Elizabeth Holmes, chief executive officer of Theranos and the world's youngest self-made female billionaire, slated to take the podium March 3 at the Future of Genomic Medicine IX conference at La Jolla's Scripps Transitional Research Institute, sidestepped the spotlight by backing out of the parley.

Holmes was scheduled to open the afternoon session talking about democratizing genetic information. But course director Eric Topol, M.D., told conference delegates that Holmes withdrew. Topol added that Holmes is being advised not to speak publicly about the change of plan. Theranos declined a request for an interview to comment.

Holmes, 32, and her Palo Alto, Calif. diagnostics firm came under scrutiny after the Food and Drug Administration said recently that the company was using an unapproved blood-collection device in its approach to the early detection and prevention of disease.

Facing possible penalties and loss of Medicare reimbursement, Theranos submitted a plan to government regulators on how it will correct violations at its laboratory, including one that poses "immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety," according to a recent inspection.

Walgreens, the largest drugstore chain in the United States, threatened to terminate its relationship with Theranos unless the blood-testing company quickly fixes the problems found by federal inspectors, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The afternoon session proceeded without Holmes. Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and chief executive officer of 23andMe, and Jessica Richman, co-founder of uBiome, provided updates on the progress of efforts to democratize genetic information.

-- Medscape magazine