The Memorial Hermann Health System is facing significant scrutiny following revelations that Dr. Steve Bynon, a transplant surgeon, admitted to altering liver transplant waitlist data, which impacted patients’ ability to receive life-saving organs. The alterations were made to donor acceptance criteria, manipulating factors like donor age and weight, which severely limited eligible donors for certain patients.
In one instance, Bynon changed the criteria for a patient who could receive a liver from donors aged 0 to 80, reducing it to a maximum age of 8 years. In another case, he raised the minimum donor weight from 15 pounds to 150 pounds. These modifications jeopardized the chances of patients receiving a transplant, and it appears that Bynon acted alone, though some believe the scandal indicates a broader issue within the hospital’s system.
Memorial Hermann suspended its liver transplant program in March 2024 after being notified by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) of the inappropriate changes. The hospital responded by removing Bynon from his leadership position in the transplant program, but he remains affiliated with the hospital and is still a professor of surgery at UTHealth Houston. Memorial Hermann has since taken corrective measures, including limiting access to the transplant information database and implementing stricter data entry validation processes.
Attorneys representing affected patients expressed outrage, arguing that this failure points to a larger oversight issue at the hospital. Bynon, who claimed the changes were made to ensure patients were safely transplanted, is now facing lawsuits from patients whose transplant prospects may have been unjustly hindered by his actions. Despite the implementation of new safeguards and audits, this scandal raises serious concerns about the integrity of the organ transplant system and patient care at Memorial Hermann.
