Florida surgeon accused of removing a man's liver instead of his spleen has his license revoked

A Florida surgeon accused of removing a man's liver instead of his spleen during a procedure, causing the patient to bleed to death on the operating table, has been stripped of his license by the state.

In a scathing emergency call from the Florida Department of Health, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky is accused of removing Alabama resident Bill Bryan's liver instead of his spleen, calling it a “serious medical error” that makes him an “imminent, serious danger” to the public.

The order details Shaknovsky's alleged “egregious conduct,” saying he went to great lengths to cover up his mistake by falsifying medical records, lying about the incident and pressuring others to lie about the incident as well.

Bryan, 70, died Aug. 21 during surgery performed by Shaknovsky at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Miramar Beach, Florida.

DEATH IN WHIRLPOOL: WOMAN FILES SUIT FOR WRONG KILLING AND DEMANDS “ACCOUNTABILITY”

Bryan and his wife Beverly were visiting their rental property in Destin on August 18 when Bryan felt pain in his side.

According to instructions, Bryan arrived at the hospital and was told that he was suffering from an enlarged spleen. Shaknovsky said Bryan's spleen needed to be removed immediately, but Bryan refused.

“We called Bill's doctor here at home in northwest Alabama and he told Bill that he had surgeons here in north Alabama waiting for him when we got home,” Beverly told local station WMBB. “I tried to convince Dr. Shaknovsky to let him take him home or arrange transportation, but Dr. Shaknovsky said that if Bill was transported, he would bleed to death.”

The order states that Shaknovsky continued to pressure Bryan to undergo surgery even after three days in the hospital – and finally gave in.

The order states that the operating room staff were concerned that Shaknovsky “did not have the necessary skills to safely perform the 'complicated' procedure” – but the operation was carried out nonetheless.

The order states that Shaknovsky lied and gave several different accounts of what happened during the operation. He eventually admitted that at one point during the operation he “blindly” inserted a stapler into the abdominal cavity and removed an organ that he “thought was the spleen.”

He claimed that the spleen was greatly enlarged and deformed and that the liver was in an unusual location, which is why he had confused the organs.

But the state's warrant says witnesses in the operating room told a very different story. At one point, Shaknovsky identified a vessel he was about to cut and said he could feel it pulsing under his finger. According to the warrant, he told the staff member assisting him, “This is scary.”

The order describes that after the organ was removed, Bryan began to bleed heavily and went into cardiac arrest. Despite this, the order states, Shaknovsky continued the dissection despite “no visibility” and never requested a staple or cauterizer. Witnesses confirmed that Shaknovsky fired the stapler “blindly” into Bryan's abdomen.

Surviving family of Titanic submersible researcher seeks $50 million in wrongful death damages

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, a surgeon at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital, is accused of causing a tragic death in the operating room. (Zarzaur Law Firm)

The order states that Shaknovsky removed Bryan's liver but identified it as a spleen, even though the two organs were different sizes and colors and located on completely different sides of the body.

“The staff looked at the easily identifiable liver on the table and were shocked when Dr. Shaknovsky told them it was a spleen,” the statement said. “One staff member became nauseous.”

Shaknovsky claimed that Bryan died of a “ruptured splenic artery aneurysm” and tried several times to convince the operating room staff that he was right, even though they knew it was not true.

Shaknovsky demanded that the removed organ be marked as a “spleen” and sent to pathology. The instruction states that the person responsible for marking the organ knew that it was not a spleen, but still followed the instruction.

After the “chaos of the operation was over,” Shaknovsky even went to pathology to take another look at the organ, but refused to admit his mistake, the instructions say. Instead, he invented his surgical instructions down to the smallest detail, claiming that certain ligaments and structures had been dissected, but they had never been touched.

Fox News Digital reviewed the pathology report from Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast and it confirmed that the organ removed from Bryan was indeed his liver.

According to the state's order, removing Bryan's liver instead of his spleen was not Shaknovsky's first medical error. In May 2023, Shaknovsky removed part of a patient's pancreas instead of the adrenal gland, the order states. Shaknovsky claimed the adrenal gland had “migrated” to another part of the body when confronted with the error.

The order states that the patient in this case suffered “long-term, permanent harm.”

“Dr. Shaknovsky's repeated serious surgical errors resulted in significant patient harm. This, coupled with his refusal to accept responsibility for these errors, indicates that his reckless conduct is likely to continue,” the order states. “As such, Dr. Shaknovsky's continued practice as an osteopathic physician poses an imminent, serious threat to the health, welfare and safety of the public.”

Alabama Supreme Court rules couples can sue for wrongful death after embryos are discarded

William “Bill” Bryan died when a surgeon mistakenly removed his liver instead of his spleen, “causing immediate and catastrophic blood loss.” (Zarzaur Law Firm)

Beverly Bryan is seeking both criminal and civil proceedings in connection with her husband's death, according to Florida-based law firm Zarzaur Law, which is representing the family.

“My husband died while lying helpless on the operating table, at the hands of Dr. Shaknovsky. I do not want anyone else to die in a hospital because of his incompetence, who should have known or knew that he had previously made drastic, life-altering surgical errors,” Bryan's widow Beverly said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast for comment on Shaknovsky's suspension but did not immediately receive a response.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The hospital had previously told Fox News Digital that it was investigating Bryan's death, but said it would not comment on specific patient cases or ongoing litigation.

“We take allegations of this nature very seriously, and our leadership team is conducting a thorough investigation of this incident,” said Gary Nevolis, spokesman for Ascension Sacred Heart. “Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast has a long tradition of providing safe, high-quality care since the hospital opened in 2003. Patient safety remains our top priority. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”