A tragic oversight in medical care has led to a lawsuit against a major health system, alleging negligence and wrongful death. On August 7, 2024, Norma Zelidon, Jose Zelidon, Thelma Smith, Irma Hext, and Joseph Zelidon filed a complaint in Harris County District Court against Memorial Hermann Health System.
The plaintiffs are the wrongful death beneficiaries of Marta Zelidon, who passed away on May 19, 2022. Marta was a 73-year-old woman with cirrhosis who had been placed into the liver transplant program at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center under the supervision of Dr. John S. Bynon. Despite her worsening condition and an elevated Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score that reached as high as 41, she was repeatedly told she was not a candidate for a liver transplant. The plaintiffs allege that inappropriate changes were made to Marta's medical records by Dr. Bynon or his staff to deactivate her from the transplant list.
On April 3, 2024, Memorial Hermann shut down its liver and kidney transplant programs after discovering a "pattern of issues" with their donor acceptance criteria. This led to revelations that qualified patients were being deactivated from the list improperly, resulting in several deaths including Marta’s. The plaintiffs claim that Memorial Hermann failed to implement adequate policies and procedures to oversee and ensure proper treatment for its liver transplant patients.
The lawsuit accuses Memorial Hermann Health System of negligence for failing to provide standard care expected from a reasonable hospital under similar circumstances. They argue that this breach directly caused Marta's death due to cardiopulmonary arrest and multi-organ system failure stemming from untreated cirrhosis.
The plaintiffs seek over $1 million in damages for loss of care, companionship, society benefits, mental anguish, emotional pain, torment, and suffering experienced due to Marta's death. They also request post-judgment interest at the legal rate from the date of judgment, pre-judgment interest as allowed by law, court costs, and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
Representing the plaintiffs are attorneys Gabe A. Sassin and Tommy R. Hastings from Hastings Law Firm P.C., while Judge Cynthia Clausell-McGowan presides over Case ID: 2024-50748 in the 269th Judicial District Court of Harris County.