Additional Coverage:
- Florida doctor accused of removing wrong organ in fatal surgery (themirror.com)
A Florida physician has been indicted following the death of a 70-year-old man who underwent surgery during which the wrong organ was removed.
Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, faces a second-degree manslaughter charge related to the August 2024 death of Bill Bryan, a resident of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
The indictment was issued by a grand jury in the First Judicial Circuit, and Shaknovsky was arrested Monday morning in Miramar Beach, Florida, before appearing in court on Tuesday. He was then taken to Walton County Jail.
Prosecutors allege that on August 21, 2024, during a planned laparoscopic splenectomy, Shaknovsky mistakenly removed Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen. This error reportedly caused catastrophic blood loss, leading to Bryan’s death on the operating table.
Bill Bryan’s widow, Beverly Bryan, expressed her disbelief over the incident. “When I tell people what happened, it still sounds too awful to be true that that could happen,” she said.
“I still have trouble believing it happened myself. Can you imagine?”
Following the surgery, the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners obtained a court order temporarily suspending Shaknovsky’s medical license. Later that year, the Alabama Medical Licensure Commission formally revoked his license. His medical licenses in Florida and New York were also suspended in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Court documents reveal that Bryan had arrived at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital Emerald Coast with stomach pain. Imaging indicated a suspected enlarged spleen and some blood in the peritoneum but no active bleeding. Shaknovsky recommended surgery, and over the next few days, he reportedly pressured Bryan to proceed with the operation despite Bryan’s wish to return to Alabama.
The lawsuit further states that during the procedure, which was complicated by the patient experiencing cardiac arrest, Shaknovsky removed what he believed to be the spleen. However, due to the chaos and his own shock, he failed to correctly identify the organ.
Postoperative claims by Shaknovsky suggested Bryan’s death resulted from a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm, but an autopsy found no evidence of such a rupture. Instead, Bryan’s spleen remained intact, and his liver was missing.
In addition to the manslaughter charge, Shaknovsky faces allegations related to two other malpractice incidents. One involved the removal of part of a patient’s pancreas during a routine procedure in May 2023 that was intended to remove the patient’s left adrenal gland, an error the medical board linked to a patient’s death.
This case has raised serious concerns about surgical protocols and patient safety, as investigations continue.
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- Florida doctor accused of removing wrong organ in fatal surgery (themirror.com)