The 49 lawsuits filed against Change Healthcare alleging the company failed to protect patient information during a February ransomware attack will be consolidated in Minnesota instead of Tennessee, where the company is based, according to a Reuters report.
Change Healthcare, an Optum company owned by UnitedHealth Group, requested cases be consolidated in Tennessee. However, the federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered all cases centralized in Minnesota as factual and legal issues between the consumer and provider cases are similar, according to the report.
Nineteen of the lawsuits were brought on behalf of individuals affected by the data breach and 30 lawsuits were filed by healthcare providers who said they weren't paid for services rendered during the attack.
Change previously stated in an April court filing that the lawsuits hinge on an "incorrect and unfounded theory" assuming the company's cybersecurity measures were deficient and patients were harmed just because the attack happened, according to Reuters.