Florida Man Dies After Doctor Removes The Wrong Organ, Allegedly
I don’t know about everyone else, but when I get medical advice from a doctor, I never second-guess it. I typically take their word for it seeing as they are professionals. However, that may be changing in the future due to the newest headline. Florida man dies after doctor removes the wrong organ. Allegedly.
Dr. Thomas J. Shaknovsky
Dr. Thomas J. Shaknovsky found himself out of a job after a mixup at work on September 25th. The mistake was so bad, that the Florida Department of Health suspended Shaknovsky’s medical license after it was alleged that he removed the wrong organ during surgery. The patient, William Bryan, tragically did not survive, all thanks to this very literal “liver or spleen” mix-up.
It all started when Bryan rolled into the hospital on August 18 with stomach pain that turned out to be linked to an enlarged spleen. After a few days of the 70-year-old declining, Bryan finally agreed to Dr. Shaknovsky’s suggestion of surgery. The doctor was ready to get in there and take that spleen out, but the emergency report states that what actually got removed was his liver. One horrified staff member even claimed to feel physically ill when Shaknovsky pointed at the liver and called it a spleen. And things just went downhill from there. After Bryan’s death, Shaknovsky reportedly returned to the OR three times, each time doubling down on the ruptured aneurysm story like a broken record, while the staff watched in disbelief.
This isn’t Shaknovsky’s first time when it comes to accidental organ removal either. He allegedly pulled a similar stunt before, removing part of someone’s pancreas during an adrenalectomy. His excuse? He blamed the “migrating organs,” because, apparently, human organs are like your lost car keys, they just show up in the weirdest places.
The Florida Department of Health, unimpressed with his “excuse,” decided that Dr. Shaknovsky posed a “serious danger” to public health. William Bryan’s widow, Beverly, has since hired legal representation and is pursuing both civil and criminal action. The medical examiner has also ruled Bryan’s death as a homicide.
Source: VICE
