but she's still not allowed health services? Seems kinda fucked, and it's fucked that the government has access to this slippery slope of banning convicts from health services

[–] bramblepatchmystery@slrpnk.net 8 points 5 months ago

They haven't banned her as a future recipient of health services. They just effectively banned her from ever making a dime in the entire health services industry.

[–] adrian783@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago

nah fuck her

[–] Eezyville@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

If they don't want her to participate in Medicare and Medicaid then go all the way and not allow her to pay into it with her tax dollars. This seems like cruel and unusual punishment.

EDIT: It also seems arbitrary because I don't think this was part of her sentence.

[–] meyotch@slrpnk.net 5 points 5 months ago (2 children)
[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 3 points 5 months ago

Hard to move fast when you're blind

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago (5 children)

I honestly believe that this (what she did) happens all of the time. But she was too young, too female, to get away with it.

I suspect we won’t see any more consequences in the future for most people. I’d love to be proven wrong.

[–] squirmy_wormy@lemmy.world 20 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I'd bet it's more she went the silicon valley route and banked on the tech avenue/public bragging to make money. The others fly under the radar.

[–] AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 months ago

Definitely.

[–] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

But she was too young, too female, to get away with it.

The combination of these two usually makes it easier to get away with things

[–] Maeve@kbin.social 4 points 5 months ago

Echoes of Martha Stewart.

[–] blanketswithsmallpox@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Too young, white, and female? You mean the least incarcerated demographic in the USA?

It's surely not because she's a fake voiced sociopath who got the hopes up of millions of patients and healthcare workers alike... falsely representing technology to defraud millions of investors...

Nope... Definitely because she's a middle aged woman lol.

[–] TserriednichThe4th@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

The only reason she even got funding was because she was the female steve jobs

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It also prevents her from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs.

...

Holmes is serving an 11-year, three-month sentence

So what happens if she gets sick in prison?

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 16 points 5 months ago

Participating as a provider, not as a patient

[–] Crack0n7uesday@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

She will still get benefits, every inmate gets benefits even though the care you receive in prison is low quality it's still cruel and unusual to not give prisoners access to at least minimal health care needs. A case like that wouldn't even make it to the supreme court. She just can't receive payments or work for a company that receives payments from those services.