On February 6, 2026, federal prosecutors announced that a Houston physician, Dr. John Stevenson Bynon Jr., has been indicted for allegedly falsifying medical records, which rendered five patients ineligible for liver transplants. The indictment, handed down by a grand jury in Houston last month, accuses Dr. Bynon of making fraudulent statements concerning health care matters. In his capacity as the director of abdominal organ transplantation and the surgical director for liver transplantation at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, Dr. Bynon allegedly manipulated records for five patients.
Among the individuals affected by these alleged actions, three passed away, while two were fortunate enough to secure liver transplants at other medical facilities. According to court documents, neither the patients nor their families and medical teams were aware of the purported falsifications made by Dr. Bynon.
“Dr. Bynon is alleged to have betrayed the most sacred duty of a medical professional – to heal,” remarked U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. “He stole years and hope from those who trusted him most by falsifying records and preventing patients from receiving organ transplants.”
Dr. Bynon’s legal representative, Samy Khalil, addressed reporters outside the federal courthouse following the doctor’s initial court appearance. Khalil emphasized Dr. Bynon’s esteemed career in organ transplantation, having performed over 2,000 such surgeries over the course of 40 years.
“Nothing he did was unlawful. Everything that he did was lawful and in good faith,” Khalil asserted. “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.”
Both Memorial Hermann Health System and UTHealth Houston, where Dr. Bynon is employed, have yet to respond to inquiries for comments on the matter.
The indictment did not provide a motive for Dr. Bynon’s alleged misconduct. Angela Dodge, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, refrained from offering any comments. Meanwhile, Jason Hudson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Houston Field Office, highlighted the vulnerability of the patients involved, who placed their survival hopes in a surgeon now facing federal charges for manipulating their medical records.
In the aftermath of the allegations against Dr. Bynon becoming public in April 2024, Memorial Hermann temporarily closed its liver and kidney transplant programs, only to reactivate them a year later. Families of several deceased patients, who passed away while awaiting liver transplants, have filed lawsuits against Dr. Bynon in Houston civil court, seeking answers as to whether their loved ones were denied transplants due to his actions. These cases are still pending.
The indictment alleges that Dr. Bynon altered the records of five patients from March 2023 to March 2024. One patient was deemed ineligible for a donor organ for about 149 days and subsequently died under Dr. Bynon’s care in February 2024. Another patient remained ineligible for 69 days, passing away during a surgery to receive a new liver in December 2023. A third patient in urgent need of a liver transplant died in December 2023, mere days after Dr. Bynon purportedly modified the donor matching criteria to severely limit or effectively rule out the patient’s chances of receiving a lifesaving organ.
In contrast, two patients successfully received liver transplants after seeking treatment at alternative hospitals. In 2024, KHOU-TV, a CBS affiliate in Houston, interviewed family members of the patients involved. They alleged that Dr. Bynon’s alleged record falsifications resulted in their removal from transplant waiting lists, consequently exacerbating their medical conditions.
Should Dr. Bynon be found guilty, he faces a potential sentence of up to five years in federal prison and a fine amounting to $250,000 per count. In February 2025, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, responsible for managing the nation’s organ donation program, designated Memorial Hermann as a member not in good standing, the most severe action available, indicating significant lapses in patient safety or quality of care.