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 needed to be rushed the hospital after feeling pain in his abdomen. His pain was traced 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 lawyer Joe Zarzaur as she tries to get justice for her husband’s death, WAFF reported. Shaknovsky’s license was suspended on an emergency basis by the Florida Department of Health, which put together a report about the incident that was filed with the court. After being at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital for several days, William agreed to go into surgery. Shaknovsky went forward with the surgery despite there only being skeletal crew because it was late in the day, according to the report. Operating room staff allegedly ‘had concerns’ that Shaknovsky didn’t have the skill to perform a spleen removal, which was described as a ‘complicated’ procedure. While William was on the operating table, according to the report, Shaknovsky discovered a splenic artery aneurysm. According to him, the aneurysm ruptured, which resulted in the severe hemorrhaging that would eventually cause his death. At first, Shaknovsky told investigators that he was able to control the aneurysm. In a subsequent 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 minutes.’ 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 alleged aneurysm and ‘removed an organ that he believed to be a spleen,’ according to the report. The staff inside the operating room later witnessed the liver on the table and were ‘shocked when Dr. Shaknovsky told them that it was a spleen,’ the report said. One staff member reported feeling ‘sick to their stomach.’ Shaknovsky claimed that the liver was ‘in an unusual location,’ which he said contributed to his mistake. The medical examiner found that William died because, throughout the course of the operation, Shaknovsky dissected his inferior vena cava, the largest vein in the body. This error is what caused the massive bleeding that led to his death, not a ruptured aneurysm Shaknovsky failed to control, according to the report. Additionally, the autopsy revealed that William’s spleen and its attachments were ‘untouched’ and ‘in the normal position.’ The report also went to great lengths to distinguish between a liver and a spleen, calling the two organs ‘anatomically distinct.’ Furthermore, 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 up to 400 to 500 grams, per the report, roughly four times smaller than a normal liver. Shaknovsky is also accused of mistakenly removing part of another patient’s pancreas, but luckily that person survived. In the case of William’s botched operation, the Florida Department of Health is alleging that Shaknovsky engaged in deception to cover up his grievous error, since his description of the operation didn’t match what the autopsy uncovered. ‘This level of dishonesty and fraud is incompatible with the level of integrity that is necessary to be able to practice safely as an osteopathic physician,’ according to the report. According to his reported obituary, William was the father of three children, had eight grandchildren, and was a US Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War. Shaknovsky hasn’t been criminally charged but can no longer practice medicine as of September 24.
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