The family of a 70-year-old Alabama man who died last month claims his death was caused by doctors removing the wrong organ during a surgery in Florida.
William Bryan, 70, and his wife, Beverly, were visiting a rental property in Okaloosa County this summer when Bryan suddenly began feeling pain in his left side, according to a statement from the law firm representing his wife. Bryan then went to the hospital, where he was admitted for further testing after a suspected spleen problem was diagnosed.
His family says he and his wife were initially reluctant to undergo the surgery in Florida, but were persuaded by doctors at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Walton County, who told them Brian could suffer serious complications if he left the hospital.
According to the family, on Aug. 21, 2024, surgeon Dr. Thomas Shakhnovsky performed a manual laparoscopic splenectomy.
The family’s lawyers claim that during surgery, doctors removed Brian’s liver and in the process “severed a major blood vessel supplying the liver, causing immediate and devastating blood loss and resulting in his death.”
The family claims that the surgeons “named the removed liver specimen a ‘spleen’ and it was only after Brian’s death that they discovered that the organ that had been removed was a liver, not a spleen.”
After the operation, doctors reportedly told Brian’s wife, Beverley, that his “spleen” was so badly diseased that it was four times its normal size and had moved to the other side of his body.
“In typical human anatomy, the liver is naturally located on the opposite side of the abdominal cavity and is several times larger than the spleen,” a statement from lawyers representing the Bryan family said.
“Brian’s family was informed that the spleen, which was the cause of his initial symptoms when he was taken to hospital, was still inside his body and appeared to have a small cyst on its surface.”
The lawyers allege that the doctor previously “operated on the wrong site in 2023, did not perform the intended adrenaline removal, and mistakenly removed part of the patient’s pancreas.”
The lawyer said the case was resolved confidentially and the doctor remained as surgeon.
In a statement, the law firm said Beverly had hired an attorney following her husband’s death to “seek justice for him.”
“She does not want this doctor to continue treating patients,” her lawyer said, adding that Beverly is seeking both criminal and civil action over her husband’s death.
Beverly said in a statement: “My husband died helplessly on Dr. Shakhnovsky’s operating table. I don’t want anyone else to die because of my husband’s incompetence, even though the hospital should have known he had previously made serious, life-changing surgical errors.”
The Miami Herald reported that as of Wednesday, Shakhnovsky had not faced any criminal charges, disciplinary action or public complaints. Shakhnovsky did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Herald.
Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment, but in a statement to the Miami Herald said it “takes allegations like this very seriously and our hospital leadership is conducting a thorough investigation of this incident.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” the hospital said in a statement, adding that the hospital “does not comment on specific patient cases or ongoing litigation.”
Brian and Beverly were married for 33 years and have three children and eight grandchildren, according to his August obituary. Brian worked as a boilermaker and was a Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War.
