The Dropout 2: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial
Review of Season 2 of The Dropout (August 31, 2021 to January 5, 2022)

Rebecca Jarvis and her team at ABC News did a fantastic job with their coverage of the Elizabeth Holmes / Theranos trial. For those who are not familiar with the case, in brief it relates to Holmes & her confederates scamming investors and the public about their blood-test analysis machines which never actually worked. The extent of the scam is even more incredible when you learn that the company raised over $1 Billion dollars in funding and actually got their blood tests into Walgreens stores. The blood test results frequently gave incorrect results which resulting in the misdiagnosis of patients.

The scheme began to come undone when investigative journalist John Carreyrou, with the assistance of initially undisclosed whistleblowers, revealed the extent of deception in the Wall St. Journal (2015). This was later further detailed in his book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (2018) and then by one whistleblower Tyler Schultz, who gave his own insider’s view in the audiobook Thicker Than Water (2020).

The story does not actually end with the initial trial verdict. Sentencing has not yet been announced as of early January 2022. Then there are sure to be appeals and there is a forthcoming trial of Holmes confederate Sunny Balwani expected later in 2022.

Trivia and Links
A TV-series adaptation of Season 1 of The Dropout will begin airing on Hulu as of March 2, 2022. There is no trailer yet (early January 2022) but watch for updates at The Dropout on Hulu (link goes to Twitter).
See photograph at https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGqmqlQWQBAMlkp?format=jpg&name=medium
Actress Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout ( )