A cyberattack last year against British diagnostic services provider Synnovis contributed to the death of a London hospital patient, British health officials said, providing one of the first confirmations of a death tied to hacking activity.
The patient at King's College Hospital in south London died in part because the hack caused a "long wait" for blood test results as well as other factors, the hospital's managing body said on Wednesday, without identifying what they were.
The hospital said the patient's family had been informed but did not provide other details.
Synnovis' CEO Mark Dollar said in a statement Wednesday: "We are deeply saddened to hear that last year’s criminal cyberattack has been identified as one of the contributing factors that led to this patient’s death."
In the June 2024 hack - attributed to the Qilin ransomware gang - media reports said attackers demanded $50 million from Synnovis for its data. The company did not pay, and the stolen data was later published on the dark web, reports said.
The attack disrupted the UK healthcare network, and snarled operations at some of London's busiest hospitals.
In January, Synnovis said the hack led to more than £32 million in costs.
Medical services providers have been hard hit by ransomware as hackers suspect they will pay quickly to avoid interruptions to healthcare.
Deaths have been tied to past ransomware incidents, including a baby in Alabama in 2019, and a 78-year-old woman in Germany in 2020, although direct causation can be difficult to establish.
