Posted on 09/05/2024 7:07:04 AM PDT by Red Badger
DESTIN, Fla. -- A Northwest Florida doctor is accused of removing the wrong organ during a recent surgery, allegedly resulting in the death of an Alabama man.
William Bryan died Aug. 21 just two days before his 34th wedding anniversary when his liver was removed during an operation that was intended to remove his spleen. He was 70-years-old.
His widow Beverly is now demanding accountability.
"I know I'm not the only wife that's lost their husband suddenly," she said. "But the loss of my Bill was exceptionally unnecessary and brutal."
Beverly and Bill traveled from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to enjoy a vacation at their condo in Destin. While they were there, Bill began feeling pain on his left side.
"We went to Sacred Heart on the Emerald Coast and he was admitted and became a patient of Dr. [Thomas] Shaknovsky," Beverly said.
After running tests, she says doctors identified a cyst that had ruptured and bled around his spleen. She says she wanted to bring Bill back to his own doctors in north Alabama.
"I tried to convince Dr.Shaknovsky to let me take him home or arrange to be transported," she said. "But Dr.Shaknovsky said that Bill would bleed to death if he was moved."
On Aug. 21, Bill underwent surgery to remove his spleen -- but by that evening, he was dead.
"They took him from us while he was completely helpless on an operating room table," Beverly said. "They removed his liver instead of his spleen, so of course he bled to death on the operating room table."
"Everyone knows you can't live without your liver," she added. "It's about the same thing as if they'd pulled out his heart."
According to a report from Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky is identified as the primary surgeon.
Pensacola attorney Joe Zarzaur, who was hired by the family, gave WEAR News what is called the "operative documentation" from the hospital. It details the operation and what led up to it.
The document reveals Bill Bryan was admitted to the hospital on Aug. 18. It indicates several tests were done, including an MRI and a CT scan.
"My client went to Sacred Heart Emerald Coast with right flank pain, discomfort," Zarzauer said, "and he was treated and Dr. Shaknovsky recommended that he go through a splenectomy -- which is removal of the spleen."
When Bill went into surgery, Zarzaur says that’s when something went wrong.
The report states Bill lost a lot of blood during the procedure -- and his blood pressure dropped abruptly, sending him into cardiac arrest. Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, according to the document.
Zarzaur also provided the surgical pathology report from the hospital. It showed the organ labeled "spleen" was something else.
“Dr. Shaknovsky was intending to take the spleen out," Zarzaur said. "When the spleen was sent to pathology at the hospital, the pathologist at the hospital, after the procedure was over, said, 'This is not a spleen, this is a liver.'"
Zarzaur pointed to the operative document, saying that's not what the doctor reported.
"The doctor reported as if it was a spleen complication and that the patient had actually died from a spleen operation that went bad," Zarzaur said.
Zarzaur intends to file a civil lawsuit.
Meanwhile, the Walton County Sheriff's Office confirms it is investigating the death of William Bryan, providing WEAR News this statement:
Walton County Sheriff's Office in conjunction with the District 1 Medical Examiner's Office and Office of the State Attorney is reviewing the facts involving the death of William Bryan to determine if anything criminal took place. At this time, it would be incorrect to say criminal charges have been filed. Our agency asks for the public's patience as these cases are extremely complex and take time to investigate. The only reliable source of information regarding any criminal case will come from our office. WEAR News asked Ascension Sacred Heart about the incident, as well as Dr. Shaknovsky's relationship with the hospital.
The hospital did not answer the questions, only providing a statement saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. Sacred Heart Emerald Coast’s leadership is investigating this matter."
"[Beverly] wants the criminal case to proceed," Zarzaur said. "She wants a culpable negligence case on the criminal side. And she wants everybody -- whether it's one doctor or doctors and nurses or multiple doctors and a hospital -- she wants everybody to be held responsible so that they don't let this happen again. Your risk management team shouldn't be more robust than your credentialing team at a hospital."
Bill Bryan leaves behind three children and eight grandchildren. Beverly describes him as honest, kind and dependable.
She says he deserves justice.
"Our family and community is devastated of what has happened," she said. "And we feel it is our duty to spread awareness and warn others."
That doctor will probably be charged with Negligent Homicide..............25+ years ............
They are board certified in General Surgery and graduated from Midwestern University in 2009. Dr. Shaknovsky completed a residency at Palisades Medical Center|Hackensack University Medical Center. At present, Dr. Shaknovsky has received an average rating of 4.4 from patients and has been reviewed 34 times. They are affiliated with HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital and HCA Florida Twin Cities Hospital. They are accepting new patients. Dr. Shaknovsky also speaks Russian. Dr. Shaknovsky practices at GenesisCare in Destin, FL and has additional offices in Niceville, FL and Santa Rosa Beach, FL.
No one in that surgery could tell the difference between a liver and a spleen?
DEI doctor ....??
Those are all our local medical centers and clinics..................
Some of us have and need our GP but I realized yesterday that some specialist stranger will probably preside over our death. Sometimes they may cause it.
Hospitals are the houses of gods. Very little gods but don't tell them that.
Works for me.
Destin is a wonderful place to vacation. But not so good for a splenectomy, though!
Shocked?
Not really.
This is malpractice at its worst.
So obvious, but what about the malpractice which is not so obvious and remains unrevealed?
I saw twenty times more competent “doctors” than this clown pimping the clot shot because Dr. Ponzi gave then the order to.
This malpractice was by an individual.
The greatest malpractice is by the medical community which has become totally subservient to Big Brother and Big Pharma.
I have long said that good doctors are a dime a dozen, but a truly great doctor is priceless.
I really feel for the man’s family.
I don’t think I’d know a spleen if I saw one, but a liver? The largest organ in there? Even I, with zero medical training know a liver. Basic biology from grade school. Also can be delicious when deep fried and topped with gravy & onions. Mmmmmm…
It would be a nice cautionary tale for other doctors to not be so damned cavalier.
Or a DEI hire.
Ever read Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”?
Drugs are used to control the population.
People are incubated in artificial ‘womb’ factories.
Terms like “mother, father, brother, sister,” are obscenities.
All forms of ‘sex’ are not only taught in school from the crib to the college, but are encouraged.
People who rebel against the system are sent to live on ‘Reservations’ in the wilderness, and are called ‘Indians’ and live in squalor........
I find it incredulous that no one else in that operating room said, “Hey Doc! THAT’s THE LIVER NOT THE SPLEEN!”
The mistakes wasn’t discovered until the organ was sent to the lab for analysis!....................
To be fair, the hospital is in the next county east of Destin..............
None of the attending staff present caught the error before he cut? Or did a resident or DEI hire do the actual cutting while the alleged doc was present but not the cutter? Either way, it’s a tragic nightmare no one should have to go through.
A lot of doctors are cocaine users...isn’t the spleen way over on the other side?
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