"Died Helpless": Wife Of US Man Whose Liver Was Mistakenly Removed

A Florida doctor has been accused of removing the wrong organ from a man's body, resulting in his death. The family of William "Bill" Bryan, 70, claimed that surgeon Dr Thomas Shaknovsky mistakenly removed Bryan's liver instead of the spleen, reported The Guardian. As of Wednesday, Shaknovsky has not been charged but the law firm appointed by Bryan's family stated that they planned to move the court. 

According to the law firm, Bryan visited the Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital on August 18 after experiencing pain in his flank area. The patient and his wife Beverly were given a rundown of the "risks, benefits, and alternatives" of the surgery before he underwent a splenectomy under surgeon Thomas Shaknovsky on August 21. However, instead of removing Bryan's spleen as intended, the doctor removed his liver, resulting in his untimely death. 

"Dr Shaknovsky removed Mr Bryan's liver and, in so doing, transected the major vasculature supplying the liver, causing immediate and catastrophic blood loss resulting in death,” read the statement. "The surgeon proceeded with labeling the removed liver specimen as a 'spleen,' and it wasn't until following the death that it was identified that the organ removed was Mr Bryan's liver, as opposed to the spleen."

The lawyers also claimed that Shaknovsky had a history of "wrong-site surgery". In 2023, the surgeon mistakenly removed a portion of a patient's pancreas instead of performing the intended adrenal gland resection. The law firm claimed the matter was settled and the terms were not made public. Beverly Bryan stated she hired the legal team to pursue "justice" for her husband. 

In a statement, she said, “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.” She is pursuing both civil and criminal actions in the case. 

The Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital has also released a statement, saying it “take[s] allegations like this very seriously, and our leadership team is performing a thorough investigation into this event”.