Last week, the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania shut down its liver transplant program and submitted to a review from federal officials due to concerns about clinical processes and documentation. Despite not specifying the problems that prompted the closure, interviews with current and former employees revealed that the program regularly declined available organs, potentially preventing patients on the waiting list from receiving life-saving transplants. This closure comes on the heels of Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston suspending its liver and kidney transplant programs amidst suspicions that a doctor manipulated records to make some of his patients ineligible for new livers.
The closure of the Hershey liver transplant program is a rare occurrence within the transplant system, where programs seldom go offline due to performance issues. With 142 active liver transplant programs in the United States overseen by the United Network for Organ Sharing, the recent closures at Hershey and Memorial Hermann have raised concerns within the medical community. Investigations are currently ongoing to determine the root causes of the issues at both hospitals, with experts calling the back-to-back closures very unusual and cause for alarm.
Hershey Medical Center had faced federal monitoring over safety concerns in the past, leading to a temporary halt in transplant procedures in 2022. After hiring Dr. Johnny Hong to lead the revival of its transplant program a year ago, the hospital only performed seven liver transplants and no kidney transplants, leading to a high number of patients on the waiting list either dying or becoming too sick for a transplant. Allegations from current and former employees have surfaced about the program routinely declining available livers based on narrow criteria, potentially impacting patient outcomes and access to critical transplants.
While it is common for doctors to decline organ offers based on the suitability of the organ for their patients, hospitals have faced criticism for overly cautious decision-making processes. This issue is compounded by the fact that doctors are not required to inform patients when an organ offer is declined on their behalf, raising concerns about transparency and patient advocacy. At Hershey Medical Center, staff members had raised concerns about the transplant program for months, leading to increased scrutiny from the United Network for Organ Sharing and ultimately the suspension of the liver transplant program.
In Texas, Memorial Hermann’s liver and kidney transplant programs were suspended after suspicions arose that a doctor had manipulated patient records to make them ineligible for transplants. The doctor in question, J. Steve Bynon Jr., has not commented on the allegations, and investigations are ongoing to determine the reasons behind the changes made to patient records. Patient families have since expressed intent to sue Dr. Bynon and the hospital, highlighting the potential legal consequences of the scandal. As both hospitals navigate the fallout from the closures and investigations, the broader transplant community is left to grapple with the unusual circumstances surrounding the recent program shutdowns.
Despite the challenges faced by Hershey and Memorial Hermann, other transplant programs at both hospitals remain operational, with no immediate impact on kidney, heart, stem cell, and bone marrow transplant programs. As federal investigations continue and patients are transferred to other hospitals for transplant evaluations and procedures, the healthcare community is closely monitoring the developments at Hershey Medical Center and Memorial Hermann to ensure transparency, patient safety, and accountability in the transplant process.
