Author John Carreyrou speaks about Bad Blood

George Demos, an adjunct professor at King Hall, interviews Bad Blood author John Carreyrou.

Earlier this week., UC Davis School of Law co-sponsored a wonderful event for law students, faculty, staff, and the community.  It was a special evening at the luxurious Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento with John Carreyrou, author of the best-selling book Bad Blood.  With grit and determination, Carreyrou uncovered the story of the charismatic and now-disgraced Elizabeth Holmes and the once high-flying Theranos, the blood-testing technology company she founded.  Carreyrou is one of the leading investigative reporters of our time, and we were incredibly fortunate to be able to hear from him.  Carreyrou described the massive fraud at Theranos and how he went about uncovering it.   

The story told by Bad Blood has it all. Affordable health care and services are important to all Americans.  So are clean and efficient financial markets.  And who doesn’t like a good thriller?  The drama at Theranos as told in Bad Blood brings all these topics into one story that has a lot of the drama -- and at times even the steaminess -- of a made-for-television movie.  The public is fortunate that John Carreyrou brought these issues to light. 

It was a spectacular evening.  Professor Donna Shestowsky, and Professor Tom Joo and his wife, Irene, were in attendance.  Alum Steve Boutin '72 and his wife, Linda, were as well. The UC Davis professional schools were well-represented.  Dean of the School of Medicine Allison Brashear and Graduate School of Management Dean Rao Unnava attended.

We all are indebted to George Demos, who teaches Corporate and White Collar Crime and a Presidential Power Seminar at UC Davis School of Law.  Presidential power is much-discussed nowadays.  George literally made this event happen and invited his students to attend and ensured that each received an autographed book.  Afra Afsharipour, the law school’s Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, also played an important role in facilitating this event.  With her unmatched enthusiasm, she got me to read Bad Blood, listen to the podcast about Holmes, and watch the HBO documentary.