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."
Yes................
Ever read Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”?
Yes, and to that reading list Orwell’s 1984 as well as Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 must be added.
Each offers a vision of authoritarian rule.
Sadly, we have now have a vision of authoritarian rule in real time.
I would say that is an understatement of Biblical proportions.
The doctor had to be on drugs or possessed.
A grade-school student knows a liver from basic biology.
And no one else in the room said a damn thing..............
Not only will that Doctor get his lousy self destroyed, but so will the hospital.
They violated some double checks and safety protocols its s travesty.
The Joint Commission Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations I will take the hospital to the woodshed. They can be brutal. We would spend months double checking things before a major inspection.
Now, now - that’s insulting to butchers.
They’d know what part was what...
Now, now - that’s insulting to butchers.
They’d know what part was what...
That particular hospital isn’t all that old.................
LOL, this one’s better!
Seriously, I’m not a MD, but there’s a significant difference between a liver and a spleen, yes?
Your last sentence is stone cold true. They never rebel against their paymasters.
Heard of a physician found dead with a syringe containing propofol(Michael Jackson’s poison) still in his vein
My first thought was organ harvesting, but seems the organ was tested and not whisked away to transplant elsewhere.
Second thought either the doctor was outa wack somehow during the operation or not really attending the surgery and all the other staff were either incompetent or just complicit to likely aware something odd was happening.
Liver is on opposite side of the body from the spleen so that should have been first obvious clue to all staff present for surgery.
Me, too!! He’s not in there by himself! The only person who did their job was the pathologist. A true whistleblower.
I don’t know how this guy passed his boards.
In the reports that are ever expanding out there, I note that one report states the the procedure was laparoscopic splenectomy. If it was not an open procedure, it is likely that scrub / circulator / other medical personnel in the room would be able to discern exactly where the surgeon was.
Still this guy is a hack, and I would suspect the Florida Board of Medicine should immediately suspend his license pending investigation.
I should’ve proofread better. *his or her job, not their job. Geez, this pronoun crud is getting into my brain.
It would be odd for a physician to self shoot propofol. The most common drug physicians pilfer is fentanyl. It is a real risk of the profession, something we all look for and train to know.
I highly suspect he will be charged with Negligent Homicide..................
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