Theranos’s patent portfolio in the hope that she could give him some
advice. While doing so, she noticed that Elizabeth’s name was on all
the company’s patents, often in first place in the list of inventors.
When Ian told her that Elizabeth’s scientific contribution had been
negligible, Rochelle warned him that the patents could be invalidated
if this was ever exposed. That only served to make him more agitated.
Ian couldn’t tell whether there was any foundation for Elizabeth’s
theft allegation when he read the Fuisz patent and the early Theranos
patent applications side by side. But he knew one thing for sure: he
didn’t want to be involved in the case. And yet he worried that his job
depended on it. He’d started drinking heavily in the evenings. He told
Rochelle that he didn’t think he could ever resume a normal schedule
at Theranos. The thought of going back to the office made him sick, he
said. Rochelle told him he should quit if the job made him that
miserable. But resigning didn’t seem like an option to him. At age
sixty-seven, he didn’t think he would be able to find another job. He
also clung to the idea that he could still help the company fix its
problems.
On May 15, Ian contacted Elizabeth’s assistant to schedule a meeting
with her, hoping to work out some sort of alternative employment
arrangement. But when the assistant called back to confirm a meeting
for the next day, Ian became anxious. He told Rochelle he was worried
that Elizabeth would use the meeting to fire him. That same day, he
got a call from the Theranos lawyer David Doyle. After trying for weeks
to get the Boies Schiller attorneys to propose a date for Ian’s
deposition, the Fuiszes’ lawyers had run out of patience and sent
notice that he would have to appear at their offices in Campbell,
California, at 9:00 a.m. on May 17.
That’s what Doyle was calling about. With the deadline for his
appearance less than two days away, the lawyer encouraged Ian to
invoke health issues to get out of the deposition and emailed him a
doctor’s note for his physician to adapt and sign. Ian forwarded the
email to his personal Gmail address and, from there, to his wife’s
email address, asking her to print it. His anxiety seemed to reach a
new fevered pitch.