Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes. TEDMED Theranos, the $9 billion healthcare startup, went to lengths to try to kill a damning report in the Wall Street Journal.

The paper spoke to former Theranos employees, their families, a number of experts, the company's lawyers, and reviewed the medical records of a number of patients that had taken a Theranos blood test. They told the WSJ that — in late 2014, at least — the company didn't use its own high-tech test on the majority of blood samples, and relied on methods developed by other companies.

The WSJ says Theranos fought the newspaper throughout its investigation, especially when it came to patients who offered up their medical records and the healthcare professionals who interpreted them. The Wall Street Journal wrote:

After those people spoke to the Journal, Theranos visited some of them and asked them to sign prepared statements that said the Journal mischaracterized their comments. Two did and one refused."

Theranos also threatened to sue the wife of British biochemist Dr Ian Gibbons, who was hired by Holmes in 2005, according to The Wall Street Journal report. He produced 23 patents in collaboration with other scientists, with Holmes listed as a co-inventor on 19 of them. But Dr Gibbons later told his wife Rochelle that "nothing was working." His wife explained this to the WSJ, adding that Dr Gibbons had committed suicide in May 2013.

Business Insider contacted Theranos for comment about allegations that it attempted to suppress The Wall Street Journal's investigation, and about the claims within it. We will update this article once we hear back.

Read the full story at the WSJ >>