Ransomware Gang That Targeted Hospitals Is Shut Down By FBI
The group, called Hive, attacked hospitals, school districts, financial firms, and other organizations and is accused of extorting over $100 million to decrypt its ransomware. Efforts by the FBI, Justice Department, and European law enforcement have now shut Hive down.
The Washington Post:
FBI Shuts Down Ransomware Gang That Targeted Schools And Hospitals
The FBI and law enforcement in Europe have shut down a major ransomware operation accused of extorting more than $100 million from organizations across the world by encrypting victims’ computer systems and demanding payments to provide a key to unlock them, U.S. officials said Thursday. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the ransomware group called Hive attacked hospitals, school districts, financial firms and others, stealing and sometimes publishing their data. Like some other prolific groups, Hive partnered with independent hackers who broke in through phishing or other means: The gang provided the encryption program and ransomware negotiations, and split the profits with the hackers. (Menn, Stein and Schaffer, 1/26)
Politico:
Justice Department Disrupts Group Behind Thousands Of Ransomware Attacks
Justice Department personnel used a court order on Wednesday night to seize two back-end servers belonging to the Hive ransomware group in Los Angeles and took control of the group’s darknet website, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday. Garland, at a press conference in Washington, said Hive was behind attacks in the past two years on a Midwest hospital, which was forced to stop accepting new patients and to pay a ransom to decrypt health data. While Garland did not name the hospital, the Memorial Health System in West Virginia and Ohio was attacked by Hive affiliates at the same time. Hive was also linked to an attack last year on Costa Rica’s public health service. (Miller, 1/26)
More health industry news —
Modern Healthcare:
Sanford-Fairview Merger: Minnesota AG Keith Ellison Asks For Delay
The $14 billion merger between Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services may be held up over concerns from a top Minnesota regulator. The nonprofit Midwestern health systems announced a deal in November that they aim to close by March 31. But Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) has asked Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Sanford Health and Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services to postpone their proposed merger, citing his office's continuing investigation into its consequences. (Hudson and Kacik, 1/26)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Ascension's Columbia St. Mary's Hospital In Milwaukee Under Fire
When Christian Olson arrived at Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee last month for his night shift, the nurse learned he would be assigned 12 critically ill patients. That is twice the number of patients hospital standards recommend for such a floor, and no aides were assigned to help. He considered the workload "beyond crazy." (Van Egeren and Volpenhein, 1/26)
Axios:
States Jump Into Fight Over Prior Authorization Requirements
Efforts to overhaul the prior authorization process are hitting a crescendo in state legislatures, with at least 40 states expected to consider measures that would streamline the way doctors must obtain health plan sign-offs before they can order procedures, tests or treatments. (Dreher, 1/27)
Chicago Tribune:
University Of Chicago Medical School Withdraws From U.S. News Rankings
University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine will no longer participate in U.S. News & World Report’s medical school rankings, joining a growing list of institutions rejecting the rankings. Leaders at the Chicago medical school have decided to no longer submit data to U.S. News to help the publication rank the institution. (Schencker, 1/26)
Side Effects Public Media:
Hospitals Look To Storytelling To Reduce Stigma Toward People With Addiction
Belle Smith was using heroin a few years ago and didn’t have access to a clean syringe. A needle broke in her arm and caused an infection. Smith went to a nearby hospital in South Carolina, where she said staff refused to give her anesthesia and opted to use a local numbing agent while they tried to get the needle out. (Benson, 1/26)
In news about health care workers —
Crain's Detroit Business:
MyMichigan Medical Center Nurses Vote To Strike
Nurses at MyMichigan Medical Center in Alma are preparing to strike. Of the approximately 150 nurses represented by the Michigan Nurses Association at the mid-Michigan hospital, 97 percent voted in favor of striking, the nurses said in a news release. (Walsh, 1/26)
Modern Healthcare:
Feds Allege Fake Nursing Credentials Scheme In Florida
Federal authorities say they've uncovered a conspiracy to provide prospective nurses with bogus diplomas and credentials allowing them to sit for board exams—and care for patients if they managed to pass despite not earning nursing degrees. Three now-closed Florida nursing schools were involved in a scheme that distributed fraudulent credentials to more than 7,600 people, the Justice Department alleges in recently unsealed indictments announced Wednesday. (Berryman, 1/26)
Stateline:
Some States May Allow Nurses To Do More Without Doctors
When COVID-19 hit the United States in 2020, state policymakers across the country jumped to expand access to health care. They temporarily allowed more telehealth, for example, and made it easier for medical providers to practice across state lines. (Ollove, 1/26)
KHN:
Montana Pharmacists May Get More Power To Prescribe
Mark Buck, a physician and pharmacist in Helena, Montana, said he’s been seeing more patients turn to urgent care clinics when they run out of medication. Their doctors have retired, moved away, or left the field because they burned out during the covid-19 pandemic, leaving the patients with few options to renew their prescriptions, he said. “Access is where we’re really hurting in this state,” Buck said. (Larson, 1/27)
Louisville Courier Journal:
Chiropractic Visit Caused Strokes? Jury Awards $1 Million To KY Woman
Amber Burgess, then 33, had never set foot in a chiropractor’s office when she went to Dr. Adam Fulkerson’s Heartland Family Chiropractic in Elizabethtown on May 18, 2020. In contrast, Becca Barlow, 31, had seen Dr. Leah Wright at Louisville Family Chiropractic 29 times for adjustments over three years when she went there on Jan. 7, 2019, seeking relief for "nursing mother’s neck." (Wolfson, 1/27)
