Walgreens to Pay $44 Million to Theranos Customers

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Deerfield, IL) has agreed to a $44 million settlement to resolve class-action claims related to its partnership with Theranos.

The proposed settlement, which needs court approval, will provide consumers who participated in the lawsuit with “approximately double their out-of-pocket damages,” lawyers for plaintiffs said in a court filing in federal court in Phoenix on September 6.

The class-action lawsuit accusing Walgreens of being “willfully blind” to the fraudulent company, which claimed to offer hundreds of lab tests with only a few drops versus vials of blood thanks to its proprietary technology, called Edison. Walgreens partnered with Theranos in 2013 and installed sample collection kiosks in 40 stores in Arizona and one store in Palo Alto, California,
without validating its technology.

Theranos formally dissolved nearly three years after The Wall Street Journal uncovered discrepancies about the once-valued $9 billion company in 2015. Walgreens ended its partnership with Theranos in 2016 and shut down all testing locations.

Although Walgreens agreed to settle the class-action lawsuit against it rather than go to trial, the pharmacy chain maintains it too was duped by Theranos.

Elizabeth Holmes, age 39, founder and CEO of Theranos, was convicted of fraud in 2022 and sentenced to 11.25 years in prison. Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, 58, former Theranos President, was also found guilty and is serving a 13-year sentence.