Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Theranos, a blood testing startup that has been under fire for the accuracy of its tests, told Maria Shriver on the TODAY Show she feels responsible for anything that happens at the company.
"I feel devastated that we did not catch and fix these issues faster," she said in the interview that aired Monday.
Ms. Holmes last week faced news that CMS wanted to revoke Theranos' federal license and bar her from owning or operating any other lab for a minimum of two years. CMS also proposed barring the company from the Medicare program and fining it $10,000 per day for noncompliance.
Theranos submitted a correction plan in February to resolve five major infractions discovered in a CMS inspection, but the agency found it insufficient.
In her TODAY Show interview, Ms. Holmes said Theranos has now stopped testing and plans to rebuild its laboratory from scratch to avoid these issues again in the future. She remains optimistic, telling Ms. Shriver she has "no doubt" the company will survive.
However, when asked if Theranos equipment was "lab testing reinvented," Ms. Holmes replied, "That's the dream," indicating success may still be at a distance.
See the full interview here.
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