Houston’s Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center is working to resume liver and kidney transplant programs that were paused amid evidence that a head physician had made “inappropriate” alterations to donor information, according to media reports and parent organization Memorial Hermann Health System.
The irregularities, which are still being investigated, involved the donor acceptance criteria within the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) transplant information database, the system said in a statement.
The changes led to affected patients only becoming eligible for a transplant from donors with “impossible” ages and weights, such as a 300-pound toddler, according to a report from The New York Times.
The liver transplant program was voluntarily paused April 4, with the kidney transplant program following April 9.
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center performed 30 liver transplants and 132 kidney transplants last year. The programs respectively had 38 and 346 patients on their waiting lists as of the time of their suspension.
“Our primary priority is ensuring continuity of compassionate care for patients who were on the transplant program lists at the hospital,” Memorial Hermann Health System said in a statement emailed Monday.
Over the past two weeks, it said, “each patient is being individually contacted by a transplant care coordinator to review ongoing care options, including a seamless transition to another transplant program, where necessary.”
The system only found evidence that records were manipulated for liver transplant candidates but closed both programs “because there is a shared leadership structure,” it said in its statement.
Though initially unnamed, the NYT identified the overseeing physician as Steve Bynon Jr., M.D., who is employed by academic affiliate UTHealth Houston and has been leading Memorial Hermann’s abdominal transplant program under contract since 2011. Neither the health system nor the media reports suggested why Bynon would have modified the records.
In a statement released following the NYT article naming Bynon, UTHealth Houston released a statement describing Bynon as “an exceptionally talented and caring physician” and said he and the larger organizations are assisting with the investigation.
The Department of Health and Human Services and UNOS are both aware of and investigating the situation, according to the NYT.
Memorial Hermann Health System said it is cooperating “with all regulatory authorities.” It is also working with UTHealth Houston “to make the necessary changes that will allow for the quick reactivation of the kidney transplant program under a different physician leadership structure.”