Skip to content
The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

Title

Name

Primary Menu
  • Home
  • Mindanao
  • Visayas
  • National
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • International
  • SciTech
  • Health & Wellness
  • Sports
  • About Us
    • Regional Advertising Rates
    • Contact Us
    • Profile
  • Home
  • International
  • FDA Issues Safety Advice for Cardiac Device Over Hacking Threat – ABC News
  • Featured
  • Health
  • International

FDA Issues Safety Advice for Cardiac Device Over Hacking Threat – ABC News

Editor January 11, 2017

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued new advice about how to safeguard implantable cardiac devices against hackers.

A wireless transmitter used to transmit data from cardiac devices to medical providers, the Merlin@home Transmitter made by St. Jude Medical was found to be vulnerable to online hacking, the FDA said.

While no hacking event has been reported, the possibility of tampering was so concerning St. Jude Medical worked with the FDA and the Department of Homeland Security to develop a software patch, which was released yesterday, to help protect the device and patients using it from hacking.

“Many medical devices —- including St. Jude Medical’s implantable cardiac devices —- contain configurable embedded computer systems that can be vulnerable to cybersecurity intrusions and exploits,” FDA officials said in a statement yesterday.

The transmitter is placed in the home and can be used to monitor a variety of implantable cardiac devices including pacemakers, defibrillators or resynchronization devices and send health data back to a medical provider or the patient. The transmitter also allows doctors to change the device settings remotely.

“As medical technology advances, it’s increasingly important to understand how innovation and cyber security impact physicians and the patients we treat,” Dr. Leslie Saxon, chair of St. Jude Medical’s Cyber Security Medical Advisory Board, said in a statement. “We are committed to working to proactively address cyber security risks in medical devices while preserving the proven benefits of remote monitoring to assess patient status and device function.”

Hospital Hack Spotlights How Medical Devices and Systems Are at Risk
Fighting Zika With GMO Mosquitoes Could Be the Future of Mosquito Control

With the new software patch, the FDA “determined that the health benefits to patients from continued use of the device outweigh the cybersecurity risks.”

The FDA advisory comes as concern has been growing about how hacking could affect the medical field. In recent years multiple hospitals have paid ransom after ‘ransomware‘ hacking left their medical files encrypted.

Thomas Lewis, a practice leader of LBMC Information Security, said the benefits of being able to monitor implanted medical devices wirelessly has helped patients tremendously. But it has also increased the risk that devices could be hacked.

“It allows providers to have a 24/7 look at how a patient is doing and that’s invaluable when you talk about treatment,” said Lewis. However, the continued challenge will be for providers to constantly stay ahead of any malicious actors looking for vulnerabilities on the devices.

“We typically see in emerging technology they aren’t as tested and vetted quite as much from a security perspective,” said Lewis. He pointed out that protecting these devices from hackers will require providers to constantly test the devices for weaknesses.

Patients with the transmitter are advised to continue a normal routine of check-ups with their doctor and to keep their transmitter connected to WiFi so that it can automatically upgrade with the new software patches. Patients with questions can contact St. Jude Medical’s Merlin@home customer service at 1-877-My-Merlin.

“The safety and security of patients is always our primary focus,” Phil Ebeling, vice president and chief technology officer at St. Jude Medical said in a statement. “We’ll continue to work with agencies, security researchers, physicians and others in the industry in a coordinated way to develop best practices and standards that further enhance the security of devices across the medical industry.”(GILLIAN MOHNEY)

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/fda-issues-safety-advice-cardiac-device-hacking-threat/story?id=44674842

 

fb-share-icon
Tweet 20

Continue Reading

Previous: North Korea sends message to Trump amid threat to fire missile ‘at any time’ – CNN News
Next: Ex-US diplomats urge Trump to rescind US-Cuba intelligence sharing – Fox News

Related News

PhilHealth1
  • Health

PhilHealth Speeds Up Payments, releases over P592M to NKTI in less than 5 Months

Editor May 29, 2025
Bountiful-harvest
  • Featured
  • Mindanao Post

Aquaponics to conservation: How a young farmer is growing change

Editor May 28, 2025
BARMM-Ministry-of-Health
  • Health
  • Mindanao Post

BARMM health ministry calls for vigilance against MPOX

Editor May 23, 2025

Trending News

Manny Pacquiao Returns to Rewrite History – The Fight That Will Inspire a Nation Pacquiao 1
  • Sports

Manny Pacquiao Returns to Rewrite History – The Fight That Will Inspire a Nation

May 29, 2025
Optum Philippines celebrates first anniversary of Davao Hub and Davaoeño talent MAJ03649 2
  • Business

Optum Philippines celebrates first anniversary of Davao Hub and Davaoeño talent

May 29, 2025
PhilHealth Speeds Up Payments, releases over P592M to NKTI in less than 5 Months PhilHealth1 3
  • Health

PhilHealth Speeds Up Payments, releases over P592M to NKTI in less than 5 Months

May 29, 2025
BARMM brings medical missions to IDP shelters in Marawi Health-mission 4
  • Mindanao Post

BARMM brings medical missions to IDP shelters in Marawi

May 28, 2025
911 in Camiguin town logs over 500 calls since January Service-expansion 5
  • Mindanao Post

911 in Camiguin town logs over 500 calls since January

May 28, 2025
  • Facebook
  • X
  • YouTube
  • Blog
Copyright © 2025. The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper. All Rights Reserved. | MoreNews by AF themes.