Families seek restraining order against Houston doctor accused in liver transplant scandal

The families of three patients who died waiting for a liver transplant have applied for a temporary restraining order against Dr. J. Steve Bynon Jr., a transplant surgeon at Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center in Houston who is under investigation for allegedly changing medical records in ways that potentially prevented patients from receiving life-saving transplants .

In the filing, submitted in Harris County 295th District Court on Tuesday, the families requested that a judge bar Bynon from altering or erasing evidence that could be connected to potential future legal actions against him.

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The application had not received a hearing as of Tuesday afternoon, Harris County civil court clerk Sasha Prince told the Houston Chronicle . A hospital spokesperson did not immediately respond to the Landing’s request for comment Tuesday evening.

The application was filed by the families of Richard Mostacci, Daniel Rodriguez Alvarez and Robert Osuna, patients who died while waiting for a liver transplant as part of Memorial Hermann and UTHealth Houston’s program.

Tommy Hastings of Hastings Law Firm, the Houston law firm representing the families, said in a news release that “the first step of accountability is transparency. … We will ensure our clients get the answers they deserve and will push for full disclosure for all patients.”

Irregularities in ‘donor acceptance criteria’

The application comes after Memorial Hermann suspended its liver and kidney-transplant programs earlier this month while federal authorities investigated irregularities in “donor acceptance criteria” for patients in the liver transplant program. Both programs were overseen by Bynon.

Days after the hospital announced suspension of the kidney transplant program, the New York Times reported that federal regulators were scrutinizing Bynon, a nationally-recognized transplant surgeon at Memorial Hermann.

Hospital officials found some patients’ criteria for donors made them effectively ineligible for a transplant, Memorial Hermann spokesperson told the Times. For example, a patient might be listed as accepting a donation from a 300-pound toddler, eliminating their chances of receiving a transplant.

Memorial Hermann liver transplant patients died more often compared to other programs, a Times data analysis found.  As of last month, the hospital had performed three liver transplants, while five patients had died or become too ill for a liver transplant, according to the Times.

UTHealth expressed support for Bynon in a statement following announcements of the transplant program suspensions earlier this month, calling him an “extraordinary doctor.”

The statement went on to praise his transplant results as “among the best in the nation, even while treating patients with higher-than-average acuity and disease complexity.”