When hackers target healthcare systems, medical devices can be high-impact casualties.

Clinical technology is complex and multifaceted, incorporating online systems with hardware devices. The technology has led to advances in care and diagnostic success, but also increased potential vulnerabilities. When a network is knocked offline, medical devices can also be affected.

As cyberattacks against healthcare increase, so does risk to medical devices. One recent survey of healthcare executives found 22% of healthcare organizations suffered at least one attack aimed at devices. When attacks do occur, they can threaten patients’ lives and cost healthcare organizations millions of dollars.

As of March 2023, the FDA requires all new medical device submissions to include evidence the devices are cybersecure, a software bill of materials, and a plan to monitor and address cybersecurity vulnerabilities post-market. But these requirements do not apply retroactively, and many providers still use older medical devices with legacy operating systems—73%, according to a 2021 survey by cybersecurity company Kaspersky.

On Oct. 1, for instance, the FDA recalled a heart pump controller over concerns it could be hacked. Its manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson’s Abiomed, advised users to disconnect the device from their network until a security fix was available.

We teamed up with IT Brew to go deeper.—CC, EH

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The healthcare industry creates a lot of waste, it’s fair to say. It might feel daunting to even know where to start in addressing it.

That’s where Stericycle comes in. The medical waste compliance company works with healthcare businesses to offer compliance and training sessions that help them better understand what needs to be done with their waste. This includes highly regulated areas like sharps disposals, pharmaceutical waste, and biohazardous waste.

We spoke with Alex Chapman, who’s been with the company for more than six years and serves as regulatory affairs director, on her role and her favorite aspects of it.

How would you describe your specific job to someone who doesn’t work in healthcare?

I’ve spent the last 17 years working in the healthcare space, focusing on regulated medical waste (RMW) and other waste requirements. My job centers on helping organizations apply regulations to achieve the most sustainable outcomes while supporting their broader business objectives. This involves understanding the rules that impact our operations and our customers, while keeping in mind our customers’ overall goals and the context of their specific industries.

See the full conversation here.—NO

A little over a year ago, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay on what he saw as some best-case scenarios for AI. Much of it focused on potential scientific progress in biology, medicine, and neuroscience.

Now the AI company is making its first foray into that space with a new tool called Claude for Life Sciences, which upgrades the model to support biotech R&D labs with tasks like literature reviews, lab protocols, data analysis, and regulatory compliance.

The company is hardly alone in offering AI tools that specifically cater to scientists. Google rolled out a tool called Co-Scientist earlier this year; OpenAI is currently building a new team focused on AI for scientific discovery; and startup Lila Sciences has raised more than half a billion dollars as of last month to automate the scientific process.

Lab assistant: Eric Kauderer-Abrams, Anthropic’s head of life sciences, told us that what sets Anthropic’s tool apart is its compatibility with existing lab tools and its features across the entire scientific process.

Keep reading on Tech Brew.—PK