For many years, Dr. J. Steve Bynon Jr., a transplant surgeon in Texas, gained accolades and nationwide prominence for his work, together with by serving to to implement skilled requirements within the nation’s sprawling organ transplant system.
However officers at the moment are investigating allegations that Dr. Bynon was secretly manipulating a authorities database to make a few of his personal sufferers ineligible to obtain new livers, doubtlessly depriving them of lifesaving care.
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Heart in Houston, the place Dr. Bynon oversaw each the liver and kidney transplant packages, abruptly shut down these packages up to now week whereas wanting into the allegations.
On Thursday, the medical heart, a educating hospital affiliated with the College of Texas, mentioned in a press release that it had discovered proof that a physician in its liver transplant program had successfully denied sufferers transplants by altering information. Officers recognized the doctor as Dr. Bynon, who’s employed by the College of Texas Well being Science Heart at Houston and has had a contract to steer Memorial Hermann’s belly transplant program since 2011.
It was not clear what might have motivated Dr. Bynon to probably tamper with the information. Reached by telephone on Thursday, he referred inquiries to UTHealth Houston, which declined to remark.
Based in 1925, Memorial Hermann is a significant hospital in Houston, nevertheless it has a comparatively small liver transplant program. Final 12 months, it carried out 29 liver transplants, in line with federal knowledge, making it one of many smallest packages in Texas.
Lately, a disproportionate variety of Memorial Hermann sufferers have died whereas ready for a liver, knowledge reveals. Final 12 months, 14 sufferers had been taken off the middle’s ready checklist as a result of they both died or grew to become too sick, and its mortality charge for individuals ready for a transplant was increased than anticipated, in line with the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, a analysis group.
This 12 months, as of final month, 5 sufferers had died or change into too sick to obtain a liver transplant, whereas the hospital had carried out three transplants, information present. The investigation is in early levels, and it was unclear if potential adjustments to the ready checklist truly resulted in a affected person not receiving a liver. A hospital spokeswoman mentioned the middle handled sufferers who had been extra severely ailing than common.
The U.S. Division of Well being and Human Companies mentioned in a press release that it was additionally investigating the allegations. So is the United Community for Organ Sharing, the federal contractor that oversees the nation’s organ transplant system.
“We acknowledge the severity of this allegation,” the H.H.S. assertion mentioned. “We’re working diligently to deal with this concern with the eye it deserves.”
Officers started investigating after being alerted by a criticism. An evaluation then discovered what the hospital known as “irregularities” in how sufferers had been labeled on a ready checklist for liver transplants. When medical doctors place a affected person on the checklist, they need to establish the forms of donors they’d contemplate, together with the particular person’s age and weight.
Hospital officers mentioned they discovered sufferers had been listed as accepting solely donors with ages and weights that had been unimaginable — as an example, a 300-pound toddler — making them unable to obtain any transplant.
Different transplant surgeons mentioned if the checklist was manipulated on this method, sufferers wouldn’t pay attention to adjustments of their standing.
“They’re sitting at residence, possibly not touring, pondering they might get an organ provide any time, however in actuality, they’re functionally inactive, and they also’re not going to get that transplant,” mentioned Dr. Sanjay Kulkarni, the vice chair of the ethics committee on the United Community for Organ Sharing. “It’s extremely uncommon, I’ve by no means heard of it earlier than, and it’s additionally extremely inappropriate.”
The hospital mentioned in its assertion that it didn’t know what number of sufferers had been affected by the adjustments, or once they started. It mentioned the problems affected solely the liver transplant program, however the hospital additionally closed the kidney transplant program as a result of it was led by the identical physician.
Dr. Bynon, 64, has spent his profession in belly transplants, and is taken into account one of many early practitioners of superior liver transplants. He spent practically 20 years on the College of Alabama at Birmingham earlier than transferring to Texas in 2011.
Some former colleagues described Dr. Bynon as off-putting and smug, whereas others known as him gifted and devoted.
“In my expertise, the whole lot he did was in regards to the affected person,” mentioned Dr. Brendan McGuire, the medical director of liver transplants at that Alabama program, who labored with Dr. Bynon for greater than a decade. “When he transplanted somebody, that particular person was his affected person for all times.”
On its LinkedIn web page, the College of Texas Well being Science Heart as soon as featured a photograph of a billboard with Dr. Bynon on it. The signal learn, “Dr. Bynon offers new life to transplant sufferers.”
Dr. Bynon additionally served on the Membership and Skilled Requirements Committee of the United Community for Organ Sharing, which investigates wrongdoing within the transplant system.
Most lately, in December, Dr. Bynon made headlines for performing a kidney transplant for former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes of Texas.
The closure of the packages at Memorial Hermann has stunned many within the transplant group as a result of this can be very uncommon for a program to be suspended over moral points.
On the time it shut down its packages, Memorial Hermann had 38 sufferers on its liver transplant ready checklist and 346 sufferers on its kidney checklist, in line with the hospital.
Officers mentioned they had been contacting these sufferers to assist them discover new suppliers.
Roni Caryn Rabin contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy and Kirsten Noyes contributed analysis.
