Hacking-related data breaches have been reported by Meridian Valley Laboratories in Washington, and College Parkside Pharmacy and College Hometown Pharmacy in New York state.

College Parkside Pharmacy & College Hometown Pharmacy

Certain patients who received services from College Parkside Pharmacy and/or College Hometown Pharmacy in New York state are being notified about a recent security incident that potentially involved unauthorized access to their protected health information. The pharmacies are operated by Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, which previously announced the security breach; however, the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights has only recently been notified. The OCR breach portal indicates the incident affected 9,742 individuals who received services from College Hometown Pharmacy and 5,736 individuals who received services from College Parkside Pharmacy.

According to the breach notice, unusual activity was identified within its computer network on or around September 14, 2024. External cybersecurity specialists were engaged to assist with the investigation and confirmed unauthorized network access between August 31, 2024, and September 14, 2024.  A limited amount of data was exfiltrated during that time, in what was described as “a sophisticated cybersecurity incident”.

The delay in issuing notifications was due to the time taken to review the affected files. That process was completed on May 30, 2025, and notification letters started to be mailed on June 16, 2025. No evidence of data misuse has been identified; however, the following data was exposed and potentially stolen: First and last name, plus one or more of the following: date of birth, birth certificate, account number, routing number, security code, marriage certificate, mother’s maiden name, digital signature, passport number, government identification number, Social Security number, taxpayer ID number, driver’s license number, payment card number, payment card expiration date, alien registration number, username and password, health insurance information, medical record number, mental or physical condition, diagnosis/treatment information, procedure type, provider name, prescription information, biometric data, and student information.  Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences said additional cybersecurity safeguards are being implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Meridian Valley Laboratories

Meridian Valley Laboratories in Tukwila, Washington, is investigating a security incident that was discovered on July 3, 2025. The investigation has so far revealed that there was unauthorized access to its network between May 30, 2025, and July 3, 2025. During that time, files were copied from its network. They are currently being reviewed to determine the individuals affected and the types of information involved.

At this stage of the investigation, it is too early to tell how many individuals have been affected. The breach has been reported to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights using a placeholder figure of 501 affected individuals. Meridian Valley Laboratories said notification letters will be mailed to the affected individuals as quickly as possible when the file review is completed, and they will be informed about the exact types of information involved.

In the meantime, all individuals who used Meridian Valley Laboratories have been advised to remain vigilant against identity theft and fraud by reviewing their accounts, explanation of benefits statements, and credit reports for suspicious activity.

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Pediatric Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery Associates has reported a data breach affecting almost 44,000 patients. Anchorage Neighborhood Health Clinic in Alaska is investigating a potential security breach that may have affected up to 10,000 patients, and Valley Mountain Regional Center has exposed data over the Internet.

Pediatric Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery Associates, Florida

Pediatric Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery Associates (POHNS) in Florida recently reported a data breach to the HHS Office for Civil Rights affecting 43,446 individuals. POHNS first announced the data breach on April 25, 2025. Unusual activity was identified within its computer network on February 24, 2025. The forensic investigation confirmed unauthorized access between February 19 and February 24, 2025, including access to patients’ protected health information. The file review confirmed that a range of patient data had been exposed, although the information involved varied from individual to individual.

Data potentially compromised in the incident included names in combination with one or more of the following: address, email address, phone number, Social Security number, driver’s license/state ID number, financial account information, taxpayer ID number, digital signature, date of birth, medical diagnosis/treatment information, prescription information, date of service, patient ID number, provider name, medical record number, Medicare/Medicaid number, health insurance information, health insurance claim number, health insurance policy number, and/or treatment cost information. Notification letters have been mailed to the affected individuals who have been offered complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services.

Anchorage Neighborhood Health Clinic, Alaska

Anchorage Neighborhood Health Clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Alaska, has confirmed to local media that it is investigating a claim from a hacker about unauthorized access to the personal and health information of 10,000 patients.

Notifications have been issued to patients warning them about a potential security incident after the health center learned that the hacker had contacted certain patients directly. In some cases, the emails sent to patients included information such as their name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, phone number, driver’s license, and health insurance information. Patients have been advised not to interact with any communications they receive from the hacker.

On August 26, 2025, the health center posted a notice on its Facebook page explaining that technical difficulties are being experienced with computer systems, which prevent appointment scheduling, and that phone lines are down. Some progress has been made restoring the affected systems; however, a follow-up post on September 2, 2025, warned that there was only limited computer access due to ongoing technical difficulties, and the phone lines had not been restored by September 9, 2025. The Facebook posts suggest that this was a ransomware attack. The investigation is ongoing, and the extent of any data theft has yet to be confirmed.

Valley Mountain Regional Center

Valley Mountain Regional Center, a Stockton, CA-based provider of support services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, has recently notified 529 individuals about the accidental exposure of some of their protected health information. On July 14, 2025, a list of State Supplemental Payment (SSP) vendors was posted on its website.

An SSP is an additional payment from the state government that is used to help individuals with disabilities who are living independently. Valley Mountain Regional Center said it discovered that the list contained consumer information such as name, address, city, state, zip code, phone number, vendor name, service code, and service description.

The error was identified quickly, and the list was removed within 18 hours of posting. Valley Mountain Regional Center said it is unaware of any misuse of the exposed information and stressed that Social Security numbers and financial account information were not exposed. Steps have been taken to improve policies and protocols to ensure that similar errors are not made in the future.

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New York Blood Center Enterprises, the operator of 19 blood donor centers in New York and New Jersey, has notified the Maine Attorney General about its January 2025 ransomware attack and has provided further information on the findings of its investigation. As previously announced and reported below, the attack was detected on January 26, 2025. The forensic investigation confirmed that an unauthorized third party had access to its computer network between January 20 and January 26, 2025, and obtained a copy of a subset of files stored on the network.

The files were reviewed, and New York Blood Center Enterprises obtained a preliminary list of individuals whose names and sensitive data were involved on June 30, 2025. The draft list was reviewed, and “an extensive analysis” was conducted to develop a final list of the individuals to notify. The final list was obtained on August 12, 2025. The types of information involved vary from individual to individual and may include names in combination with Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, other government identification card numbers, and/or financial account information.

New York Blood Center Enterprises started mailing notification letters to the affected individuals on September 5, 2025, and individuals whose Social Security number or driver’s license number was involved have been offered one year of complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. New York Blood Center Enterprises said it has enhanced its security protocols and technical safeguards to further protect and monitor its systems.

The notification letters do not mention ransomware, although New York Blood Center Enterprises previously stated that ransomware was involved. The threat group responsible for the attack has not been disclosed, and no group is known to have claimed responsibility for the attack. The notification letter to the Maine Attorney General states that 8 Maine residents were affected, but the breach report does not state how many individuals were affected in total. The HHS’ Office for Civil Rights does not yet show the breach, so it is currently unclear how many individuals have been affected in total.

January 31, 2025: New York Blood Center Enterprises Grappling with Ransomware Attack

A ransomware group has attacked another U.S. blood donation organization. New York Blood Center Enterprises (NYBCe) is one of the largest community-based, non-profit blood collection and distribution organizations in the United States. NYBCe operates 19 donor centers in New York and New Jersey and provides blood and stem cell products to around 70 hospitals in the area. Through its operating divisions in Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, transfusion-related services are provided to more than 500 hospitals nationwide serving around 75 million people.

On Sunday, January 26, 2025, suspicious activity was identified in its IT systems. Third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate, and it was confirmed that the suspicious activity was due to a ransomware attack. Steps were taken to contain the threat and eject the threat actor from its network, and work is underway to restore its systems as quickly and safely as possible. Law enforcement has been notified, workarounds are being implemented to restore its services and fulfill orders, and NYBCe has been in regular communication with its hospital partners and is working on minimizing disruption to blood supplies.

At this stage, NYBCe is unable to provide a timeline for when its systems will be restored. While the incident has affected the functionality of its IT systems, all blood donor centers remain operational and its community blood drives are continuing with donations being accepted; however, the IT issues caused by the ransomware attack mean processing times are likely to be longer than normal at its donation centers and blood drives and some donation center activities and blood drives may need to be rescheduled. The attack could not have come at a worse time. On January 21, 2025, just a few days before the attack, NYBCe declared a blood emergency due to a 30% reduction in blood donations in recent weeks that has caused a blood shortage in the region. Some blood drives have had to be canceled as a result of the attack.

It is currently unclear which ransomware group is behind the attack and whether donor information was stolen. NYBCe has been providing updates on its website and will issue notifications to any affected individuals if it is confirmed that personal information has been stolen. Ransomware attacks on blood collection and distribution organizations can cause serious disruption to blood supplies. A July 2024 ransomware attack on the Florida-based blood organization, OneBlood, disrupted blood supplies to the 350 hospitals it serves in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina, forcing them to implement their critical blood shortage protocols.

A ransomware attack on a pathology service provider to the UK’s NHS in June 2024 caused major disruption to blood transfusions in London and prolonged blood shortages due to the significant reduction in capacity.  A ransomware attack on the Swiss pharma firm OctaPharma in April 2024 resulted in the closure of all blood plasma donation centers in the United States for several weeks.

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