William Bryan, 70, succumbed to severe blood loss after a doctor allegedly removed the wrong organ during surgery in Florida, the United States. Beverly, the wife of the deceased, claimed that she was reluctant to get the surgery done, but that the hospital told her that Bryan could get severe complications if not operated on, The Guardian reported.
While visiting their rental property in Okaloosa County, Bryan experienced pain in his left flank. He was admitted to the Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Walton County for an abnormality of the spleen, The Guardian reported the law firm representing Bryan’s wife as saying.
On August 21, general surgeon Dr Thomas Shaknovsky conducted a hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy procedure. During the surgery, the doctor removed Bryan’s liver and “transected the major vasculature supplying the liver, causing immediate and catastrophic blood loss resulting in death”.
The doctor reportedly attempted to cover up the error by labelling the removed liver as an “enlarged spleen,” as per the statement from the law firm representing Bryan’s wife.
The law firm further alleged that the doctor cut through major blood vessels while removing Bryan’s liver, leading to an immediate fatal hemorrhage. The hospital has also been accused of misleading the man’s family by claiming that the spleen was severely diseased and it spread across his body.
According to the law firm, in 2023, Dr Shaknovsky was involved in a “wrong-site surgery” case where he mistakenly removed part of a patient’s pancreas instead of the intended adrenal gland.
