Theranos just shook up its board of directors, but not much actually changed
But they're far less severe than Theranos has made them out to be.
According to a report from The New York Times, the company announced last night that board members Henry A. Kissinger and George P. Shultz - both of whom are former secretaries of state - would be leaving Theranos' leadership.
The decision appears to be part of Theranos' attempts to address public concerns about its failure to include medical experts on its board. As it stands, the vast majority of Theranos' leadership has military and government backgrounds, not medical or science ones.
As it turns out, though, Kissinger and Shultz aren't actually leaving. They're just becoming members of a new Theranos board.
Theranos' finger prick method relies on its proprietary "nanotainers" to collect blood samples, but the FDA recently deemed those containers "uncleared medical device[s]."
In other words, because the company failed to get regulatory approval for its nanocontainers, the FDA claims they're essentially using them illegally. Earlier this month, Theranos announced it would stop using its finger prick method on all of its tests except one for herpes, which they got FDA approval for back in July.