Drkoop.com Succumbs to Financial Ills
Health and wellness company Drkoop.com is shutting its doors and filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, the company said.
In a statement issued on December 16, the Santa Monica, California-based online health-information company, which changed its name to Dr. Koop LifeCare in August, said it was unable obtain the additional funding or sale of certain assets needed in order to continue operating.
"The company's efforts to obtain additional financing and sell certain of its assets have not been successful, and the company's present financial condition precludes it from meeting operating obligations necessary to operate as a going concern," the company said in the statement.
A trustee will seek to liquidate the company's assets. The proceeds will be applied to the claims of Drkoop.com's creditors. The company said its stockholders aren't expected to receive any proceeds from the liquidation.
Drkoop.com was founded by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop
and launched with much fanfare in 2000, largely because of its high-profile
endorsement. Koop envisioned the Internet as a repository of health records as
well as a vehicle to easily deliver patient information to health care
providers. While the Internet has become a popular resource for health
information, the concept of keeping personal records online
However, the site has been grappling with increasing
In August 2000, Drkoop.com came back from the brink of death. Prime Ventures LLC, J. F. Shea, Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn LLC, and other investors injected $20 million in equity into the company, only hours after the troubled Internet health company said it had run out of cash.
In August, Drkoop.com said it had completed a private placement of its preferred stock, which generated $5 million in funding. In November, the company reported a third-quarter net loss of $7.2 million on revenue of $3.2 million.
Officials at Drkoop.com could not be reached for comment this morning.
