HOUSTON — Families of three men who died waiting for liver transplants are seeking a temporary restraining order against the Houston doctor at the center of the Memorial Hermann liver transplant pause.
The restraining order is to prevent Dr. Steve Bynon from deleting or destroying critical evidence that could help their clients show if their loved ones were improperly denied liver transplants.
Memorial Hermann shut down its liver transplant program earlier this month after discovering irregularities. It wasn't until a bombshell report released by the New York Times that we learned Dr. Bynon, who works for UTHealth and contracts with Memorial Hermann, was accused of intentionally miscoding his patients, effectively making them ineligible for liver transplants.
Those patients included Richard Mastacci and Robert Osuna who both died last year while waiting for liver transplants. Another patient was Daniel Rodriguez-Alvarez who died two weeks ago while waiting for his.
Their families are the ones working with Hastings Law Firm P.C. to get a temporary restraining order against Dr. Bynon.
So far, nobody has said publicly what motivations the doctor may have allegedly had. No criminal charges have been filed although, according to the NYT, Bynon admitted to manipulating the records.
All of this remains under investigation by both Memorial Hermann and federal authorities.
UT Health Houston released a statement earlier this month in support of the doctor, calling him an "exceptionally talented and caring physician." The statement also said Bynon's transplant survival rates and surgical outcomes were among the best in the country.
KHOU 11 reached out to UTHealth again on Tuesday, saying it "has no comment on this matter right now."
Memorial Hermann released a similar statement on Tuesday: "We have no comment on the matter."
Hastings Law Firm P.C. said it will speak to the public on Wednesday at 3 p.m. to talk about this investigation, current legal filings and next steps. KHOU 11 will stream the press conference live on KHOU.com and KHOU 11+.