A Houston physician has been indicted on costs of falsifying medical records for 5 sufferers, making them ineligible to obtain a liver transplant, federal prosecutors introduced on Thursday.
Dr. John Stevenson Bynon Jr. was indicted by a grand jury in Houston final month on 5 counts of false statements referring to well being care issues.
Bynon is accused of constructing false statements in his position as director of stomach organ transplantation and surgical director for liver transplantation at Memorial Hermann Well being System in Houston.
Of the 5 sufferers detailed in an indictment made public on Thursday, three died and two others have been capable of get liver transplants at totally different hospitals.
Sufferers, their households, and different members of their medical care staff have been unaware Bynon allegedly made false statements of their medical data, in accordance with court docket data.
“Dr. Bynon is alleged to have betrayed probably the most sacred obligation of a medical skilled — to heal,” U.S. Legal professional Nicholas J. Ganjei stated in a press release. “He stole years and hope from those that trusted him most by falsifying data and stopping sufferers from receiving organ transplants.”
Samy Khalil, Bynon’s legal professional, advised reporters exterior the federal courthouse after the physician’s preliminary court docket look Thursday afternoon that Bynon is a proficient organ transplant surgeon who has carried out over 2,000 transplants over his 40-year profession.
“Nothing he did was illegal. All the pieces that he did was lawful and in good religion,” Khalil stated. “We sit up for clearing his title in a court docket of legislation and educating, frankly, the federal government on the medical ideas that undergird this completely, completely misguided prosecution.”
Memorial Hermann Well being System and UTHealth Houston, who employs Bynon, didn’t instantly reply to emails requesting remark.
The indictment and a information launch by the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Houston didn’t element a motive for why Bynon allegedly altered affected person data. Angela Dodge, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace declined to remark.
After the accusations in opposition to Bynon have been first made public in April 2024, Memorial Hermann shut down its liver and kidney transplant program. Memorial Hermann reactivated its transplant program a 12 months later.
The households of a number of sufferers who died whereas ready for liver transplants have sued Bynon in Houston civil court docket, desirous to know if their family members have been denied liver transplants as a consequence of Bynon’s actions. The lawsuits stay pending.
The indictment alleges Bynon change the data of 5 sufferers from March 2023 to March 2024.
One affected person was ineligible to obtain a donor organ supply for about 149 days and died in February 2024 underneath Bynon’s care, in accordance with the indictment.
One other affected person was ineligible to obtain a donor organ supply for about 69 days and died in December 2023 throughout a surgical procedure to obtain a brand new liver.
A 3rd affected person who required an “pressing liver transplantation” died in December 2023, two days after Bynon allegedly entered false donor matching standards for the affected person that “severely restricted” or made the affected person “functionally ineligible to obtain a lifesaving donor organ supply,” in accordance with the indictment.
Two different sufferers obtained profitable liver transplants after going to different hospitals.
If convicted, Bynon faces as much as 5 years in federal jail for every rely.
In February 2025, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Community, which manages the nation’s organ donation program, declared Memorial Hermann to be a member not in good standing. The designation is probably the most extreme motion that the transplantation community can take and tells the general public that one in all its members has proven a severe lapse in affected person security or high quality of care.
Comply with Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70
