A Tragic Mistake
A doctor in Florida was working as a Lyft driver when he was arrested in front of his horrified passengers for allegedly removing the wrong organ from a patient who died. Dr Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was charged with second-degree manslaughter after his patient, William Bryan, died when Shaknovsky allegedly removed his liver instead of his spleen.
Shaknovsky was arrested on April 13 and has since been released on bond, according to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office. He had been working as a Lyft driver with two passengers in his silver Mitsubishi when he was arrested, according to the New York Post. The passengers had been picked up by Shaknovsky at their hotel when the former doctor was seen handcuffed and pressed against the window of the car in footage obtained by NBC News.
Shaknovsky had been using the drive-share app as a driver for more than a year and kept a five-star rating under his middle name, Jacob, according to the Post.
Removed from the Platform
“We’re not using Lyft again. From now on, we’re using Uber,” one of the passengers joked. A spokesperson for Lyft told the Post that Shaknovsky was removed from the platform after learning of his arrest.
Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said in a release: “Our duty is to follow the facts wherever they lead, without fear or favor. He Grand Jury has spoken, and our responsibility is to ensure the charges are carried out through the proper legal process.”
“Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family and their unspeakable loss. We are committed to seeing this case through with the professionalism and integrity our community expects.”
Bryan, 70, and his wife had been visiting their rental property in Okaloosa County from their home in Beverly, Alabama, in August 2024 when he began experiencing intense pain.
Pressure Under Fire
According to the Times, Shaknovsky told Bryan that he would need to have his spleen removed, a minimally invasive surgery which was not routinely performed at the hospital. Bryan refused the surgery for three days, expressing his wish to return home to Alabama, but Shaknovsky allegedly ‘continued to pressure’ him into the surgery.
Eventually, Bryan agreed and the surgery went ahead on August 21, 2024, according to the Health Department. Yet, coworkers allegedly expressed concern over Shaknovsky’s abilities and believed he ‘did not have the skill level to safely perform the surgery,’ the Health Department said, according to the Times.
Documents further stated that staff in the operating room ‘knew splenectomies were complicated procedures that could quickly deteriorate’ and the doctor began surgery before switching to an open procedure without documenting his reasoning, CBS News reported.
A Case of Mistaken Identity
Staff reported that Bryan’s colon ‘burst out of the abdominal cavity’ before Shaknovsky used a surgical stapling device before Bryan began hemorrhaging. The patient quickly went into cardiac arrest while attending nurses and staff attempted to suction the blood pouring from Bryan. An emergency transfusion began and staff attempted to revive him.
According to the report, Shaknovsky did not ask for a clamp or cauterizer to help stop the patients bleeding but continued to remove Bryan’s organ ‘even though the abdomen was full of blood,’ the Times reported. Shaknovsky eventually removed the organ which he believed to be his spleen, but was actually Bryan’s liver.
The Health Department noted that the spleen and liver are on opposite sides of the abdomen and ‘spleens and livers are anatomically distinct, have different consistencies and are different colors,’ the outlet reported.
The Autopsy Contradiction
Staff reported their shock when Shaknovsky told them the organ he had removed was Bryan’s spleen, and one staff member ‘felt sick to their stomach,’ according to the Times. Shaknovsky claimed that he had dissected the spleen when an aneurysm in the spleen ruptured and caused severe bleeding, an account that was contradicted by Bryan’s autopsy.
Florida’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, suspended Shaknovsky’s medical license a month after Bryan died. A spokesperson for the hospital said in a statement to the outlet that Shaknovsky ‘was never a Sacred Heart Emerald Coast employee and has not practiced at any of our facilities since August 2024.’
The hospital added that their surgeons face ‘rigorous credentialing standards’ and require a medical license from the state to practice.
Waiting in the Chapel
Bryan’s wife, Beverly, told the outlet she received the news in the chapel where she waited with her daughters for her husband to come out of surgery. “I never even imagined that he wouldn’t come out of that surgery alive,” she said.
“Living without him is almost unbearable. He would want his death to be the reason that more people didn’t get hurt by that doctor.” The widow filed a civil lawsuit against Shaknovsky last year for unspecified damages of over $50,000, Law & Crime reported.
Joe Zarzaur, the family’s attorney, told the outlet: “This heartbreaking loss has devastated the family of William Bryan, and we are seeking justice for this senseless tragedy.”
“Dr Shaknovsky’s failure to meet the accepted standard of care and Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast’s involvement in the alleged cover up has caused irreparable harm, and no family should have to endure such grief due to medical negligence. We are committed to holding these actors accountable for their actions,” he added.
Shaknovsky is scheduled to be arraigned in Walton County Circuit Court on May 19 – he has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 15 years behind bars if convicted.
