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Thomas Shaknovsky, the Florida doctor who removed the man’s liver, made more mistakes

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Thomas Shaknovsky, the Florida doctor who removed the man’s liver, made more mistakes

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Alabama Medical Licensing Commission Dr. Suspended Thomas Shaknovsky’s medical licenseA Destin surgeon has been accused of harming the patient by mistakenly removing an Alabama man’s liver instead of his spleen. 70-year-old William “Bill” Bryan will bleed to death On the operating table in August.

Alabama’s restraining order does not include an explanation for the restraining order, but it was issued on October 24, coming nearly a month after that order. Florida Department of Health issues emergency order suspending Shaknovsky’s medical license.

The Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA), the state agency responsible for licensing healthcare facilities, regulatory enforcement, and investigating consumer complaints about healthcare facilities, also investigated Shaknovsky and found that the surgeon was responsible for at least three surgical errors. Two resulted in the death of patients.

The agency’s findings are detailed in a report made public earlier this month. AHCA said it conducted an “unannounced complaints survey” at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast between September 10 and September 20 in response to a complaint. This is the same facility where Bryan died and where Shaknovsky worked before his privileges were revoked.

During the survey, the agency found “deficient practice” at the hospital, alleging that the hospital “failed to ensure that each member of the medical staff was competent to perform each task within the scope of practice,” according to the AHCA report. “what privileges were given” and “it was not ensured that operational reports were written completely and accurately.”

Dr. Other surgical “mistakes” involving Shaknovsky

During the survey, AHCA found the hospital identified three surgical errors from May 2020 to August 2024, and Dr. He found that Thomas Shaknovsky “involved all three errors.” Although Shaknovsky was not named in the report, Bill Bryan’s widow and her attorney said Shaknovsky operated on her husband, and the state report makes clear that the same surgeon who mistakenly removed the patient’s liver was responsible for the other two errors.

The report states that the first surgical error occurred in May 2023, when Shaknovsky removed part of a 58-year-old patient’s pancreas instead of his adrenal gland, and the doctor documented removing the patient’s left adrenal gland.

The second surgical error occurred in August 2023, when a patient’s intestinal perforation was detected after a partial colectomy, leading to a fatal infection that killed the patient, according to the report.

A year later, in August 2024, Bill Bryan died after Shaknovsky allegedly accidentally removed his liver.

The report says staff interviews revealed two more patients with possible surgical errors by Shaknovsky that were not investigated.

The AHCA said that in April 2024, a doctor was observed cutting the common bile duct while removing a patient’s gallbladder, and in July 2024, he cut a patient’s uterus or the tube that carries urine from the kidneys to the bladder, causing a urologist to be hospitalized. He was called to the operating room for repair.

The AHCA report says the Medical Staff Performance Improvement Committee met and identified concerns about a “questionable decision-making pattern” with Shaknovsky, but that this was more related to post-operative management and complications and less to do with his surgical technique.

What happened in the operating room when Bill Bryan died?

The state agency interviewed several people who were in the operating room when Bryan died and others who worked with him. Some told the state they were concerned about Shaknovsky performing the surgery in the first place because the hospital did not perform splenectomies regularly and believed he was inexperienced.

Medical staff in the operating room said that after Shaknovsky removed the organ, they realized it was the patient’s liver, not his spleen, but were too shocked to say anything.

During the surgery, as the patient began to cry due to terrible blood loss, Shaknovsky continued to cut while staff performed CPR, and one of the medical team said that he saw the surgeon remove the wrong organ at the time.

“I saw the sample on the table,” the staff member said. “It looked like liver and I felt nauseous. “I knew if he took part of the liver, we wouldn’t be able to stop the bleeding.”

A woman in the operating room said that when a different surgeon came in and asked what happened, she was so upset she couldn’t speak because she was “trying to compose herself and not cry.”

The Chief Medical Officer was also called to the operating theater after Bryan’s death and staff said he looked “shocked” and had his “eyes wide open” when he saw the “spleen” removed from the patient.

Another person heard a woman say: “It’s the fucking liver.”

Another license suspension: Florida Surgeon General suspends license of doctor who accidentally removed man’s liver

The surgical team confirmed the tragic details that Shaknovsky “blindly” removed the man’s liver instead of his spleen during surgery; This was partly because Bryan’s stomach area was filled with blood and the patient’s “megacolon” was obstructing vision. The surgeon then insisted several times that he had removed the patient’s spleen and had staff label it as such before it was sent to a pathologist for testing.

Even when confronted with the truth, the AHCA says the doctor never reviewed the surgical report, which stated that Bryan died from a “splenic aneurysm,” or complications from the removal of the spleen, and never once mentioned the word “liver” in or on the report. the fact that the patient has problems with his colon.

After surgery, staff said, Shaknovsky told operating room staff that “there was nothing that could be done to save him.”

The state agency also interviewed the medical examiner, who said Bryan’s death was initially reported to the medical examiner’s office as the result of a cyst on the patient’s spleen, but an autopsy showed his spleen was intact and his liver was “perfectly ruptured.” his diaphragm was blown to pieces” and “essentially…an autopsy was performed on that man.”

Wrong organ removed: An Alabama man died at a Destin hospital after a surgeon removed the wrong organ. How did it happen?

Report concerns

Some staff members described Shaknovsky as “well-intentioned” and “respectable”, while others said they “did not trust him as a doctor”. One nurse said “everyone knows he’s not a good surgeon” and said that if Shaknovsky was on duty, staff would not bring his family to the hospital because he was so “polite” that it made him “dangerous”.

Another person said he “didn’t know how he was allowed to come back” after a similar misplaced surgery last year.

Doctors and hospital administrators told the state that Shaknovsky had a heavy caseload and at some point they were evaluating whether that might cause problems. Although steps were taken to resolve the issues that arose, the AHCA found there was a lack of follow-up to see if Shaknovsky had developed or completed the steps he was required to take to ensure he was competent and was following procedures.

AHCA also found that staff were reluctant to speak up or report when they saw problems with surgeons, including Shaknovsky.

“Staff’s failure to communicate concerns about competency resulted in the hospital failing to identify opportunities to improve patient health outcomes,” the report states.

Staff interviewed by state investigators said they were heartbroken by what happened to Bill Bryan and hope changes are made to prevent a similar tragedy.

“We want the family to know the truth,” a staff member said. “I never thought I would see something like this. This is a huge learning moment for everyone and prevents this from happening again due to incompetence.

The News Journal reached out to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast for comment but did not hear back by deadline. However, in previous reports regarding Shaknovsky, the hospital expressed its condolences to the Bryan family and stated that they were investigating the situation and were committed to ensuring patient safety.

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