Pharmaceutical Innomar Strategies patients affected by a cyber attack  Wire News Fax

pMedical and personal patient data from Innomar Strategies â a major Canadian pharmaceutical company â was stolen following an intrusion into the parent companyâs computer system Potential victims interviewed by La Presse did not know that this company had access to this sensitive informationppâI have already had my information stolen with the leak from Desjardins and now I learn that it is the information in my medical file that would have been stolen from a company that I do not even knowâ says a patient who does not does not want to be named for fear of breaking the bond of trust with his doctorppSince being diagnosed with cancer a few years ago the man has undergone a battery of treatments and participated in several studiesppThe company in question is Innomar Strategies This Canadian subsidiary of Cencora â a US drug distribution giant that was called AmerisourceBergen until last year â manages dozens of patient support programs PSPsppPSPs are programs that operate outside the public health network and monitor the use of expensive specialty medications that treat complex illnesses In order for a patient to participate the doctor usually has them sign a consent formppEarlier this week Innomar sent a letter to patients saying it had noticed that âdata was extractedâ from the parent companyâs computer systems on February 21 2024 It said it had taken control measures and investigated âwith the help of law enforcement cybersecurity experts and external lawyersâppThe result In April the company concluded that intelligence had âbeen impacted by the incidentâ Nearly two months passed before Innomar communicated with its patientsppThe missive states âBased on our investigation personal information including your personal health information was affected including possibly â the location of the services you received your diagnosis medical condition your medicationsprescriptions your medical record number your patient numbers your health insurance number your signature your laboratory results and your medical history ÂppâThereâs nothing reassuring about thisâ says one patient who declined to be named so as not to embarrass the doctor who had her sign the form to enroll her in a treatment program She is receiving doses to combat a skin condition âI really wonder what medical information they have and what someone could do with my informationâppShe adds âItâs a strange feeling because it bothers me more than if it was financial information From what I understand they have access to my blood tests my diagnoses This is information that only me and my doctor should have access to I didnt even know the company had access to this information ÂppCencoras director of public relations Mike Iorfino sent an email to La Presse in which he essentially summarizes what is detailed in the letter sent to patients As a result it was impossible to know the number of Canadian patients whose data was potentially exposedppIt adds that there is no evidence that the information was publicly disclosed or misused for fraudulent purposes and assures that Cencora and Innomar provide patients with access to resources to help them protect their informationâppA major Canadian player in the pharmaceutical industry Innomar manages dozens of patient care programs funded by drug manufacturers such as Abbvie BristolMyers Pfizer Sandoz Sanofi and Takeda The company also owns hundreds of infusion clinics and pharmacies across the countryppCybersecurity specialist and lecturer at the University of Sherbrooke Steve Waterhouse is not surprised by the eventppâSomeone adds information of another nature that they can crossreference with that coming from the leaks from Desjardins Capital One Bell Facebook Videotron etcâ he explainsppIn recent years several thefts or data leaks have targeted medical data he emphasizes He cites the recent example of the theft of personal data of patients from five Ontario hospitals following an attack targeting Transform the organization that manages the IT services of these institutionsp