The surgeon accused of fatally removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has claimed that emotional distress led to the critical error. Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky is currently facing charges of manslaughter linked to the tragic passing of Bill Bryan, a 70-year-old Alabama resident, in August 2024.
Bill Bryan and his wife, Beverly, were enjoying a vacation along Florida’s picturesque Emerald Coast when Bryan began experiencing abdominal pain, which was eventually identified as stemming from his spleen. This unfortunate misdiagnosis has spurred Beverly to file a lawsuit against the surgeon.
In a deposition from last November, Dr. Shaknovsky provided his version of the events leading to the sorrowful incident, as detailed in a transcript acquired by NBC News. The surgeon recounted how Bryan began to bleed profusely during surgery, which resulted in his heart stopping.
Amid the turmoil, as his medical team performed chest compressions to revive Bryan, Dr. Shaknovsky explained that he was desperately attempting to locate the source of the bleeding. It was during this frantic search that he mistakenly removed Bryan’s liver, an error with devastating consequences.
According to a transcript obtained by NBC News, he said that Bryan started to bleed heavily which caused his heart to stop.
As the team around him did chest compressions, Shaknovsky said he tried to find the source of the bleeding and it was during this that he removed his liver.
The transcript said that he told a nurse to label the organ he had taken out as a spleen.
Of making the fatal mistake, he said: ‘I can’t explain to you what it’s like for a surgeon to lose a patient on a table and how demoralizing it is and how devastating it is.
‘And I couldn’t tell the difference because I was so upset. It’s a devastating thing, which I will have to live with the rest of my life.’
Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky is facing a manslaughter charge relating to the August 2024 death of Bill Bryan
Bill Bryan, center, and his wife Beverly had been vacationing along the Emerald Coast in Florida when he got a pain in his abdomen which was traced to his spleen
Bryan was talked into a surgery to remove his spleen after the doctor allegedly wouldn’t allow Bryan to visit his own doctor back home.
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.
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 Bryan 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 [Bryan] had already been in cardiac arrest for 15 minutes.’
The 70-year-old (pictured with his wife Beverly) was talked into a surgery to remove his spleen after the doctor allegedly wouldn’t allow Bryan to visit his own doctor back home
After Bryan’s death, Shaknovsky was barred from practicing medicine in both Alabama and Florida
When a medical examiner later performed an autopsy on Bryan, no evidence was found to suggest there had ever been an aneurysm.
The medical examiner found that Bryan 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 Bryan’s spleen and its attachments were ‘untouched’ and ‘in the normal position.’
After Bryan’s death, Shaknovsky was barred from practicing medicine in both Alabama and Florida.
