A Florida man died on the operating table after a surgeon mistakenly removed his liver instead of his spleen, according to allegations made by the man’s widow’s lawyer. William Bryan, 70, underwent surgery at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast hospital in Florida due to spleen abnormalities. The surgeon, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, removed Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen, causing immediate catastrophic blood loss and death. The hospital is conducting a thorough investigation into the incident. The lawyer alleges that Shaknovsky had previously made a similar surgical mistake in 2023. The family is pushing for both criminal and civil proceedings against the surgeon. The investigation into Bryan’s death by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office is ongoing.
The surgeon told Bryan’s family that his spleen was significantly enlarged and had moved to a different location in his body, but in reality, the liver is much larger and located on the opposite side of the abdomen. The lawyer representing Bryan’s widow is calling for accountability to ensure such a mistake does not happen again. Despite the error, both Dr. Shaknovsky and Dr. Christopher Bacani, the hospital’s chief medical officer, still have active medical licenses. The family is seeking justice and aiming to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
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