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Health Law Highlights

Houston Transplant Scandal: Families of Patients Who Died Begin Legal Action

Summary of article from MedPage Today, by Associated Press:

Relatives of deceased patients are demanding an investigation into a Houston doctor, J. Steve Bynon Jr., MD, who is accused of manipulating the liver transplant waitlist at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. The hospital has suspended its liver and kidney transplant programs after discovering “inappropriate changes” in the national database for liver transplant recipients. A temporary restraining order has been filed to prevent Bynon from deleting or destroying evidence. Meanwhile, a lawsuit alleging negligence has been filed against the hospital and UTHealth Houston by a woman whose husband died while on the waitlist. The death rate for patients awaiting a liver transplant at Memorial Hermann was higher than expected, according to data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.