Ransomware Attack Hits Kidney Care Provider DaVita
Parts of DaVita's network were locked down by the attack, and the company has not yet provided a timeline for recovery. DaVita works with over 700 U.S. hospitals providing kidney dialysis. In pharma and tech news: the cancer risk posed by CT scans; antimicrobial resistance in kids; and more.
Bloomberg:
Dialysis Provider DaVita Says Ransomware Locked Down Parts Of Network
DaVita Inc. said it has been impacted by ransomware that had locked down parts of its network. The company, which specializes in providing kidney dialysis to patients at more than 700 hospitals in the US, said in a statement Monday to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the incident was impacting some of its operations. (Gallagher, 4/14)
Becker's Hospital Review:
Oracle Health Sued Over Alleged Data Breach Affecting US Hospitals
Two women have filed a class-action lawsuit against Oracle Health, accusing the company of failing to protect sensitive patient information during a recent cyberattack that allegedly compromised data from several U.S. hospitals. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri on April 11, alleges that hackers accessed Oracle’s legacy Cerner servers — which had not yet been migrated to Oracle Cloud — using stolen customer credentials. The breach, which Oracle discovered around Feb. 20, exposed names, Social Security numbers, clinical testing results and other protected health information, according to the filing obtained by Becker’s. (Diaz, 4/14)
In other tech news —
CBS News:
Radiation From CT Scans Could Lead To Thousands Of Future Cancer Diagnoses, Study Finds
Approximately 93 million computed tomography examinations, or CT scans, are performed on 62 million patients annually in the United States — but the radiation from that process can raise the risk of future cancers. Now a new study is projecting just how many cases of cancer could be linked to CT scans. In the study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday, researchers estimate that over the lifetime of those millions of patients, about 103,000 radiation-induced cancers are projected to result from CT exams done in 2023. (Moniuszko, 4/14)
In pharmaceutical developments —
Stat:
Attorneys General Want Congress To Prohibit PBMs From Owning Pharmacies
Dozens of state attorneys general are urging Congress to pass a law prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers from simultaneously owning pharmacies, arguing such a move would boost competition and create more affordable prescription drug prices for Americans. (Silverman, 4/14)
The Hill:
Pfizer Will End Development Of Daily Anti-Obesity Pill Due To Liver Injury
Pfizer is stopping development of its experimental oral GLP-1 drug for obesity, the company announced Monday, after a patient in a trial suffered a liver injury potentially caused by the drug. The patient did not experience any symptoms, and the injury resolved after discontinuation of the drug, Pfizer said in a statement. After reviewing all clinical data for the medicine and consulting with regulators, Pfizer said it decided to halt research on it. The case occurred in a dose optimization trial, aimed at finding the highest tolerable dose in a short amount of time. (Weixel, 4/14)
NBC News:
New Antibiotic Could Be An Effective Treatment For Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea
A pill developed by GSK was found to be safe and effective in treating gonorrhea in a late-stage clinical trial, according to a study published Monday in The Lancet. If approved, it would become the first new class of antibiotic for the sexually transmitted infection in more than two decades. The pill, called gepotidacin, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in March to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women and girls 12 and up — the most common type of infection in women. The drug is sold under the name Blujepa. (Lovelace Jr., 4/14)
CIDRAP:
More Than 3 Million Child Deaths In 2022 Linked To Antimicrobial Resistance
A study presented late last week at the annual congress of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) shows that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was linked to the deaths of 3 million children in 2022. Nearly half of the deaths from AMR-related complications were in children in Southeast Asia and Africa, and many were linked to the use of antibiotics that aren't intended for first-line treatment, according to researchers from the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and the University of Melbourne. (Dall, 4/14)
