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OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:22 AM – Wednesday, September 3, 2024
A man has died after a doctor reportedly removed the wrong organ during surgery.
According to the victim’s wife’s attorneys, William Bryan, 70, was visiting the Florida panhandle on vacation when he suddenly began experiencing intense lower left abdominal pain. He was immediately taken to the Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Walton County.
His wife, Beverly Bryan, told reporters that doctors admitted him for further testing after discovering an abnormality in his spleen.
The family’s legal team, Zarzaur Law P.A., a law firm based in Pensacola, posted a statement on Facebook where they stated that General Surgeon Thomas Shaknovsky and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Christopher Bacani persuaded the 70-year-old to undergo surgery at the hospital or he “could experience serious complications if he left the hospital.”
On August 21st, William finally underwent a hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy procedure.
The legal team alleged that during the surgery, Shaknovsky removed William’s liver instead of his spleen, which resulted in “immediate and catastrophic blood loss, resulting in death.” After mistakenly removing William’s liver, the general surgeon labeled the organ as a “spleen,” which was only identified as a liver later after the man’s death.
Zarzaur continued, stating that Dr. Shaknovsky told Beverly that her husband’s “‘spleen’ was so diseased that it was four times bigger than usual and had migrated to the other side of (his) body.”
The liver is located to the upper right side of the abdominal cavity, just below the diaphragm, and above the stomach, right kidney, and intestines. However, the spleen is located on the upper left side of the abdomen next to the stomach and is significantly smaller than the liver.
The law firm alleged that the doctor had also previously performed a “wrong-site” last year as well, in which he was accused of removing a portion of a patient’s pancreas rather than performing an adrenal gland resection, what was intended.
They continued, alleging that that particular case was settled and the terms were not disclosed.
Beverly expressed that she retained the law firm in order to get “justice” for her husband, and that she is hoping the general surgeon steps down from his position so that no other patients can experience his alleged negligence and incompetence.
“My husband died while helpless on the operating room table by Dr. Shaknovsky. I don’t want anyone else to die due to his incompetence at a hospital that should have known or knew he had previously made drastic, life-altering surgical mistakes,” the widow said.
She also noted that she has been pushing for both a lawsuit and an additional criminal investigation.
The medical examiner discovered a small cyst on Bryan’s spleen following his death, which is believed to be the cause of the pain he was initially hospitalized for.
North Walton Doctor’s Hospital, another hospital Shaknovsky was employed by, has now “disassociated” itself with him, and has removed all photos and references to the doctor from its official website.
Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital also released a statement following the incident, stating that they are investigating the death.
“We take allegations like this very seriously, and our leadership team is performing a thorough investigation into this event. Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast has a longstanding history of providing safe, quality care since the hospital opened its doors in 2003,” the hospital said. “Patient safety is and remains our number one priority. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family. We hold the privacy of our patients in the highest regard. We do not comment on specific patient cases or active litigation.”
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