A Florida surgeon's license has been suspended after he dissected the wrong organ during what was supposed to be a splenectomy Aug. 21, resulting in the patient's death, the Miami Herald reported Sept. 26.
Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky continued dissecting the wrong organ during surgery at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., as the patient was bleeding out on the operating table. According to the report, he placed a "readily identifiable liver" on the table, shocking OR staff when he said it was the patient's liver. One staff member felt "sick to their stomach," according to a Sept. 24 emergency order to suspend Dr. Shaknosvky's license issued by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, MD.
The patient, William Bryan, a 70-year-old man, was visiting his rental property in Florida when Mr. Bryan felt pain on the left side of his body. He repeatedly refused surgery, asking to be released to drive to see his own physician in Alabama after being admitted to Ascension on Aug. 18, according to the report.
Dr. Shaknovsky and another physician encouraged surgery due to an issue with Mr. Bryan's spleen. That evening, OR staff members "had concerns" that Shaknovsky "did not have the skill level to safely perform" a splenectomy, a procedure that is not "regularly performed at Ascension" according to the suspension order.
Mr. Bryan started hemorrhaging during surgery, and Dr. Shaknovsky said he decided to complete the procedure in a "last-ditch effort," firing a "stapling device blindly into the abdomen and removed an organ that he believed to be a spleen," the order says.
According to Dr. Ladapo, Dr. Shaknosvky then lied in medical records, insisting he removed Mr. Bryan's spleen and told staff to label the removed liver as a spleen.
Dr. Shaknosvky is also licensed to practice in Alabama. Ascension Sacred Heart told McClatchy News on Sept. 3 the hospital’s leadership team was investigating William Bryan’s surgery.
Dr. Shaknovsky did not immediately respond to McClatchy News' request for comment Sept. 26. A similar event occurred in May 2023, when Dr. Shaknovsky was supposed to remove a 58-year-old man's adrenal gland but removed part of his pancreas instead, according to the suspension order. Dr. Shaknovsky then documented that he removed the adrenal gland before a pathologist identified it as pancreatic tissue.
A few days later, the patient returned to Ascension with "leakage and pain," and was vomiting, according to the order, which also says he is now permanently injured.
"Dr. Shaknovsky's continued practice as an osteopathic physician presents an immediate, serious danger to the health, welfare, and safety of the public," Dr. Ladapo said in suspending his license.