HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston hospital said it halted its liver and kidney transplant programs after discovering a doctor manipulated records for liver transplant candidates, making them ineligible for transplants.
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center said in a statement published Thursday in the Houston Chronicle that “inappropriate changes … effectively inactivated the candidates on the liver transplant waiting list.”
Memorial Hermann's statement did not name the doctor, but the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, known as UTHealth Houston, issued a statement calling Dr. Steve Bynon ”an exceptionally talented and caring physician" with survival rates that are “among the best in the nation.” The New York Times first reported that Bynon was the doctor being accused.
Bynon is an employee of UTHealth Houston who is contracted to Memorial Hermann. UTHealth said that its faculty and staff members, including Bynon, are assisting with the inquiry into Memorial Hermann’s liver transplant program and are “committed to addressing and resolving any findings identified by this process.”
Memorial Hermann said in a statement provided to The Associated Press on Friday morning that it has been working with impacted patients after making the “difficult decision” to voluntarily inactivate both its liver and kidney programs, and that they are working with UTHealth “to make the necessary changes that will allow for the quick reactivation of the kidney transplant program under a different physician leadership structure.”
Memorial Hermann stopped the liver transplant program April 3 after learning of “irregularities” with donor acceptance criteria. An investigation found problems with information entered into a database used to match donor organs with patients, but the hospital did not provide details.
The “irregularities” were limited to liver transplants, the hospital said, but kidney transplants were halted because the programs share the same leadership.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is aware of the allegations, and an investigation is underway, according to a statement from the agency.
The Houston Chronicle reports that, according to data from the Organ Procurement Transplantation Network, Memorial Hermann has seen an increasing number of liver transplant candidates die while on the wait list or become too sick for a transplant in recent years. Four patients died or became too ill for a transplant in 2021, 11 in 2022, 14 in 2023, and five so far in 2024, according to the data.
A statement from OPTN to The Associated Press on Friday said it could not comment on “any potential or ongoing review of a member organization.”
The UTHealth statement said that Bynon treated “patients with higher-than-average acuity and disease complexity.”
Memorial Hermann has not said how long the programs will remain shuttered. The hospital said it is contacting the 38 patients on the liver program transplant list and 346 patients on the kidney transplant list.
Patients on the waiting lists do not receive organ offers when the transplant program is halted, but they accumulate waiting time, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. The patients may also be on multiple transplant waiting lists or transfer their wait time to another program, although each program has its own criteria for evaluating and accepting transplant candidates.
In Houston, Houston Methodist, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center also offer transplant programs.
Buildings associated with Memorial Hermann Hospital and medical complex are visible Friday, April 12, 2024 in the Medical Center district of Houston. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center has halted its liver transplant and kidney transplant programs. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that the hospital discovered a doctor manipulated records for liver transplant candidates. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Buildings associated with Memorial Hermann Hospital and medical complex are visible Friday, April 12, 2024 in the Medical Center district of Houston. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center has halted its liver transplant and kidney transplant programs. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that the hospital discovered a doctor manipulated records for liver transplant candidates. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Buildings associated with Memorial Hermann Hospital and medical complex are visible Friday, April 12, 2024 in the Medical Center district of Houston. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center has halted its liver transplant and kidney transplant programs. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that the hospital discovered a doctor manipulated records for liver transplant candidates. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Buildings associated with Memorial Hermann Hospital and medical complex are visible Friday, April 12, 2024 in the Medical Center district of Houston. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center has halted its liver transplant and kidney transplant programs. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that the hospital discovered a doctor manipulated records for liver transplant candidates. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump could face more sanctions over another round of potential gag order violations when witness testimony in his hush money trial resumes Thursday morning.
Judge Juan M. Merchan will hold a hearing over four more online posts that prosecutors say violate the court's mandate barring the former president from speaking publicly about jurors or key witnesses in the case. Merchan already found Trump in contempt of court on Tuesday, fining him $9,000 over nine online posts and threatening him with jail time if he continues violating the gag order.
It’s unclear when Merchan might rule on the new sanctions request. The trial is in its 10th day.
Keith Davidson is expected to return to the stand after dominating Tuesday's witness testimony, outlining how he negotiated hush money deals with the National Enquirer and Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, on behalf of former Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn actor Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors have said that Trump and others conducted a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by purchasing and burying salacious stories that might hurt his campaign.
Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments — including $130,000 given to Daniels by Cohen — recording them instead as legal expenses.
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury.
Currently:
— Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial
— The hush money case is just one of Trump’s legal cases. See the others here
— Read the judge's full order on Donald Trump's gag order violations
— Trump calls judge ‘crooked’ after facing a warning of jail time if he violates a trial gag order
Here's the latest:
Judge Juan M. Merchan opened Thursday's proceedings in Donald Trump's hush money trial with a contempt hearing on prosecutors' allegations that the former president violated his gag order four more times.
Those are in addition to nine violations Trump was fined for earlier in the week.
Merchan said prosecutors had submitted four exhibits, constituting a video clip of each violation, which will not be played in court. Trump’s lawyers submitted nearly 500 pages of evidence in a bid to refute the alleged violations.
In a court filing, his lawyers argued that the gag order was designed to silence him while his enemies — including witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels — are allowed to repeatedly attack him.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy said in court Thursday that’s not true, arguing that the gag order was imposed as a result of Trump’s “persistent and escalating rhetoric aimed and participants in this proceeding.”
The jury was not present for the proceeding.
Donald Trump arrived at the courthouse in lower Manhattan for the 10th day of his hush money trial just after 9 a.m. on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters on his way in, the former president criticized the proceedings as “a ridiculous show trial” and “bogus.”
He also griped that the case should have been brought “eight years ago,” which would have been before prosecutors allege a crime was committed.
Karen McDougal sold her story to the National Enquirer in August 2016 and Stormy Daniels made her deal with Michel Cohen in October 2016. Trump didn’t start making reimbursement payments to Cohen, which prosecutors say were falsely logged as legal fees, until 2017.
Trump strode into the courtroom trailed by his lawyers and aides including Boris Epshteyn.
Donald Trump's hush money trial is expected to last another month or more, with jurors hearing testimony four days a week. The former president — who has cast the prosecution as an effort to hurt his 2024 campaign — is required to be there, much to his stated dismay.
“They don’t want me on the campaign trail,” he said Tuesday.
The judge said Tuesday that there will be no court on May 17 so Trump can attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.
Court also won’t be in session on May 24 to accommodate a juror who has a flight that morning, the judge said. That means the trial will be off for four straight days for the Memorial Day weekend, resuming on May 28.
Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn actor Stormy Daniels in hush money deals with Michael Cohen and the National Enquirer, returns to the witness stand on Thursday.
His testimony dominated Tuesday afternoon as he outlined the sequence of events that led up to the agreements, including his first interactions with Cohen, who was then Trump's lawyer and personal fixer. Among other things, Davidson testified that pseudonyms were used in the deal with Daniels and that Cohen was late in delivering the agreed-upon $130,000 payment for the porn performer.
He also testified that he thought Daniels' story would be a “tornado” if it got out.
Daniels has alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 while McDougal alleged a yearlong affair with him. Trump has denied both allegations.
During a one-day break in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial, the former president lashed out at the judge overseeing the case and complained about a gag order that bars him from speaking publicly about key witnesses and others.
“There is no crime. I have a crooked judge, is a totally conflicted judge,” Trump told supporters at a Waukesha, Wisconsin, event on Wednesday.
While the gag order pertains to speaking publicly about jurors, key witnesses and others in the case, Trump remains free to criticize Judge Juan M. Merchan.
Witness testimony in Donald Trump's criminal trial is set to resume Thursday, but only after a hearing on more potential gag order violations takes place.
Prosecutors have said that Trump, in four new online posts, again violated a court mandate barring him from speaking publicly about jurors, witnesses and others in the hush money case. Judge Juan M. Merchan already sanctioned the former president on Tuesday for nine online posts, fining him $9,000 and threatening him with jail time if he continues violating the order.
The sanctions — and the prospect of more — highlight the difficulty Trump has had adjusting to his court responsibilities as a criminal defendant while also campaigning as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
Former President Donald Trump walks outside the courtroom of his trial at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (Eduardo Munoz/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)
