Surgeon Removed Wrong Organ From Patient, Leading to His Death — Then Gave Bizarre Excuse

Content warning: This article contains details of fatal surgical errors, death, and medical malpractice.

Usually, hospitals and doctors provide relief from illness and disease. However, in this instance, a doctor ended up killing a patient after removing the wrong organ from his body.

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, a surgeon in Florida, is being charged in a patient’s death case after he admitted that he mistakenly removed his liver instead of the spleen, causing “immediate and catastrophic blood loss resulting in death.”

Reportedly, during the surgery, William started bleeding out from an unknown body part.

According to NBC News, Shaknovsky convinced 70-year-old William Bryan to undergo an urgent splenectomy. William was visiting Florida with his wife, Beverly Bryan, at the time, in August 2024.

Beverly filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Shaknovsky. In transcripts from his deposition, the 44-year-old surgeon admitted under oath that he “couldn’t tell the difference” between the patient’s spleen and liver because he was “so upset” during the chaotic procedure.

He explained that William’s surgery was complicated and dangerous as his colon was enlarged and blocking his view, and there was blood in his abdomen. It was in this chaotic moment that he removed the wrong organ. Meanwhile, the other surgeons were trying to revive William’s heart and performing chest compressions as he went into cardiac arrest.

A medical examiner later determined Bryan died from “exsanguination,” or bleeding to death, along with “surgical removal of the liver.”

What’s worse is that Shaknovsky tried to cover up his mistake by falsely labeling the removed part as spleen rather than liver. He had his medical license revoked and was charged with second-degree manslaughter.

Investigators further claimed the errors went beyond a surgical mistake. They said Shaknovsky switched from the usual laparoscopic surgery to a more invasive open surgery because of poor eyesight. Due to poor visibility, he also stapled and cut blood vessels connected to the liver, causing severe hemorrhaging.

After the surgery, he allegedly told Beverly that William’s spleen was more enlarged than anticipated, diseased and had “migrated” to the other side of his body.

Shaknovsky 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.”

Adding:

“It’s a devastating thing, which I will have to live with the rest of my life and I think about it every single day.”

“That was an incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply, and I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it.”

Beverly said in her lawsuit that she and her husband went to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital after William started experiencing stomach pain. William was a veteran, and the couple lived in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Shaknovsky was arrested in April 2026 during his shift as a Lyft driver. He has denied intentional wrongdoing in court filings. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.