Cyberattack on UK Hospital Contributed to Patient’s Death — A Global First

A British hospital confirmed on June 25, 2025, to Bloomberg that a ransomware attack was a contributing factor in the death of one of its patients — marking the first officially acknowledged fatality linked directly to a cyberattack on a healthcare facility.

The incident occurred after Russian cybercriminal group Qilin crippled the IT systems of Synnovis, a key service provider for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) responsible for blood tests and transfusions. The widespread disruption forced hospitals across the country to cancel 1,700 non-urgent procedures and delay 10,000 appointments.

“A patient sadly died unexpectedly during the cyberattack,” a spokesperson for King’s College Hospital stated. The man’s death was caused by a critical delay in blood test analysis, which the hospital directly linked to the cyber incident.

This unprecedented case marks the first time a cyberattack has been officially recognized as playing a direct role in a patient’s death in a healthcare setting — highlighting the increasingly deadly stakes of cyber warfare in critical infrastructure.