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personpersonSunil DhawanSunil DhawanDermatologist who served as a part-time Theranos clinical laboratory director.← All People
WitnessTheranos

Sunil Dhawan

Dermatologist who served as a part-time Theranos clinical laboratory director.

AppearedFederal Criminal Trial
569 lines·18 proceedings·12 mentions

About

Sunil Dhawan testified for the prosecution about his limited service as Theranos's part-time laboratory director. Recruited by Sunny Balwani in November 2014, he understood the position to be short and minimally demanding. During his first several months, he visited the laboratory about twice, performed approximately five to ten hours of work, and recalled no involvement with patient results, personnel, reporting decisions, or quality control.

Shortly before a September 2015 CMS inspection, Dhawan reviewed a binder and signed 58 of 59 validation reports, generally after examining their first pages. He relied in part on Adam Rosendorff's earlier signatures, had never seen the Edison run an assay, and did not recall proposing changes to the reports or laboratory procedures. Dhawan attended the inspection's first morning and first met Elizabeth Holmes that day. He later learned of regulatory challenges through a July 2016 email about a sanctions notice, while communications concerning his role eventually stopped without a formal termination date he could identify.

On cross-examination, the defense emphasized that regulations permitted a part-time laboratory director, that full-time personnel handled daily operations, and that Dhawan's signatures reflected document review rather than firsthand participation in Edison testing. Dhawan acknowledged relying on laboratory personnel and their technical records because he then had no reason to consider their work unreliable. He also qualified questions that required him to infer other people's beliefs or motives or that exceeded his memory.

Redirect clarified that several answers rested on assumptions rather than investigation or direct observation. Dhawan said he assumed employees and earlier signers had performed their work properly and accepted underlying data without seeking substantiation. He received no data that prompted him to stop a test, did not know whether Theranos followed its critical-results procedure in practice, and was not present when he assumed employees were completing their assigned work.

Trial Record (18)

FederalFederal Criminal TrialAug 31, 2021 – Jan 3, 2022Called by prosecution

Sunil Dhawan testified for the prosecution about his limited, part-time service as Theranos's laboratory director and his signing of validation reports before a CMS inspection. His examination focused on the distinction between his firsthand knowledge and his reliance on documents, laboratory personnel, and assumptions about their work.

Day 4

OpeningOpening Statement by the ProsecutionRobert S. LeachMentioned

Summary

The prosecution alleged that Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh Balwani defrauded Theranos investors and patients through misrepresentations about the company's technology, partnerships, finances, retail rollout, and test accuracy. It previewed insiders, investors, patients, outside organizations, and records that it expected would support the wire-fraud and conspiracy charges.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

Day 6

Day 19

DirectSunil Dhawan — DirectSunil DhawanJeff Schenk8highlights173lines spoken

Summary

Sunil Dhawan described serving as Theranos's laboratory director with little operational involvement, signing 58 validation reports without seeing the Edison run an assay, and learning long afterward that the CMS inspection had produced problems.

Highlights (8)

testimony highlightDhawan testified that Balwani recruited him in November 2014 for what was presented as a limited laboratory-director role; Dhawan learned the basics of Theranos's technology primarily through internet searches and one short conversation.Open in transcript →
admissionDhawan estimated that through June or July 2015 he visited the laboratory about twice, worked no more than roughly five or ten total hours, and had no recalled contact concerning patient results, laboratory reporting decisions, or quality control.Open in transcript →
Quote“I'D HAVE TO LOOK -- THINK BACK TO MY SCHEDULE OR -- IT CAN'T HAVE BEEN MORE THAN FIVE OR TEN, AND MAYBE NOT -- I MEAN, IT JUST WAS NOT A LOT.”— Sunil DhawanDhawan estimated that his total work during his first several months as Theranos laboratory director was only five to ten hours or less.Open in transcript →
evidence eventAfter reviewing a 59-tab validation binder, Dhawan confirmed that he signed 58 reports on September 19, 2015. He said he reviewed the first pages, relied partly on Rosendorff's earlier signatures, never saw the Edison run an assay, and did not request changes to the reports.Open in transcript →
Show all 8 highlights
Quote“YES. I ASKED IF ADAM ROSENDORFF HAD REVIEWED THESE AND SIGNED THEM, AND IT LOOKED LIKE HIS SIGNATURE WAS EVERYWHERE AND SO I WAS ESSENTIALLY COSIGNING AGAIN.”— Sunil DhawanDhawan explained that Rosendorff's prior signatures were a basis for his own signing of the validation reports.Open in transcript →
Quote“I WAS NEVER SHOWN THE EDISON DEVICE RUNNING AN ASSAY.”— Sunil DhawanDhawan acknowledged signing validation materials without having seen the Edison perform an assay.Open in transcript →
testimony highlightDhawan described attending the first morning of the September 2015 CMS inspection, being introduced but asked no questions, and meeting Holmes for the first time after serving as laboratory director since the prior November.Open in transcript →
Quote“I WAS IN THE ROOM WHEN THE INSPECTORS WALKED IN, I WAS INTRODUCED, AND THEN THE INSPECTORS SAT WITH THE LAB TEAM AND MR. BALWANI, IF MY RECOLLECTION IS CORRECT. AND THEN AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR, I THINK, I WAS ASKED TO STEP OUT BECAUSE THERE WAS NO QUESTIONS ASKED OF ME. AND I WAS THERE I THINK ANOTHER HOUR UNTIL PROBABLY BETWEEN 8:00 AND 10:00, 10:30, MAYBE 11:00 MAX, AND I WAS NOT ASKED ANY QUESTIONS, AND I WAS NOT INQUIRED OF IN ANY WAY.”— Sunil DhawanDhawan described his limited participation in the CMS inspection despite his laboratory-director title.Open in transcript →

Day 20

CrossSunil Dhawan — CrossSunil DhawanLance A. Wade2highlights266lines spoken

Summary

Dhawan agreed that his part-time laboratory-director role allowed delegation and reliance on full-time staff, while emphasizing that he lacked contemporaneous knowledge of Sawyer's work, the end of Edison testing, and several details of inspection preparation.

Highlights (2)

testimony highlightDhawan agreed that regulations allowed part-time laboratory directors, that he remained available for consultation, and that such directors relied on others for daily laboratory functions.Open in transcript →
evidence eventDhawan identified Exhibit 10577 as a formal delegation of daily responsibilities to full-time laboratory personnel, and the court admitted it.Open in transcript →
RedirectSunil Dhawan — RedirectSunil DhawanJeff Schenk4highlights58lines spoken

Summary

Dhawan clarified that many of his earlier answers rested on assumptions rather than verified facts, including employee status, document accuracy, testing practices, and compliance with written laboratory procedures.

Highlights (4)

admissionDhawan said he assumed earlier signers had done good work and that supporting data were accurate, so he did not seek additional substantiation.Open in transcript →
Quote“MY ASSUMPTION WAS THAT THE DATA WAS CORRECT, SO I DIDN'T GO FURTHER.”— Sunil DhawanDhawan acknowledged that he did not seek further substantiation because he assumed the data underlying laboratory documents were correct.Open in transcript →
testimony highlightDhawan testified that he was never given data indicating a test should be stopped and did not know whether Theranos followed its critical-values SOP in practice or ignored critical results.Open in transcript →
Quote“I WAS NEVER GIVEN ANY DATA TO SAY THAT.”— Sunil DhawanDhawan explained why he never directed Theranos to stop running a test: he said he received no data supporting such a decision.Open in transcript →
RedirectSunil Dhawan — RedirectSunil DhawanJeff Schenk2highlights3lines spoken

Summary

Dhawan clarified that he was not at Theranos when he assumed employees were performing their assigned work.

Highlights (2)

testimony highlightDhawan clarified that he was not at Theranos when he assumed employees were performing their assigned work.Open in transcript →
Quote“I WAS NOT THERE. I WAS NOT THERE, BUT MY ASSUMPTION WAS THAT THEY WOULD BE DOING THE WORK THAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO DO.”— Sunil DhawanDhawan expressly distinguished his assumption about employee performance from firsthand observation at Theranos.Open in transcript →
ProceduralHearing on Data-Integrity QuestioningMentioned

Summary

The defense challenged questioning it believed implied unsupported data falsification; the prosecution disclaimed that inference from Dhawan's testimony, and the court found his examination balanced without taking immediate action.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

Day 28

Day 30

Day 42

CrossElizabeth A. Holmes — CrossElizabeth A. HolmesRobert S. LeachMentioned

Summary

Holmes acknowledged that Theranos devices were not clinically deployed with the military, that the company used third-party analyzers, and that key disclosures to investors, Walgreens, and Roger Parloff omitted or misstated aspects of actual laboratory operations. The prosecution also confronted her with divergent revenue projections, laboratory warnings, prototype limitations, special investor-visit workflows, and her knowledge of the troubled 2015 CMS inspection.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

Day 47