Walgreens to close all Theranos centers, gives embroiled blood-testing firm the boot

Walgreens on Sunday formally cut ties with blood-testing startup Theranos and will immediately close all 40 Theranos Wellness Centers at its stores in Arizona.

This follows the company's decision in January to halt Theranos laboratory testing services at its Palo Alto, California, location and means Walgreens will no longer offer Theranos services at any of its stores.

[Also: Theranos hit with class action lawsuit over blood testing technology]

It's the latest in a string of setbacks for the beleaguered blood-testing company, which staked its reputation on being able to provide multiple tests on a small sample of blood taken with a finger prick. In March, a study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that cholesterol test results obtained through Theranos were much different than those from large laboratory companies, implying that doctors' medical decisions could be thrown off by results acquired through Theranos technology.

That was followed by a recommendation from The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that founder Elizabeth Holmes be banned from the blood testing business for a two-year period; CMS claimed that Theranos' proprietary testing devices often failed to meet the company's own accuracy requirements for certain tests -- in one instance, failing to accurately detect prostate cancer.

[Also: CMS letter to Theranos claims test failed to spot prostate cancer]

And in May, Theranos became the focus of a class action lawsuit accusing the company of consumer fraud, which company spokesperson Brooke Buchanan said at the time was "without merit."

In January, Walgreens informed Theranos that it must immediately cease sending clinical laboratory tests provided through its wellness centers to the Theranos lab in Newark, California, which has been the subject of ongoing CMS review.

At the same time, Walgreens told Theranos that tests collected at its wellness center stores in Arizona must be sent only to Theranos' certified lab in the Phoenix area or to an accredited third-party lab for analysis. No patient samples were to be sent to the Newark lab until all issues raised by CMS have been fully resolved.

[Also: Theranos under federal investigation in California]

Walgreens said it will be working over the next several days to help transition customers.

"In light of the voiding of a number of test results, and as CMS has rejected Theranos' plan of correction and considers sanctions, we have carefully considered our relationship with Theranos and believe it is in our customers' best interests to terminate our partnership," said Brad Fluegel, Walgreens senior vice president and chief healthcare commercial market development officer, in a statement.

Twitter: @JELagasse