Memorial Hermann surgeon secretly denied patients of life-saving transplants, NYT reports

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A damning report on Thursday linked a celebrated Memorial Hermann surgeon to allegations of irregularities that led to the sudden shutdown of the Texas Medical Center hospital's liver and kidney transplant program.

The New York Times reported that hospital officials are investigating a doctor who may have secretly manipulated a government database to make some of his patients ineligible to receive new livers, potentially blocking them from lifesaving care.

The Times couldn't report on the doctor's alleged motivations, and when it contacted the surgeon, he referred questions to UTHealth Houston, his employer, which declined to comment.

STORY UPDATE: Surgeon named, removed as Memorial Hermann's liver, kidney transplant leader amid bombshell report

Eyewitness News independently contacted Memorial Hermann and UTHealth Houston for confirmation of the surgeon's name, his alleged involvement, and a comment regarding the report. ABC13 is awaiting responses.

The U.S. Health and Human Services released a statement after the Times report, acknowledging "the severity of this allegation."

HHS said, in full:

"At the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, we acknowledge the severity of this allegation. We are working across the Department to address this matter now. We are committed to protecting patient safety and equitable access to organ transplant services for all patients. We are working diligently to address this issue with the attention it deserves, including work at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) - which are deployed on site to investigate. Working with our federal and state partners, HHS will pursue all appropriate enforcement and compliance actions to the fullest extent available under relevant regulations and policies to protect the safety and integrity of the organ procurement and transplantation system."

The report came a week after Memorial Hermann first publicized last Friday about "a pattern of irregularities with donor acceptance criteria within the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) transplant information database for patients awaiting a liver transplant at Memorial Hermann - Texas Medical Center." Those irregularities led the hospital system to first halt its liver transplant program on April 4, followed by the closely associated kidney transplant program five days later.

The hospital reasoned that both programs have a shared leadership structure.

The Organ Procurement Transplantation Network showed 38 liver-transplant patients were on the list when the program halted. Another 346 patients were on the kidney list, the hospital added.

According to the Times report, officials said they were contacting those patients to assist them in finding alternative treatment plans or providers.

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