MIAMI — The family of a man who died because a Florida surgeon removed his liver instead of his spleen is suing, saying hospital staff took part in a cover-up to hide the true cause of their loved one’s death.
During what was supposed to be a splenectomy, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky cut into William Bryan’s liver – and kept dissecting the organ as he was bleeding out at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Walton County on August 21, an emergency order issued by Florida’s surgeon general said.
Then he put a “readily-identifiable liver” on the operating room table and said it was Bryan’s spleen, according to the order, McClatchy News previously reported. Bryan was 70 when he died.
State Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo suspended Shaknovsky’s license over “repeated egregious surgical errors resulting in significant patient harm” in connection with Bryan and other patients, the order said.
Shaknovsky’s license was “retired” November 14, state records show.
According to the 114-page lawsuit, the hospital and nurses tried covering up the surgeon’s errors and falsified Bryan’s death certificate and other state death records. The lawsuit was filed Jan. 30 against Shaknovsky, Ascension, GenesisCare USA of Florida and four nurses.
Shaknovsky was employed by GenesisCare, a spokesperson for Bryan’s family’s legal counsel told McClatchy News.
The hospital and nurses “had an obligation to accurately report Mr. Bryan’s death” and they “misrepresented the cause of death,” a complaint said.
Ascension told McClatchy News that it doesn’t discuss active litigation and declined McClatchy News’ request for comment Jan. 31.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and all those impacted,” GenesisCare said in a statement to McClatchy News, adding that it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Shaknovsky didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
“This heartbreaking loss has devastated the family of William Bryan, and we are seeking justice for this senseless tragedy,” attorney Joe Zarzaur, who represents Bryan’s family, said in a Jan. 30 news release.
Bryan, an Alabama resident, was visiting his Florida rental property with his wife when he felt pain on the left side of his body and was encouraged to have surgery at Ascension in August, McClatchy News previously reported.
He repeatedly refused, according to an operative report, because he wanted to see his doctor in Alabama after he was admitted to Ascension on August 18. He ultimately underwent surgery a few days later.
Bryan’s wife, Beverly Bryan, told McClatchy News on Sept. 26 that her husband “became a homicide victim in the operating room.”
Another one of Shaknovsky’s patients died after he performed a surgical procedure about a year earlier, in July 2023, according to a complaint filed in October by the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners.
Shaknovsky also held a medical license in Alabama, which was temporarily suspended by the board in an order dated October 23, McClatchy News reported. His Alabama license is inactive as of Jan. 31. It was voluntarily surrendered, records show.
During another surgery involving a third patient, Shaknovsky wrongly removed part of a patient’s pancreas, according to the emergency suspension order issued in Florida.
He was supposed to remove a 58-year-old man’s adrenal gland but removed part of his pancreas in May 2023, the order said.
The man was left permanently injured, according to the order, which said “Shaknovsky’s continued practice as an osteopathic physician presents an immediate, serious danger to the health, welfare, and safety of the public.”
The lawsuit over Bryan’s death seeks more than $50,000 in damages for loss of companionship and protection, mental pain and suffering, funeral expenses, medical expenses and more, the complaint shows.
“Dr. Shaknovsky’s failure to meet the accepted standard of care and Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast’s involvement in the alleged cover up has caused irreparable harm, and no family should have to endure such grief due to medical negligence,” Zarzaur said. “We are committed to holding these actors accountable for their actions.”
By JULIA MARNIN/Miami Herald
Julia Marnin is a McClatchy National Real-Time reporter covering the southeast and northeast while based in New York. She’s an alumna of The College of New Jersey and joined McClatchy in 2021. Previously, she’s written for Newsweek, Modern Luxury, Gannett and more.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article299527584.html#storylink=cpy
