A Houston surgeon has been indicted in federal court on charges that accuse him of falsifying medical records that made patients ineligible to receive organ transplants.
Dr. John Stevenson Bynon Jr., 66, is charged with five counts of making false statements in health care matters. He surrendered to authorities and is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday afternoon, according to a news release.
READ MORE: Who is Dr. J. Steve Bynon? What to know about the doctor in the Memorial Hermann transplant scandal
The indictment accuses Bynon of making false statements that rendered patients functionally ineligible for organ transplants. Patients, their families and other members of their medical care teams were unaware of the false information, which kept many patients ineligible for transplants for months, according to the indictment.
Bynon was head of Memorial Hermann’s abdominal transplant program when the issues came to light in April 2024.
Bynon later acknowledged that he skirted federal rules by altering the database to effectively remove patients from the waiting list, according to documents previously obtained by the Houston Chronicle from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Bynon told health care regulators he wanted to ensure sick patients were “safely transplanted,” according to the documents.
The practice effectively inactivated a dozen transplant candidates who were not notified of the changes, according to the documents.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
This article originally published at Houston Memorial Hermann doctor indicted, accused of blocking transplants by falsifying records.