Arizona pharmacies affected by cyberattack against big health care tech company

PHOENIX - Many Arizonans are having issues getting their prescriptions on Feb. 26, as one of the nation's largest health care technology companies says they were the victim of a cyberattack from a nation-state.

The cyberattack against one of the nation's largest healthcare tech companies, Change Health Care, started Wednesday. According to a company statement, the attack is still ongoing.

There's urgency in the voices of those who have been delayed in getting their medications. Lee Fuller was one of the people affected. While one of her prescriptions was filled on the morning of Feb. 26, There are more needed medications that are not filled.

For Fuller, the cyberattack meant she had to buy her pills without insurance.

"I can't possibly afford everything that is pending," Fuller says.

Cybersecurity experts say this was an alarming attack, with real world impacts.

"This really affects life and death, our society, our supply chain, and it's much more than an inconvenience," Tim Roemer says.

Roemer is the Chief Security Officer of GMI, and the former head of Arizona Department of Homeland Security. He says a filing by Change Healthcare that blames the attack on a nation-state is important.

"Extremely alarming because an entire country can put their resources, their money, and manpower behind going after an organization. It's an off-balanced, unfair fight," said Roemer.

Roemer says while Change Healthcare has not revealed much about what happened, he says it can take a while to fix all the issues after a cyberattack.

"Did they leave additional malware or malicious content? A Trojan? Anything else? Can they get back in? How did they get in the first time?" Romer says.

In a statement, officials with Change Healthcare say the disruptions will last through the day. However, they have been saying that, every day, since Wednesday.