Texas surgeon accused of secretly refusing liver transplants
A Houston hospital is investigating whether a doctor altered a transplant list to make his patients ineligible for care. A disproportionate number of them died while waiting for new organs.
For decades, Dr. J. Steve Bynon Jr., a transplant surgeon in Texas, received national honors and awards. notoriety for his work, including helping to uphold professional standards in the country's sprawling organ transplant system.
But authorities are now investigating allegations that which Dr. Bynon was secretly manipulating a government. database to make some of its own patients ineligible to receive new livers, potentially depriving them of life-saving care.
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, where the Dr. Bynon oversaw the liver and kidney transplant programs abruptly closed those programs over the past week while they investigated the allegations.
Thursday, the medical center , a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Texas, said in a statement that a doctor in its liver transplant program admitted to altering patient records. This effectively denied transplants, the hospital said. An official familiar with the investigation identified the doctor as Dr. Bynon, employed by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and under contract to run Memorial's abdominal transplant program Hermann since 2011.
It is not clear what could have motivated Dr. Bynon. Reached by phone Thursday, he referred questions to UTHealth Houston. He did not confirm that he admitted to altering the records.
On Friday, after this article was published online, UTHealth Houston issued a media statement defending Dr. Byon as "an exceptionally talented and caring physician, and a pioneer in abdominal organ transplantation. The release states that the survival rates of Dr. Bynon's transplant patients were among the best in the nation." "faculty and staff, including Dr. Bynon, are participating in the investigation of Memorial Hermann's liver transplant program and are committed to addressing and resolving any findings identified through this process," the text reads. Do you have confidential news?
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A Houston hospital is investigating whether a doctor altered a transplant list to make his patients ineligible for care. A disproportionate number of them died while waiting for new organs.
For decades, Dr. J. Steve Bynon Jr., a transplant surgeon in Texas, received national honors and awards. notoriety for his work, including helping to uphold professional standards in the country's sprawling organ transplant system.
But authorities are now investigating allegations that which Dr. Bynon was secretly manipulating a government. database to make some of its own patients ineligible to receive new livers, potentially depriving them of life-saving care.
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, where the Dr. Bynon oversaw the liver and kidney transplant programs abruptly closed those programs over the past week while they investigated the allegations.
Thursday, the medical center , a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Texas, said in a statement that a doctor in its liver transplant program admitted to altering patient records. This effectively denied transplants, the hospital said. An official familiar with the investigation identified the doctor as Dr. Bynon, employed by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and under contract to run Memorial's abdominal transplant program Hermann since 2011.
It is not clear what could have motivated Dr. Bynon. Reached by phone Thursday, he referred questions to UTHealth Houston. He did not confirm that he admitted to altering the records.
On Friday, after this article was published online, UTHealth Houston issued a media statement defending Dr. Byon as "an exceptionally talented and caring physician, and a pioneer in abdominal organ transplantation. The release states that the survival rates of Dr. Bynon's transplant patients were among the best in the nation." "faculty and staff, including Dr. Bynon, are participating in the investigation of Memorial Hermann's liver transplant program and are committed to addressing and resolving any findings identified through this process," the text reads. Do you have confidential news?
The New York Times would like to hear from readers who are interested in sharing messages and materials with our journalists.
Share your story about the organ transplant systemWe will not publish any part of your submission without contacting you at prior. We may use your contact details to contact you.
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