The Dangers Of Using Computers In Medicine

That Time a Patient’s Heart Procedure Was Interrupted by a Virus Scan

Securing computers has never been easy. It's especially hard in hospitals.

Dan Goodin | May 16, 2016

A heart patient undergoing a medical procedure earlier this year was put at risk when misconfigured antivirus software caused a crucial lab device to hang and require a reboot before doctors could continue.
The incident, described in an alert issued by the Food and Drug Administration, highlights the darker side of using computers and computer networks in mission-critical environments. While a computer crash is little more than an annoyance for most people at home or in offices, it can have far more serious consequences in hospitals, power generation facilities, or other industrial settings.

"Merge Hemo™ EPIC Cupid Integration". Source: http://www.merge.com/Solutions/Cardiology/Merge-Hemo.aspx

<more at http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/05/faulty-av-scan-disrupts-patients-heart-procedure-when-monitor-goes-black/; http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/04/ok-panic-newly-evolved-ransomware-is-bad-news-for-everyone/ (OK, panic—newly evolved ransomware is bad news for everyone. Crypto-ransomware has turned every network intrusion into a potential payday. April 8, 2016) and https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=5487204 (MAUDE [manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience] Adverse Event Report: MERGE HEALTHCARE MERGE HEMO Programmable Diagnostic Computer. February 8, 2016)>