The Westgard Rules

One last thing about Theranos

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

I know you've probably already read the book, listened to the podcast, and watched the documentaries (and are eagerly awaiting the movie and the tv series), so you've had your fill of stories about Theranos. Really, since it became so popular in the mainstream media, we've had a lot less to comment on.

But one of the heroic whistleblowers, Erika Cheung, had something to say that I wanted to share (with her permission):

"I spent many long nights independently doing training on QC systems & Westgard rules when I worked at Theranos. Before reporting Theranos company to CMS, I tried to collect and present lots of evidence on how our QC systems were severely failing and it wasn't just my opinion, but violated basic QC procedures, Westgard rules, and was far from six sigma laboratory principles. I was fortunate to be a young scientist who stumbled upon all the content you all developed and was able to leverage it to understand how a company was endangering patients...."

(Erika, it's really you we all need to thank.)

Westgard and Westgard at the Lab Quality ConFab

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

This Tuesday, October 1st, at the Laboratory Quality ConFab, Dr. Westgard will deliver a plenary session:

“Elevating the Analytical Integrity of Your Lab's Test Results: Why Your QA/QC May Be Sub-optimal and How to Find and Fix those Problems ”

Later, in the afternoon, there will be a special session with both Westgards:

"Rethinking Traditional Lab QA/QC: Understanding Weaknesses in Existing Requirements and Mastering Useful Methods and Metrics to Raise Your Lab's Analytical Accuracy."

You can register for the Lab Quality ConFab here