Attorneys for the family of a Muscle Shoals man who died after his liver was removed during what was supposed to be a splenectomy said they have learned new information during depositions in the civil case against the surgeon.
Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, who held licenses in Alabama and Florida, performed the surgery at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in 2024. William "Bill" Dale Bryan, 70, was pronounced dead on the operating table.
During a deposition, attorney Joe Zarzaur said his team learned Shaknovsky identified the removed organ as the spleen during a post-surgery examination of the specimen.
"He had ample opportunity, if you will, after everything has calmed down, all the drama and all the commotion is over, he's now, with a more sober mind, he has the ability to look at this liver, which we know to be a liver now, for sure, and inspect it," said Zarzaur. "For instance, turn it over, see if the gallbladder is there, see if the space where the gallbladder is embedded into the liver is missing, and in Mr. Bryan's case, he had had a cholecystectomy, which is a removal of the gallbladder, so you can see where the gallbladder was on the backside of the liver, which obviously is a tell-tell sign that you're dealing with a liver, not the spleen.
"Not to mention, you've got other things that connect to the liver that you can tell by landmarks, makes it the liver," he continued. "In any event, we understand that now, that Dr. Shaknovsky asked to go to the lab, asked to see the specimen and was left there to look at it by himself with a lab tech for several minutes."
Hospital employees stated that the post-op examination lasted 10 to 12 minutes. Zarzaur said the discovery is important because it shows the surgeon should have been able to identify the organ as a liver. The surgeon reportedly stated the removal was an accident.
Attorneys will continue to take discovery and depositions in the case. Zarzaur expects the Court to give a trial date soon.
The death certificate states Bryan died of blood loss due to the removal of his liver, and the death has been ruled a homicide. The Walton County, Fla., Sheriff's Office is investigating.
Board documents state that during the surgery, Shaknovsky said he panicked when an aneurysm ruptured. He blindly fired a staple device in the man's abdomen and hurriedly removed what he thought was the spleen. Staff reported he continually tried to convince them the removed organ was a spleen.
An examination concluded there was no aneurysm, but instead, the surgeon cut the inferior vena cava, the largest vein in the human body, which connects the liver to the heart.
Zarzaur said the surgeon was responsible for another wrong-site incident in 2023 that has since been settled.
Shaknovsky has not been criminally charged and is considered innocent. He has retired his Florida medical license and surrendered his Alabama license.
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