It is not often that I see a report of an event that is so extraordinary that it is jaw dropping. A report that BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy experienced a data breach in 2021 which, in itself, would not typically be extraordinary. However, the settlement imposed on BioPlus was a WHOPPING $2.2 million! That is the jaw dropping part.
We’ve often written about similar data breaches as warning signs for other specialty pharmacies to learn from and take actions that, which may be costly to implement but are cheap in the long run should something ‘hit the fan’.
In this case, the ‘fan’ cost BioPlus a tremendous amount of cash. The article below mentions that the data breach exposed sensitive patient information of approximately 350,000 individuals. The amount of the fine is likely influenced by the size of the breach.
The yet unanswered question is….. “What’s Next?”Data security is already well established and most specialty pharmacies have already expended a lot of effort to build up their data firewalls and overall security. Will more regulation prevent future data breaches? Probably not…… given the ingenuity of those that will go anywhere at any time to get data either for ‘fun’ or profit.
