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A Houston hospital said it halted its liver and kidney transplant programs after discovering a doctor manipulated records for liver transplant candidates, making them ineligible for transplants.
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center said in a statement published Thursday in the Houston Chronicle that “inappropriate changes … effectively inactivated the candidates on the liver transplant waiting list.”
Memorial Hermann’s statement did not name the doctor, but the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, known as UTHealth Houston, issued a statement calling Dr. Steve Bynon ”an exceptionally talented and caring physician” with survival rates that are “among the best in the nation.” The New York Times first reported that Bynon was the doctor being accused.
Bynon is an employee of UTHealth Houston who is contracted to Memorial Hermann. UTHealth said that its faculty and staff members, including Bynon, are assisting with the inquiry into Memorial Hermann’s liver transplant program and are “committed to addressing and resolving any findings identified by this process.”
Memorial Hermann said in a statement provided to The Associated Press on Friday morning that it has been working with impacted patients after making the “difficult decision” to voluntarily inactivate both its liver and kidney programs, and that they are working with UTHealth “to make the necessary changes that will allow for the quick reactivation of the kidney transplant program under a different physician leadership structure.”
Memorial Hermann stopped the liver transplant program April 3 after learning of “irregularities” with donor acceptance criteria. An investigation found problems with information entered into a database used to match donor organs with patients, but the hospital did not provide details.
The “irregularities” were limited to liver transplants, the hospital said, but kidney transplants were halted because the programs share the same leadership.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is aware of the allegations, and an investigation is underway, according to a statement from the agency.
The Houston Chronicle reports that, according to data from the Organ Procurement Transplantation Network, Memorial Hermann has seen an increasing number of liver transplant candidates die while on the wait list or become too sick for a transplant in recent years. Four patients died or became too ill for a transplant in 2021, 11 in 2022, 14 in 2023, and five so far in 2024, according to the data.
A statement from OPTN to The Associated Press on Friday said it could not comment on “any potential or ongoing review of a member organization.”
The UTHealth statement said that Bynon treated “patients with higher-than-average acuity and disease complexity.”
Memorial Hermann has not said how long the programs will remain shuttered. The hospital said it is contacting the 38 patients on the liver program transplant list and 346 patients on the kidney transplant list.
Patients on the waiting lists do not receive organ offers when the transplant program is halted, but they accumulate waiting time, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. The patients may also be on multiple transplant waiting lists or transfer their wait time to another program, although each program has its own criteria for evaluating and accepting transplant candidates.
In Houston, Houston Methodist, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center also offer transplant programs.