Elizabeth Holmes Warns Lab Chief’s Testimony May Upend Trial

  • Ex-lab director added too close to trial, Holmes lawyers say
  • Kingshuk Das told Holmes tests didn’t meet basic requirements
Elizabeth Holmes, right, exits U.S. federal court in San Jose, California, on May 6. Photographer: Nina Riggio/Bloomberg
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Of all the high-profile witnesses set for Elizabeth Holmes’s criminal trial, Kingshuk Das isn’t exactly a key player in the collapse of Theranos Inc. But Das poses enough of a risk for her defense that her lawyer said his testimony threatens to upend the proceeding.

Das, a former lab director for Theranos, has said he told Holmes, who founded the company and was its chief executive officer, that its blood-testing equipment was deficient and not reliable, court filings show. He’s one of the few high-level scientists positioned to explain to jurors how aware Holmes was of problems with the machines even as she continued to promote them.