Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson recently announced a data breach that may stem from a larger data breach affecting Lash Group, a division of Cencora.
In February, Cencora reported a data breach incident to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after learning that data had been exfiltrated from its information systems, some of which contained personal information.
The breach may have compromised some sensitive information of patients registered with Johnson & Johnson Patient Assistance Foundation, Inc.
Johnson & Johnson Data Breach Notice
On May 29, Johnson & Johnson filed a notice of data breach with the Attorney General of Texas, indicating that an unauthorized party accessed confidential patient information. The breach affected approximately 175,000 Texans, but the total number of victims nationwide could be much higher.
The breach affects two Johnson & Johnson entities: Johnson & Johnson Patient Assistance Foundation, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. The following data was compromised in the attack: Name of individual, Address, Medical Information, and Date of Birth.
Data breach notification letters have been sent to all the affected individuals, while limited information is available on the Texas Attorney General’s data breach reports page. The incident is potentially linked to a much larger breach involving Cencora, which has affected over a dozen major pharmaceutical companies so far.
Link to Cencora Data Breach
The Johnson & Johnson data breach bears several similarities to other large third-party pharmaceutical company data breaches affected by the Cencora/Lash Group data breach, which was first discovered on February 21.
Cencora’s Lash Group division aids pharmaceutical companies in running patient support programs that try to ensure that costly medication is available to disadvantaged patients, regardless of their ability to pay for them.
At least 15 clients of Cencora/Lash Group have notified state authorities of data breach incidents, with databreaches.net listing the following victims:
- AbbVie: 54,344 Texans affected
- Acadia Pharmaceuticals: 753 Texans affected
- Bayer: 8,822 Texans affected
- Bristol Myers Squibb and/or the Bristol Myers Squibb Patient Assistance Foundation: 256,237 Texans and 11,503 New Hampshire residents affected
- Dendreon: 2,923 Texans affected
- Endo: no numbers provided
- Genentech: 5,805 Texans affected
- GlaxoSmithKline Group of Companies and/or the GlaxoSmithKline Patient Access Programs Foundation: no numbers provided
- Incyte Corporation: 2,592 Texans affected
- Marathon Pharmaceuticals, LLC/PTC Therapeutics, Inc.: 466 Texans and 27 New Hampshire residents affected
- Novartis Pharmaceuticals: 12,134 Texans affected
- Pharming Healthcare, Inc.: 314 Texans and 9 New Hampshire residents affected
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals: 91,514 Texans affected
- Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc.: 24,102 Texans affected
- Tolmar: 1 New Hampshire resident
Data breach notices have also been filed with California officials too.
While the full extent of the damage has yet to be determined, it has affected over 540,000 patients so far. Cencora stated in its notification to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had not yet been able to determine if the incident had a material impact on its operations.
In in a notice on its website, the Leash Group indicated that personal information as well as personal health information had been potentially affected, including first name, last name, date of birth, health diagnosis, and/or medications and prescriptions.
The Leash Group said in a statement that no personal data appears to have been exposed because of the incident:
“There is no evidence that any of this information has been or will be publicly disclosed, or that any information was or will be misused for fraudulent purposes as a result of this incident, but we are communicating this so that affected individuals can take the steps outlined below to protect yourself.”
The Leash Group is offering free credit monitoring and remediation services to affected individuals, and additional guidance on dealing with suspected breaches of personal information. No perpetrator has been identified or named as being responsible for the attack, and the potential impact of the breach is still being assessed.
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