A Florida doctor has had his medical license suspended after being accused of removing an Alabama man's liver instead of his spleen, causing an “immediate and devastating death.”
In an emergency order filed on Sept. 24, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo called “repeated and egregious surgical errors” in the Aug. 21 death of 70-year-old William Bryan. accused Thomas J. Shakvovsy of “the egregious act of falsifying medical records.''
Before the tragedy, Shakvovksi was an osteopathic physician working at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital.
Brian and his wife, Beverly, were visiting the Florida Panhandle from their home in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, when they started feeling pain in their lower left abdomen.
The couple went to a hospital in Miramar Beach, between Pensacola and Panama City, where doctors feared an abnormality in his spleen and admitted Brian for further tests after he refused “surgical intervention.”
Imaging tests revealed an enlarged spleen and suspected blood in the peritoneum, but there was no active bleeding, the document said.
According to an emergency cease-and-desist order seen by the newspaper, Shakunowski allegedly recommended that Bryan undergo a laparoscopic splenectomy for three consecutive days, and although the patient refused and asked to return to Alabama, the doctor He said he was persistent.
Brian ultimately gave in to doctors' requests due to a drop in hemoglobin, but the order notes that the drop was only slight during the three-day hospital stay.
Dr. Shakunowski scheduled a “complex surgery” for August 21 at 4 p.m., but operating room staff pointed out that the surgery was being performed by “skeletal staff” and that the doctor could not operate.
“The staff was concerned that Dr. Shakunowski did not have the skill level to safely perform this procedure,” the Surgeon General's order states.
Surgery began, but Dr. Schachnofsky quickly opted to perform an open surgery because of poor visibility due to Brian's “distended colon and blood flowing into his abdomen.”
It was revealed that Shakunowski did not document the colon as part of the decision to change surgery.
Doctors began dissecting the ligaments attached to the spleen, which they claim turned out to be the liver.
He then found and identified the blood vessel he had tried to cut, and claimed to have felt it pulsating under his fingers, saying, “That's scary.”
Shakunowski used a surgical stapling device to drive staples into the blood vessels, resulting in severe bleeding and Brian going into cardiac arrest.
When the “code” was called, staff began suctioning blood and administering an emergency transfusion, and surgical staff began cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
While staff tried to resuscitate Brian, Shaknofsky did not call for help in removing the 4.6-pound liver and continued dissecting the abdomen.
“The staff saw an easily recognizable liver on the table and were shocked when Dr. Shakunowski told them it was the spleen. One staff member said, 'My stomach hurts,' A witness in the room said:
Brian was pronounced dead from a splenic artery aneurysm, Shakunowski said.
The doctor allegedly asked staff to label the liver as a “spleen” and send it for pathology.
The person who labeled the organ knew it wasn't the spleen but followed the instructions anyway, the order reported.
Shakunowski left the operating room but returned three times, and each time doctors attributed Brian's death to a splenic artery aneurysm.
“The staff in the room felt that Dr. Shakunowski was trying to convince them that this was what happened, even though they witnessed something different.”
Ladapo discovered that Brian's death was not due to a single mistake made by Shakunowski.
“Dr. Shakunowski's misidentification of the liver was not a temporary error,” the order acknowledged. “Despite changing to open surgery to improve visibility, he dissected the liver and severed the individual parts attached to the abdomen.
“Each time an attachment was severed, it was another opportunity for Dr. Shakunowski to realize that he was dealing with completely the wrong organ due to the anatomical differences between the spleen and liver.”
“Despite having ample opportunity to realize his mistake and continue searching for the spleen, Dr. Shakunowski failed to do so.”
Ladapo argued that any restrictions to protect the public must also include “complete restrictions on the performance of general surgery.”
“Dr. Shakunowski's blatant disregard for the truth, falsification of surgical reports, and attempts to persuade operating room staff to acquiesce to his views are a violation of the public trust. Dr. Shakunowski. Dishonesty is not limited to operational reporting; it colors every aspect of osteopathic medical practice.
Whether in the emergency room, doctor's office or primary care setting, the public must trust that Dr. Shakunowski's account of patient care is truthful. That trust is irreparably broken. “Therefore, there are no restrictions that can adequately protect the public from osteopathic physicians who freely lie and pressure others to lie on their behalf,” the order states.
The order also includes a surgery from May 2023 in which Schachnovsky removed part of the patient's pancreas instead of his left adrenal gland, resulting in “long-term permanent harm.”
Brian's death has been ruled a homicide due to “liver removed during splenectomy,” the family's attorney said on Facebook, announced by Zarzaul Law in Pennsylvania.
“This news is devastating to the healthcare industry because the operating room is supposed to be the place where the highest level of patient care takes place,” the law firm wrote.
Brian's family plans to file a medical malpractice lawsuit at the appropriate time.
