The surgeon who allegedly removed an Alabama man’s liver instead of his spleen, killing him, has had his license suspended, according to court documents.
William Bryan, 70, was vacationing in Destin, Florida, with his wife Beverly in August when he had to be rushed to the hospital after feeling pain in his abdomen.
His pain was due to an enlarged spleen, but Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky allegedly removed his liver by mistake.
William’s widow has filed a lawsuit with the help of attorney Joe Zarzaur as she tries to get justice for her husband’s death. WAF reported.
Shaknovsky’s license was suspended on an emergency basis by the Florida Department of Health, which prepared a report on the incident that was filed in court.
William Bryan, 70 (pictured with his wife Beverly) died last month after undergoing emergency surgery in which Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky allegedly removed the wrong organ.
After being at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital for several days, William agreed to undergo surgery.
Shaknovsky went ahead with the surgery even though there was only a skeletal team because it was too late, the report said.
Operating room staff were allegedly “concerned” that Shaknovsky did not have the skills to perform a spleen removal, which was described as a “complicated” procedure.
While William was on the operating table, the report said, Shaknovsky discovered a splenic artery aneurysm.
According to him, the aneurysm ruptured, causing the severe hemorrhage that would eventually cause his death.
At first, Shaknovsky told investigators he could control the aneurysm.
In a later interview, however, he admitted that he had “never been able to control the aneurysm, but instead decided to complete the splenectomy in a last-ditch effort to control the bleeding after (William) had already been in cardiac arrest for 15 years.” minutes.’
Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky had his license suspended effective September 24, about a month after William’s death.
When a medical examiner later performed an autopsy on William, no evidence was found to suggest there had ever been an aneurysm.
Shaknovsky said he fired a stapling device “blindly into the abdomen” to seal the suspected aneurysm and “removed an organ he believed to be a spleen,” according to the report.
Staff inside the operating room later saw the liver on the table and were “shocked when Dr. Shaknovsky told them it was a spleen,” according to the report.
One staff member reported feeling “sick to their stomach.”
Shaknovsky claimed that the liver was “in an unusual location”, which he claimed contributed to his mistake.
The medical examiner discovered that William died because, during the course of the operation, Shaknovsky dissected his inferior vena cava, the largest vein in the body.
This error is what caused the massive hemorrhage that led to his death, not a ruptured aneurysm that Shaknovsky was unable to control, the report said.
Furthermore, the autopsy revealed that William’s spleen and its accessories were “intact” and “in the normal position.”
According to his obituary, William was a Vietnam War veteran in the U.S. Navy and leaves behind three children and eight grandchildren.
The report also went to great lengths to distinguish between the liver and spleen, calling the two organs “anatomically distinct.” Additionally, they have different consistencies and colors.
Shaknovsky removed William’s liver, which weighed 2,106 grams, according to the report.
Even an enlarged spleen would only weigh 400 to 500 grams, according to the report, about four times smaller than a normal liver.
Shaknovsky is also accused of mistakenly removing part of another patient’s pancreas, but fortunately that person survived.
In the case of William’s botched operation, the Florida Department of Health alleges that Shaknovsky deceived to cover up his serious mistake because his description of the operation did not match what the autopsy found.
“This level of dishonesty and fraud is incompatible with the level of integrity necessary to safely practice as an osteopathic physician,” according to the report.
According to his obituary, William was the father of three children, had eight grandchildren, and was a United States Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War.
Shaknovsky has not been criminally charged but can no longer practice medicine as of September 24.
