Civil and possibly criminal charges are being considered following the death of an Alabama man who died when a surgeon at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast mistakenly removed the patient’s liver instead of his spleen, “causing immediate and catastrophic blood loss and resulting in death.”

William “Bill” Bryan, 70, and his wife, Beverly, are from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and were visiting their home in Destin in Okaloosa County when Bill began to experience pain in his left side. He was admitted to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Miramar Beach for what was believed to be a problem with his spleen. The Bryan family’s attorney, Joe Zarzaur of Pensacola, says general surgeon Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky and the hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Christopher Bacani, convinced the Bryans not to return home for the surgery but to have it done in Florida, despite their hesitation.

“It’s one of the worst cases of medical malpractice I’ve ever dealt with,” Joe Zarzuar said during an online press conference. “The doctors kept saying it was too dangerous to move him, that his spleen could rupture, and that they had to go ahead with the procedure.”

According to medical records provided by Zarzaur Law, Shaknovsky performed a hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy on August 21, 2024. During the surgery, Shaknovsky removed Bryan’s liver, severing the major vasculature that supplies the liver, causing immediate and catastrophic blood loss that resulted in Bill Bryan’s death.

Beverly Bryan, Bill Bryan’s wife of 33 years, is devastated. As a nurse, she was initially inclined to return home, where she said doctors were standing by and waiting to treat him. She said Dr. Shaknovsky convinced her it was too dangerous because her husband “could bleed to death if he was moved.” Instead, he bled to death in the operating room, just two days before their wedding anniversary.

“I know I am not the only wife to have lost her husband suddenly, but the loss of my Bill was extraordinarily unnecessary and brutal,” Beverly Bryan said during the press conference. “Our family and community are devastated by what happened and we feel it is our duty to raise awareness and warn others.”

According to medical records, the surgeon was apparently unaware of his error during the operation and referred to the liver sample taken as a “spleen.” After the procedure, Shaknovsky told Beverly Bryan that the “spleen” had become so diseased that it was four times its normal size and had “migrated” to the other side of Mr. Bryan’s body.

“Typical human anatomy requires that the liver is naturally located on the opposite side of the abdominal cavity and is many times larger than the spleen,” Zarzaur said.

It was only when the pathologist examined Bryan’s tissue that the removed organ was identified as his liver, not his spleen. The family was also told that Bill’s spleen, the cause of his original symptom profile upon presentation to the hospital, was still in his body and had a small cyst on its surface.

“After the autopsy, it turned out that the mass was a ruptured cyst that was bleeding,” Beverly said. “You know, he hadn’t lost too much blood to survive or need a blood transfusion.”

As Zarzaur’s legal team began investigating Bryan’s death, they also discovered that this was not the first time Dr. Shaknovsky had mistakenly operated on the wrong part of a person’s body. In a previous wrong-site surgery in 2023, Zarzaur said, the surgeon mistakenly removed part of a patient’s pancreas instead of performing the intended adrenalectomy at the same hospital. That case was settled confidentially, and Dr. Shaknovsky continued to serve as a surgeon at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital until August 2024. He said it was uncertain whether he would continue to have privileges at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital or other facilities in the area.

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“I can’t tell you if he’s still practicing today, but I know he’s been here for the last week or so,” Zarzaur said. “I think what concerns me most and why I felt a press release was necessary was that this doctor was still treating patients and apparently still had access to hospitals and operating rooms, which I don’t think he should have.”

When asked for comment, representatives from Ascension Sacred Heart issued the following statement: “We take such allegations very seriously and our leadership team is conducting a thorough investigation of this incident. Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast has a long history of providing safe, high-quality care since the hospital opened in 2003. Patient safety is and will always be our top priority. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. The privacy of our patients is our highest priority. We do not comment on specific patient cases or ongoing litigation.”

Beverly Bryan wants both criminal and civil proceedings brought in her husband’s death because she doesn’t want Shaknovsky to treat any more patients. She said his mistake cost her Bill his life and deprived her family of a devoted husband, father and grandfather, as well as an avid Alabama football fan. She began to cry as she shared that he won’t be able to see his grandson play football this year during his senior year of high school.

“He was a retired boilermaker,” Beverly said. “Bill had worked hard all his life to afford a little place on the beach, and we loved it down there. He was just the absolute best person you could imagine. He was honest, reliable and generous, but he was tough. And he could have taken out any of those people in that operating room if he had stood up.”

Zarzaur says he has not yet filed a medical malpractice lawsuit because Florida law requires parties to go through a “pre-trial phase” where they determine if the issue can be resolved without filing a lawsuit. That process, he said, typically takes six to nine months. In the meantime, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office is also investigating the death of Bill Bryan. Zarzaur said Shaknovsky could potentially face criminal negligence charges.

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“The Walton County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Precinct 1 Coroner’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office, is reviewing the facts surrounding the death of William Bryan to determine if a criminal event occurred,” spokesman Corey Dobridnia said in an email. “At this time, it would be incorrect to say that charges have been filed. Our office asks for the public’s patience as these cases are extremely complex and take time to investigate. The only reliable source of information regarding a criminal case is our office.”

Beverly Bryan prays for justice and tries to understand how something like this could happen to her husband.

“My husband died while lying helpless on Dr. Shaknovsky’s operating table,” said Beverly Bryan. “I don’t want anyone else to die in a hospital because of his incompetence, when he should have known or knew that he had previously made drastic, life-altering surgical errors.”

This article originally appeared in the Pensacola News Journal: Florida surgeon Thomas Shaknovsky removed a man’s liver instead of his spleen