Renowned Houston surgeon allegedly faked records to block patients’ liver transplants

A Houston doctor has been indicted on charges of falsifying medical records for five patients, making them ineligible to receive a liver transplant, federal prosecutors announced on Thursday.

Dr. John Stevenson Bynon Jr. was indicted by a grand jury in Houston last month on five counts of false statements relating to health care matters.

Bynon is accused of making false statements in his role as director of abdominal organ transplantation and surgical director for liver transplantation at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston.

Of the five patients detailed in an indictment made public on Thursday, three died and two others were able to get liver transplants at different hospitals.

Patients, their families, and other members of their medical care team were unaware Bynon allegedly made false statements in their medical records, according to court records.

“Dr. Bynon is alleged to have betrayed the most sacred duty of a medical professional – to heal,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said in a statement. “He stole years and hope from those who trusted him most by falsifying records and preventing patients from receiving organ transplants.”

Samy Khalil, Bynon’s attorney, told reporters outside the federal courthouse after the doctor’s initial court appearance Thursday afternoon that Bynon is a talented organ transplant surgeon who has performed over 2,000 transplants over his 40-year career.

“Nothing he did was unlawful. Everything that he did was lawful and in good faith,” Khalil said. “We look forward to clearing his name in a court of law and educating, frankly, the government on the medical concepts that undergird this totally, totally misguided prosecution.”

Memorial Hermann Health System and UTHealth Houston, which employs Bynon, didn’t immediately respond to emails requesting comment.

The indictment and a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston didn’t detail a motive for Bynon’s alleged actions. Angela Dodge, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

“Ultimately, at the center of this case are vulnerable patients who hung their hope of survival on a nationally renowned surgeon now federally charged for manipulating their medical records,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Hudson of the FBI Houston Field Office.

“Many patients remained ineligible for months without knowing they could not receive organ offers during that time,” the DOJ said.

After the accusations against Bynon were first made public in April 2024, Memorial Hermann shut down its liver and kidney transplant program. Memorial Hermann reactivated its transplant program a year later.

The families of several patients who died while waiting for liver transplants have sued Bynon in Houston civil court, wanting to know if their loved ones were denied liver transplants due to Bynon’s actions. The lawsuits remain pending.

The indictment alleges Bynon changed the records of five patients from March 2023 to March 2024.

One patient was ineligible to receive a donor organ offer for approximately 149 days and died in February 2024 under Bynon’s care, according to the indictment.

Another patient was ineligible to receive a donor organ offer for approximately 69 days and died in December 2023 during a surgery to receive a new liver.

A third patient who required an “urgent liver transplantation” died in December 2023, two days after Bynon allegedly entered false donor matching criteria for the patient that “severely restricted” or made the patient “functionally ineligible to receive a lifesaving donor organ offer,” according to the indictment.

Two other patients received successful liver transplants after going to other hospitals.

In 2024, CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV spoke to family members of patients whose medical records were allegedly falsified by Bynon. They said when Bynon allegedly falsified the records, they were kicked off the waiting list and their conditions worsened. 

If convicted, Bynon faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine of as much as $250,000 for each count.

In February 2025, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which manages the country’s organ donation program, declared Memorial Hermann a member not in good standing. The designation is the most severe action that the transplantation network can take and tells the public that one of its members has shown a serious lapse in patient safety or quality of care.